coolant issues, or rebuild required? :S

Rotary Inspired · 10-07-2009, 10:54 AM

The engine consists of 3 irons or side plates and 2 rotor housings. They are sealed together with a total of 8 O-rings and held together with 18 long dowels. On the FC and FD Mazda moved the grooves for the O-rings into the irons or side plates. Unfortunately this was not as good of a design as the previous grooves in the rotor housings. Over time the cast iron plates can rust on the outer side of the groves from the coolant passages. Once it weakens it often breaks. I have fixed one by having it welded w/ a nickel rod and then resurfaced flat. It was a major PITA and I only did it because it was a RE plate. Good luck and keep us posted

Rx-7fetish · 10-07-2009, 05:31 PM

What TitaniumTT is describing is the same as i was thinking and is also let your coolant into the combustion chamber, where the coolant is going to burn through the engine, meaning that you need a rebuild. The stuff i was getting you to try was stuff to problem solve to rule out everything but a seal. The engine is not overheating until the coolant gets low for that exact reason you have a possible bad iron, or a blown seal, letting the coolant leak into the combustion chamber and then your engine is overheating due to loss of coolant. The only fix is a rebuild. The reason i suspect for your problem getting worse over time is because the "hole" that the seal is letting coolant leak through into your combustion chamber is getting bigger overtime. This is exactly what happened to my first engine when i got my car.

hcDave · 10-07-2009, 05:43 PM

... I wish it was the fan or thermostat... hopefully it's just a blown seal!

10-07-2009, 10:54 AM	#1
Rotary Inspired Rotary Fan in Training Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: SW OKC Posts: 75 Rep Power: 18	The engine consists of 3 irons or side plates and 2 rotor housings. They are sealed together with a total of 8 O-rings and held together with 18 long dowels. On the FC and FD Mazda moved the grooves for the O-rings into the irons or side plates. Unfortunately this was not as good of a design as the previous grooves in the rotor housings. Over time the cast iron plates can rust on the outer side of the groves from the coolant passages. Once it weakens it often breaks. I have fixed one by having it welded w/ a nickel rod and then resurfaced flat. It was a major PITA and I only did it because it was a RE plate. Good luck and keep us posted __________________ If you wanna become ASE certified buy the RX7.

10-07-2009, 05:31 PM	#2
Rx-7fetish Blue Blur Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Windsor Posts: 211 Rep Power: 0	What TitaniumTT is describing is the same as i was thinking and is also let your coolant into the combustion chamber, where the coolant is going to burn through the engine, meaning that you need a rebuild. The stuff i was getting you to try was stuff to problem solve to rule out everything but a seal. The engine is not overheating until the coolant gets low for that exact reason you have a possible bad iron, or a blown seal, letting the coolant leak into the combustion chamber and then your engine is overheating due to loss of coolant. The only fix is a rebuild. The reason i suspect for your problem getting worse over time is because the "hole" that the seal is letting coolant leak through into your combustion chamber is getting bigger overtime. This is exactly what happened to my first engine when i got my car.

10-07-2009, 05:43 PM	#3
hcDave The Newbie Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Kelowna, BC, Canada Posts: 7 Rep Power: 0	... I wish it was the fan or thermostat... hopefully it's just a blown seal!