Coolant problems :(
01-02-2015, 02:10 PM
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Coolant problems :(
Hi guys,
So my rx8 has been rebuilt by a company in Alton (not sure if I can mention names) just over 3 months ago and only covered 205 miles since then, it's not even had the 500 mile run it yet however I'm really having problems even being able to drive the car and I'm in desperation for someone who knows these cars inside out to even possibly able to help me.
The car has been back to this company because the coolant was leaking, they told me in good faith they would solve the problem and they returned the car saying they replaced the coolant hose.
So I drive the car back from a friends in Chichester to Southampton with no problems however as soon as I pull up at the garage to put fuel in the car the whole coolant was emptied onto the floor with steam coming out the bonnet.
I let the car cool and filled it back up with distilled water and drove it around the corner to my house.
The next day I filled the car up with coolant by disconnecting the pipe near the back of the top of the engine and filled up the tank until full to the mark.
No coolant leaked out so. Started the car and it was still fine, after driving it for 10 mins it emptied again luckily I was outside my house.
The day after that I bought a new radiator from euro car parts and replaced it.
Filled the car up again with coolant and no leak again until 10 mins of driving... It empties so quickly with steam everywhere.. I was thinking the original radiator was blown however now I'm thinking it can't have been the rad and this new one can't have blown this quick.. We'll just after 10 mins of first time drive..
I'm just so confused as all the pipes looked fine as I obviously checked them
So my rx8 has been rebuilt by a company in Alton (not sure if I can mention names) just over 3 months ago and only covered 205 miles since then, it's not even had the 500 mile run it yet however I'm really having problems even being able to drive the car and I'm in desperation for someone who knows these cars inside out to even possibly able to help me.
The car has been back to this company because the coolant was leaking, they told me in good faith they would solve the problem and they returned the car saying they replaced the coolant hose.
So I drive the car back from a friends in Chichester to Southampton with no problems however as soon as I pull up at the garage to put fuel in the car the whole coolant was emptied onto the floor with steam coming out the bonnet.
I let the car cool and filled it back up with distilled water and drove it around the corner to my house.
The next day I filled the car up with coolant by disconnecting the pipe near the back of the top of the engine and filled up the tank until full to the mark.
No coolant leaked out so. Started the car and it was still fine, after driving it for 10 mins it emptied again luckily I was outside my house.
The day after that I bought a new radiator from euro car parts and replaced it.
Filled the car up again with coolant and no leak again until 10 mins of driving... It empties so quickly with steam everywhere.. I was thinking the original radiator was blown however now I'm thinking it can't have been the rad and this new one can't have blown this quick.. We'll just after 10 mins of first time drive..
I'm just so confused as all the pipes looked fine as I obviously checked them
01-02-2015, 02:15 PM
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Has anyone done a coolant system pressure check? Seems to me like a blockage if you have a new radiator and the hoses are good. When the coolant escaped the last time where was it coming from?
01-02-2015, 02:16 PM
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Yes, you are fine mentioning company names, however keep it clean, civil, and factual.
Have you identified WHERE the coolant comes from when it dumps all over the place? If it's coming out of the coolant overflow it suggests a much different problem than if it is dumping from a hose connection or from a hole in the side of the engine (which shouldn't be there)
Since nothing happens until it comes up to temp, i would think this is either thermostat or pressure related. Again, depends on where the coolant is actually coming from.
And refilling the coolant should just mean removing the cap from the bottle and filling there. You shouldn't be disconnecting any hoses during a refill.
Have you identified WHERE the coolant comes from when it dumps all over the place? If it's coming out of the coolant overflow it suggests a much different problem than if it is dumping from a hose connection or from a hole in the side of the engine (which shouldn't be there)
Since nothing happens until it comes up to temp, i would think this is either thermostat or pressure related. Again, depends on where the coolant is actually coming from.
And refilling the coolant should just mean removing the cap from the bottle and filling there. You shouldn't be disconnecting any hoses during a refill.
01-02-2015, 02:18 PM
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Hi
To be honest I'm guessing the company in Alton done that when they took the car back after the rebuild to fix this problem...
I really couldn't tell where the leak was coming from, it was dripping heavily from the bottom of the rad all across the bottom not just one place.
Also the car makes a very loud clicking noise when it happens, it then cools and stops making the clicking noise.
01-02-2015, 02:21 PM
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Yes, you are fine mentioning company names, however keep it clean, civil, and factual.
Have you identified WHERE the coolant comes from when it dumps all over the place? If it's coming out of the coolant overflow it suggests a much different problem than if it is dumping from a hose connection or from a hole in the side of the engine (which shouldn't be there)
Since nothing happens until it comes up to temp, i would think this is either thermostat or pressure related. Again, depends on where the coolant is actually coming from.
And refilling the coolant should just mean removing the cap from the bottle and filling there. You shouldn't be disconnecting any hoses during a refill.
Have you identified WHERE the coolant comes from when it dumps all over the place? If it's coming out of the coolant overflow it suggests a much different problem than if it is dumping from a hose connection or from a hole in the side of the engine (which shouldn't be there)
Since nothing happens until it comes up to temp, i would think this is either thermostat or pressure related. Again, depends on where the coolant is actually coming from.
And refilling the coolant should just mean removing the cap from the bottle and filling there. You shouldn't be disconnecting any hoses during a refill.
And again I cannot see where it's coming from because it's like the whole engine bay is soaked
01-02-2015, 02:22 PM
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Yes, you are fine mentioning company names, however keep it clean, civil, and factual.
Have you identified WHERE the coolant comes from when it dumps all over the place? If it's coming out of the coolant overflow it suggests a much different problem than if it is dumping from a hose connection or from a hole in the side of the engine (which shouldn't be there)
Since nothing happens until it comes up to temp, i would think this is either thermostat or pressure related. Again, depends on where the coolant is actually coming from.
And refilling the coolant should just mean removing the cap from the bottle and filling there. You shouldn't be disconnecting any hoses during a refill.
Have you identified WHERE the coolant comes from when it dumps all over the place? If it's coming out of the coolant overflow it suggests a much different problem than if it is dumping from a hose connection or from a hole in the side of the engine (which shouldn't be there)
Since nothing happens until it comes up to temp, i would think this is either thermostat or pressure related. Again, depends on where the coolant is actually coming from.
And refilling the coolant should just mean removing the cap from the bottle and filling there. You shouldn't be disconnecting any hoses during a refill.
01-02-2015, 02:28 PM
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Never assume a shop does a test or maintenance that you didn't explicitly tell them to do, or they explicitly said that they did. If it wasn't mentioned, it didn't happen.
Open the hood and find the coolant bottle, about front center of the engine bay, in front of the battery, with the radiator cap on it.
see that hose extending off of the side under the cap? Remove that and take that to the hardware store and get 3-6ft of clear plastic hose that has the same internal diameter. Plug the new clear plastic hose into the same port under the edge of the coolant bottle cap. Run the hose somewhere where you can sit the other end into an empty gallon jug (probably one of your empty coolant jugs at this point). This can be done while you are stationary, so next to the car is fine. Remove the plastic engine cover to make sure you can clearly see as much as possible. Start the car and let it idle itself up to temp, watch the coolant bottle closely, see if you can detect any bubbling or foaming in the coolant. Also watch for coolant dumping out through that hose. If it is temp/pressure related at all, then it will start dumping coolant at idle, you don't need to be actively driving it. If it starts dumping, shut off the car immediately to prevent any possible further engine damage.
If you get coolant dumping and it ISN'T through that hose, then you have a severe connection failure or parts failure somewhere else in your cooling system, and you need to hunt it down.
If it's coming out of the coolant bottle through the hose, then you have a blockage somewhere that is spiking the coolant pressure and/or can't be routed the way it should be. Possibly the incorrect thermostat or improperly installed thermostat. If any of your hoses are old, there could be a blockage in one of those too. Or they could have reconnected hoses wrong.
Open the hood and find the coolant bottle, about front center of the engine bay, in front of the battery, with the radiator cap on it.
see that hose extending off of the side under the cap? Remove that and take that to the hardware store and get 3-6ft of clear plastic hose that has the same internal diameter. Plug the new clear plastic hose into the same port under the edge of the coolant bottle cap. Run the hose somewhere where you can sit the other end into an empty gallon jug (probably one of your empty coolant jugs at this point). This can be done while you are stationary, so next to the car is fine. Remove the plastic engine cover to make sure you can clearly see as much as possible. Start the car and let it idle itself up to temp, watch the coolant bottle closely, see if you can detect any bubbling or foaming in the coolant. Also watch for coolant dumping out through that hose. If it is temp/pressure related at all, then it will start dumping coolant at idle, you don't need to be actively driving it. If it starts dumping, shut off the car immediately to prevent any possible further engine damage.
If you get coolant dumping and it ISN'T through that hose, then you have a severe connection failure or parts failure somewhere else in your cooling system, and you need to hunt it down.
If it's coming out of the coolant bottle through the hose, then you have a blockage somewhere that is spiking the coolant pressure and/or can't be routed the way it should be. Possibly the incorrect thermostat or improperly installed thermostat. If any of your hoses are old, there could be a blockage in one of those too. Or they could have reconnected hoses wrong.
01-02-2015, 02:33 PM
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Never assume a shop does a test or maintenance that you didn't explicitly tell them to do, or they explicitly said that they did. If it wasn't mentioned, it didn't happen.
Open the hood and find the coolant bottle, about front center of the engine bay, in front of the battery, with the radiator cap on it.
see that hose extending off of the side under the cap? Remove that and take that to the hardware store and get 3-6ft of clear plastic hose that has the same internal diameter. Plug the new clear plastic hose into the same port under the edge of the coolant bottle cap. Run the hose somewhere where you can sit the other end into an empty gallon jug (probably one of your empty coolant jugs at this point). This can be done while you are stationary, so next to the car is fine. Remove the plastic engine cover to make sure you can clearly see as much as possible. Start the car and let it idle itself up to temp, watch the coolant bottle closely, see if you can detect any bubbling or foaming in the coolant. Also watch for coolant dumping out through that hose. If it is temp/pressure related at all, then it will start dumping coolant at idle, you don't need to be actively driving it. If it starts dumping, shut off the car immediately to prevent any possible further engine damage.
If you get coolant dumping and it ISN'T through that hose, then you have a severe connection failure or parts failure somewhere else in your cooling system, and you need to hunt it down.
If it's coming out of the coolant bottle through the hose, then you have a blockage somewhere that is spiking the coolant pressure and/or can't be routed the way it should be. Possibly the incorrect thermostat or improperly installed thermostat. If any of your hoses are old, there could be a blockage in one of those too. Or they could have reconnected hoses wrong.
Open the hood and find the coolant bottle, about front center of the engine bay, in front of the battery, with the radiator cap on it.
see that hose extending off of the side under the cap? Remove that and take that to the hardware store and get 3-6ft of clear plastic hose that has the same internal diameter. Plug the new clear plastic hose into the same port under the edge of the coolant bottle cap. Run the hose somewhere where you can sit the other end into an empty gallon jug (probably one of your empty coolant jugs at this point). This can be done while you are stationary, so next to the car is fine. Remove the plastic engine cover to make sure you can clearly see as much as possible. Start the car and let it idle itself up to temp, watch the coolant bottle closely, see if you can detect any bubbling or foaming in the coolant. Also watch for coolant dumping out through that hose. If it is temp/pressure related at all, then it will start dumping coolant at idle, you don't need to be actively driving it. If it starts dumping, shut off the car immediately to prevent any possible further engine damage.
If you get coolant dumping and it ISN'T through that hose, then you have a severe connection failure or parts failure somewhere else in your cooling system, and you need to hunt it down.
If it's coming out of the coolant bottle through the hose, then you have a blockage somewhere that is spiking the coolant pressure and/or can't be routed the way it should be. Possibly the incorrect thermostat or improperly installed thermostat. If any of your hoses are old, there could be a blockage in one of those too. Or they could have reconnected hoses wrong.
Ok I will do this in the morning and report back.
Thank you.
01-02-2015, 02:36 PM
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One example of what I mean just to make it a bit easier. I did this when i had a cooling system failure after a replacement engine (mazda remans are bad that way).
My particular problem was a blockage somewhere that started causing the coolant to be pushed out through the overflow. Hooking up the hose made it really easy to see and at what rate it was pushing out. It doesn't sound like you will have precisely the same problem since mine was pushing out coolant even when cold, but it will help diagnose.
My particular problem was a blockage somewhere that started causing the coolant to be pushed out through the overflow. Hooking up the hose made it really easy to see and at what rate it was pushing out. It doesn't sound like you will have precisely the same problem since mine was pushing out coolant even when cold, but it will help diagnose.
01-02-2015, 02:45 PM
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One example of what I mean just to make it a bit easier. I did this when i had a cooling system failure after a replacement engine (mazda remans are bad that way).
RX-8 coolant overflow issue - YouTube
My particular problem was a blockage somewhere that started causing the coolant to be pushed out through the overflow. Hooking up the hose made it really easy to see and at what rate it was pushing out. It doesn't sound like you will have precisely the same problem since mine was pushing out coolant even when cold, but it will help diagnose.
RX-8 coolant overflow issue - YouTube
My particular problem was a blockage somewhere that started causing the coolant to be pushed out through the overflow. Hooking up the hose made it really easy to see and at what rate it was pushing out. It doesn't sound like you will have precisely the same problem since mine was pushing out coolant even when cold, but it will help diagnose.
Did you ever find your blockage?
I will go and take the overflow hose off tomorrow first thing in the morning and get a longer one and do this.
I actually have another rx8 sat next to my main one which is only the 192 but my other is the 231.. The 231 is the car with the very recent rebuild and the other has also got a complete engine failure, I'm using it for parts on my 231 so hopefully if I need any parts I can take them off that.
Also I tried to take the rad off that if your wondering... However snapped the small plastic hose connection on top next to the larger coolant hose so I had to buy a new one
01-02-2015, 02:48 PM
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Yes, that small hose will snap the radiator nipple every time if the radiator has more than a few heat cycles in it. Most of us have broken it figuring "na, you just have to be gentle with ... damn."
I didn't find where my problem was, but when i was replacing the bottle, i snapped that radiator nipple, and once i was ordering my radiator, i ordered all the coolant lines too. I had already replaced the thermostat and the new bottle and cap were on hand. The problem disappeared, so something I replaced was the problem, but I don't know which. Likely my radiator. A clog can happen anywhere through.
I didn't find where my problem was, but when i was replacing the bottle, i snapped that radiator nipple, and once i was ordering my radiator, i ordered all the coolant lines too. I had already replaced the thermostat and the new bottle and cap were on hand. The problem disappeared, so something I replaced was the problem, but I don't know which. Likely my radiator. A clog can happen anywhere through.
01-02-2015, 02:51 PM
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Yes, that small hose will snap the radiator nipple every time if the radiator has more than a few heat cycles in it. Most of us have broken it figuring "na, you just have to be gentle with ... damn."
I didn't find where my problem was, but when i was replacing the bottle, i snapped that radiator nipple, and once i was ordering my radiator, i ordered all the coolant lines too. I had already replaced the thermostat and the new bottle and cap were on hand. The problem disappeared, so something I replaced was the problem, but I don't know which. Likely my radiator. A clog can happen anywhere through.
I didn't find where my problem was, but when i was replacing the bottle, i snapped that radiator nipple, and once i was ordering my radiator, i ordered all the coolant lines too. I had already replaced the thermostat and the new bottle and cap were on hand. The problem disappeared, so something I replaced was the problem, but I don't know which. Likely my radiator. A clog can happen anywhere through.
Do you know what the loud clicking is each time the car has dumped the coolant?
It's stops after it's cooled.
01-02-2015, 02:55 PM
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Unsure, it could be something shorting out, a relay spazing, apex seals tapping the housing, a drowning cricket....
Noises are really hard to figure out unless you take a video of it so we can see things like where it might be coming from, how fast it is, what the pitch and tone are like, etc...
Noises are really hard to figure out unless you take a video of it so we can see things like where it might be coming from, how fast it is, what the pitch and tone are like, etc...
01-02-2015, 02:57 PM
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Unsure, it could be something shorting out, a relay spazing, apex seals tapping the housing, a drowning cricket....
Noises are really hard to figure out unless you take a video of it so we can see things like where it might be coming from, how fast it is, what the pitch and tone are like, etc...
Noises are really hard to figure out unless you take a video of it so we can see things like where it might be coming from, how fast it is, what the pitch and tone are like, etc...
01-03-2015, 06:47 AM
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Unsure, it could be something shorting out, a relay spazing, apex seals tapping the housing, a drowning cricket....
Noises are really hard to figure out unless you take a video of it so we can see things like where it might be coming from, how fast it is, what the pitch and tone are like, etc...
Noises are really hard to figure out unless you take a video of it so we can see things like where it might be coming from, how fast it is, what the pitch and tone are like, etc...
01-03-2015, 06:59 AM
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Weird....
So...
This morning i went out to the car filled it back up with coolent and attached the hose like you said..
I left the car running on idle until temp was up and there was no overflow on the pipe nor the water dripping extensively from the bottom of the radiator.
I decided to take the car for a spin to see if it would leak then and there was no leaking at all... after the 20 min drive i returned home and let it idle for another half an hour, the fans kicked it and the temp gauge raised very slightly but then returned back to normal after a min or so.
The 1st image is the raise in the temp.
2nd is after one min or so and returned back.
This morning i went out to the car filled it back up with coolent and attached the hose like you said..
I left the car running on idle until temp was up and there was no overflow on the pipe nor the water dripping extensively from the bottom of the radiator.
I decided to take the car for a spin to see if it would leak then and there was no leaking at all... after the 20 min drive i returned home and let it idle for another half an hour, the fans kicked it and the temp gauge raised very slightly but then returned back to normal after a min or so.
The 1st image is the raise in the temp.
2nd is after one min or so and returned back.
01-03-2015, 07:03 AM
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finally this is whats confused me the most this morning.
The coolant light is on however the tank and system is full?
The engine light has been on a while and since the mot i think its to do with the decat which i need to remove to pass the mot.
I will do a diagnostics after ive sorted this problem out.
The engine has been rebuilt just over 200 miles ago and the oil light also came on today when i was out taking it for a drive.. is that normal 
The coolant light is on however the tank and system is full?
The engine light has been on a while and since the mot i think its to do with the decat which i need to remove to pass the mot.
I will do a diagnostics after ive sorted this problem out.
The engine has been rebuilt just over 200 miles ago and the oil light also came on today when i was out taking it for a drive.. is that normal
01-03-2015, 11:59 AM
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Update from this morning.
I have been driving the car all day, the coolant light goes on and off now and then... But none has leaked out.
Could I have refilled it too much, I'm so confused... Could the sensor be intermittently broken causing it to think it's too hot and dump the system?
I have been driving the car all day, the coolant light goes on and off now and then... But none has leaked out.
Could I have refilled it too much, I'm so confused... Could the sensor be intermittently broken causing it to think it's too hot and dump the system?
01-03-2015, 12:16 PM
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Very common issue. The only way to repair is to replace the bottle as the sensor is housed inside. You can unplug it as well, that will make the light go away. In light of your recent cooling issues, I would definitely keep an eye on the coolant level despite what the sensor reads.
01-03-2015, 12:20 PM
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I decided to take the car for a spin to see if it would leak then and there was no leaking at all... after the 20 min drive i returned home and let it idle for another half an hour, the fans kicked it and the temp gauge raised very slightly but then returned back to normal after a min or so.
The 1st image is the raise in the temp.
2nd is after one min or so and returned back.
The 1st image is the raise in the temp.
2nd is after one min or so and returned back.
Be advised that the needle won't start moving up until 235F, and you can suffer engine damage as low as 220F. That doesn't mean that it WILL happen, but it's playing russian roulette, and the higher the needle goes the more bullets are loaded into that gun. That needle high pic looks more like 250F to me, and that is REALLY dangerous to your engine. It is likely that you already have engine damage from all of this. If you end up finding the problem, you are going to need to start testing for a coolant seal failure.
Coolant light on with normal coolant level is a common failure, the coolant bottle float attached to the sensor gets water logged and sinks to the bottom and won't float, tripping the coolant light even with full coolant. You have to replace the bottle to replace the sensor.
It's also possible that with a cooling system failure, the coolant level drops significantly while driving, and then 'fills back up' in the bottle when stopped. This means that there is air in the system that is moving to the bottle when driving, and moving into the lines and engine when stopped.
At this point, I'd really recommend removing your thermostat, but taking pictures of it before actually removing it from the housing, so we can determine if it was installed backwards.
01-03-2015, 12:23 PM
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The sensor in the coolant reservoir failing is very common, unplug it or replace the reservoir. So it's not overheating now or leaking? Sounds to me like the system was never properly burped after the rebuild and it just worked itself out. But I do recommend burping the system anyway.
Engine ---> Cooling System --> Coolant replacement
M A Z D A
Engine ---> Cooling System --> Coolant replacement
M A Z D A
Last edited by 9krpmrx8; 01-03-2015 at 12:40 PM.
01-03-2015, 12:46 PM
#23
Driving my unreliable rx8
Get a Coolant system pressure test.
Any radiator shop can do it easily. Probably most mechanics. Then if you do pull your thermostat. Heat it in a pot of water and monitor the temp it opens at.
Any radiator shop can do it easily. Probably most mechanics. Then if you do pull your thermostat. Heat it in a pot of water and monitor the temp it opens at.