Reflow ovens for circuit boards... once components are placed on the PCB (which has solder paste on it) they go into an oven to reflow the solder.
I repair the surface mount machines and correct the programs.

Lol. 2010 cars send a Twitter when coolant is low, and you have to subscribe to your car's Twitter feed. :smoker:

Well, Just did the Test on my S2, removed the Senors Electrical Connection Plug, started car and NO CEL, drove around for a while and still NO CEL.

;)

I am a little hesitate to use CLR to clean mine but i am replacing all the hoses and the radiator this weekend and I want to clean up my dirty bottle, does anyone know if white vinegar or something will really work to cleans it up?

Nope. No one knows. :dunno:

Its a complete mystery.

Haha :lol:, shit. I missed that :lol:

Pardon the newbie questions....is there a DIY for removing the coolant bottle? And where is this sensor I would need to unplug?

And for those of you who have purchased a new bottle, how much was it?

Oh let's see.
The bottle isn't as cheap as I would've like. I will go and look and get back with you and post it here. I think Paul or Sheldon at Mazmart(a vendor here) might still have his sale going, but I can't seem to find that thread. Here's his website. http://www.mazmart.com/ItemDetail.aspx?id=531

If you are standing at the front of the vehicle in front of the bottle, then you will see the plug on the left side of the bottle. The wire runs down the side of the bottle and the sensor itself actually comes up through the bottom of the bottle. If you unplug that connector, 1/2 the connector, the wires and the sensor will all come out with the bottle.

When standing at the front of the bottle again, you see those two nuts that hold it against the frame in front of the bottle. That's really all there is to it. Those two nuts and maybe disconnecting one or two hoses. I think I would try the sugested method by MM, that is take it out, plug up the holes, use white vinegar and let it sit overnight, then flush it out really good and re-install.


Okay, I don't have a real clear picture of that portion of my engine bay, but I circled the connector in green, and follow the red crappy arrows for the location of the nuts. The bolts are on the frame, so all you need to do is take the nuts off. Might be easier if you pull the battery and perhaps the battery tray, but don't think you have to do so.



https://www.rx8club.com/attachment.p...0&d=1272154070

Fantastic. That was the connector I thought, but I wasn't 100% positive. I'll definately try the remove and clean method before I spend $170 for a new bottle.

I have been getting the radiator warning light on and off frequently over the last few months, and ignored it since I knew it was probably faulty and had coolant replaced less than a year ago.

Now my engine temp gauge is running very hot after warm up, (close to top of gauge) the engine bay has a slight burning smell, and the fan stays on a long time after shut off. The engine temp gauge seems to stay on dead cold for a few minutes longer than usual. Any thoughts before taking it to a shop? I'm out of warranty (2004 MT)

For any of you that have used the distilled vinegar cleaning method, has this lasted over time? I'm just wondering if I'm putting a temporary band-aid by cleaning it up, or will this be a "permanent" fix?

Great detailed posting
 

Thanks. Just started to have issues with my coolant sensor (2006 Shinka). Intermittent CEL, so last week I topped off the coolant with some Prestone....far above the max line....fully expecting it to drain off with expansion and heat. That seemed to happen today, 7 days later. I stopped at a convenience store on the way to work and when I got back in, noticed glycol on the pavement...and the CEL came on. Never went off until I parked, in a spot that sloped down....noticed the CEL had gone out. So it's borderline at the point where the glycol is clearing the sensor. I'll check the bottle out tonight and see how gunky the entire sensor really is. This Post and Forum are great! Thanks.

Emailists,


Get it somewhere. That temp gauge shouldn't really move very far from halfway. Maybe two or three clicks higher than that and that's it. If you have coolant at the proper level and you are running that hot, I would think water pump and/or thermostat. Oh........and I don't think I would be driving it.

My temp gauge is fine. Rock solid at the center, normal. It's the stupid idiot light that says I'm low on coolant that's the problem. The reason I drained off glycol is because I "topped" off the coolant up to the cap, which means well over the overflow hose. So I expected it to eventually drain off. The coolant level is fine, the temp is fine (which means the thermostat is working fine) and no overheating. (yeah, jinx, jinx, jinx) No, I'm sure it is the coolant bottle sensor, which is why I posted in this thread. Thanks.

Oops. Sorry about that Mazurfer! I see you were responding to Emailists post, not mine! TAKE HEED Emailists! He's right. Shouldn't be driving that if you're getting high temps. I've seen a few rotaries go from overheating (all RX-7's), but once that's done, it's new engine time. That 2004 you have can run for years and years if you keep it clean and cool.

I think the O.P. said "white vinegar", not distilled. WTH is distilled vinegar anyway? Probably NOT a permanent fix. The crud buildup is caused by particulates picked up in the water jacket through normal flow of the coolant over time. This is normal. Ethylene Glycol (Anti-freeze) is prone to breakdown and also contains chemicals to bond to the crud to keep the coolant system clean and flowing as engineered. The crud buildup is normal as well. You'll see this in LOTS of other non-rotary cars. (nothing really unusual about the coolant system in an 8) What is faulty is the design of the coolant level sensor and where the crud buildup is occurring, making it a recurring problem, over time. Best to just be aware of it and that you will occasionally have to remove the bottle and flush out the crud periodically. If you do a backflush from the radiator input hose, up through the water jacket and through the water pump (gotta make sure the thermostat is open when you do this) you may reduce the likelihood of crud buildup or increase the time between bottle cleanings. Nevertheless, nothing to worry about, IMHO.

No problem, I should have been more clear who I was responding at. I went back and edited it to make it more clear! :D:

I think he will see it now. :suspect:

Anyway Phiend, now...........let me give you a hint..........if you don't know already.
There is a full line on the bottle, it's just hard to see and is on the left side(I think). Also, if you get overflow out of the overflow tube, it drips down on the power steering connectors and eventually you will have no power steering until you clean those connectors. Solution........I and many others have extended that overflow hose all the way down past the connectors and mine actually sticks out of one of those rectangular slots in the under tray!

Distilled vinegar = White vinegar.

Actually, most companies call the product "Distilled White Vinegar" http://www.heinzvinegar.com/products...e-vinegar.aspx

Good to know! Working on the Coolant bottle this weekend, so I'll make the overflow mod at the same time! Thanks!

Thanks!:)

^....................will save you trouble later, that's for sure. Since you may have the bottle out, there is no better time to extend that hose. Just make sure you run it where the fan blades won't get it!

From what I gather from the thread, the best hipothesis I can come up with is that the "gunk" accumulation on the magnetic float is weighing it down to the point that it starts sinking when the coolant gets really hot (therefore you get the intermittent light when you run the car at med-high RPMs) until the accumulation becomes bad enough that the float sinks permanently.

Ccleaning it should solve it temporarily (until the float gets contamined again)

That is unless the float is actually absorbing the contamination... then the cleaning process would only work a couple of times until the float absorbs too much of the contaminants.

I think it is just the first scenario though, and Frequent coolant changes, and bottle cleanings should be able to stave off having to replace the bottle.

I'm beginning to get the intermittent light, so I'll clean it in the next couple of months. Is there a "How to" for the overflow hose extension? (or should it be pretty self explanatoryonce I take the bottle out?)
Nothing fancy, I'm just looking for what kind of hose I should get, how to conect it to th eexisting one (or replace the current one) and the routing people have found to work with this.

I think the float does lose buoyancy over time. Not sure if this is from absorption or just repeated heating.
Crud build up doesn't help either.

On your other subject/question:

I just had some left over hose from doing a catch can install. It was just about the right size.
Took off the old hose and stuck the new one on with a clamp(although probably didn't really even need the clamp).
I wouldn't extent the old one, not worth it......just get some hose of about the same inside diameter and replace the existing hose.
With the bottle out, you will see that you can just run it down the outside of the fan shroud. The whole idea is just to get it away from dripping on the PS connectors, so you want to get it below that. I had enough, so I just stuck it through the under tray slot and then cut it off. It sticks below the tray by about 1/2 inch.

OK, I took the bottle off over the weekend and soaked it in "distilled white vinegar". I put it all back together (damn, it was a real PITA to get the clamp back on the lower hose!!) and drove about 30 miles without the coolant level light coming on. I'll keep my fingers crossed that this solves the problem...at least for a while.

Good.................please make sure you report back and let me(us) know how long it lasts.
Did ya get a lot of crud out of it?

I just had the Rev M installed today... so pretty, for a coolant bottle
Attachment 259453

Yeah....think I'm on Rev. M as well. I'd have to go back and check.
Now.....about that overflow hose...........Better go extend that!

but i like keeping the power steering electronics moist.

Unfortunately, it only lasted about 50 miles.....damn light came on again last night.

I only got a small amount of crap out of the bottle. The small fraction of the float that I could see looked like it has less deposits on it...but it didn't work. I guess I now have to either get a new bottle, or simply unplug the sensor.

Excuse my ignorance....what is "Rev M"?

Rev. M is the latest revision of the bottle. That doesn't mean they started at "A" or that they didn't skip any(I'm not sure), but I know that Rev M is the latest, or was the last time I looked. Hopefully they have made some improvements along the way, so it's always best to try and get the latest. Maybe they made the float better, maybe they changed something else.......who knows? :banghead:

Thanks Mazurfer.....still trying to decide if I'm going to just unplug the sensor, or spring for the Rev. M

From what i was told, and i've done none of my own research on this.. they started with Rev nil.. then Rev B and so forth.

Umm, Sorry, No you are incorrect..;)

The Coolant Bottle Part Number Started at E

N3H1-15-350E

Changed to F from 19th May 2003 Production to 17th Sept, 2003.

Then a G from 18th Sep 2003 to 21st May 2005

Then a H from 22 May 2005 to 30 June, 2005.

Then a J from 1st July 2005 to end Series 1

Series 2 still used the J up to 30th Sept, 2008

Then a L from 1st October 2008 to???

Latest is a M

The above is taken from Mazda EPC.

If you still do not believe me try searching for a Price on a plain number or a A, B, C, D They all come up "Part Number Does Not Exist" until you enter the E, which then Supersedes to the N3H1-15-350M
http://www.trademotion.com/partlocat...&siteid=214264

^............I was counting on you piping in at some point Ash! :)
Good to know it started at E or whatever................now I wish I knew what the various revisions were actually for.

I chose "M".
I guess once in 4 1/2 years I can live with, but we shall see if/when it happens again. :cussing:

Read something interesting this morning on this subject, so I thought I would link it in.

https://www.rx8club.com/showpost.php...14&postcount=4

Here's the theory in a nutshell that Hugh was talking about.

"After taking the car home I decided to try cleaning it. After removing it and cleaning, it still didn't work. After seeing the magnetic float sitting on the bottom of a full tank it wasn't hard to figure out I need to add more flotation to it. So I drilled a hole in the tank so I could try the ship-in-the-bottle trick. I then glued some cork (from a bottle of wine) to the sides of the float. Using the washer with the sides trimmed off to fit in the hole. I glued a rubber gasket and used sealant to seal it from the inside due to the pressure in the tank. After a pressure test I filled it with coolant and the float was floating again.I think the reason the reason the original float sinks after awhile is the rubbing away the material from the hole of the float as it rubs on the center shaft. Not sure how long this fix will last but after three weeks it still works perfect".

I'm still not sure if it's really material from the float getting rubbed off however. If it was, then why would cleaning(in most cases) work for awhile?
I'm still leaning toward the material of the float loosing buoyancy over time possibly compounded by crud deposits on the float itself and that why cleaning(flushing) appears to solve the issue for awhile.
You remove some of the deposits enough for it to re-float, but the fact that it has lost buoyancy eventually comes more into play. :dunno: Too early on a Sunday morning to think about this and I'm probably missing something.
I'd love to know what was changed on all the Rev's of this bottle...............all the way to the latest............"M". :crying:

Not sure we've seen a failure on "M" yet.

So whats the difference between E and M?

i would assume, and since this is the way most items get a new rev number i would guess it would accurate, that mazda may have only released certain rev's for purchase they must have worked on more.

As i stated in my post, it was something i was told, not something i had researched. But why would you arbitrarily skip rev's unless you made one letter and decided that it still wasn't fixing the issue?

An update on my new bottle: Have had no issues or leaks or coolant lights since the install. Let's hope it lasts.

Yeah, mine's been in since Sept 09(when I started this thread) but the first one(whatever rev that was) made it for about 3 1/2 years.

This thread just remionded me - my plug has been disconnected for over a year now ....

No one knows Exactly for sure, BUT, Genuine Mazda Parts use an END letter Identification of the Part to show that there has been a Modification to that part.

Now obviously the issue is around the warning light and what the source cause is, as most know it appears to be float/switch related.

Now Mazda may have made changes to any of the following, Plastic Compounds, Magnet, Reed Switch (inside), a number of things.

There may also be a slight change to say the Overflow hose, which would also change the part number for the Bottle Assembly.

Anyway, there is Always a reason for the Part Number change, in some cases the part and part number changes completely.

You can also have 2 or 3 "modified" same parts side by side and Visually see no change at all...

Dave, wasn't there also a view that the Float Shaft actually bends or warps slightly after Heating and Cooling over and over, making the float stick, particularly when "crudded Up"???

Has Anyone with a Series II RX-8, or Series I from the " J,L,or M " Part that has had issues?

Or Anyone who has Replace their Coolant Bottle with a J, L or M, which is now Playing Up??..

In other words, has the M in particular fix the issue??

Yes, If you look at my early pics, my float shaft was indeed warped when I cut it out.
But...............because you just wrote this, I just went out in the garage and looked at the old float and shaft. I didn't have a micrometer handy, but there is slightly more than a 16th of an inch between the float and the shaft.
That would be quite a bit of crud build up IMO. Not totally impossible, and my float shaft while bent, showed no real crud of that significant amount. See the third pic in the first post and you'll get an idea of that distance.


Do you know if the part number(with Rev) is stamped on that bottle anywhere? We really need to take it upon ourselves to ask people to take a look when they either take out to clean them, replace them, or even if they just decide to unplug the sensor.

Excellent thread. Having this problem for months now. But in my case this has to be solved by the end of next month, because here in ireland we have a NCT (national car test) every year on cars over 5 years, and if a warning light comes on, instant FAIL. and at 50euros a test its a pain in the ass. So next weekend I'm gonna try the vinegar cleaning solution. Hopefully it will work for a month at least. Again cheers to everyone for the excellent info on this site.:bowdown:

If it's possible to get into the bottle to add a cork to the float, then it should be possible to get into the bottle and jam the float in the up position. That would keep the warning light off without having a disconnected plug hanging out in plain sight.

My light sometimes comes on at high revs, like it does for others. But more often it comes on while driving moderately. Hard to understand how the float moves freely and does that if it's clogged with sludge.

On versions... Could the first version being "E" mean that they had four failed designs before production? Kind of like the way we have 7-Up, but 1-Up through 6-Up never saw the light of day.

Ken

WOW, every 5 years, I would have though from New they would wait say until 10.

Anyway, IF you wanted to be "sneaky" just unplug it..you will get NO warning light.
If they do under Bonnet/Hood check just sit the wiring plug on top but don't click in connectors?...Try it....before you have the test..

Yes, basically Ken on Parts Revisions before Production, But, the revisions made does not necessarily mean "the issue" was the float level sensor ..as we know it.

You sneaky bastard.....but yep, that will work.
I wouldn't even get it close together, I would just unplug it and kinda gently stuff it down right where it is. They'll never see it! :wavey:

:icon_droo

He he..

^....well the latest revision is "M"

Anyway, I did see a thread where someone cut a hole in the side of the bottle to get to it and added the cork. Then sealed it......I wouldn't do that, but have at it.

Don't really see any other way if you really, really want the ability to have the light. I honestly think the magnetic float looses bouyance over time. Mine wasn't that cruddy in there and didn't have enough of a bend in the shaft to really keep the magnetic float from floating.
I'll take a look in the AM and see if there is anyway possible to attempt to get at the float through the opening at the top of the bottle. At the bottom end, you can actually get the sensor out, but what it does is fits basically up into a hollow tube. The float rides around that tube and no way to get at it!

Best solution is to try and clean it, but it usually comes back. Either that or just unplug it and check your coolant like we used to do in the "old" days! :rolleyes: