this morning when i stopped at the gas station i noticed smoke coming out of the vents in my hood. so I pop the hood and see hood smoke coming from the y-pipe area. it had the definite smell of coolant. so i checked my level and everything was cool, so i drive it home. by the time i got home, no smoke, no smell nothing. just made me a little paranoid, because like i said, it had a definite coolant smell.

What do I need to check? I didnt see any coolant hoses in that area. Is this a bad sign? The car is running strong and it stopped smoking by the time i got back home ~2miles.

Thanks
Josh

 

Check your turbo coolant hoses and clamps. D-codes 13-885 and 13-887.


Sorry for the sucky pic.

 

ok...thanks toadman. i have the service manual, so it should have a better diagram. it just happened this morning so i didnt have a chance to look. just dropped the FD off and jumped in my other car. i will check those lines. thanks again. I was hoping that it was something like that and not something worse.

strange that it would have quit leaking once it warmed...you would think with the increased pressure in the system it would actually be more likely to leak when hot.

 

You also might want to check the hard lines that bolt onto the turbo assy on the vertical sides. It is possible that it is leaking around the bolt. The unfortunate part is that there is two more of these lines on the back side of the turbos sandwiched inbetween the turbos and the engine. Hopefully the leak will be on the outer lines and not the inside ones. The turbos have to come off for access to the inside lines.

 

i dont like to hear that...anyhow, i am gonna cross my fingers that it is gonna be a quick, easy fix. Thanks for the input though.

 

99% of the time it's the short rubber turbo coolant line hoses; once you remove the airpump you will see them. They are a common failure because people forget to replace them.

 

Also, the hoses expand and contract a BUNCH during normal driving. Hot hoses will seal due to expansion, then open up on cooldown, seeming EXACTLY like blown O-rings with the mysterious coolant loss, filling up of overflow, eventual overflow at odd times, and strange temperature control issues. These hoses suck!!! I mean blow!! I mean.. well... you get it!

 

Also, the hoses expand and contract a BUNCH during normal driving. Hot hoses will seal due to expansion, then open up on cooldown, seeming EXACTLY like blown O-rings with the mysterious coolant loss, filling up of overflow, eventual overflow at odd times, and strange temperature control issues. These hoses suck!!! I mean blow!! I mean.. well... you get it!

 

thanks again for the help guys. i am gonna try and tackle it this weekend. if nothing else it is very unnerving.

 

Pressure test your coolant system.....
i have that happen too..... i just can't find the problem. I checked the hoses from motor to turbo and from turbo to motor. It has no leak, but some reason i still could smell the coolant while the motor running. Some people say it is a signal for the motor going out, becasue the wore out portions from the engine is causing air pressure to the coolant system. SERIOUSLY , i don't really know it will cause that or not. To me, i just start from the easy parts first such as change the coolant and replace the thomosteaxxx ??? sorry for the wrong spelling.
thax ANDY

 

also, with some reason when i pressure test with 13lbs, the pressure is dropping and the air is going to the reseivor...... any idea ??

 

I had the same problem. After driving a few miles, some steam would come from under the hood sometimes. But then the steam would stop after a while. Closer inspection showed steam coming from the passenger side of engine, somewhere around the turbos. The coolant level was fine everytime I checked it. Never saw coolant puddles or coolant dripping from under the car, just steam - sometimes. I replaced both turbo coolant hoses and solved the problem, no more steam.
The hoses were very hard and bloated, and had a small leak at the hose clamps. They are known to fail because of the heat from the turbos. I HIGHLY recommend that you buy a pair of long-handled (8") angled needle-nose pliers to remove the lower hose clamp.
I bought OEM hoses from Mazdaformance (http://www.mazdaformance.com).
N3A1-13-54X $8, N3A1-13-536 $4

 

What page from the servie manual is that?