Steam pouring out of my engine! Help!
 

I was driving on my way home from work today (45 miles) and when I got off the highway, I noticed steam was pouring out of my engine. I found that very odd, because no "check engine" lights were on in my car, and the temp guage was normal. I put some oil in (it was a little low) and then let it rest for an hour. I drove it again and didn't notice anything.

Any idea what's going on????? I'm a little worried that the rotary engine on the car I just purchased with 30k miles might be in a bit of trouble. Has anyone else experienced this? Thanks in advance for the response.

Uhh, did you check your coolant level? If you drove it for an hour later it might be nothing, did you maybe go through some water that may have splashed up on the hot parts?

Hmmmm.....I don't think so. It didn't rain in this area today. My coolant level could be the issue, but wouldn't the temp guage increase as well? It stayed at the normal level.

Steam from where exactly?? Done anything in the engine bay recently?

What did you see when you lifted the hood? Notice anything strange on your dipstick?

Nope, nothing. The steam was pouring out from what seemed like the base of the engine (it was coming out of the sides...not straight up).

There also seems to be a slight loss of power. I don't know if it's true or not, but it did seem like less.

a lot of steam. It also sounded as if a small buzzer was going off, but it might have just been the sound of the engine due to the heat.

Engine was shaking a lot, and the steam was pouring out. Nothing was on the dipstick, although the oil level did seem a little low.

Steam coming from the sides of your engine indicates a failure of a housing water jacket seal.

Get to the dealer. Rebuild time, I think. Sorry.

Hey, it's all good. Still under manufacturers warranty. As long as it's something they cover, that's all I care about.

Thanks for the advice, though. I'll definitely have them look at it.

You'll be right. Better get a loaner though....the queue for a new engine might be long with the current engine recall underway!!

Wow. Jeez, how long would you think? Couple of months? I just bought the car 2 weeks ago.

No, not two months. Check with the dealer.

Here is a pic of what I think has failed...see the orange "O" ring seals? One of these has let go...I reckon.

http://www.rotaryengineillustrated.c...ardown/17b.jpg

^^^^That's not a Renesis pic BTW, but you get the idea.

If the inner o-ring failed it would be blowing combustion gas out the radiator(overflow tank)
If you start the car and you get bubbles out of the coolant you lost the interior o-ring(orange)
If you lost the outer one then you are in deep do-do. It would have to be a major overheating to blow the outer o-ring. If that happened you would have lost all coolant and basicly burned the engine up. If overheated (HOT,, DAMN HOT)the inner one will fail first and leak combustion gases into the cooling system. The rotor houseing will have been damaged and warped on the inner sealing surface next to the coolant jacket side of the houseing the edge will be pealed back a bit.
But this is all worst case scenario.
I would go to the dealer and have them look at it ASAP.

Hey Gomez ,,that baby looks like it got hot.

If the inner o-ring went bad, and coolant is leaking into the combustion chamber you might get white smoke from the tailpipe. At least thats what happened to my old RX-7 (12A). Also had big loss of power due to compression leakage.

Thanks for all the info, guys. I'll definitely let it get checked out tomorrow. Hopefully, it's nothing.

If it doesn't do it on the drive in to work tomorrow, and I into the clear?

You really need to get the dealer to do a cooling system test on the car.

You said the engine was shaking badly when it happened. That would indicate an inner "O" ring leak. Steam out the side of the engine indicates an outer "O" ring leak.

Take the day off. Get it looked at.

You guys think it could have been the a/c compresser? or a line from it?

nope,

ecu wont let you do it..

it could be a ps fluid hose leak!!!

lots of white smoke..

beers :beer: