I recently bought a 2004 Rx-8 off of my father (he used to post on this forum as twin 8's) and i have developed a coolent leak comeing from the thermostat houseing.

i am a complete newb when it comes to automotive repair, so any tips, suggestions, diagrams, pics would be helpful.

 

See that bar up at the top of the screen that says search? All you seek is there.

 

If you have to ask how to replace the gasket, take it to a mechanic .

 

The T-stat housing gasket can be a bit of a pain in the ***. But anyone with a little bit of wrenching experience can do it.

I'm not going to re-write a DIY here, but i'm pretty sure there is one in the DIY section.

 

Not sure if there's a DIY on that, but search for "shop manual". There are posts with links to free and very reasonably priced electronic versions. I got one from tradebit.com for $5.25.

Ken

 

I think it's covered in the SSV DIY if there isn't one specifically for it.

I just tore into mine when i did it.

 

thanks for pointing me in the right direction.

Its all back together now and the leak is fixed, but now since i disconnected the ecu it doesn't want to hold an idle. my father said i just had to sit out there and feather the throttle a little till it "learned" how to idle. well i was out there all night (which must have pissed off my neighbors) but it still wont stay on for more than 45 seconds

 

a few drive cycles are required for it to re-learn. so drive it, you might have to rev at stop lights/signs to keep it from stalling.

 

I'll go out and give that a shot.

 

Did not work.

It got out of the drive way and died. a buddy and i pushed it back up into the drive way and it still won't idle for more than 45 seconds. if you put it in gear and try to drive the engine stalls. i'm pretty shure its not anything else wrong with the car because it ran like a champ before i took it down for repairs, so im left wondering if there is a step im missing with bringing it back online.