hey you guys...I have a little problem. Last week, on my way to pick up a friend, my car started overheating (be it the second time..last time about 8 months ago). I own a 93 fd base model, 79900 miles or a bit more. But anyways. I pulled over to a 7-11 (4-5 blocks down), and took off the coolant cap. Water was boilin and steam came out like crazy! well we looked all stupid (being 2 girls and all) standing there and not knowin what to do. some people told us we might have blown a gasket (?), somethin with the fuel line (?), or w/ the engine (?). My car has been eatin up coolant..not too much thoe. I drive it like twice a week having to fill about a cup or two every now and then. I fill it w/ water only, i dunno if that plays a big part in it overheating. well about the story, I tried pooring water when i was at 7-11..and all of it just drained to the floor on the front left corner of the car. can somebody tell me what the problem is? i assume it might me the coolant hose? but if not, what else could it be (hopefully not the engine), what parts do i need and at what price is it reasonable to get it fixed? please help me!!! im very clueless about my car.

~miss shay

 

Sounds like your coolant "O"-Rings are wearing out and possibly burning your coolant. Do you have any leaks under the car besides the front left corner just that one time? That was because you over-filled the system I do believe. You haven't blown a gasket or anything in the fuel lines, it's probably a small leak from your coolant hoses or the internal "O"-Rings as stated above.

If it is your O-Rings, then you'll soon need a rebuild. An engine rebuild can cost anywhere from $1800-$5000. I typical Mazda Remanufactured engine will cost around $2000. There's also the fact that you might need someone to Remove and Reinstall the engine, that's another $1000-2000.

Let me ask one more question, when you say you tried pouring water in when you were at 7-11, where did you pour the water in?

 

As xtacy stated it's certainly possible you have a o-ring failure there are other reasons you can be losing coolant. There are a number of coolant lines under the hood and if any of them are starting to leak you car will leak coolant and then suck air in when you let your car cool off. If all the coolant hoses are original they're about due to be replaced since they're 10+ years old. Your best bet is to find a mechanic in the bay area who specializes in rx7s such as mazda masters in sunnyvale

http://www.monito.com/web/mazdamasters.html