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

 

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?

 

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.

 

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. 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".

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 ***. 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.

 

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!

 

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!