NCSledge

Hey, so about 9 months ago now I bought my first car, of course being a manual 2007 RX-8. It has crazy high mileage(131,xxx miles now) so I expected it to have a few issues at the very least. As it turns out though, the engine is in a great condition.

However, a few weeks pass, and I find myself stuff on the side of a highway because my engine is overheating, and coolant leaked out. At that point I knew I had a coolant leak. I checked under the hood, and saw the classic coolant explosion around the reservoir. A few days later I went to a garage, and they recommended swapping out the Reservoir, which made complete sense to me. I did that and didn't have any issues for the following days.

Now we're in October. I'm driving the car, having fun, and enjoying myself. I see the much feared low engine coolant light pop on again. However the leak was never bad enough to absolutely overheat the car, and I was always able to re-top off the engine coolant whenever it showed up. Without having much money to figure out what was specifically happening, and where, I figured this was the best course of action. The Engine Temps weren't moving past the halfway point, and the car worked as normal. Relatively.

Now in December. The 2007 RX-8 now has 136,xxx Miles on it. I found out my clutch was more than just a bit worn out. I figured this is to be expected, and bought a new clutch system. I had it installed at a garage since this was one of the few repairs I did not or could not do on my own. While I was at the garage, they told me that there is a "Possible Coolant Leak" but they themselves could not find it. I knew there was a coolant leak, but it was still elusive to this day. Anyways, I got the new clutch installed, and it felt amazing.

In January-February, I saw that most if not all of the coolant system should optimally be replaced after hitting 100,000 Miles on the odometer. I bought myself a new set of aftermarket coolant hoses, new clamps, and swapped out the hoses. Indeed, the old hoses were more than brittle, and aren't anywhere near reusable at all. New Hoses are on there and it works, or at least I thought so. Within the next 50 miles of driving, on my way home I saw some of that pesky white steam slowly curl up over my hood while stopped at lights. I immediately make my way home and check under the hood. There is another, albeit smaller coolant explosion around the new reservoir, and I can hear drops of coolant evaporating from near under the engine block. I couldn't see much more seeing as it was night time and dark.

I will within the next days of course check that all hoses are properly attached, and see if there is any coolant residue and look to troubleshoot it some more myself. I was wondering though if anyone experienced here would happen to have any advice or pointers, as I'm strapped on cash and need this car to work close to reliably within the next month.

dannobre

iTrader: (3)

A classic problem after or during replacement of the expansion tank is breaking the nipple on the radiator top tank that the expansion hose tank connects too... likely you need a new radiator

NCSledge

I'll make sure to double check the radiator, but at first glance I wouldnt think that to be the issue. The radiator(s) is pretty much a wreck anyways. I was planning to swap them out sooner before later in the future. Right now though I don't have a penny to place on the car.

NCSledge

Here's a follow-up to where I'm at. I checked everwhere, took out the Air filter, UIM and the Battery for better clearance. The radiator nipple looks fine and intact, so thats good. However, after tracing the source of the residue coolant on the engine, I found that it all leads to only one place. The Thermostat Housing. Along the seams of the T-housing I saw that everything was brown, wetted, and rustlike.

Its pretty clear to me now that it's the T-housing, but I'm not sure if its the gasket or the complete housing itself.

dannobre

iTrader: (3)

Likely the gasket....

NotAPreppie

You can rent a coolant system pressure tester from most auto parts stores to help you track down the leak.