I pulled my car out today to give it a wash, and noticed a smalled puddle of green fluid with a black puddle in the middle underneathe the car just inside the passenger front wheel. I'm afraid this may the dreaded coolant leak from warped housings. The thing is, I never go over 4k or more than half throttle until the engine is 5 minutes past coolant warm. I haven't noticed exceptional oil consumption, but the coolant has twice come on briefly during startup but it went out after a minute or two.

I'm pretty sure it's coolant, but it may not be oil in there too. I'm usually the only one that parks there, but sometimes my roomate pulls his POS caddy in my spot, I'm hoping it's from him. Is there anything I can do myself to see if I'm going to have to take it in?

but the coolant has twice come on briefly during startup but it went out after a minute or two.

The above is kind off odd. This might sound dumb, for me I don't want to take it to the dealer unless I really have to. Park in a clean spot and see if there is any more stains or you can play it safe tell them what happened to your gauge and take it to the dealer right away.

well, i paired the coolant light with the recent cooler weather we've been having down here. I checked the level, and it seems to be kosher.

It's parked over a bunch of white towels now, so I'm keeping an eye on it

I'd start with opening the radiator and checking the levels, also check your oil.

Any evidence of water in your oil or on dipstick? Is the suspected point of leak in front of wheel (like under the oil cooler). Check the fittings on the oil cooler as well. Also check your oil for coolant smell. Other than that wait and see if you get any spots on the towel.

no coolant smell in the oil.

I crawled under the car to take a look. There were no leaks of any sort between the housings (that I could see any way). What I did noticed was on the front of the motor and right above where I found the puddle was some green and black streaks. Looks an awful lot like coolant.

I belive thats the water pump (someone please correct me), which would make sense. Why it's leaking coolant, I don't know, but the oil is probably just from when i dribbled a bit onto the motor when topping it off a few weeks ago. Yesterday was the first time i'd driven in the rain since, so If it got it wet, and then dripped down onto the ground, it would leave the coolant and what oil/grime it picked up on its way. I can't tell for sure, but the source of the green streaks seems to the the hole on the water pump pictured below.

You should not have any coolant anywhere that it can drip. Sounds like it may be the mechanical shaft seal failing on the water pump. This is generally due to either very high mileage (like 75,000+) or the bearing behind the seal starting to fail (much more common) which, in turn, causes the seal to fail due to shaft displacement. See if you can grasp the pump pulley and wiggle (rhymes with giggle) the pulley. Any movement at all means it is toast. If you do not continue to get drips, then this may be a freak occurence. If you have additional drips on the towel, then get to your dealer 'cause this is NOT going to fix itself, and the pump should be under warranty.

Checked the towels last night and found even more fluid. I called first thing this morning and took it in. Carefully drove very slowly to work, and then to the dealership. I told them exactly where I saw the residue, and they came back 20 minutes later saying nothing was wrong. I went into the service bay to see they hadn't even lifted the car, only pressurized the system and there was no loss of pressure. I had them put it on a lift and I directed them to the residue, which in the 50 miles between home, work, and the dealer had at least tripled in amount. The tech said the water pump likely just failed from a manufacturing flaw amplified by the high rpms. They're driving to go get one right now and putting it in tonight, so I'll have my car back tomorrow. They said they'd never seen this before, and as far as I know no one's reported it on here.

BE AWARE!! CHECK OFTEN FOR GREEN SPOTS UNDER YOUR CAR!

The amount that came out in only 50 miles vs everything that had come out before means its getting pregessively worse. I made it to the dealer just in time. If I hadn't noticed the drips, it's likely I would have overheated and toasted the motor. MNAO owes me one.

Glad you caught it Epi. Also, good move in not letting them brush you off with a worthless pressure test.
Now, explain the new avitar......

my new avatar shall be shrouded in secrecy as was my previous one

Well, I'm pretty sure it's not a push-pull, flip-flop, binary linear accelerator.
Now, explain the Knight Templar........

Won't it draw an epitrochoid :D

Well, I'm pretty sure it's not a push-pull, flip-flop, binary linear accelerator.
Now, explain the Knight Templar........

University of Central Florida Golden Knights?

You will be lucky if it is only the pump (I hope). You may be getting a new engine.

lets hope so :D

the knight templars were contracted by richard the lionhearted to defend the highways into the holy land during and after the crusades so that christians could make there pilgrimage. my blood lines actually trace back to these guys...it's pretty cool. a form of them eventually became today's freemasonry. theyre belived to have posses many relics of jesus, the holy grail, the shroud, a piece of the cross...

Actually the Knights Templar were mostly French who, in fact, carried out some of the middle-ages Crusades in the 12th & 13th centuries. Very successful at making war, they returned from the Crusades very wealthy, and established and/or aquired much land and influence. Most returned to France. The Order was very devout in their Christian faith; charitable to others; and so influentual and politically & militarily powerful that it was eventually challenged by the Catholic church who saw it as a threat. A campaign of suppression by the Catholic church, in alliance with ruling royality, eventually forced the Order out of existence and confiscated their holdings in the early 14th century.

The modern day masonic order of Knights Templar (and I am one) is a branch of freemasonry founded in the charitable and philantropic practices of the original Order. You can Google "Knights Templar" and find a ton of both historical and modern-day information. A direct link to today's order is www.knightstemplar.org

i used to be involved in Demolay in high school, I'll probably get into masonry when I'm out of school. if you are a member of the Knights Templar, why'd you ask what it meant?!?

I didn't ask what it meant. I ask you to explain your use of it in your screen name; which you did. With your involvement in DeMolay, you obviously have a family history in masonry. I'm glad you are interested. Let me know if I can help.

Now, back on thread. Did you get your car back yet? If so, is it fixed?

yea, picked it up this morning. brand new shiny water pump in place :D

all seems well thus far

eventually forced the Order out of existence and confiscated their holdings in the early 14th century.

The modern day masonic order of Knights Templar (and I am one) is a branch of freemasonry founded in the charitable and philantropic practices of the original Order. You can Google "Knights Templar" and find a ton of both historical and modern-day information. A direct link to today's order is www.knightstemplar.org

well i myself wouldnt say out of existence i would say forced to move 'underground' is closer to the truth. i watched a program recently which credited the Knights Templar for creating the first modern banking system in which Preists etc moving around the continent could leave x amount of money at one place, receive a statement to that effect then move to the next place and use that statement to withdraw money from another Knights "office". saved people from losing their funds to robbers while traveling.

edit: either of you know where the Grail is? figure it doesnt hurt to ask:)

glad your water pump is all squared away epi

Well, Zoom, I sure don't. The question is not where the Grail (the cup of Christ) is, but rather, was there even a Grail? I think the answer is that nobody really knows. It's one of history's mysterys, I reckon.

yea, picked it up this morning. brand new shiny water pump in place :D

all seems well thus far

That's good to know it was just the water pump... and you're only the second one I've seen on this board with that problem... but still think it's odd they're failing at all. Did they say it was simply a gasket failure, or a bigger problem with the water pump itself?

the tech said they just cant handle constant high rpm loads, and that any minor flaw will throw it and any of accesories off balance and ultimentaly lead to failure.

zoom - you should read of on other things the Knights and Masons did that we're 'under the radar'. some say the united states is the mason's ultiment creation, which would make sense because the arabs never liked the Knights Templar.

it's long, but a good read = http://www.enterprisemission.com/tower2.htm
lots of number coincidences, which may just be exactly that, but it is still neat. dave, you ought to check it out too.

EDIT: definately check out the RNG part near the bottom. very interesting.

You're right about the article being long. My brain is awash with numbers, and clouded by conclusions I have a hard time grasping. Interesting concept.

Read "The Da Vinci Code" by Dan Brown.

His tale of the holy grail is pretty cool.

We're an autonomous collective! You filthy British swine, you dog handlers, you (sorry, an excerpt from MP and the Holy Grail).

Another good read is 'The Da Vinci Deception'. I'm reading it presently but I've left it at work and can't recall the author's name. It adds some perspective.
Hope the coolant thing is sorted out.

my water pump failed. I took it to the dealer and they replaced it no problem

thats 3rd one I know of...

The Rx-7's had weep holes in the water pump, does the 8's water pump have the same weep hole?

weep hole?

there is what looks like a hole on the bottom, from which massive amounts of coolant was pouring from on my car

Reviving this thread for a not-so-great news. My 8 has just been diagnosed with a leaking water pump. I checked in for just regular service and the tech spotted it. Now I'm driving a POS Cavalier :D The rental service ran out of Mazdas. I hope I get my 8 back today. If not, tomorrow then.

I haven't noticed any coolant leak on the floor. But then again, it has been raining crazy around here and the apartment garage does get soaked.

yeah guys..keep an eye out. it's something that can creep up on you and become a big problem real fast

My 8 was diagnosed with coolant leak around the water pump this morning (@ ~23 K miles) when it was in for tire rotation/routine service. My dealership hasn't always been on top of Rx-8 issues (TSB's, PCM flashes, etc.) without my harrassment, so I'm a bit surprised they found this on their own when the car was up on the lift. The tech said it was a leak near the weep hole that indicated a seal on the water pump had gone bad.

I hadn't noticed any coolant leak on the ground where I park (but then again, my neighbor's housekeeper often parks in my spot when I'm at work... leaving a huge green puddle behind).

The dealer had to order a replacement part (from the above discussion, hopefully entire pump rather than just a seal or gasket) and expects it to arrive/be installed tomorrow.

In the mean time, I've got a dealer loaner Pontiac Grand Am... the color I believe is called metallic turd. It's got all of the latest GM engineering-- rubbermaid dash, intermittant power steering (gives the feedback of an electric dial while on the highway, but get it in a parking lot and it takes more effort to steer than my non-power steering vintage VWs). After being sternly instructed not to smoke (or allow others to smoke in the car), I was greeted by a blast of smoke aroma when I opened the door. Oh yeah-- and it came with a Notorius B.I.G. CD in the stereo.

It's at the dealer now and should be ready tomorrow.

I smelled anti-freeze for a while now but never saw anything. Finally saw a small puddle (size of a quarter) on the floor. While installing the RB Revi intake last night I could see the green goo on a water pump bolt.

-Dave

My pump is showing signs at 30K miles :(

Hmmm, my coolant light came on the other day but did not notice anything on the floor or obvious signs of drippings. Only 13k miles.

get under and check guys...

OK BOYS......time to help out ur blonde friend!!

I've had my 8 (red, red racing interior) for a little over a year now ('04) and although I love this car I'm a little pissed at the dealer. I too have had problems with the engine coolant light coming on and off. The car is serviced (oil/checks) on a regular basis and I've reported this problem since Oct 04. Every time the say it's nothing and the light goes out. Until yesterday.
I sat in bad traffic for a little over an hour and the light was on and off. I turned on the heat to pull cool air in and no change. There were no changes in the temp or the oil until I got downtown in front of my building when I came to a complete stop. All of a sudden the gauges went through the roof and smoke poured fron the hood and there was green fluid pouring out from the front dirvers side. Needless to say I'm pissed at the dealer. I've told them about this problem numerous times over. :mad: (there was never a problem with fluids in my parking space)

So, it was towed away last night for repairs. This should all be covered under warranty right? Does anyone know what happened exactly (outside of the overheating)? Thanks boys!!

I'm not married, no kids, it's my car and my cats.....mess with either and you're a dead man!!!!! Anyone care to add some input

OK BOYS......time to help out ur blonde friend!!

I've had my 8 (red, red racing interior) for a little over a year now ('04) and although I love this car I'm a little pissed at the dealer. I too have had problems with the engine coolant light coming on and off. The car is serviced (oil/checks) on a regular basis and I've reported this problem since Oct 04. Every time the say it's nothing and the light goes out. Until yesterday.
I sat in bad traffic for a little over an hour and the light was on and off. I turned on the heat to pull cool air in and no change. There were no changes in the temp or the oil until I got downtown in front of my building when I came to a complete stop. All of a sudden the gauges went through the roof and smoke poured fron the hood and there was green fluid pouring out from the front dirvers side. Needless to say I'm pissed at the dealer. I've told them about this problem numerous times over. :mad: (there was never a problem with fluids in my parking space)

So, it was towed away last night for repairs. This should all be covered under warranty right? Does anyone know what happened exactly (outside of the overheating)? Thanks boys!!

I'm not married, no kids, it's my car and my cats.....mess with either and you're a dead man!!!!! Anyone care to add some input
Could be a water pump failure although that is at the very front-center of the engine. Maybe the coolant was diverted to the driver side a bit by the underpanel. There have been quite a few reports on the forum of water pump failures, so it wouldn't be unusual. What seems unusual in your case is that you should have seen some evidence of leaking long ago. Of course, it could be a hose or something else that only leaked when you were running the engine hard out on the road.

In any case, the problem should be covered under warranty unless you have put a LOT of miles on it since Oct '04. Let us know what they find. I would definitely remind them that you had reported a coolant problem before and that you're not happy with their handling of the problem. In fact, you might want to give MNAO a call to make them aware of the poor service at that particular dealer.

Edit: Spelling fix. :)

Had my water pump replaced today with 36,000 Km. The dealer notified me of it on Friday when I brought it for regular service. I got conflicting explanations, one was that this is not a common problem, the other guy was telling me that he's seen a few.

Lesson learned though, I'm going to start checking periodically.

My water pump went out today. I noticed a small green puddle in the garage and went to straight to the dealer. Luckily, they ordered me one overnight. They claim this is the first one they have witnessed, which I believe as they have been honest with me in the past.

mamccubbin --
How many miles on your RX-8 ?

mamccubbin --
How many miles on your RX-8 ?

Sorry, I meant to include that. I have 22,500 on the car. It was an early build as well.

Hmmm...I had to put coolant in my car a few weeks ago. Not even 6 ounces, but just the same, and I'm at 18K. This thread is getting me a bit paranoid, I'm going to have to start watching for this in case it is a very, very slow drip.