Let me tell you about my morning...
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- Senior Member
- Posts: 5554
- Joined: August 25th, 2004, 2:01 am
- Location: Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Let me tell you about my morning...
Have you ever noticed that something will work perfectly until you decide that in a couple months you're going to go ahead and upgrade. There's nothing wrong with it, you just figure now is as good a time as any to spend some money and since it has worked so well for you all this time there's no rush. You can take your time and do it right. Then, just when you have established a comfortable timeline which will allow you to do all the things you want to do without feeling rushed or pressed, the whole thing goes in the toilet 7 weeks ahead of schedule.
I decided a few months ago that I was going to sell one pride and joy to feed another. My RC51 is on the market so that I can finally after years of hoping and dreaming I can restore my MX-3 to the glory I know she deserves. I have this very well thought out plan and have started ordering parts...none of which have actually arrived yet. I decided on a relaxed timeline because my MX-3 has run flawlessly since the day I first drove her. I figured I had plenty of time. Then a week and a half or so ago, a hesitation started to show itself during acceleration. No problem. I had been running on the stock disty and too lazy to reinstall my HEI part since the module fried in the fall. So I swap it back in and it ran well for a few days. But then it came back and got worse. Now I don't know what the hell is going but I figure...meh...it'll run well enough to get me through till the scheduled swap day. The engine disagreed with me.
In retrospect it's not all that bad, but I can tell you that at 6:45 this morning when white smoke began billowing from my engine compartment about 3 minutes from work it didn't look good. I noticed on the drive in that the temp needle was a little higher than normal...then it was quite high...then without a sound massive amounts of white smoke started to pour out behind me as I drove. Within a few seconds the heater was blowing cold air. I was fairly certain I had just blown a head gasket.
So now I'm scrambling...I can't be without a car. My wife needs hers so that's not gonna work. I'm going to have to get that engine swap going in a hurry I figure. I'm calling in favors and pulling my hair out all morning and I think to myself..."You should go down and figure out what happened to your car."
Turns out one of the plastic fittings on the heater core snapped and coolant was pouring onto my rear exhaust manifold. I think the thermostat stuck closed and the fitting couldn't hold the added pressure. Not the end of the world...but the point of my little diatribe is...
WHO PUTS A PLASTIC FITTING IN THE COOLING SYSTEM OF AN ENGINE!?!?!?!? IF I EVER MEET THE ENGINEER WHO THOUGHT THAT WAS A GOOD IDEA I'M GOING TO POKE HIM IN THE EYE!!!
Thanks for listening.
I decided a few months ago that I was going to sell one pride and joy to feed another. My RC51 is on the market so that I can finally after years of hoping and dreaming I can restore my MX-3 to the glory I know she deserves. I have this very well thought out plan and have started ordering parts...none of which have actually arrived yet. I decided on a relaxed timeline because my MX-3 has run flawlessly since the day I first drove her. I figured I had plenty of time. Then a week and a half or so ago, a hesitation started to show itself during acceleration. No problem. I had been running on the stock disty and too lazy to reinstall my HEI part since the module fried in the fall. So I swap it back in and it ran well for a few days. But then it came back and got worse. Now I don't know what the hell is going but I figure...meh...it'll run well enough to get me through till the scheduled swap day. The engine disagreed with me.
In retrospect it's not all that bad, but I can tell you that at 6:45 this morning when white smoke began billowing from my engine compartment about 3 minutes from work it didn't look good. I noticed on the drive in that the temp needle was a little higher than normal...then it was quite high...then without a sound massive amounts of white smoke started to pour out behind me as I drove. Within a few seconds the heater was blowing cold air. I was fairly certain I had just blown a head gasket.
So now I'm scrambling...I can't be without a car. My wife needs hers so that's not gonna work. I'm going to have to get that engine swap going in a hurry I figure. I'm calling in favors and pulling my hair out all morning and I think to myself..."You should go down and figure out what happened to your car."
Turns out one of the plastic fittings on the heater core snapped and coolant was pouring onto my rear exhaust manifold. I think the thermostat stuck closed and the fitting couldn't hold the added pressure. Not the end of the world...but the point of my little diatribe is...
WHO PUTS A PLASTIC FITTING IN THE COOLING SYSTEM OF AN ENGINE!?!?!?!? IF I EVER MEET THE ENGINEER WHO THOUGHT THAT WAS A GOOD IDEA I'M GOING TO POKE HIM IN THE EYE!!!
Thanks for listening.
94' RS/GS/MS/CF Monster Turbo...coming soon.
93' GS SE, the Black Beast, the former love of my life...soon to be gutted and crushed.
94' GS, black on black, now in several small pieces...and one large crushed piece.
2007 Mazda3 GT Sport --- super fun
2004 Honda RC51 --- Lost forever to some theavin' bastard
My Worklog
My feedback thread
Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity.
93' GS SE, the Black Beast, the former love of my life...soon to be gutted and crushed.
94' GS, black on black, now in several small pieces...and one large crushed piece.
2007 Mazda3 GT Sport --- super fun
2004 Honda RC51 --- Lost forever to some theavin' bastard
My Worklog
My feedback thread
Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity.
- onlytrueromeo
- Senior Member
- Posts: 2756
- Joined: May 16th, 2007, 10:05 pm
- Location: Albany, NY
Re: Let me tell you about my morning...
I HATE THOSE STUPID PLASTIC FITTINGS!
They're also a giant PITA to replace...seeing that no matter where I went I couldn't find a dang replacement! No one knew what I was talking about even when I SHOWED them.
So is the car OK? Obviously it ran a little hot, which is not good for an aluminum block/head.
They're also a giant PITA to replace...seeing that no matter where I went I couldn't find a dang replacement! No one knew what I was talking about even when I SHOWED them.
So is the car OK? Obviously it ran a little hot, which is not good for an aluminum block/head.
Re: Let me tell you about my morning...
If given the chance they could give EGR a run for it's money.
2004 Subaru WRX Silver, stage 2, minty interior.
2002 Subaru WRX Blue, SOLD (best E test numbers I've ever seen)
94 MX-6. Sold
92 GS KLZE 5 Speed
96 GS 5 speed, KLZE, Sold
95 GS Minty Shape Sold
92 GS Sold
92 GS Parts Car scrapped.
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7477th member.
I know you believe that you understand what you think I said but I'm sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant.
2002 Subaru WRX Blue, SOLD (best E test numbers I've ever seen)
94 MX-6. Sold
92 GS KLZE 5 Speed
96 GS 5 speed, KLZE, Sold
95 GS Minty Shape Sold
92 GS Sold
92 GS Parts Car scrapped.
Feedback viewtopic.php?f=37&t=66348" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
7477th member.
I know you believe that you understand what you think I said but I'm sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant.
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- Senior Member
- Posts: 5554
- Joined: August 25th, 2004, 2:01 am
- Location: Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Re: Let me tell you about my morning...
Well the engine should be fine. It never got critical hot...just way too hot. I just picked up a thermostat and a hose clamp. I managed to shoehorn the hose over the fat part of the fitting that is crimped to the copper of the heater core, but it's never going to hold. I just hope to GOD that the reason it was getting hot was just the thermostat and that my girl will behave herself for another few weeks.
On the upside, one way or another, I will be with ZE in a couple of weeks.
On the upside, one way or another, I will be with ZE in a couple of weeks.
94' RS/GS/MS/CF Monster Turbo...coming soon.
93' GS SE, the Black Beast, the former love of my life...soon to be gutted and crushed.
94' GS, black on black, now in several small pieces...and one large crushed piece.
2007 Mazda3 GT Sport --- super fun
2004 Honda RC51 --- Lost forever to some theavin' bastard
My Worklog
My feedback thread
Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity.
93' GS SE, the Black Beast, the former love of my life...soon to be gutted and crushed.
94' GS, black on black, now in several small pieces...and one large crushed piece.
2007 Mazda3 GT Sport --- super fun
2004 Honda RC51 --- Lost forever to some theavin' bastard
My Worklog
My feedback thread
Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity.
- onlytrueromeo
- Senior Member
- Posts: 2756
- Joined: May 16th, 2007, 10:05 pm
- Location: Albany, NY
Re: Let me tell you about my morning...
What I did was take the rest of the stupid plastic off, then grind down the metal lip on the stem (you will know what I mean when you take the plastic off) and shoved a hose on there and put 3 hose clamps on it. Seems to have held so far!
You can do this w/ the engine in, but you need to take the intake manifold off!
You can do this w/ the engine in, but you need to take the intake manifold off!
- fowljesse
- Supporting Member
- Posts: 5676
- Joined: March 17th, 2006, 2:59 pm
- Location: portland, OR
- Contact:
Re: Let me tell you about my morning...
The beginning of your story reminded me of when I decided I'd sell my Katana for a ZX10. While showing the bike, a guy stole it. I think he was a cop, because of the way the cops refused to help me AT ALL. It's a long angry story.
I hope it all goes well for you from here on.
I hope it all goes well for you from here on.
'93 GS - P&P DE w/ ZE exh. cams/ pistns, KLG4 IM, 65mm TB, MSnS, Phenos, K&N RAI, UDP, Grnd wires, rear batt, filld MM, torq strt, TWM short shftr, Exedy, Lng tube hdrs 2.5" Side exhaust, H&R sprngs, Poly bushngs, strutbars, Alum. crss mmber&tiebar, 22mm swybar, solid links, Direzzas, leather int, Alpine 9805 stereo & alrm, keyless entry, 10 Boston Accoustics spkrs, Prjectrs, Blaster2, CF hood, FG hatch, Lexan
- Dragyn Vyrus
- Regular Member
- Posts: 228
- Joined: May 12th, 2008, 9:36 pm
- Location: Sherwood Park, Alberta
Re: Let me tell you about my morning...
that really sucks man. I had one of those kind of mornings not to long ago, except someone decided to smash into the back of my car... ![Razz :P](./images/smilies/icon_razz.gif)
If you need a hand with your swap let me know. I'm always up for that.
i enjoyed mine other than the having no car for a while part... lol
![Razz :P](./images/smilies/icon_razz.gif)
If you need a hand with your swap let me know. I'm always up for that.
i enjoyed mine other than the having no car for a while part... lol
93 MX-3 ZE-GS - Sold
95 MX-3 RS - Bone stock winter car.
92 JDM turbo MR2 - SSQV, Cusco strut tower bar, ATS intercooler kit, Berk Exhuast, HKS EVC-S
95 MX-3 RS - Bone stock winter car.
92 JDM turbo MR2 - SSQV, Cusco strut tower bar, ATS intercooler kit, Berk Exhuast, HKS EVC-S
Re: Let me tell you about my morning...
Not only mazda, but gm Chrysler and ford too. Sell em like hotcakes daily!WHO PUTS A PLASTIC FITTING IN THE COOLING SYSTEM OF AN ENGINE!?!?!?!? IF I EVER MEET THE ENGINEER WHO THOUGHT THAT WAS A GOOD IDEA I'M GOING TO POKE HIM IN THE EYE!!!
93SE-KLDE Theres a big peice of metal inside my other peice of metal now...weird???
![Image](http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v641/blackmarket/sigpicmx3-1-1.jpg)
![Image](http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v641/blackmarket/sigpicmx3-1-1.jpg)
- onlytrueromeo
- Senior Member
- Posts: 2756
- Joined: May 16th, 2007, 10:05 pm
- Location: Albany, NY
Re: Let me tell you about my morning...
I think it's a pressure relief fitting of some sorts, so if for some reason coolant pressure built up inside the heater core they would pop first?
Re: Let me tell you about my morning...
I agree, sound like it.
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- Senior Member
- Posts: 5554
- Joined: August 25th, 2004, 2:01 am
- Location: Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Re: Let me tell you about my morning...
Actually, in the manual it is referred to as a "Quick Release" fitting. I'm not sure how it's supposed to come apart though. I'm just going to remove them and sweat a 5/8" barbed fitting on there.
94' RS/GS/MS/CF Monster Turbo...coming soon.
93' GS SE, the Black Beast, the former love of my life...soon to be gutted and crushed.
94' GS, black on black, now in several small pieces...and one large crushed piece.
2007 Mazda3 GT Sport --- super fun
2004 Honda RC51 --- Lost forever to some theavin' bastard
My Worklog
My feedback thread
Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity.
93' GS SE, the Black Beast, the former love of my life...soon to be gutted and crushed.
94' GS, black on black, now in several small pieces...and one large crushed piece.
2007 Mazda3 GT Sport --- super fun
2004 Honda RC51 --- Lost forever to some theavin' bastard
My Worklog
My feedback thread
Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity.