Hey guys, I've been lurkin for a week or so here and since everybody seems to be pretty good about answering questions I figured I'd ask one. I did a search and there's tons of stuff on it but I'm still not sure, and kind of paranoid. I bought an '87 Turbo 2 a month or so ago... Anyway, it's not officially on the road right now but it's losing coolant. When it's running it seems to be dripping out from under the water pump (I think the Haynes manual showed that's where a weep hole is, that's where it seems to be coming from). Anyway, I'm assuming that means, or at least according to the manual, that the water pump gasket? is old or falling apart or something. But I've also noticed (and it's getting colder here... but still above freezing) that when the car first starts up, the exhaust is somewhat white and there seems to be a fair bit of condensation (water?) coming out the tail pipes. So, basically what I'm wondering is if it's likely that the coolant seals are gone, which I gather means it needs a rebuild. The engines failry "new", it's got about 60,000 km's on it and it's a J spec. Is it possible the coolant seals are gone? Or is it probably just the water pump gasket that's responsible for the slow loss of coolant and that the little bit of white smoke with condensation is just a normal thing? Any help is appreciated... I hope to god that it doesn't rebuild already. Thanks so much for any help!

 

probably a bad water pump, not a water pump gasket

 

that little hole under the pump what is sort of a warning sign that your waterpump is starting to go on ya ..correct me if I'm wrong lads!....little smoke on start up seems to be the thing around here ..a little oil settles in and on start up gets burned off then runs ok..mine farts a puff then nothing..runs fine..let the post grow ..sure others will hop in with info

 

same problem had to replace the water pump and thermo just incase worked though

 

Thanks so much! I guess I'll replace it then, should I just order another factory one from the dealer or somethin or should I get a higher volume one, if so where from?

 

any auto parts stores should have remanufactured ones.

And you would want to avoid any "high Volumn" water pumps, they generally are not for street driving and would tend to cavitate easy on a street driven FC. The stock replacement at mazda or any parts store should be fine.

 

Perfect, thanks! I'm gonna go huntin for one now...