Hello everyone. I am back with a small problem. I had a heater hose go out the other week, not a big deal, didnt let the car get over 1/2 way on guage. I changed hose and filled it up and keep getting the low coolant buzzer/light. I did it by the factory service manual and it will stay fine for a while of driving, then the light/buzzer will come on. I have noticed that when it comes on, it doesnt take much to fill it back up. The coolant isnt leaking out, the heat works, there is no white smoke, the exhaust just smells like exhaust and it runs great. The temp stays between 1/4 and 1/3 way on guage. I noticed that the coolant seems to work its way into the resivoir and not back out of it. I started off with it right on line, then I drove it a while and the buzzer went off, I checked and it was about half way over the line, and I had to add a little coolant in the rad/thermostat housing cap. Then I drove it a while again, and checked and more had made it into the resivoir. Then I topped the rad back off and drove it and now it is comming out of the resivoir. Apparently the enough is making it to resivoir to set off the buzzer/light. I am thinking either, there is still air in the system, the cap needs replacing, or the thremostat needs replacing. what does it sound like to you guys/gals?
Thanks for help in advance.
sorry for long post

 

try burping the system of air. why not replace the thermo too?

 

im considering replacing thermostat tomorrow, if I get one, should I get the 180 degree one from advance, I work there, or should I get one from mazda?

 

only use the Mazda thermostat

 

see, me and my dad are guessing, either the cap isnt holding right pressure so the stuff that goes into resivoir isnt comeing back, or thermostat isnt opening soon enough, so some of the coolant runs over to the resivoir before it opens, and it doesnt come back.

 

hoping it is the cap. Went to mazda, said $22 for that thermostat and it would be end of week. I got the cap, the one on the car is still the origional, still has sticker on it with wierd writing/symbols.

 

Did you check if you have air in your cooling system? That might just be it. An air bubble jammed somewhere.

 

well, I did the procedure in the FSM and I still got the buzzer after driving it for about an hour.

 

Fact of life. Rx7's are a bitch to bleed(even with the pumps that pump the air out of the system and put coolant in). When I did my thermo I just filled my overflow and kept an eye on it and kept topping it off until it bleed itself out.

 

OK. Update. I replaced the heater hose again, and the car ran fine for 1 day. then it started doing it again. I replaced the cap and the thermostat. Temp runs around a quarter way up guage, there is no coolant smoke from the exhaust and it doesnt smell sweet, there are no champagne bubbles at cap when I crank the car or when it is running. I can drive it around for about half an hour, then the buzzer will go off. I am wondering if it isnt air, but I have bleed the hell out of it, I even filled it up at the throttle body hose. After that, I topped it off till it came out of bleeder hole, then put it in and filled it up to the cap. Drove it around, and it rose up alot in the resivoir. So, I let it sit over night, and it never pulled it back. So I opened the cap after sitting all night and some came out of the cap as soon as I loosened it, like it was way over full. So, I emptied the resivoir to the full line. Now it is just a little over the full line, and the light came on when I took a turn, then went off, and kept doing this till I got home. What does this sound like? I am tired of fooling with this car, I had it for sale when the hose 1st blew, and have been stuck trying to fix it for 2 months.

 

did you check your waterpump for leaks? i had the same issue the other day and i was getting frustrated then i lift up my car and saw lil drips coming out from the waterpump weep hole....

 

check the hose that goes frm your radiator to your over flow bottle. if there is a hole in that line it will allow the coolant to go to the overflow bottle but it wont be able to suck it back... just something to try

 

I will have to check the waterpump. I replaced the coolant resivoir hose when I replaced that heater hose the last time, and it did fine for 1 day. Thanks for help so far, and if you have any more ideas, please let me know

 

use a pressure tester, go to the caps opening pressure and check for leaks, while letting it sit pressureized for about 10-15min. if there is no leaks and the pressure stays the same, crank up the pressure to about 2-3psi over the caps specs. then look for leaks.

 

ok, does anywhere rent these pressure testers? who sells them and for about what price?

 

I had this exact same prob on a ole GTU i had a few yrs ago. It was the water pump going bad. There is what is called a wheeping hole under the water pump and you should see water barely dripping out of it. The reason i say this is because you can be going down the road and the buzzer will go off and you can turn really fast or put it in nuetral and rev it and it will shut off. But of course 20 or 30 mins later it goes off again.

I would definetely expect the WP.

 

Ok. I have another question. I have had it for sale since before it blew the heater hose. I am curious how much should I drop the price for how it is now? It is driveable, just the buzzer will go off after about 30 minutes of driving, it will come and go until finally it stays on. Here is a link to the FS thread so you can get an idea of what the car is like.
https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.php?t=591459

 

It is a pretty nice car on the exterior, but we don't know anything about this inside, other than much plastic is broken. You don't even say what the interior color is. It might be black? Some nicely taken interior pics go along ways toward selling the car.

You don't mention how the electronics work, specifically . Wipers? Antenna? Headlights? Window switches? Power steering? Say that they work or if they do not work. So many descriptions say 'everything works great' then you find that this is not exactly the case. If it works, say that it does.

Does the A/C work?

We know from your F/S that it has a bad tranny.

There were lots of questions left unanswered in the thread originally, that may be why you haven't had lots of interest. You are asking on the high side of price. That is ok, but you need to tell your prospective buyers why it is worth more money than another car.

Unfortunately, now you have a potential engine problem. If the car does have a bad coolant seal, it is only worth being a 'roller' and that is sadly in the $500-$750 range if everything else is fine with the car.

My advice is to continue to try to solve the coolant problem to your satisfaction, in a way that will assure a buyer that is is not an issue. Replace the transmission. Then redo your F/S thread woth more information and more pictures.

If you can't resolve the cooling issue, than you either need a rebuild and keep it or sell it as a roller.

Good luck.

 

Ok, I updated the FS thread, has interior pics now. Thanks for help

 

crazy thing about it is that it can sit there and idle for an hour without a problem, but when I start driving it, it will come on. Just got back from driving it, about 15 minutes into the drive the buzzer came on. I get back home, and the resivoir level hadnt changed any from when I left, but the buzzer still came on. I havent added any or removed any since last time I drove it and last time when I got back, the buzzer was on, but when I cranked it, it was off and didnt come on during 15 minutes of idle, and not until 15 minutes of driving.