So, I read the forums and all the stuff I saw was on the water pumps leaking. I figured this was the issue so the last time I changed the oil, I ripped out the airbox and looked with a mirror etc, only to find the very minor leak (no puddles, but I can smell it very strong) is coming out the tube for overflow leaking onto the fan shroud. It was even overflowing when it was low and the low coolant light was on. I figured to start with the simple stuff and replaced a radiator cap. It seems to have helped, but not eliminated the problem as I still smell it sometimes. The car has never overheated according to the temp guage, what could be causing this?

Thanks

 

Thats generally not a good sign. It sounds as though it is a coolant seal failure, and the exhaust gasses are getting into the cooling system. How many miles are on the motor?

 

Approx 22,500 miles on the motor. I also have what I believe is a contaminated catalytic converter that smells like crap, but as most know, the Mazda monkeys are told to tell everyone that it's just the fuel... One other detail that may help is that the idle doesn't sound as smooth as most of what I hear on you tube and such. It's pretty close but a little off, has a minor sort of stumble in it.

 

So....how does one go about finding out if that is the issue? If that is the case...would antifreeze also leak into the exhaust? Should I put some uv dye in the coolant and see if it comes out the exhaust? Also could that be the source of my contaminated cat?

 

I have close symptoms to what your talking about... On a cold start my car idles at 2,000 RPM's, but sounds like it's dying at 400 RPM because so much coolant is going into the combustion chamber... I'm confused about how to tell which specific part it is I need... My engine is dying, and I've never owned a rotary engine in my life She almost lived too 80,000

Edit: My coolant does not leak at all though, but does seem to be slowly becoming less and less...

 

I dunno, I think mine was just a bad rad cap. I would assume most mechanics might use a bore scope to check the comb chamber/rotor for signs of coolant.

 

Best test is to pressurize the cooling system. If it holds pressure, chances are that you have a bad cap or leaky hose somewhere. However, if it fails the pressure test and the Dye test, it could be NEW MODA time.