Overheating problems, new to rotary.
 

This is my first experience with rotaries. I recently purchased an 86 RX7 from a guy who had been fiddling with it for the last few years, where it had been sitting in his shed. It has an overheating problem, and after getting the coolant flushed and thermostat replaced, it overheats even faster than when I bought it. After letting it idle for around 5 to 10 minutes, I drove it around the block and when I got back home, the temp gauge was at the top and I could hear a slight bubbling in the engine, and some coolant had backed up into the overflow resivour. Im thinking that I might need to replace the radiator, the water pump, or both. Any suggestions? Should I take these steps, or is my engine totally shot?

Thanks.

Is there white smoke out the exhaust? Overheating a rotary is a bad thing, have you noticed any leaks? Possible blown coolant seal, any oil looking film in the coolant? have you checked your oil to see if coolant is in there?

What are or where your plans when purchasing the rx7? Sounds like now its going to be an expensive rebuild. I thought it was going to be cheaper than other cars but at the end if you want things to be done right you have to replace more than you absolutely have to. Even if you just want a lightly modified, cruising with the old lady car that you wont have to worry about(aside maintenance and a little tlc) for miles to come.

If a rebuild is needed, while it's down he can upgrade the seals, do some porting & have a fresh motor at the end of it all. The rebuild won't be cheap, hopefully it would be within his budget.

I haven't noticed any white smoke, (its pretty obvious isn't it?) haven't seen any leaks, the coolant seemed really diluted and kinda gunky, but it has been sitting for a few years in a shed. The oil looked pretty clean, although old, and I had the coolant flushed and the oil changed. Would any leaks be obvious as well?

Thanks for the help!

I bought the car from a guy who had been working on it for a few years, trying to get it running again. I got it for a steal because his family was moving and they couldn't aford it any more. I went into it knowing it was a project car/money pit, and I was actually surprised at how well it ran! I'm currently driving a 92 Subaru Legacy, wagon, and am trying to get into something a little more sporty. :P

What you have is air bubbles in your cooling system causing overheating. Just do the burping process.

Got a call from the shop today. Turns out the fan clutch was totally shot, but I wont be able to pick it up until Tuesday to test it out. Heres hoping!:P

Fan clutch... guess I didn't /forgot about that :/ thanx to E fan. Glad to hear your overheating mystery is solved!

Thanks!! Hopefully that was the only factor..