Paranoid
 

Just got a quik question for you rotorheads, i just got my car back from a rebuild 2 weeks ago. Everything runs fine, just that this one time, after i cooled down for a minute then shut the car off, i see a small puddle of coolant drip from the overflow tank. I heard the coolant perculating from radiator cap. After that it never leaked again. But when i checked the the coolant level in radiator neck it's about 2 inches below top-off. Is this normal? I went and bought 2 new radiator caps (16 lbs.) and added some water to top-off the leaked fluid. Drove to work and it did the same thing again. Just a small puddle, same result as last time. Should i be worried or is this normal. I checked the overflow tank, it's shows full on the dip stick. The reason for my rebuild was blown o-ring and water jacket. I still have a 1 year warranty on the motor (thank God), so hope you guys could give some insight? I know i checked the Search, it has tons on answers on this subject but not quite the same when it's your car, ig you know what i mean.

It could just be that the overflow tank was overfilled by the place that rebuilt the engine. It dumps back in, and overfills the tank, causing it to spit out the top of the overflow tank.

Make sure it is coming out of the hole in the top of the overflow tank by looking down there with a flash light.

I always tend to do this when I flush the system out. I overfill the overflow tank...and it leaks some until it stabalizes. You also could be getting a drop in the level at the neck because of air in the system.

Just watch the level, and keep topping off the level at the neck. If it doesn't stop leaking with in 4-5 times of driving...have it checked.

Patrick

I have a related question. I dumped a lot of coolant one day due to a hose popping off. Been working the air out ever since. Question is, if you open the cap at the front of the engine (not the ast, the one that says not to remove :) ) should it be full of water? It never was, so I kept filling this part up, but I think it kept immediately dumping it back onto the ground (since the overflow was full too). Just curious.....

You should have coolant in the neck. It won't be all the way to the top, but it should cover the various holes and passages you see in the neck.

I would keep topping it off until it stays fairly close to the top of the neck..

It may still dump a bit out of the over flow while trying to get the neck level stabalized.

Patrick

Re: Paranoid
 

The Mazda coolant recall lowered the pressure of the system from 1.1 to 0.9 bars. You should be using 13 lb caps, not 16.

Thanks for the reply, pweizman. I decided to take the cap off after I got home and the car cooled off. The neck was very empty again, so I filled it up. Left the cap off and I've been checking on it every 30 minutes and good grief when's the air finally going to go away?!? It's getting ridiculous! I've almost gone through a 12oz bottle about a cooking cup at a time! Anyway, hopefully this'll be the end of it.....

this isn't really about the coolant stories, but i am getting paranoid with my 7 though :(

I smell gas. It's not really really strong, but enough to notice. I'm really paranoid that it is a fuel leak of some kind. Any advise would be great.

It's a 1993 Touring (silver)

thanks

Just keep toping it off, eventually it will quit taking fluid. I would make sure it isn't flowing right out of the overflow...but that is the idea. I don't usually leave the cap off, but you can do what ever...

mrb63083 -

If you smell gas under the hood, or anywhere...find out where it is coming from!

If it is under the hood, it could be the pulsation damper or fuel injector O-rings...

That is not something you screw around with...the fuel rail is too close to the rather hot turbos...fuel+heat=dead 7.

Search under "fuel" or "engine fire" you will be surprised how many hits you get.

Later,
Patrick