setsuwa

hey guys...my car is having a coolant leak. I drove it back and forth from riverside to san diego yesterday, a total of about 200 miles. It was acting normal until I started it again today. When I turned the keys I heard the noise of the belts. then after a while the coolant light and the alarm turned on. I added water and coolant but they all leaked out from somewhere under the right front light while I added them. Then I drove it really slowly to home for about 2 miles When I brake or move from a stop it makes abnormal noise. After I turned it off and poped the hood I heard the water boiling and I see the smoke coming out. I assumed they are water smoke becuz there were no smell at all. Am I having bad vaccums or I have a blown O-ring? Anything else I can do to shoot out the problem?Thanks guys for helping out again.

-Quen

c00lduke

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setsuwa

I am going to try flushing the coolant tomorrow..maybe it's just natural evaporation..maybe I am worrying too much lol.

AndyMac

No.

I would suspect you have a cracked radiator. Have the car on jackstands, warm it up nicely, and then, with the front undertray removed, inspect the radiator for leaks.

Leaks are not always obvious, or leaking when the system is cold.

I had the same leak from the right hand side, it comes form the overflow hole in the "Add Coolant" pipe. It stopped once the radiator was replaced.

It is possible thou, you have slightly blown water seal, which is letting compression into the water system. You need to get that check out by a shop with the correct checking equipment.

setsuwa

Thanks! I just got off work yesterday adn I don't think I was typing clearly.I'll have it checked and see what happens.

setsuwa

alright I think I am having a problem. today I checked and filled both the radiator and the filler neck. Started the car, and the belt squeezed. Then smoke came out from the alternator. coolant light and alarm goes off. I got a stand and put it up, looked under the car. The coolant only leaks when the engine is running. I think the pressure is pushing it out. It's a really big leak that I think it may drain the coolant if I drive the car. Any idea guys?

preludesh2000

iTrader: (1)

take the undertray off and try to trace were its coming from...
if your belt squealed could of had coolant on it....not sure about the smoke...

also a belt will squeal if the water pump is shot..
also a really bad water pump will dump coolant ...when running...
i've seen bad waterpumps dump coolant not running....
(but im not positive fd waterpumps act the same)

brad

bajaman

There is a "weep hole" in the water pump, when pumps fail the coolant comes out the weep hole. Sounds to me like you have a bad waterpump. Fairly easy to fix.

setsuwa

THanks guys. Will I be able to order the kit, put it up and fix it myself? I was really worried becuz the coolant is leaking as if I am flushing it...I am going to try taking off the undertray tomorrow and see if it's the pump. Thanks again guys for helping a newbie.

bajaman

If it IS the pump, it is not a hard thing to fix, provided you have some basic tools and a lot of time, as just getting to the damned thing is a pain in the ***. You'll need to take off your airbox and the cross-over tube, as well as the alternator belt. Give yourself plenty of room to work. Once you get that far you can see what you need to get to.
Last I checked the pumps were about $130 or so, make sure you get the gaskets too and you may as well change out your thermostat if it hasn't been changed yet while you are in that area.

dradon03

iTrader: (2)

I got a waterpump from someone last week for basically 50% of the price you are listing from Ray Crowe +25$ Core charge if you don't send your old one back.

hmkparts@aol.com hit him up!

setsuwa

okay...Is there any other more accurate way to confirm the problem before I order the parts?..I know it's kinda hard but I am just wondering how experienced people shoot out problem of their car..Thanks.

dradon03

iTrader: (2)

Take a very good picture

setsuwa

I'll try.

setsuwa

I just recalled before the coolant start leaking out, the car made a really abnormal noise. Whenever I pushed it, it made some "click click" sound from the engine bay somewhere in front of the driver's side..is it possible that it's related to the leak, or even caused it?

bajaman

^ Yeah, your water pump bearings can be totally shot and thus the pump is not running 'true'. When you romp on it, the additional torque momentarily pulls it over harder, more off-center.

setsuwa

So I ordered a water pump from rx7.com...it comes with a gasket..If my bearing are really shot do I need to get new ones also? If so..what kind/size?..

dgeesaman

iTrader: (7)

Bearings are integral to the water pump assembly. So you don't need to buy anything extra.

Install a new thermostat too, and if your car is original with 57k, I STRONGLY urge you to change any coolant hoses in the area especially the two small coolant hoses that lead to/from your turbos as well. Off the top of my head, that would be a 2 turbo coolant hoses, 2 radiator hoses, ast hoses, heater core hose, and the water pump-rats nest coolant hose.

That leaves the TB-rats nest hose, other heater core hose, and the TB-engine block hose to do another day.

Buy a whole set of coolant hoses from Mazda and I can't stress enough how important they are - the hoses under the hood of this car get cooked severely and if they pop you lose your coolant fast and can do serious engine damage in a big hurry.

Dave

setsuwa

That's a kind advice for starter like me who doesn't know what to do lol..thanks!

setsuwa

Is there any how to about changing the hoses...because I have no idea how to do it...

CantGoStraight

If you haven't downloaded the FSM ...do so. Second if changing a hose is difficult for you changing the water pump will far exceed your capabilities.

setsuwa

umm...I think the problem is not the water pump..

So the water pump arrived today and I spent the whole afternoon working on my car.

I drove it onto the ramps..took about a minute..then I get cloud of white smoke come out from the engine and exhaust. It's steamish..smells kinda like a 2 stroke engine..I am having a running nose and the smell wasn't really strong, so I couldn't tell if it's oil or coolant.

I took my time getting off the airbox, hoses, loosen the belt tensionor..all the things in the way to get access to the waterpump. I took off the water pump..peeled off the pieces of cracked gasket..tried my best to get the old sealing off to have a smooth surface for the new gasket with razor blade and nail polish remover..

then I put the new water pump on..broke one of the bolts on the pulley so I have 3/4 bolts on the pulley which connects to the belt. I didn't have sealing with me too, so I installed the gasket and water pump without sealing the side.then I checked the old water pump..It felt fine for me..I don't think the bearings are shot..

after all the work of putting everything back...I tried to put new coolant and water in..I am suprised it's pretty much filled..didn't even take a quarter of coolant/water. Then after maybe 30 secs without starting the car..it started leaking a little. I tried starting the car..It started and smokes started coming out from the engine bay and the tail pipe again...The leak is got worse once I started the car..but The smoke was not as bad. It's late at night and I said **** it..and left it lol..


Questions:
Could it be it's because I didn't seal the gasket with sealings, or It's not a water pump.

There was never smokes that comes out from the car until today..could it be because it's been sitting for 2 weeks? but it literally looked like I put seafoam in it or something..Not bad to the point that you can't see through the cloud..but not far away from it the first time I started.

Just for information..I just bought the car recently..could It be chopper seals hiding the blown coolant seal?

well..I am worried..so maybe some idea what to test on?
I have never gotten a chance to do the bubble test yet..maybe I'll find something to do it.

thanks for looking and good luck to me...lol...

Well at least I learned a lot about my car I guess..heh..

setsuwa

also..when I moved the car onto the ramps..some of the coolant leaked out, too. from what we see on the ground it should be somewhere near the water pump..

Andrew.

iTrader: (4)

Rent a coolant pressure tester. Put that on your car and you should be able to find any external leaks. Btw- where are you in Riverside?

CantGoStraight

One thing that almost always happens when you change the water pump is the water pump housing gasket to the engine gets damaged (if it's held from moving, which is nearly impossible) so you have to take the water pump housing out away from the engine enough to clean up the mating surfaces and replace that gasket as well when doing the water pump. There is also a small shim that goes through two hole on the left of the water pump housing that keep it from being dwan down crooked when bolting everything back together. I would venture to guess the steam you now see from the engine bay is coming from behind the water pump housing.