illustrated_FC

iTrader: (1)

Hi

I need help, Idont know if i should spend the money on fixing it or get rid of the motor or car!?

First it started with the ADD COOLANT Buzzer that kept going off.

Than the Reservoir Tank began to over full and pour coolant out.

Next the temp gauge started to raise and get hot whiel car is idling
and seems like the coolant is not flowing through the system.

I dont know if its my radiator or Water pump or the thermostat or my coolant seals?

Not sure how to go about this if its going to cost too much to fix or in need of a new motor.

My car is '89 GTU N/A 181xxx miles. STOCK

THANKS IN ADVANCE FOR THE ADVICE.

jjcobm

iTrader: (18)

Water pump should always pump unless the belt broke or a MAJOR malfunction happened.

Thermostat could of stayed stuck in the closed position. Coolant seals would mean your engine produces white smoke from the tailpipe in most cases and spews coolant into the overflow also.

Bad radiator would most likely cause major leakage around the rad area, unless it magically got clogged. Bad radiator fan would cause overheating during idle only.

N/A Engines are cheap to buy used. S5 N/A engines are hard to come by. I would personally rebuild it if I had the chance, unless you can find a used engine locally.

illustrated_FC

iTrader: (1)

well the problem seems when im idiling because when I drive the temp goes down... and the buzzer goes away.

How else can the water pump go wrong ??

All the coolant just stays in the reservoir tank looks like it doesnt move from there. ( back flowing ) .

I believe its because of the air in the system...maybe or the radiator has gone ?

thejallenator

iTrader: (14)

well the easiest way to factor out the w/p is to see if its leaking from the bottom out the "weeping hole". this means the pump needs replaced. if so get it from schucks, or whatever its called today, cause it comes with a lifetime warrentee. if it olny happens at idle i'd suspect something like the fan not working. check that out.

but before you think your motor is toast i'd check out other things. the motor can get slightly hot before the seals actually pop, trust me.

try and burp all the air outta the system. air in there just causes annoyances. such as that damn buzzer!

illustrated_FC

iTrader: (1)

yea it was actually pouring out coolant out of the small hole from the reservoir tank.

so i can assume i can be the water pump. Where can i get that brand?any specific site?

That's another thing i notice, my system def had bubbles. how would i get rid of it...(turning on the car without the pressure cap for a while and than sealing back up?)

Do you think the pressure cap might be done, its not reading the right pressure because had almost all my coolant in the tank.

Thanks for the feedback guys.

jjwalker

If it is the water pump, just get a reman from autozone/orielly and be do some mods. The impellers on the pumps tend to come in two different sizes....******* huge and ******* pockmarked. Get the reman pump, and smooth the impeller with a dremel, but be careful.

Also, check the pulley boss before installing. My last pump I put on, I smoothed all of the blades out and installed it, only to find the pulley boss was pressed on 1/64th of an inch off which caused extreme vibration. Measure the tolerance, perfect, then install the bad boy.

nycgps

iTrader: (4)

no, he is talking about that "tiny hole" right under the water pump, it has NOTHING to do with your reservoir tank (you got a hole on ur coolant overflow tank????)

Water pump rarely failed, at least when its rebuild correctly, if your car overheats at idle and not when its moving(you said its not), there is something wrong with your Fan, or the water pump blades (it can break! and its not leaking so u won't notice anything outside the pump, and u won't hear any funny sound cuz the blade will be stuck "somewhere" in the coolant path and rust, I seen it before on other engines, its ugly)

or it could be just a failed coolant cap (it happens, you should replace it every 3-4 years)

a whole new pump assembly from Mazda would cost about 250 bux + shipping. I think its pretty worth it, cuz it includes everything in 15-210s, which means a whole new housing, the pump itself, gasket, thermostats, and whatever you see inside the "box".

I bought one but I haven't replaced it yet. will do it this week with the Radiator upgrade swap (Koyo time, **** that no name **** not even Mazda's original radiator cheap ******* bass crap already ******* rusting and ****)

buying the "whole thing" from Mazda will be cheaper, cuz when u add everything else like thermostat and gasket and crap, its gonna cost about the same, so why not the whole thing ?

You can also buy a pump from 3rd party like Autozone and Advance Auto. the pump itself cost about 90 bux from both places + ur core and gasket. it has lifetime warranty, but in my opinion a part that rarely fails ... lifetime warranty is kinda meaningless, what if they "discountiune" production? that means no more warranty.


Note if you decided to go part by part :
For Thermostat, buy Mazda original ONLY, aftermarket **** like Stance will **** your car up.
for Radiator cap, anything good will do, but I got Mazda's.

Vdub2002

are you using an electric fan or the stock clutch fan? cause, if its over heating at idle, there is no airflow over the radiator to cool the coolant... record a video of the engine at idle and post on youtube.

didnt know the dude above said same thing, but sounds fan related or impeller is gone. i HAVE seen some where the impeller rusted away from just using water as the coolant.

ANTI-FREEZE ISNT JUST ANTI-FREEZE, IT INCLUDES ANTI RUST AGENTS THAT PROHIBIT RUST.

Vdub2002

i work at autozone, and tbh, i wouldnt use a reman ANYTHING. buy brand new, and not from autozone (not from any high volume auto parts retailer, products get bought from lowest bidder), get a QUALITY pump.

texFCturboII

iTrader: (17)

What nyc said. If the water pump fails, there will be water visibly leaking from behind the water pump pulley. If the water pump has failed then you will have to replace it. Luckily ours is right there smiling at you.

First, check if the coolant seals are blown. Fill the motor all the way up with water / coolant, then put a large funnel in the top of the radiator and fill that with water / coolant as well. Go and start the car. If there is an exceptionally large amount of coolant and air that bubbles up initially while the motor is turning over, your coolant seals are kaput for sure.

If not, keep it running and inspect the funnel. If there is a steady stream of bubbles coming up, looking a lot like champagne bubbles then your coolant seals are blown and you will need to rebuild the engine.

If neither of these things happen then feel lucky that your coolant seals dont seem to be blown. But you still need to find out why it is getting hot.

The fan is an easy suspect, and an easy one to diagnose. Either it is working at idle or not.

The radiator is an easy one too. Either it is letting water flow through it easily, or it isn't.

The thermostat should probably be replaced by now anyways if you haven't replaced it yet so go ahead and do that. This is probably your problem as well. After replacing it, start the car and let it run until at op temps. Check to see that it doesn't start to overheat. If it doesn't then it seems you may have solved your problem. Take it for a short test drive to find out. If it starts to overheat immediately shut the motor off.

If that didnt work, then replace the radiator cap and do the same thing.

Sometimes you may get a blocked passage (like mentioned above and conducive with a busted water pump.) that will cause you to overheat. Sometimes you might have an air-bubble in the system that gets trapped. This can cause high heat and annoying buzzers as well.

Hope that helps....

illustrated_FC

iTrader: (1)

nycgps: Thanks for the info.

I'm going to consider buying it from the mazda dealer. It's acutally pretty cheap if it includes the thermostat, water pump and gasket. for that price.

So i would just need to go to any mazda dealer and order it from them ?

i have my stock fan. the car is pretty much bone stonk. so I dont know whats been done to it.

I been pretty booked with work and school but give my a day or two and ill shot some pics and videos and show you guys.

I wanted to upgrade to an electric fan and have a manuel switch so i can control the fan while the car is off for couple mins.


thanks for that Vdub2002. Im going to do the mazda dealer parts.

illustrated_FC

iTrader: (1)

basically if i see bubbles with the radiator cap off...seals are blown?

oh man hope thats not it.
I remember when it was over heating i heard it bubbling or boiling in the Res Tank and the filler neck of the radiator.

nycgps

iTrader: (4)

You are in NJ, hmm. Im not sure how close you're to Wayne Mazda but they usually have pretty good price.

but I think OnlineMazdaParts.com would give you better price.

You said u have a 89 GTU NA right ? Is it an Auto () or Manual ? It has different part number.

For Manual is 8AFB-15-010B
For Auto is 8AFC-15-010B

Confirm the parts number with the part guy.

if u gonna order it from OnlineMazdaParts. put "NYCGPS recommend me" over in the comment section when u order, Jason (the guy who works there) will take care of ya.

illustrated_FC

iTrader: (1)

Yea the Wayne dealer is like a 25min drive. But I'll check the site first. The website is all orginal OEM parts ?

lol yea its manual. '89 GTU N/A

Thanks dude ! ill keep you posted on what happens. When i get home tonight ill check the site out.

...havent forgot about the pics some of you requested.

thejallenator

iTrader: (14)

if it looks like this you might have a problem....

<object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/5ORJPY-JJc0&amp;hl=en_US&amp;fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/5ORJPY-JJc0&amp;hl=en_US&amp;fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>

nycgps

iTrader: (4)

That site is probably one of the cheapest on the internet. its a Mazda dealer in another state. very well known site.

nycgps

iTrader: (4)

if its the bubbles then yea.

but fluids flying out is pretty normal.

thejallenator

iTrader: (14)

it shouldnt look like that. it should spew out a little on deceleration with the cap off. more of the level raising up over the opening.

1SWEET7

iTrader: (1)

Just hold on a sec and think about the system! You say it's only overheating when you are idling right? Not when you are on the road driving. If that is true then your water pump is fine, blown seals also won't make the car overheat. It sounds like your fan clutch is slipping and the fan isn't spinning properly like it should when the car is idling. Try getting a used stock fan and switching them out, maybe you have a friend with an FC that will help for free. Much easier and cheaper than replacing parts you don't need. My .02

texFCturboII

iTrader: (17)

Some bubbles are ok, this is usually what happens when you have air bubbles in the system and they force themselves out. It's a constant stream of bubbles that you should be worrying about.

Most likely your coolant seals are fine, and I dont know what the whole big deal is about here concerning them. Are you seeing copious amounts of white smoke from the tailpipe at start-up after it has been sitting for a while? Are you losing coolant? Do you see bubbles?

Im not talking about bubbling meaning in the sense that as the car is hot, water / coolant are boiling and bubbling at the overflow resevoir, that just means it is hot.

Follow the diagnosis instructions that I wrote up for you earlier, and you will find your problem. Anybody can speculate as to what is happening but until YOU diagnose the problem by TESTING to see what is wrong with it, everyone here is just jerking off on you.

tuto88t2

ok i have the same problem.. the longer the car idles the hotter it'll get but when driving the needle drops back down...after reading all this .. now im scared shitless lol .. im going to do the radiator bubble test.. hoping for no soda bubbles ..

The_Eff

Stop using your car if its overheating, before you kill your engine... Stock temp gauge is not accurate, and if it reaches the top its too late. I've killed 2 NA engines because of overheating a little. The gauge was not at the top on the 2nd engine.

Ryan123

iTrader: (3)

Coolant seal failure will have a CONSTANT stream of bubbles. If you add more coolant, make sure you burp the system before you do anything.

I would buy a new thermostat before I buy a new water pump/housing ect.

Test the thermostat, get a temperature gauge and boil some water, check the opening and closing to the FMS recommendations.

If you are looking for coolant leaks, I don’t recall that as your problem but, you can use a black light to more clearly see the leak.

You can also pressure test the system.

tuto88t2

ok i didnt want to hijack your thread (nice guy here) so i started my own and uploaded 2 vids of the funnel/water bubbling test .. plz help me out aswell thx!
https://www.rx7club.com/2nd-generation-specific-1986-1992-17/my-motor-blown-912381/

illustrated_FC

iTrader: (1)

^ no problem dude hope you fix the problem,

UPDATE: just ordered the parts WATER PUMP , NEW OEM THERMOSTAT WITH GASKETS

im try this first....

thinking of replacing my clutch fan to an electric one.

Any recommendation in Electric fans , as far as Fan size, brand, amount of air being blown or manual and automatic settings to turn on.

BTW> should i get a water temp gauge (if so which would you recommend to be good Greddy??)

thanks to all.