FC Rotory Help

Postby **RX-7 Chris** » Fri Apr 22, 2011 9:14

I would reinstall the stock fan and loose the e-fan.

christi · Postby **christi** » Fri Apr 22, 2011 9:14

Yeah.. about that... I may not have the fan anymore .

ecam8000 · Postby **ecam8000** » Fri Apr 22, 2011 9:14

SecondGenPAt wrote:I had the same issue. a brand new oem cap from Mazda solved it.
I'll be there Saturday with my S4 FSM and Mazda Rotary compression tester (and a few other diag tools)
Question, what hand tools do you have available? I'm assuming a good selection due to the work performed already?

-Pat

Sorry Pat I missed this earlier. I am pretty well stocked on tools. What odball things do you need?

christi · Postby **christi** » Fri Apr 22, 2011 9:14

Thinking about this more:
He car overheated before I replaced the mech fan with the e fan. I do no believe it's the fan issue. I really do not believe the issue lies at hand with the e fan...and more so something withthe cooling system

iani1.1 · Postby **iani1.1** » Fri Apr 22, 2011 9:14

did you use an OEM t stat? in the correct position?

chickenwafer · Postby **chickenwafer** » Fri Apr 22, 2011 9:14

The FC's have the "jiggle pin" that must be aligned as well, correct?

iani1.1 · Postby **iani1.1** » Fri Apr 22, 2011 9:14

yup, it must at 12oclock when your facing the engine.

christi · Postby **christi** » Fri Apr 22, 2011 9:14

Well let's hope good news tomorrow. We willsee!
I do want to thank y'all for the help regardless

much appreciated.

ecam8000 · Postby **ecam8000** » Sat Apr 23, 2011 9:14

iani1.1 wrote:did you use an OEM t stat? in the correct position?

I used Christi's supplied T-stat, did not have air valve.

iani1.1 · Postby **iani1.1** » Sat Apr 23, 2011 9:14

yea, it must have an air valve or jiggle pin of some sort. the air valve helps minimize the the air bubbles trapped in the cooling system. also the reason rx7s need a mazda thermostat is that most if not all after market t stats dont open fast enough compared to the oem mazda ones. mazda was real anal about using their t stats back then lol

alex_n/a · Postby **alex_n/a** » Sat Apr 23, 2011 9:14

the tstat I got from checkers was rated at 195°f. Isn't that the same as the oem ones?

iani1.1 · Postby **iani1.1** » Sat Apr 23, 2011 9:14

well, you dont necessarily have to have the oem one. a regular stant is actually ok if it has the air valve or little hole.

theoretically it will make the engine run cooler if your using a 195 but realistically no. water temps might be lower but its actually kind of damaging the engine in very slow process since the coolant needs time to soak heat. running without a t stat is just very bad news. though youll get lower water temps, engine temps would be off the roof.

i personally use a oem t stat with a greddy rad cap but thats just me. my engine temps usually stayed at 160 and around 180-190 spirited driving. also that purple ice stuff works wonders.

chickenwafer · Postby **chickenwafer** » Sat Apr 23, 2011 9:14

^I prefer Redline Water Wetter or Royal Purple ICE. The RP ICE stuff foams up real quick. Next time you see some in the bottle at the store, shake it and what the foam. Redline doesn't do that and it reduces the surface tension of the water. But both work.

I agree with a GReddy or equivalent higher pressure radiator cap. I ran a 1.3bar rad cap on my RX-8 in Phoenix and it really helped with coolant temperatures. I was going to put one on the FD but I don't want to street water seals anymore than they already are.

SecondGenPAt · Postby **SecondGenPAt** » Sat Apr 23, 2011 9:14

OK, productive day.

So the tps was out of adjustment, idle air screw was all the way out just to allow the engine to idle at 350-400 rpms. looked for leaks, didn't find any. Eric had pressure tested the system overnight with no pressure loss and no coolant smell form the exhaust on startup. Eric had seen the rad was blocked from years of dirt/crap buildup so that was all cleaned off and blown away. A few fins were bent over so those were straightened.
then I bled the system with my cooling system funnel:
had 4-6 massive air bubbles escape with maybe a quart of coolant replacing them. we let the car idle for 15 minutes and temps never climbed above 181°F
Then we had one hell of a test drive up to the casinos and lookout mountain.
towards the top of lookout mountain the temp needle started to climb, I confirmed high temps with my tempgun (215° was highest measured) I attribute this to the thin air and weak e-fan. The fan just won't move the same cfm of air as the stock mech fan. **should note that I followed Christi in my stock S4 RX7 and my temps never went above 195°**

On the rough/low/hunting idle issue: I found the intake temp sensor (one that screws into the intake) to be broken. The cam sensor is still clocked at factory location, and everything is adjusted to spec.. Christi has never changed the fuel filter and does not think the previous owner has either. Car was low on power when I drove it, so we're going to change that and see what happens.

So cliffnotes:
-a lot of air in cooling system
-not burning or leaking coolant
-inferior e-fan
-broken intake air temp sensor causing SES/CEL
-possible/probable clogged fuel filter
-possible vacuum leak (Eric checked with carb cleaner with no luck but there is a lot of emissions crap under LIM)

Christi left the car with me this week while she vacations in Florida, so I'm going to see what I can deduce for the idle issue while trying to find a suitable replacement e-fan.

th-th-th-that's all folks!

-Pat

christi · Postby **christi** » Sat Apr 23, 2011 9:14

Pat, please update when you can on this thread of your findings with the car. While on vacation, I'll check this here and there.. Thanks again for ALL your help, esp Eric for allowing us to use his garage again a secondary weekend -- and now Pat for allowing her to sit and be tested during the week I'm gone.

pat, should you find another stock fan and you think it's better to have it on there, go for it... If you do find a better E-fan then by all means go for that. I was just trying to free myself of the rats nests (although I know I have the emissions crap that needs to be blocked off and removed).. for easier work-on later on. Do what it takes to get her back up to normal.

I can say though, that driving his car vs mine was way different. For his car having over 129k miles on her; and driving as smooth and sounding so beautifully healthy, made me realize my car has a lot to work on to get her back to a healthy running car...

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