Luiss7

Hi, last night my car went all the way from C to over the H, coolant light popped up, smoke was coming out of my front side and then as I almost was getting home, the car turned off. Tried turning it on several times (guess it was a bad idea because it was still hot) and it would not start, however it did start this morning. I added coolant and it seems to be completely leaking. Car keeps overheating. What can I do? Please HELP. I have to study and work.

200.mph

iTrader: (9)

overheating a renny usually destroyes the engine. once the temp needle (dummy gauge) moves past 1/2 way if you dont shut it down right away you probably killed it

Luiss7

What's a renny? I'm driving the car right about now, yet decided to park somewhere because it keeps overheating.

200.mph

iTrader: (9)

renisis its the engine in rx8s.

Luiss7

Well, I'm sure I didn't kill the Renesis engine as I just drove the car. I believe the engine is in good shape. I need some help with the overheating issues; I've had this car for almost a year and never have given me a problem besides expenses.

Love_Hounds

Unfortunately, if it did overheat to the extreme you mention, you vary possibly ruined the coolant seals and/or warped the rotor housing slightly. You can get the car to start and drive in both conditions but you'll leak coolant internally and/or externally constantly, and if the housings are warped they will have terrible compression numbers, meaning very little power and bad fuel economy.

EDIT: Even a Renesis(renny) with bad compression can run well enough to make it seem as through there are no issues, but you will see hot start problems, possibly even stalling when fully heated(in extreme cases), in addition to what I already mentioned.

Luiss7

Well, what can I do now? I live in Miami and you can't live here without a car. How much will that repair cost me?

Love_Hounds

At the vary least an engine rebuild, at most a re-manufactured engine to replace yours if your housing are warped(may be able to get away with just replacing the housings along with the engine rebuild). There are reputable rotary mechanics close to you(Florida), you can check on the forum here to choose one to contact about the process. Prices will vary with what has to be done, but we are talking thousands.

200.mph

iTrader: (9)

pettit racing is a good shop in fl but rebuilds are not cheap

Steve Dallas

Before we go completely off the deep end, let's address the leaking coolant problem. You have to get that fixed ASAP. There is a lot of plastic and rubber in the RX-8's cooling system, and it all has a limited lifespan. Your coolant overflow bottle could be cracked. You could have a bad hose. One of the plastic tanks on your radiator could be cracked. You could have a broken radiator nipple. Or you could simply have a bad cap on your coolant bottle. Identify and fix whatever is leaking and have the cooling system pressure tested. If everything external to the engine is fixed and confirmed leak-free, and the car still fails the pressure test, then look toward the coolant seals inside the engine. You can test for coolant in the motor oil by sending a sample to Blackstone Labs for $25.

Luiss7

Hi, thank you so much for answering and trying to help me. As I explained, the car's engine functions good and I believe it must be one of the best engines out there. Coolant was COMPLETELY leaking (in seconds), so I was driving and revving the car DRY. I went to a mechanic and he said it was the radiator, he is going to do some work with it and has some experience with rotaries. $280.00, what do you think? Is it a good price?

Luiss7

Hi, apparently the smoke I was getting (not a lot) was from the water on the coolant evaporating; and the system overheating. Like I said, car turned on again (engine sounds and feels good), yet coolant was leaking and car overheating A LOT. I managed to drive it to a mechanic, he is about to change the radiator and some some labor work on it.

Steve Dallas

The correct course of action when you are losing coolant fast is to pull over, shut it down, and have it towed to a shop for repair. You compounded your risk for damage by continuing to drive it after the first episode. A towing bill is much cheaper than one for an engine.

A new aftermarket radiator costs ~$100 plus shipping online. New coolant isn't free. A good mechanic can change it out in about 3 hours time at ~$90 /hr. I would call that a good price if he really is replacing the radiator with a new unit.

Heads-up that you may be replacing the coolant overflow bottle too. Those tend to get broken when they are removed, because they get brittle with age. And they cost more than the radiator due to the coolant level sensor being inside and the fact that they are a dealer only part.

Luiss7

Yes, you're right. I put everything at risk driving it hot; however I blame my insurance as well. Called Geico (I have full-cover) to tow my car to the nearest shop, yet they kept asking me about accommodations, addresses, mileage, etcetera. When they finally decided to send me a towing-vehicle, they said it would take them 2 hours to reach me, BY that time my car had already turned on and I just drove it to the car-shop.

200.mph

iTrader: (9)

if you overheated your car multiple times and continued to drive it and overheat it more it would be an act of god if you didnt destroy your engine. ill bet you my left nut that the motor in your car is not even close to one of the best engines out there. sorry man you screwed up.

Luiss7

Well, actually it only overheated one time; which was when the C went over the H, some smoke started coming out, and car shut down. After that, the thermometer kept going up the next day as I drove it to the shop, yet it did not overheat and no smoke. Turns out the coolant's bottle was also broken. So new radiator, new coolant bottle = $360.00, engine is fine so far man, maybe not the best, but definitely one of the strongest. Considering is a car from 2005, and it completely survived the overheat (which practically ALL vehicles ever made do). Don't wish bad upon me, haha.

200.mph

iTrader: (9)

im not wishing anything bad on you but you do not understand the engine in your car. once the dummy temp gauge moves to the half way point you are in serious trouble. since you dont want to listen or learn about the renny im gonna stop posting in your thread and wish you luck

Love_Hounds

200 isn't wishing bad on you he is being realistic, when the temperature gauge moves from it's normal position(almost half-way between C and H), the engine is already in dangerous territory(some people say you can stay up at that temperature for awhile before the seals fail and if you get it back down you should also be okay). At H, the engine temperature is well above the point at which the coolant seals fail and in fact hot enough to cause the rotor housings to warp due to heat expansion.

sonicsdaman

iTrader: (3)

220 is where you will start to damage things

https://www.rx8club.com/series-i-tec...s-move-256838/








if the needle did go all the way to H then you more then likely have engine damage, it might not show up right away but keep an eye on your exhaust for smoke

BigCajun

iTrader: (1)

Please keep us updated on your experience.
I am curious to see how this unfolds.

RIWWP

iTrader: (2)

Luis,

There is no liquid cooled engine ever designed that will survive without engine damage if you drive it with zero coolant in the system.

It doesn't matter how healthy you thought your engine used to be, you permanently damaged it by continuing to leave it running, much less actually driving on it. The only reason you were able to drive it as much as you did is the fact that it's a rotary and they can stay running even when severely damaged.

Where did you get the belief that you can run an engine without coolant without damage occuring?

It's only going to mean a rude awakening when you think it's all fixed ... and then start finding all sorts of problems with it. Coolant loss still, oil loss, smoke, rough running, fouled spark plugs, slagged catalytic converter, etc... You won't even be able to rebuild the engine, every internal component is going to have damage.

This is a hugely expensive lesson for you in the importance of properly maintaining your car's coolant system, and not ignoring severe failures in critical systems.

Luiss7

HiThe thermometer needle went back down to C after it overheated. Please note that, I did not drive it without coolant! I filled it up completely yet it leaked out as I drove it. All the levels seem to be working just fine, and BTW I just turned on the car which seems to be working just fine. I'll post pictures and perhaps a video too.
Replaced radiator for a brand new one.
New coolant bottle.
Added new coolant fluids.
Perhaps you guys think I literally burned the car when I really didn't.
I've seen older cars have this issues and continue to run for years.
In fact, my sister drives a 1999 explorer without coolant because she has leaks everywhere; her car has overheated several times and she still drives it after almost 3 and a half years. Perhaps Americans are not used to big car problems, in countries like South America this was an everyday thing in almost every engine.

200.mph

iTrader: (9)

the rotary engine in your car is nothing like the piston engine in your sisters explorer. what you dont seem to understand is temps above 220 will likely cause coolant seal failure, and warp the rotor housings. the needle going back to c after it cooled down dont mean ****. instead of fooling yourself that you didnt cause any damage how about you get a clue on how a rotary engine is put together and why we are telling that you fucked up

Luiss7

On another note: I never drove the car 220 MPH. I drove it about 25-30 MPH to the car-shop (as the coolant was leaking). The drive was about 7 minutes; in which the thermometer was slightly going up but not completely. Afterwards, I turned off the car and mechanics started working on it right away.
As much as you are all RX8 experts, and I respect that. I know my car more than ANYONE, I know it's rules and my personal musts.
I will keep updating this thread weekly on the performance of my 2005 Mazda RX8. Thank you so much for those who actually helped with information on repair costs and damage.

Gravey

iTrader: (3)

^No one said anything about speed, and frankly speed is irrelevant, 220 is refering to it's temperature, you can be doing 0 MPH and overheat. In fact more speed might have actually cooled it down a few degrees


And apparently, you don't actually know your car, you only think you do. And it's very misguided.