ppritchard

Not sure what's up.

With the coolant filled, if you run the engine, coolant will push out of the overflow or ast if the caps are off.

I remember running the car with the caps off and no push out.

Does this suggest a thermostat problem?

I know I should know, but first time with this issue.

Thanks for any insight

GoodfellaFD3S

iTrader: (213)

How many miles and how old is the engine?

This could be indicative of a breached coolant o-ring.

ppritchard

Less than 35,000 on the rebuild and it's not been abused.

No other seal issues such as leaking coolant or smoke.

Also though, the coolant buzzer and light "did not" go off even though the temps went high, does that mean anything or is it just another issue?

I'll go and get the car later tonight,

thanks

ppritchard

Background:

Car registered "hot" so my son pulled off the road. Gauges both read hot, but no buzzer or light
I brought some coolant and we topped it off.

Topped it off, let it cool down.
Started the car with the caps off and coolant flowed "out"?

Let the car sit, capped it and drove it until it registered hot again.
Stopped the car and left it in a parking lot until later tonight.

So, I'm thinking thermostat because that has Not been replaced. Although I have never replaced the water pump either -- didn't hear any squealing?

I'll go tonight and top the car off, drive it the last (short distance) home and spend tomorrow trying to figure it out.

Did NOT see any obvious leaks, though that would be a nice easy find.

thoughts?

GoodfellaFD3S

iTrader: (213)

Coolant will expand as it heats up, so if it's minor then probably normal. I've seen a bad coolant o-ring on a car many years ago causing a geyser out the filler neck

Edit: If the stock gauge read high, then your water temps were above 250F..... not a good sign.

ppritchard

Update: I went back to the car, several hours of cool down.

Tried to start, but it seems like the engine is NOT turning over.
Starter is going, battery is strong -- just no turnover.

Any ideas on what might be going on?

I'm going to leave it overnight. Let it cool down to ambient, then try to start again.
The fact that it did Not feel like it was turning over has me baffled.

It did overheat to the point where it would not readily start -- that's when I parked it earlier.

Any help???"?

Driven233

iTrader: (1)

If it is a slow push out, then that is just the coolant expanding as Goodfellas stated, but if its rapidly escaping or bubbling out then that is a big indication of a coolant seal failure. Does your son recall how long it was close to or at the dreaded H?

Anything over the 9 o'clock area during normal driving is cause for being on alert and looking for a place to park since it will only start to move from that point at close to 100C.

Also I'm pretty sure the buzzer is only for low coolant level, which likely will not go off if the coolant level is to the point of overflowing.

I think I may have a simple way to test the thermostat if you think that may be the issue, experts correct me if wrong but this worked on a different vehicle. The thermostat for our cars opens at ~82C while the fans without A/C switch on at ~105C (or 95C if you have the FC thermoswitch, which I highly recommend, this is florida...). Anyway, if you open the cap and start the car cold(if it is able to start, if it is not then you definitely have big issues) and the coolant is not bubbling or rushing out (also big issue) then watch the coolant and when the thermostat engages you should see it change/move/etc, which should happen before you hear the fans kick on, so following logic if the fans kick on before you see the coolant start to get pulled through the radiator then the Tstat is probably faulty. (Make sense?)

Good Luck, but sadly from what I've read the damage may have already been done (It not starting may possibly be leakage into the rotor chamber), I hope not though as I walk past that FD like every day on the way to class the past few semesters, nice car!

ppritchard

Thanks.

Had her towed to Cory Fairbanks Mazda. They have done work on it before and were honest.

We'll see what their diagnosis is.

shmacklepap

iTrader: (15)

I had a similar problem that I could not diagnose for weeks. Ended up being that I had mounted the AST too low, coolant would flow straight from it, to the over flow, and out the over flow.

CloudPump

iTrader: (2)

FYI: the Coolant buzzer is not for temperature it's for low fluid level.

-Geoff

ppritchard

Thanks.

Well, Dealer says 40lbs of compression and strong coolant smell. Guess this engine is toast.
Only had about 40k on it, so not sure what went wrong.

Now we have to decide whether to rebuild, reman or new.

Regardless, we're going into the Red if we keep it.

thanks to everyone for all the help over the last 5 years.
Trying to decide what to do.

GoodfellaFD3S

iTrader: (213)

Sorry to hear it

In post #4 you imply that the OEM gauge read 'hot,' if that's the case then you cooked a coolant o-ring. These engines don't have much tolerance for overheating unfortunately.