Rx7 coolant leak

[Tjp8]

Basicly guys i have a coolant leak somewhere.

Ive have a compression test done it was 6.4 front 6.7 rear.

No over heating at all.

Drives spot on.

Also no steam coming out the exhaust and champaign test is clear.


Ive changed the radiator for a koyo , new thermostat, new coolant pipes from rad to engine, new ast tank cos i snapped the nipple off the last one.

Im thinking maybe some hard coolant lines are corroded or something after the 8 years it stood maybe?

Anyone got any pointers?

Its not dropping alot but its enough to annoy me.

Thanks
Tj

 

[GAVBEY]

hello,

not to scare you but i had a broken water seal that used watter but still showed good compression. i done 6k miles on it. i just kept it topped up.

Have you tried a pressure test? you can buy UV Dye to put in coolant to identify leaks easily if your stuck

 

[Jit]

Coolant caps?

 

[fischer]

If you can find somewhere that can do a pressure test on the system they can also pressure test the caps individually
it may be as simple as one of the caps like Jit suggested.

 

[Caine_1989]

I've got the same problem as you just changed to a koyo rad new hoses etc mine is seeping from the hose that goes from the water pump to the bottom of the rad very minute amounts that's coming out under pressure bit enough to make it drop the level but make sure you be got the clamps in the correct places and are on properly as I had abit of a build of crud on the connector which didn't help just needed to clean it and put a decent clamp on

 

[shaunwil]

I've just got a coolant pressure tester made by mityvac from usa that pressure tests the whole system. I have a leak I need to find too.

It isn't sold in the uk but looks like a nice bit of kit.

 

[Tjp8]

Can any garage do a pressure test on this system or is best to take it to a rotary specific specialist?

Will get the caps and system tested also il have a little look at the connections and make sure its not leaking from them but pretty sure i put new clamps on all the ones on the front of the engine.

The turbo coolant hardlines look very corroded could that be an issue?

 

[rotors7]

hello,

not to scare you but i had a broken water seal that used watter but still showed good compression. i done 6k miles on it. i just kept it topped up.

Have you tried a pressure test? you can buy UV Dye to put in coolant to identify leaks easily if your stuck

Mine was leaking coolant (when it was actually going ha ha) and I put it down to the heater core as it was wet over the ecu and carpet.
So I bought a new core after reading stuff on fduk, took the old one out only to find it was just as new itself.
Seems it's a bulkhead leak...doh !
Anyway..... my point is that I didn't know there was such a product to detect leaks !!!
It would've saved me a fair bit of dosh

 

[GAVBEY]

works a treat

 

[Spendyrx]

I reckon gav is onto a winner there! Personally I'd buy that or even for the price of a pressure tester I'd buy one of them as they're only 20 quid or so on ebay!
If you take it to a local garage then just be careful and personally I would keep an eye on them! And if they tell you your head gasket has gone then as for your money back honestly though, Id guess if you haven't worked out what's wrong then the garage won't be able to give you a definite answer neither!
My neighbour had been having overhearing problems with her mini, I told her it sounds like air in the system or a thermostat problem but because she's driven it boiled over there's a good chance the head gasket may have gone! She booked it into the garage, thermostat housing was cracked and was leaking. They changed the thermostat and housing and said there was air in the system but couldn't be sure if the head was gone lol. My point is, I'm not a mechanic yet I still wouldn't trust a local garage with my car because they're shit and don't care if they give you a proper answer. Sorry to waffle lol

 

[Spendyrx]

Just to add.... autospell is a cunt

 

[JoeLanger]

Could just be air in the system, they are a bastard to bleed so if youve done work id go for that.

Get a piece of cardboard underneath over night to find where drips are coming from.

 

[Tjp8]

Thanks guys, ive just bought some of that uv dye and im going to give that a try first .

Thanks for all the help il keep you posted with the outcome.

 

[shaunwil]

This is what I've plumbed for :

Not tried it yet, but soon !

 

[Tjp8]

Just to recap on this, i put the uv dye in the system and no leaks were found .

Shame really as its only dropping a small amount of coolant.

I dont know wether to just bite the bullet and get it rebuilt even though compression is ok and its on low miles.


Ive rang about an engine rebuild, street port and a map and comes in at around £4050 including someone transporting the car there. This price excludes any irons or rotors if any are damaged.


Or if anyone can recomend me someone to take it to localish to bath/ bristol who knows these cars to have a propper look.

 

[Ceylon]

Does the issue pre-date the radiator swap? If not, my money would be on air locked in the motor. Is she filling up the expansion tank? You checked the caps are right yeah?

 

[Tjp8]

Does the issue pre-date the radiator swap? If not, my money would be on air locked in the motor. Is she filling up the expansion tank? You checked the caps are right yeah?

I thought it was the rad leaking originally so i changed it for a koyo n flow, the ast cap is brand new and the other cap was fitted by tim at rx motors as my previous one was faulty.


Expansion tank is full and ast tank is too.


Literally dropping half a cup of water every 24ish miles.

No steam/smoke out of the exhaust and runs and drives fine too.

 

[nadz786]

Check the level of water in the over flow tank as sometimes after a change the water tank could get over filled and not allowing enough water going into the rad.

Or drain the water in the over flow tank and then fill up the water from the water housing

Worth a try as Iv had same issues and this was the cause.

 

[tomCTR]

Must be an air lock some where

Order that funnel from amazon for £30 from the states as it’s a great bit of kit

Or use a lemonade bottle and some bodging for maximum cheapness to get the air lock out!

@GAVBEY is the king of making allll the things up, I’m sure he’s done it before

 

[Ceylon]

Happy to have a look in the new year if that'd be of help, see if I can spot anything. I'm only 15 miles south of Bristol .