THEWITCHKING

iTrader: (3)

Hey everyone. So I have a coolant leak. To remedy this I went and bought a new radiator a couple days ago (GPI 3 row on eBay. They're amazing quality for Chinese at a really good price. I've used one before and never had a problem) anyway, I was doing some tinkering today and noticed a very large amount of coolant on the lower front of my motor (12a) towards the pass side, pretty much right below the thermostat housing. It's not dripping down from the housing though. If I didn't know any better I'd say it was leaking from the oil pan gasket. I never confirmed that the leak was actually in the rad, but it was the stock from 84 so it was a long time coming. Regardless, am I being paranoid? I've seen the coolant leak from the front of my car, never actually confirmed it coming from the rad, but now I'm a little worried. Any input is appreciated. Happy holidays.

LizardFC

iTrader: (1)

There's a lot of places it can leak from up front and on the passenger side. The lip of the pan is just a logical place for it to be pooling. Some common leaks that come to mind:

Intake manifold coolant passages - look for coolant on top of the motor above the intake manifold, or possibly leaking out the bottom of the manifold. You'd probably see some steam from the exhaust with this.

Lower radiator hose - could be dripping onto the front of the motor from that end of the hose

Water pump - leaks from either the weep hole or the gasket, runs down the front

Thermostat housing - either at the base of the neck or the upper radiator hose.

Coolant doesn't normally evaporate so take a paper towel and poke around until you find something wet. EDIT: That's what she said.

THEWITCHKING

iTrader: (3)

I think water pump may be my best bet if its not the radiator. When I first encountered the problem it looked like coolant was being spit out of the front of the radiator like one of the tubes bust. I checked my hoses and they look good, no coolant coming from them. Didn't see any water pooling around the im at all, and front what I can tell there isn't any running down the front. I'm about to go out with a paper towel to "find something wet" lol. I hope I'mjust being paranoid though and my rad is just old.

THEWITCHKING

iTrader: (3)

Okay so I went out and checked with adequate lighting and found out the leak is coming from my water pump. The pump itself is still good because the engine isn't over heating at all so I assume a new gasket should fix it. Time for the stupid question, but should I use any rtv silicone gasket sealer? My instincts tell me know, but at this point everything I know has been contradicted by rotaries so I might as well be wrong with this too lol.

rwatson5651

iTrader: (5)

Check the weep hole on the bottom side of the pump. If the internal seal is goind the coolant will come out of the little hole, usually you can see evidence of the leak around the hole where it runs out. If it is then you will need a new pump.

KansasCityREPU

iTrader: (9)

You will need to remove the water pump to fix it at the very least. Just putting sealant on it without taking it apart will not work. If you’re going through the work of removing it, might as well replace it. I would also remove the water pump housing and replace the engine to water pump gasket and the thermostat and its gasket. I always use a little bit of high temp sealant alone with the gasket when I do mine. It doesn't take that much.

midnight mechanic

or you can use radiator stop leak, which will stop the leak, gum up your radiator, cause a boil over

I heard that adding a teaspoon of pepper will stop the leak, but not mess everything else up

THEWITCHKING

iTrader: (3)

Midnight Mechanic, Pepper does do the job and last quite a while. So does paprika, cinnamon, ground ginger, cumin, ground nutmeg, etc. Unfortunately I care about my car and want to make sure I fix it right.

KCRepu, I wasn't gonna just slob on some gasket sealent on the leak and cross my fingers lol the pump is gonna come off. What pump to engine gasket are you talking about? From what I could tell there was just the one area that needs a gasket. Thermo was already on my list for when I did my radiator. And hell I would love to replace my water pump. Problem is I can't afford a new one right now. I have an extra that came with the car, but I have no idea if it works. And easy way to bench test?

rwatson, do you have a picture of what a bad weep hole would look like. There's a lot of coolant coming from the lower of my water pump so I wouldn't know whether its that or just the gasket. Also, is there any way to live without the weep hole and just plug it is or is it blasphemy to even suggest such a thing?

LizardFC

iTrader: (1)

When in doubt, replace. It comes with the gasket, which you are going to need anyway. The gasket KCRepu is talking about is the engine > waterpump housing. It's the big chunk of engine that the waterpump actually bolts to. The stuff he mentioned isn't a bad idea since you're going to have the coolant drained anyway.

The weep hole is just a tiny hole in the front of the pump. When the seal inside the pump goes, coolant gets past it and leaks out of the hole. It's there for a reason, and when coolant leaks from it, it means "change the pump" not "plug the hole" The cooling system is nothing you wanna take chances with on a rotary.

And I use RTV on the pump gasket. Just a very thin line since it's a narrow surface.

THEWITCHKING

iTrader: (3)

So when I start the motor I should be looking for water just coming out of the weep hole? I really hope its not the problem and that its just bad gaskets. I can't afford 150 bucks for a new water pump right now. Even though it'd be the perfect time for the s4 water pump. Speaking of, anybody seen the write up on putting an s4 water pump on a 12a? I thought I had it bookmarked but can't find it.

Anybody have a way to bench test water pump though? I would hate to go buy a new one when I have another one just kickin it.

rwatson5651

iTrader: (5)

Just find the weep hole and look for the signs of corrosion etc that results from a leak, if it has been leaking you will see the signs.

midnight mechanic

"When the seal inside the pump goes, coolant gets past it and leaks out of the hole. It's there for a reason, and when coolant leaks from it, it means "change the pump" not "plug the hole" ...."

too funny!!

THEWITCHKING

iTrader: (3)

Yeah yeah yeah laugh it up lol. Kinda cool how Mazda designed it to start spitting when the pump goes bad. Kinda sucks you can't just rebuild it though. Oh well. Nothing about a bench test though? Or s4 pump on a 12a?

midnight mechanic

rockauto has water pumps for $30 -$70, and the drip you described says that the pump will need to be replaced in the near future.

If I were you I'd keep an eye on it , don't plan any long trips, and wait for warmer weather to replace it. Also check the play in the bearing/bushing by moving the fan forward/backward relative to the car.

Worst thing now is that you have to keep adding coolant, which is a hell of allot better than a $350/month car note for a rx-8.

DreamInRotary

iTrader: (49)

I had the same issue where I couldn't find my coolant leak and sure enough it was from the weep hole in the pump. I took the initiative and bought a GMB water pump off of eBay for relatively cheap and it comes with the water pump to housing gasket but you need the housing to block gasket if you end up cracking it loose.

My list as I recall:
Water pump
Water pump to housing gasket (should come with new water pump)
Water pump housing to block gasket (I made my own from gasket material)
RTV sealant
About 2 1/2 hours to be on the safe side.

Make sure to scrape all the old gasket material off with a knife or putty scraper or something along those lines. I learned the hard way and had to take it all back apart because it was pissing out coolant at me.

THEWITCHKING

iTrader: (3)

@MidnightMechanic- My credits too shot for a car loan unfortunately. Hopefully it'll be good enough when the new 7 drops.

Anyway thanks everyone. Pulled the old pump and sure enough the weep hole was the culprit. Put on the new one and filled her up. Yet to run it though due to an alternator snafu. That's a different story though. I have another thread about that fubar on the 1st gen spec page. Either way, I assume case closed on this one. Thanks for everyone's help!

midnight mechanic

glad you solved the problem, and solved the problem without going to some jerk off professional mechanic that would of left you with 2 or 3 more problems, and a large ($85 hr shop rate) charge on your credit card........instead you fixed it, and you know you fixed it right.

which reminds me, just got back from Meinke. They quoted me $500 just to change the damn muffler. And the guy before me, they quoted +$800 to replace a thermostat and coolant elbow hose on a chevy caprice.......and the guy signed up for it!!

I don't know what's worse? Jerk off professional mechanics, people the shell out huge $$$ for new car every 3 to 4 years, or people that don't have the initiative to work on their own cars! That's exactly what's wrong with this country. All the men are too dandified to change their own oil. Would John Wayne go to Meinke to fix his muffler?

Nicholas P.

iTrader: (1)

If it makes you feel better, I was driving back from texas (2 hour trip) with a tiny trailer. 2012 3500 diesel heavy duty ram, 7000 miles standard transmission. (Old bosses truck)

Get off interstate notice temp is fluctuating. Limped to nearest parking lot pulled over and coolant was sprayed everywhere, no water nightmare.

Moral of story,

I dont know, maybe it'll make you feel better knowing that was a 2012, and yours was made over 25 years ago.




800+ To change a thermostat and elbow???


Our shop rate was 72hr, so my price would be

1/2hour $36.00
Coolant, $13.00
Elbow prob $15.00?
Thermostat $15.00

So that'd be about $79.00

Mostly because opening a coolant system usually involved me circulating the air out 100% of the time. Guilty of pulling beside bay and letting circulate so it didnt take up lift time (aka more money).

THEWITCHKING

iTrader: (3)

That's why I never go to shops unless its a doomsday scenario. Hey out of curiosity, anybody know what the sensor on top of the rad is? It's either temp or coolant level. Pretty sure its temp...?

Alex84GSL

Coolant level. Temp sensor is on the drivers' side of the engine, a sneaky little thing under the beehive close to the oil pressure sender.

j9fd3s

iTrader: (3)

every water pump on every car is like this. just be glad you don't have a Hyundai V6, the water pump lives behind a big giant aluminum engine cover, so the weep hole is a passage in that front cover that goes from the water pump to the right front corner, which is right over the alternator, and isn't in the shop manual.

oh and the big aluminum cover means the engine needs to come out of the car to change the pump, 14 hour job!

at $100 an hour, you're looking at $1400 in labor to change the pump....

midnight mechanic

and on that Meinke thing, it was obvious that the exhaust pipe between the muffler and the cat had rusty holes in it. They said that they couldn't make "those kind of bends". So for $285 (muffler), and 2 hours at $85/hour labor, the car wouldn't have been fixed.

RB exhaust ($800) minus Meinke ($500) = RB exhaust is looking pretty good.

THEWITCHKING

iTrader: (3)

I'd go with the rb all day. I have one and love it. That sucks about the Hyundai. Tiburon? And reason I ask about the coolant sensor s because the bung on my new radiator is too big for the sensor. I have a good enough for now fix but I want a real fix. Anybody ever heard of a universal sensor so I can get one for the right size. Also, what's the sensor in the lower left of the rad if its not the temp?

PK_12A

iTrader: (3)

Top is the coolant level sender and lower left is emmions. Not sure on the universal sender but, which one is to big?

THEWITCHKING

iTrader: (3)

The hole for the level sensor. Another thought was to find one off of an Fc or fd or see if maybe the s1 or s2 is a different size.