Mysterious Coolent Seal Event, Need Opinions.
12-08-04, 05:24 AM
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Mysterious Coolent Seal Event, Need Opinions.
Sorry, its kinda long, but I'm also venting...
Well I was on my way to my friends house to have him weld my Exhaust Split Air Pipe correctly to my exhaust. Right when I pull up to his drive way I noticed my Water Temp Gauge was way up there at about 80%. I freaked out turned off the car and popped my hood. Checked my hoses, the top hose was warm, the bottom hose was hot hot hot. I figured that my thermostat just died on me. So I spent 8 bucks for a new one at Autozone put that in, and put everything back together. Done. Then we proceeded to weld my exhaust.
About an hour later after the exhaust ordeal, after we topped of my coolent, we started her up. Car started smoking white. I figured it might be because we just worked on the exhaust. It smoked, then some more, then Lots. I checked my overflow tank for bubbles, nothing. Seeing that it was still cold I popped of my rad cap to see, and all I saw were bubbles coming up and out of it. While freaking out, I let it warm up a little more and saw the temp gauge pass the 50% mark and continue to go up. At that point I was 100% convinced that my car overheated and blew a coolent seal.
After some sobbing, I mustered up and got my friend to start follow me home to park my car for good till I could get a new engine. So He's following me and I watched my temp gauge painfully as it rises up to about 80% again. I turn the first corner, then suddenly, right as im looking at the gauge, it DROPS down to 40% and stays there. At this point I'm completely confused, am I leaking coolent now? I checked, and nothing. The car was running fine now, it wasn't missing or anything. I nexteled my buddy, while on the road, to look for white smoke. He saw nothing. Got home, the car was idling perfect, or at least how it always does. I checked my over flow tank, now that the car was competely warmed up, and there were no bubbles. I turned the car off, waited about an hour, and went back pulled the cap off, and turned her on again. Again, lots of white smoke. However, I looked at the coolent from under the rad cap and saw no bubbles at all this time. Let her warm up, eventually the white smoke started to dissipate. "Could it be condinsation?" I said to myself. No, no condinsation would make THAT much white smoke. Turned her off, and thats the end of that.
I am completely confused, I was 110% sure that I had a blown coolent seal. Now its acting as If nothing happened. Has anyone had the same issue? Or am I just being a paranoid freak? I need explinations what could of caused the bubbling and smoking. I can't see how just changing out the thermostat could of done it. (well at the moment anyway until someone enlightens me) Thanks.
Well I was on my way to my friends house to have him weld my Exhaust Split Air Pipe correctly to my exhaust. Right when I pull up to his drive way I noticed my Water Temp Gauge was way up there at about 80%. I freaked out turned off the car and popped my hood. Checked my hoses, the top hose was warm, the bottom hose was hot hot hot. I figured that my thermostat just died on me. So I spent 8 bucks for a new one at Autozone put that in, and put everything back together. Done. Then we proceeded to weld my exhaust.
About an hour later after the exhaust ordeal, after we topped of my coolent, we started her up. Car started smoking white. I figured it might be because we just worked on the exhaust. It smoked, then some more, then Lots. I checked my overflow tank for bubbles, nothing. Seeing that it was still cold I popped of my rad cap to see, and all I saw were bubbles coming up and out of it. While freaking out, I let it warm up a little more and saw the temp gauge pass the 50% mark and continue to go up. At that point I was 100% convinced that my car overheated and blew a coolent seal.
After some sobbing, I mustered up and got my friend to start follow me home to park my car for good till I could get a new engine. So He's following me and I watched my temp gauge painfully as it rises up to about 80% again. I turn the first corner, then suddenly, right as im looking at the gauge, it DROPS down to 40% and stays there. At this point I'm completely confused, am I leaking coolent now? I checked, and nothing. The car was running fine now, it wasn't missing or anything. I nexteled my buddy, while on the road, to look for white smoke. He saw nothing. Got home, the car was idling perfect, or at least how it always does. I checked my over flow tank, now that the car was competely warmed up, and there were no bubbles. I turned the car off, waited about an hour, and went back pulled the cap off, and turned her on again. Again, lots of white smoke. However, I looked at the coolent from under the rad cap and saw no bubbles at all this time. Let her warm up, eventually the white smoke started to dissipate. "Could it be condinsation?" I said to myself. No, no condinsation would make THAT much white smoke. Turned her off, and thats the end of that.
I am completely confused, I was 110% sure that I had a blown coolent seal. Now its acting as If nothing happened. Has anyone had the same issue? Or am I just being a paranoid freak? I need explinations what could of caused the bubbling and smoking. I can't see how just changing out the thermostat could of done it. (well at the moment anyway until someone enlightens me) Thanks.
12-08-04, 07:39 AM
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If its smoking like that on startup, I would bet you have a blown seal. Its probably a small hole and only leaks when the engine is warm or is under load. You're going to have to replace the engine eventually.
-Joe
-Joe
12-08-04, 09:10 AM
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Well, i have some bad news for you.... when my car when down for the rebuild, it was for the same thing, my cooland seal haddn't broken... what I found on the teardown was that a piece of the channel that holds the water seal in place had broken off and dissappeared somehwere into the coolant system.... the seal itself hadn't broken, it kinda squished around into what vauguely resembled a fingerprint swirl with some of it flapping around in the water jacket and some of it was still smashed between the housings...
My car only ever smoked once, apparently right when it broke, and i blame that on a faulty e-fan relay. After that it BARELY smoked at startup, but you could smell the antifreeze, just a hint, in the exhaust. i never had bubbles in the rad or the overflow box.
Another symptom I had was that if you parked the car hot and tried to start it again after it cooled a bit, no dice, it would flood right out, presumably because water being sucked into the rotor housing. If you let it got overnight, no problem, started right up.
PRAY, that the seal just cracked and that the water channel didn't break, cause ytou'll have to get a new housing if it did. BUT, the Bruce T. video pays special attention to this area of the iron housings, therefore, I would assume that this is a common flaw in the housings.
In any case... Its time for a rebuild my man, letting it go will only end in the purchase of new housings, water in the motor can cause real damae to the chrome on the edge of the rotor housings and make them unuseable.
My car only ever smoked once, apparently right when it broke, and i blame that on a faulty e-fan relay. After that it BARELY smoked at startup, but you could smell the antifreeze, just a hint, in the exhaust. i never had bubbles in the rad or the overflow box.
Another symptom I had was that if you parked the car hot and tried to start it again after it cooled a bit, no dice, it would flood right out, presumably because water being sucked into the rotor housing. If you let it got overnight, no problem, started right up.
PRAY, that the seal just cracked and that the water channel didn't break, cause ytou'll have to get a new housing if it did. BUT, the Bruce T. video pays special attention to this area of the iron housings, therefore, I would assume that this is a common flaw in the housings.
In any case... Its time for a rebuild my man, letting it go will only end in the purchase of new housings, water in the motor can cause real damae to the chrome on the edge of the rotor housings and make them unuseable.
12-08-04, 10:15 AM
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Originally Posted by YearsOfDecay
Well, i have some bad news for you.... when my car when down for the rebuild, it was for the same thing, my cooland seal haddn't broken... what I found on the teardown was that a piece of the channel that holds the water seal in place had broken off and dissappeared somehwere into the coolant system.... the seal itself hadn't broken, it kinda squished around into what vauguely resembled a fingerprint swirl with some of it flapping around in the water jacket and some of it was still smashed between the housings...
My car only ever smoked once, apparently right when it broke, and i blame that on a faulty e-fan relay. After that it BARELY smoked at startup, but you could smell the antifreeze, just a hint, in the exhaust. i never had bubbles in the rad or the overflow box.
Another symptom I had was that if you parked the car hot and tried to start it again after it cooled a bit, no dice, it would flood right out, presumably because water being sucked into the rotor housing. If you let it got overnight, no problem, started right up.
PRAY, that the seal just cracked and that the water channel didn't break, cause ytou'll have to get a new housing if it did. BUT, the Bruce T. video pays special attention to this area of the iron housings, therefore, I would assume that this is a common flaw in the housings.
In any case... Its time for a rebuild my man, letting it go will only end in the purchase of new housings, water in the motor can cause real damae to the chrome on the edge of the rotor housings and make them unuseable.
My car only ever smoked once, apparently right when it broke, and i blame that on a faulty e-fan relay. After that it BARELY smoked at startup, but you could smell the antifreeze, just a hint, in the exhaust. i never had bubbles in the rad or the overflow box.
Another symptom I had was that if you parked the car hot and tried to start it again after it cooled a bit, no dice, it would flood right out, presumably because water being sucked into the rotor housing. If you let it got overnight, no problem, started right up.
PRAY, that the seal just cracked and that the water channel didn't break, cause ytou'll have to get a new housing if it did. BUT, the Bruce T. video pays special attention to this area of the iron housings, therefore, I would assume that this is a common flaw in the housings.
In any case... Its time for a rebuild my man, letting it go will only end in the purchase of new housings, water in the motor can cause real damae to the chrome on the edge of the rotor housings and make them unuseable.
-Joe
12-08-04, 10:44 AM
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i had the exact same problem with the "turning the engine off hot and not starting till tomorrow" symptom, along with the over heating crap. I even popped the upper rad hose in a mcdonalds drive through and had to drive 2 miles home without it.
i had to add coolant daily, and had the overflow tank overflow constantly. Thinking it was always a faulty thermostat i went through like 10 of them(wishful thinking?).
so the problem ended up being the seal channel like explained above...
i picked up a USED front housing at mazdatrix for like 30 bucks.... but dont expect them to have any at that price, i was lucky.
i had to add coolant daily, and had the overflow tank overflow constantly. Thinking it was always a faulty thermostat i went through like 10 of them(wishful thinking?).
so the problem ended up being the seal channel like explained above...
i picked up a USED front housing at mazdatrix for like 30 bucks.... but dont expect them to have any at that price, i was lucky.
12-08-04, 01:42 PM
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Originally Posted by wargoblin
The car was running fine now, it wasn't missing or anything. I nexteled my buddy, while on the road, to look for white smoke. He saw nothing. Got home, the car was idling perfect, or at least how it always does. I checked my over flow tank, now that the car was competely warmed up, and there were no bubbles. I turned the car off, waited about an hour, and went back pulled the cap off, and turned her on again. Again, lots of white smoke. However, I looked at the coolent from under the rad cap and saw no bubbles at all this time. Let her warm up, eventually the white smoke started to dissipate. "Could it be condinsation?" I said to myself. No, no condinsation would make THAT much white smoke. Turned her off, and thats the end of that.
I am completely confused, I was 110% sure that I had a blown coolent seal. Now its acting as If nothing happened. Has anyone had the same issue? Or am I just being a paranoid freak? I need explinations what could of caused the bubbling and smoking. I can't see how just changing out the thermostat could of done it. (well at the moment anyway until someone enlightens me) Thanks.
I am completely confused, I was 110% sure that I had a blown coolent seal. Now its acting as If nothing happened. Has anyone had the same issue? Or am I just being a paranoid freak? I need explinations what could of caused the bubbling and smoking. I can't see how just changing out the thermostat could of done it. (well at the moment anyway until someone enlightens me) Thanks.
You're right about having a bad coolant seal, but you have caught it early.
Add half the radiator sealer, put the cap on, fully warm up the engine, fully cool down the engine, repeat.
Most folks who have done this like the copper block weld stuff.
I personally used the brown powder barrs leak.
It held over a year, then I got the turbo & sold the NA.
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12-08-04, 02:07 PM
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Yeah I was planning on running some radiator sealer on my day off. I started her up this morning to see if any coolent had poured into the engine, and no smoke at all come out. Checked again for bubbles. Nothing. It started fine too. But I'm going to run some radiator sealent of course just incase.
08-17-06, 05:59 PM
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Its been 2 years since this happened. Car is still running strong. I'm running a lightened steel flywheel now. Other than a small rear main seal leak, this car is just as alive as it was when I bought it. I've taken on another project Turbo II since then. Just posting an update to my cars health.
12-29-08, 11:47 AM
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Fast forward another 2 Years.
Same issue.
Only with my Turbo II.
I drove from San Diego to the Coachella Valley this weekend and back all in the same day. When I got to the Coachella Valley the car was fine. Everything was running great. My Turbo II was burglarized a few days ago so I came back into town so I could swap my Stereo from my old NA (featured in this post) to my Turbo II. The install goes fine. I have a Stereo again, hurray. But I turned her on and SMOKE, BUBBLES IN OVERFILL (tiny tiny ones, but still bubbles), and ANTIFREEZE SMELL! I have a blown coolant seal, no doubt about it. This engine only has about 9000 miles on a fresh Rebuild. I also ran Radiator Sealer in it a month ago because I thought she had one back then but it turned out to be a false alarm. But White Smoke and Sweet smelling Exhaust tells me it's over. I sat there starring at it smoking a cigarette, then I got really light headed and realized I was poising myself in the garage, even with it open. I turned the car off and went for a 5 minute walk. I came back, and turned her back on. No Smoke, No Antifreeze smell, No Bubbles, no symptoms, and What?! So I turned her off again, and I went a head and swapped a few other interior things from my NA to my Turbo II, including my Tinted rear hatch. So that takes, about an hour. The car is completely cooled off again. Turned her on. She was showing symptoms again. I figure, **** it, I'll drive it till it dies. I drove it for maybe 3 minutes, just down the street to the store. Got out to take a look at my exhaust and Overfill, no smoke, no bubbles, no sweet smell. It seems my car has blown coolant seal when it is cold. The next day I started her up to get to work. No smoke, No Bubbles, and No Sweet smell. It's 40 Degrees here, it sat all night. I'm 100% it was completely cooled off.
So, I'm a bit baffled. I have an on and off Broken Coolant Seal. I'm thinking that the Radiator Sealer I put in my car a while ago is still in there and it's doing something? I'm not sure. But I'm going run a compression test and try that Pixie Dust thing one more time. It worked on my NA and it held for years. In fact, they are still fine. That's not why she is sitting around. End Vent.
Same issue.
Only with my Turbo II.
I drove from San Diego to the Coachella Valley this weekend and back all in the same day. When I got to the Coachella Valley the car was fine. Everything was running great. My Turbo II was burglarized a few days ago so I came back into town so I could swap my Stereo from my old NA (featured in this post) to my Turbo II. The install goes fine. I have a Stereo again, hurray. But I turned her on and SMOKE, BUBBLES IN OVERFILL (tiny tiny ones, but still bubbles), and ANTIFREEZE SMELL! I have a blown coolant seal, no doubt about it. This engine only has about 9000 miles on a fresh Rebuild. I also ran Radiator Sealer in it a month ago because I thought she had one back then but it turned out to be a false alarm. But White Smoke and Sweet smelling Exhaust tells me it's over. I sat there starring at it smoking a cigarette, then I got really light headed and realized I was poising myself in the garage, even with it open. I turned the car off and went for a 5 minute walk. I came back, and turned her back on. No Smoke, No Antifreeze smell, No Bubbles, no symptoms, and What?! So I turned her off again, and I went a head and swapped a few other interior things from my NA to my Turbo II, including my Tinted rear hatch. So that takes, about an hour. The car is completely cooled off again. Turned her on. She was showing symptoms again. I figure, **** it, I'll drive it till it dies. I drove it for maybe 3 minutes, just down the street to the store. Got out to take a look at my exhaust and Overfill, no smoke, no bubbles, no sweet smell. It seems my car has blown coolant seal when it is cold. The next day I started her up to get to work. No smoke, No Bubbles, and No Sweet smell. It's 40 Degrees here, it sat all night. I'm 100% it was completely cooled off.
So, I'm a bit baffled. I have an on and off Broken Coolant Seal. I'm thinking that the Radiator Sealer I put in my car a while ago is still in there and it's doing something? I'm not sure. But I'm going run a compression test and try that Pixie Dust thing one more time. It worked on my NA and it held for years. In fact, they are still fine. That's not why she is sitting around. End Vent.
12-29-08, 02:59 PM
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Well after reading all this,Sounds like there was air in the cooling system,Somehow..
The thing about the Temp being at 80% and then Boom!.Dropping,means that the Air pocket Moved.The engine Burped and the air Got out.
.Do you ever check your Coolant?once a week is a good Maintenance tip.
The thing about the Temp being at 80% and then Boom!.Dropping,means that the Air pocket Moved.The engine Burped and the air Got out.
.Do you ever check your Coolant?once a week is a good Maintenance tip.
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