On startup my car smokes alot, the smoke dosent dissipate quickly either, it lingers around.... It smells sweet, also, my coolant light keeps turning on when I drive and when I let it sit and cool and take off the coolant cap, the fluid level is very low or I cant see any fluid at all..... It drives alright once the car warms up but its just bothersome that Im smelling this from my exaust, I think its coolant but Im not sure what needs to be done to correct this problem... rebuild?

 

yup rebuild. your coolant seals went on ya. itll only get worse

 

If you're in The Woodlands (Houston), Tx, make a trip to www.maz-max.com , W. Little York and 290. Ask for Bryan Smith, the service manager. He's in the Houston RX7 club, and owns a 2nd and third gen. Best of luck.

 

Agree.... sounds like your coolant seals are shot... You can continue to drive the car but as you noticed it'll be hard starting in the morning especially, and deplete you coolant level... If you can live with it, you can continue to drive the car till you can arrange to have the motor rebuilt.

 

Ok everybody will freak out over this one but......if you need to save up a bit you might try this. On my FC I used stops leaks or stopsleaks (or similar) and it did stop the coolant consumption. I did not drain it out. Just left it in. The motor sucked down about half the evap tank every 50-100 miles before and basically stopped afterwards. When I did finally drian and flush the system, the coolant consumption returned but at a much slower rate. Hey, if you going to pull the motor anyway wtf. I'd expect a lot of negative feedback on this but it worked on my FC

 

so what are the cause for coolant seal failures? they just go on it's own? or is there something wrong in the engine that cause the seal to go bad?

 

From what I know, HEAT is always the culprit. Not to mention overheating. Heat from combustion eventually wears them down to the point they become brittle and break/crack. This is why adequate cooling by means of the "Reliability mods" aids in life of the engine and seals. I just experienced your same situation a few weeks ago. Rebuilding is the only answer. My 2 Lincolns.

-HeX

 

so what is the cheapest, fastest, easiest, and most efficient mod to keep the heat out?

 

There isn't "one" single thing, but a combination of things can help:

1. Downpipe
2. Aftermarket radiator
3. *Proper cool downs after driving*
4. Fan mod/Miata Thermo switch
5. Aftermarket Water Temp gauge/Linearize stock temp
6. Vented hood

All of the above will help.