elysium19

iTrader: (1)

OK, I'm gonna get some **** for this, but that’s the price I'll pay for some good information.

I've been doing most of my own maintenance since I bought the car at 19k miles, including differential oil, engine oil, plugs, brakes, etc. I believe (although really I should go check for sure now) that the previous owner had done all the scheduled maintenance dates up to that point. The car now has 49K miles on it, and is 3.5 years old.

For some ungodly reason, I forgot about coolant. I think I topped it off when I first got it, but the coolant system has not been touched for over 2 years and 30K miles, and possibly contains the car’s original fluid from Japan. I just hurried outside and checked and, I can’t even tell for sure, but I don’t see any fluid through the reservoir bottle anywhere above the “low” mark. I believe it is very, very low. Just to make clear, the car seems to be running just fine, which is reassuring.

About 3-4 times over the past few weeks when it has been very cold out (well below freezing) I got the radiator/coolant light come on for just about 10 seconds at startup, then it went away, so I wasn’t too concerned, but that’s what got me thinking about this. I know that low coolant can be really bad when the engine is very hot…but this is the opposite.

Can anyone let me know what possible damage occurred here, given the cold temps? If there are no major mechanical problems, is it likely that there is still SOME coolant down there, and that my engine hasn’t been frying itself?

Needless to say, first thing in the morning I am running out to get a bottle of coolant (50/50 premix), and I am reading the radiator flush DIY as we speak, for this weekend. I douched this one up good, I know, so please keep the flak to a minimum. Any advice or informed speculation about my engine’s condition, though, would be appreciated.

-Andrew

b'Eight'

You are fine, don't worry about it. The coolant light comes on at start up because the fluid is low but as the coolant expands, the light goes out. That means, it's not that low. Just refill. I'm new to the RX-8, so I don't know, but in most cars the coolant these days last to nearly 100K miles, not that changing it before then won't hurt.

elysium19

iTrader: (1)

Thanks for the input...but I'm reading conflicting things. Lots of places say yeah, coolant is fine for many miles, 100k or whatnot. But then how come the service manual (which I'm looking over right now) says "coolant flush service" at 15K miles, and "coolant service" at 30K and 60K?

I usually would go with the more conservative/frequent option, but as I said I messed this one up, so I'm really a bit concerned about it...

dannobre

iTrader: (3)

You should definitely change it out....and be more proactive in maintaining it

You should be OK though....just change it out with either pre-mixed...or glycol and distilled water blend...Probably 50/50 would be a good choice where you live

nycgps

iTrader: (1)

U live in Long island ? around where ?

u should be fine. but I suggest you to top it out a bit first. if u see coolant light you're 100% too low on coolant, even just 10 seconds or so. Cuz Coolant expands when heated.

Just add about 1/4 gallon for now. Get one of those Prestone 50/50 stuff. then when it gets warmer, change it completely for at least 2 times. that should get most of it out (or just once if u know where the engine drain plug is, but lets not get into that for now)