Tatakai

iTrader: (2)

After a good 20 minutes of freeway driving, I stopped at a parking lot for some "spirited driving" for a few minutes, then drove home on public roads for another 5 minutes home, i would assume that would do the job cooling it down.

But, I pull into my driveway, let it sit for 30 seconds while I grab all of my things from the xmas party, and turn off the car. Next thing I see as I'm stepping out is white smoke from the hood. Pop it open, and I hear the coolant bubbling, from I _THINK_ the lower radiator hose, hard to tell. I try to open the cap slowly to let some pressure out, and after a second I take it off all the way and look inside. It's got green coolant, and it's not empty (resevoir was half full) but there was some kind of green dookie inside, and I have no idea what it was.

Think of like, chewed spearmint gum, but in smaller peices.

1) should I be alarmed by the gunk?
2) besides flushing the system, should I also replace the radiator and get an electric fan?
3) should this be fixed ASAP, or just order the parts and do the job when I get the chance?

I know the thermo doesn't move until it's too late, but I watched it very carefully, didn't budge above the "warm" mark.

boostup

did it overheat?? fix the problem asap!!! dont over heat it!! youll be sorry flush the system change the thermastat. If it happens again replace the radiator (worked for me) might be the coolant seals if you have alot of whight smoke. I had white smoke, and put some block weld in the radiator. no more white smoke look on rx7resurection.com in the 12a section (coolant seel temporary repair) good luck

Tatakai

iTrader: (2)

no white smoke at all, i just found it really strange it did that and that i found the weird green gunk in the rad.

Tatakai

iTrader: (2)

drove to work this morning very carefully, thank god its not far (it usually is barely warmed up by the time I gelt to work) but I parked my car at work and it steamed a little again. Popped the hood and by the time I closed it, I was admiring my new wheels and saw a green puddle

Are there any coolant hoses on the spark plug side of the motor? Looked it was coming from there...

SkyWalker

It's propably the long *** heater core hose that runs right underneath your oil filter (it's near the spark plugs). They normaly have a lot of wear and tear from all the oil corrosion than spills onto it from changing the filter. check it out, cause mine was busted and it worked for me. good luck.

G-pro-tune

id chek the heater hose if that was it i would still do a flush that green gunk you have mentioned could clog coolant passages also check the pipe the heater hose claps on to also the heater core i have heard they crack but the coolant can run out the engine bay and not in the car like when you have a normal heater core problem

Tatakai

iTrader: (2)

alright thanks for the help guys I'm geting off work here in a minute and I'm going to check it out at home after a quick refil of distiller water to get me home

blwn rtr 89'

iTrader: (5)

sounds like at one point and time some asshat poured dex-cool in the system along with the green coolant, i hate to say it but i bet if you took apart your irons, the coolant passages would look a 500lb mans coronary arteries.

you got a rebuild in the making son

Tatakai

iTrader: (2)

wtf you serious? i'll have to google dex-cool.. it was rebuilt by atkins with only 24k on it

blwn rtr 89'

iTrader: (5)

dex-cool id GM spec coolant, they make it, they put it into there entire line or cars, the bad part about it is dex-cool dose not like to be mixed with other non dex-cool coolant, it clots.

furthur more over time if not up kept and flushed from time to time it will grow alge like **** in coolant surge tanks, expecially in the summer.

the clotted dex-cool's consistancy is something like paste, its quite resilient, not even a BG type power flush machine will clear it out of coolant passages.

alexdimen

iTrader: (13)

Sounds more like someone poured in a bottle of stop leak at some point.

I've never seen a car with mixed coolant gum up like people talk about... and I've drained alot of coolant. I have seen GM cars with ridiculous amounts of corrosion from mixing coolant and getting air in the system.

ericgrau

iTrader: (1)

I doubt it's dexcool, since I've heard of that stuff destroying a radiator within a week. I'm gonna guess stop leak. This is gonna be a headache every day, even if it's not destroying your engine. The weekend starts tomorrow, I'd take care of this right away:

1. Call around, see if you can find a Mazda dealer that's open and get a thermostat. Or order one from www.rx7.com. If you have to wait until later to get the thermostat, run without a thermostat for a while until you can put a new one in. Maybe it's a bad thermostat and the stop leak is unrelated, who knows. In any case the thermostat is the most common cause of problems and it doesn't hurt to replace it even if it's not bad now. Don't go to an auto parts store for a thermostat, theirs are lousy.

2. Change your coolant. Don't forgot to drain the coolant from both the radiator and the engine block (this plug is near the left front wheel). The cooling system flush kits sold at auto parts stores and/or distilled water might be handy for cleaning out the system a 2nd time, since you only remove 80% of the coolant when you drain it. It's easiest (or at least less messy) to put in a new thermostat while your coolant is drained. Next add the distilled water/flush-kit/new-coolant. Start the engine. Put the heater on full. Dry the area under your car. Hunt for leaks. When you fill the cooling system for the last time, use a roughly 50:50 mix of ethylene glycol antifreeze and water. The antifreeze should say that it's safe for aluminum (most brands are).

3. Put the radiator cap on. Squeeze hoses multiple times. Remove radiator cap, add coolant. Repeat. This will get some of the air out of the system, though not all.

4. If things are a real mess, you might want to bring it to a shop so they can pipe snake the radiator and/or fix any other problems.

Other: www.aaroncake.net has a cooling system diagnostics section if the problem turns out to be something else. An electric fan is always weaker than the stock fan. But if your stock fan clutch is bad, an e-fan is often cheaper than a new fan clutch, and a good e-fan can cool ok.

Future maintenance: Get a Haynes manual or download the FSM from the FAQ and do all the cooling system maintenance to prevent future problems. With regular maintenance, you should almost never need to fix anything. Special products like radiator flush kits are then unnecessary (and they usually don't do very much anyway). Others like stop leak should be avoided regardless. I'd get a Lisle funnel (search) to easily get all the air out of the system (other methods are hard and don't get out all the air). Always pull over immediately if your car ever starts to overheat. Once the coolant boils off your engine will be destroyed in a couple minutes. A rebuild is well over $2,000, I believe.