A few weeks ago my RX-8 started to smoke from the engine after I just driven it for around 5 mins.

I parked up and checked water and everything it was fine, so I carried on and the smoke didnt come out or anything.

The next day I went and bought coolant and applied it with abit of mix of water.

Anyhow - I keep getting the same light on my dashboard which is the Engine Coolant Level Warning Light


Why does this come up all the time? It says in the manual if If the light comes up I should pull aside to the road and add coolant, but Ive already got coolant in the car. So what else could this be? I dont want to burn out anything or damage my car..


Thanks..

 

Well there is a known issue with the sensor in the coolant tank.
The dealer should replace the tank for you.

However with the smoke you saw I don't know if you have something else going on or not.

 

Ya the smoke is odd, you sure it was smoke?

here is a coolant light thread, regarding the false light

https://www.rx8club.com/series-i-trouble-shooting-95/coolant-light-dash-118947/

 

did you fill the overflow bottle all the way?

 

yeah coz if you overfilled it could have come out the overflow pipe and hit something hot causing the smoke

 

I'm sure it was smoke. Suddenly I saw smoke coming out.

If IM HONEST > I was using just WATER for the car. I know this is bad. I didnt know though. I was told it was okay to use water. I was un-sure and I asked a few others they said it was okay intill I had these problems.

I have used coolant and it hasnt smoked SINCE i used coolant but I will take it to Mazda to get the tank changed then.

I hope they'll change it because my car isnt under warrenty anymore and I hope they fix it.

 

you always want to have SOME coolant in there as it helps with lubrication and against rust. Use only distilled water.

If the car isn't under warranty, you might be better off just buying a coolant tank on your own, having it installed, and doing a coolant flush.

 

You can use nothing but water, but it must be distilled.
Eventually, the water pump seals will fail from lack of lubrication, so a very small amount of coolant should be added or another product like WaterWetter or PurpleIce.

Using tap water will almost immediately coat your aluminum internals with minerals, ruining their ability to transfer heat.

 

Ive put more coolant than water...this is bad right?

Ive put around 75% coolant and 25% water lol.........I'm guessing it should be the other way around :|

 

75% coolant won't hurt anything. Just a waste of money, and it won't protect any better. You should be able to find a chart that shows the freezing point of various mixes. I think the best freeze protection is around 60%, but it's been a long time since I lived anyplace cold enough to worry about that.

Ken