Today at work I went to start the car and it wouldn't hold idle, sort of like a tps that's way out of wack. At the same time I saw white smoke out the back. this went away after it warmed a bit.

After work I went a the grocery store and when I came back out and started it again I saw lots of white smoke and the engine was shaking. I also heard a metal fluttering sound under the hood for a few seconds (rotor travel??). I tapped the gas a bit and it straightened out a bit (more on it's own that me giving a bit of gas).

I live 2 blocks from the store, it drove normally, idled smoothly, etc.. Got home, put it in neutral - guages were all normal with a steady 750 idle. Temp guage remained dead center, oil pressure about 28-29; everything normal. I popped the hood and it sounded normal but I can smell coolant a bit.

Please provide some input as to what I'm looking at, I suspect I'm looking at rebuild time.....thanks

P.S. I run about 7.5psi and the engine has about 90K. It's also a daily driver.

 

do a pressure test on your cooling system to begin with...if it does't hold pressure you have a coolant leak ..check hoses,clamps,radiator , water pump , etc....

 

Take off the upper rad cap (when the engine is COLD!) and start the car. If it bubbles, have fun with a rebuild

 

I'll try that in the morning - I've been wanting to do a streetport anyways.

 

I started the car this morning after topping off the radiator w/ about a cup and looked for bubbles. I let it run capless, looking for bubbles and really only noticed maybe one or two intermittent small bubbles every few seconds until the car started coming to operating temp.; then I had to get the cap back on.

The whole time it was warming I saw white smoke out the exhaust, which stopped as soon as I went for a very short test drive down the street. My low coolant warning light and buzzer went off after about 100 yards, so I returned and shut it off. Towing to my mechanic this morning to have it looked at.

Does this mean I need a rebuild or could it be a coolant leak not requiring a rebuild? Thanks...

 

probably a coolant leak...did you check for a leak on the coolant hoes, radiator, and the other stuff ech72 said?

 

Its dead. Toast. Gone **** up.

 

That's what I figured. I explained what it's doing to my mechanic this morning and that's what he says - so, I'm probably going w/ a Mazda remanufactured engine for $1936. Jspec may be cheaper, but there's no warranty and you don't know what you're getting.

Thanks for breaking it to me gently...

 

Malloy Mazda?

 

No, local dealer here in FL. that's about $200 less than the other local dealer on the other end of town. I work at a Toyota dealer and they're going to wholesale me a shitbox. Since that's the case I'm going for paint, injector upgrade, bc, new GReddy "v-spl" fmic designed for S5 stock turbo (should work well w/my hybrid)

 

THought you wanted a streetport? I can hook you up with a ported rebuild for less than their stock engine (remans are rebuilds not new btw). Let me know if you might be interested.

 

FEDREX.........beware of people with flip answers like ***** up* who live thousands of miles away and have never seen your car.

One other way to check for a leaking water seal, is to fill the car up, run it till it gets hot, then put it up for the nite. The next morning, pull the lower sparkplugs and look for water on the plug tips and water running out of the holes. Might even pull the EGI fuse and spin it. Catch the residue out of the plugs and see if its water. Just another way to check for water leak in the rotor. I'll stop being so flip. Til next time.

That sweet smell of antifreeze out the exaust is a deadly smell, though.