Tonight going up a hill my car overheated so I pulled over and the radiator was cracked and spewing fluid. Want to know what kind of damage I could of done and what is my next step to find out. What is the best place to buy another radiator?

 

Worst case scenario is you overheated your motor and ruined it.

You can get a new radiator here:

http://www.rx7store.net/subcatmfgpro...352&1=354&2=-1

 

Motor starts up fine. No smoke out of exhaust. What should I start checking to see if I caused any damage?

 

Buy and install a new radiator- I used this one.

How do you know it overheated? Did your stock temp guage go past 9'oclock position? or did your aftermarket one read something other than 180-200ish for an extended period of time?

Just install the new radiator, and watch for coolant to dissapear, if its leaking out (puddles under car) fix those leaks, and if coolant dissapears without being found, you are most likely burning it.

-Ben

I had the same problem.

 

i got a great price on a koyo radiator at www.radiator.com

 

Normally if you overheated and warped a plate or blew a coolant seal - coolant would leak into your engine. Since you have a hole in your rad - it's kind of hard to diagnos it right now. Sometimes the engine is hard to start (or even will not start) if damage is enough to cause so.
Chances are that since you pulled over immediately, your engine is still ok. If not damaged severly now, there is the chance it may become a problem in the future. First things first, get a new rad installed, then you can diagnos the engine better.

Since the stock radiator is insufficient in the first place, don't replace it with a stock one. Koyo and Fluidyne seem to be the two most popular brands. Griffin is good too. Check the store like SpeedKing mentioned.

 

I was going up a slight grade when I noticed the gauge up to 9:30 to 10 o'clock position. I imediately found a spot to pull over. I pulled over and let the car sit for a few minutes and then added water to the radiator. Turned the car back on to see where it was spewing from and thats when I noticed the cracked radiator.

 

What I don't get is why you didn't pull over once your coolant level sensor went off?

 

Didn't he just say that he did?

 

No, he said he saw his car overheating -- he didn't mention that his coolant level sensor went off.

 

I just got a Koyo Radiator for $330. Here is another website of where to get one for that price. I'd suggest getting the Koyo. I was in the same situation as you except a bird flew out in front of me and I sucked it in. I noticed a big leak when I pulled up to the restaraunt and looked in the front air dam and sure enough, the bird had cracked the radiator and it was spewing coolant everywhere. You'll notice a cooler engine bay when you pull in the garage after a nice drive also.

 

I wasn't in my car. Someone else was driving it and they told me what happened.

 

Oh ****.....how the story all of a sudden takes an important change. NOW I'd be worried, 1) no one else would be driving my 7 2) I wouldn't trust what they told me if they were.

 

Now why did you let them do that. Unless you are married to them no one else should EVER drive your car.

Shame on you good sir.

 

I bought a Koyo High Performance, All-Aluminum Radiator for $330 with 1 Day Air Shipping included. Check out radiator.com they will meet or beat any other legit place I believe.

What kind of mixture are you guys using? Any tips you can give me on changing out the radiator or anything would be greatly appreciated.

 

This page is your friend

 

a 7 is like a tooth brush, nobody else borrows it

 

Thats an excellent price.

Since there release in 1992. The FD radiators have been prone to cracking on the top tank. The JC Cosmo (90-95) is no exception too.

Going aluminium is the safest way to ensure reliablity. Well done

 

Ok just drained the radiator and there is no oil in the anti-freeze. Checked the oil again and the oil looks clean. They messed up and sent my Radiator ground instead of air. So to make up for that they cancelled that order and sent another one out 1 day air to me today and knocked off $30 off the total. I am looking for a service manual on this car. I found one at the Mazda dealer for $100 but they have to order it. Anyone have one or know someone with one that wants to sell it?

 

Well....I got the radiator installed today, had some fitment issues but got those taken care of i flushed the system filled it up and cranked it over, it smoked for about 45sec then completley stopped smoking, the smoke did not linger in the air and had no smell but exhaust. I drove it around town a bit got the rpms up while my friend was following me, saw no smoke and idle and temp were perfect the whole time. So with any luck im ok for the time being, i am still taking it in and getting it checked out by the local mazda shop. Thanks for all the advice.