Well, while I was driving down the 405S yesterday night in LA traffic, road debris decided to rape my car.

It was dead traffic... the cars were totally STOPPED for at least 20 minutes. Then it picks up to 40mph... and all the sudden, I see this giant black object (tire) hit my car. It made the biggest CLUNK ever. Then I start to smell a sweet smell -- coolant. So even before the coolant level sensor goes off, I start to pull to the shoulder. Then the coolant level sensor goes off... and traffic STOPS again. So, it was at least another 15 seconds before I could pull over and shut it off.

After that, I waited for 2 hours for Alstate to find my account and to call a tow truck. Well, it came out to be $408 out of my pocket to tow it home. I fould the culprit today... the endtank mounts. I guess the tire knocked the radiator up, which casused to to torque on the plastic mounts, which then created a hole. Thank you Mazda, for an inferior radiator mounting design. On the bright side, I get to get a new PWR radiator.

 

Well least youll have a better radiator now!

 

Well least youll have a better radiator now!

 

Wow, that's a big towing bill.

At least you were able to get it home without any other damage. If you install the new radiator yourself, I recommend doing it from under the car.

Glad you got home OK

 

$408 to tow your car!! how far? you should get AAA, if your a member, they will tow it for free.

 

Yeah, thanks again for your help Adam! The tow was for 103 miles. My insurance should deduct $80 from that, though.

 

That really sucks, at least now you'll have a better radiator, although you got screwed by the towing company and allstate, it seems. So sorry to hear that dude.

 

Thats a bitch man, theres never a BRIGHT side to wasting money, those 408 bucks could have goe into the new radiator, now its 408 + the cost of a ew one. I feel for you buddy, been there.

 

AAA was my first mod

 

Yeah, I should look into that -- Alstate sucks!

 

AAA has a plus package that you can get after your first year. It allows you to tow up to 100mi for free. It saved me when I got stuck in Barstow.

And believe me you do not want to get stuck there!

Im not sure how much more it costs but its always worth it especially if you commuite. I was goning from Santa Barbara to LA constantly due to school.

 

AAA was my first mod too... got a plus membership right from the get go. haven't needed it yet, but that 100miles was just to temping to pass up.

 

i guess its diff in diff states. they told me that i had to wait a yesr before i could get the plu package.

i dont know if thats a cali thing or if it something they were doing seven years ago when i got the package

 

Happened to me twice...both times were because the crappy stock sway bar mounts bent up and cracked the stock radiator. Learned my lesson, I bought a Fluidyne and the Wide Foot mounts, definitly stronger and a bit higher above the ground.

 

Yeah, I just really hope my motor didn't overheat... my rebuild only has ~8k miles on it.

 

I guess that my old thread that had a photo of a seriously deteriorated plastic end tank was deleted for some reason.

Even though my stock rad worked fine while it stayed intact, I was damn lucky that I discovered the leaking end tank a couple of blocks away from my house. I really do look at an upgraded radiator as a reliability mod.

 

ouch...400+ tow..

 

If you own a FD, then AAA is the BEST mod hands down. I think plus is like $80 a year and you get 4 calls. Well worth the investment. AND it covers you, no matter who's car you in, even if you're not driving!

 

Yeah, I'm going to get AAA asap. I just really hope I didn't overheat -- what are the chances that I did?

 

It's very unlikely that you would damage your engine in such a short time.