well here we go a little video for ya'll. i just did a champagne test as i had a coolant overflow today once shut down, it was fine running driving. it did this once before but i figured i needed to burp the system as its a new rebuild just hit 400 miles. well heres the video from the looks of it and what ive searched here and the other forums this spells EPIC FAILURE of the ol coolant seals. im letting it cool down and i will be doing a cold start and if i get white smoke out it comes. man this sucks.
well just want to get verification from those who've done this and seen it first hand that its f'd.
z

View My Video

 

it doesnt look like it was full of fluid.

do you see any leaks anywhere? visable leaks?

 

remove the water pump belt and start the car cold. i did this to my previous FD that had a bad water seal and it shot big bubbles out of the filler neck, but it wouldn't do anything noticable with the water pump running (just like your video).

just dont leave the car running long or it's obviously going to overheat without the water pump spinning

 

not sure what you mean by dosent look full...it was running for 10-15min before i took this video to be sure temps were good and thermostat open. but no there are no visible leaks. im waiting for it too cool to verify if there is white smoke on startup.


mine did the rather violent big bubbles once the thermostat opened but then it went to this. small bubbles i could try that too once its cold i guess. ill probably end up pressurizing the system with a pressure tester just to cover myself as to not pull the motor for a bad line somewhere.
z

 

just went and rented a coolant system pressure tester. found my lower radiator hose leaking slightly, repositiond clamp good to go for now. but we'll give the pressure tester about an hour then see where its at. when i was watching it it went down maybe 1-2psi in 4-5min so we shall see if there is water in the combustion chambers in an hour or so.
z


update: 7psi drop in 20 min looks like ill be pulling spark plugs for the final check


being that all the seals are esentially still good with only 400 miles i will be using great care to be putting them back in the exact spots they came from as to not have to reaccomplish as much of a break in.
does anyone recomend a descent soft seal kit i was looking at the mazdatrix site and its about 550 for the set but it dosent say if they are the teflon encapsulated orings or not that i saw???

 

rotaryaviation has some cheap seals

http://www.rotaryaviation.com/o-ring_kits.htm

 

im not too fond of RA's teflon seals im sure if installed correctly they would be fine but since im already having this problem i will be going with maxda oem square ones. im looking into the mazdatrix soft seal set for 505 right now waiting for a reply if they use oem or some sort of aftermarket...if anyone knows please chime in.

z

 

well inlight of the lower hose being loose Maybe you it the jackpot.

any upadtes???

 

hmmm must have missed posting it here any way UPDATE IS: well the pressure test bad after fixing the lower hose leak still looses all pressure within 1hr so i started it cold and yes i did get a slight white smoke not billowing but very faint. as well as moisture slightly misting out the tailpipe i have video of that as well if ya want it. it just looks like this engine has to come out and be restacked but with extreme care i should be able to just replace the soft seals and reuse the hard seals in the exact spot they came out of. ill probably pull the engine later this week friday and saturday and hopefully get the seal/gasket kit monday/tuesday and have it built by the 16th and pressure tested. but ill be out of town for two weeks after that point and itll be waiting at the house for me to drop it in when i get back. maybe this time ill take more pics of the in and out and possibly the rebuild. i just get goin into a project and totally forget to take pics untill its too late. lol oh well

z

 

That video brings back some memories. When I did the champagne test like that it looked like the coolant was at full boil once the temperature reached 80C. Do you have black goo on the coolant overflow reservoir dipstick from exhaust gas escaping through the coolant system?

 

i thought coolant was a greenish clear color

 

yes it usualy is a greenish but after find some pink craqp in the orverflow it was a little too late to change it and by the time this video was take alot of water was added to give it the crap brown look although that could have been what was left in the radiator when installed not really a concern when the seals are failing.





no i did not have goo coming out the coolant system just the tail pipe with water soo.......


z


ps. sorry alittle tippsie tonight if its hard to read hmmm beer!!!!

 

UPDATE: well i was starting to get the engine ready to pull back out and i decided to do one more test the "pinapple coolant seal test". i already had the required parts laying around to make the tool so why the hell not, besides itll work when im building up another engine or two. so here is the tool.


and installed


pineapple sells a tool that works the same for 65$ and if i wasent time stressed i would have orderd it but i had everything around so why not.

anyway when draining coolant i also found the block drain plug not even finger tight it was just in there 'should have cecked that when building short block' info note next time. and as i type this it has been pressurized to 20 PSI for the last 45 min and no pressure drop, i will be letting it sit for at least a couple hours to verify but this may have been the problem. although i dont see how it would bubble from there in the amount i saw, but im willing to try it again after finding that.
will update tonight
z

 

Promising news. Good luck.

 

If the coolant seal (s) was ruptured you would not have faint smoke on start -uP (that is condensation). You would be fogging out the garage or neighborhood. Keep tracing your leaks as you have been. G

 

FIXED UPDATE: that was it the drain plug was loose slowly letting air in although i dont see how i missed it when i pressurized the system the first time oh well ops check good high of 91c even in traffic. using stock radiator NO undertray stock thermostat. anyway time to start doing cooling mods get those temps lower.

z

 

thats good news
where is that drain plug on block? i cant find it in FSM. do you have pictures, or can you tell me where exactly it is?

 

if you look in between the 4 sparks plugs , at the bottom of the center iron , there is a bolt ... that one