jumped in the car to go home last night (had been out driving around earlier) and the "add coolant" light came on, checked coolant and it was 2/3rd full in the overflow, so i filled it up all the way, light still on and annoying beeping noise. temp is still normal (factory temp guage and aftermarket). drive a couple miles thinking the system will take up the extra coolant and light will go off, but it doesnt and factory temp guage starts creeping towards 3/4 high (strange that aftermarket stayed at 140 when its normally at 180ish, malfunction), so i pull over into a gas station and have it towed home (ouch $200). when i popped the hood i heard some strange gurgling noises from under the intake area? coolant overflow is still totally full, not sure why system is not taking up the extra coolant. maybe the thermostat is stuck? air bubble?

im new to the rotary, what else should i check and what do i need to do? i did some searchs and found stuff about burping the coolant for air bubbles but nothing too detailed.

thanks

 

Did someone change the coolant or take one of the hoses off prior to that happening? You were smart to tow it home before something worse happened. I'm really not sure what's wrong with it, but it sounds like it has air in it. I'm not an expert either though.

I'm a bit hesitant to change the coolant myself again. I didn't know what I was doing the last time I changed the coolant and it took forever to get the thing to stop beeping at me because it had air in the lines. It probably took me a couple hours topping off the coolant in the thing. With that, I'm not sure that I did it right.

Well, I can't say for sure that it was my fault, because it never ran hot, but it sure did lose compression and go kaput in the hands of the Mazda tech. Luckily it was still under warranty.

Good luck with yours.

Scooter

 

go to the FAQ thread and lookup the huge thread on the coolant system. give it a good read. it will tell you everything you need to know.

 

found the problem, theres a coolant leak from the back of the intake manifold area, it seems to leak heavily after i turn the car off after driving.

i got some distilled water and filled the AST up, then filled up the filler neck, jiggled the house to get the air out, and drove 30 mins to work, temp on the highway stayed 88-92c at the hottest. after parking and letting it cool down, it dumped a bunch of coolant again from the back of the intake.

im thinking its from the area where the coolant line that goes to the throttlebody comes out of the block?
the previous owner did the throttlebody coolant elimination, so it must be a block-off plate or clamped hose that is leaking, does that sound right?

anything else behind/under the intake manifold that could leak coolant like that?

 

replace ast with metal one and get a new radiator cap... let me know what happens

 

its leaking cuz of the pressure built up from heat after u turn the engine off, would chk everything, do u have anyproblems starting or wht smoke out the exhaust at any time???

 

Yeah that sounds right. Some people have some odd ways of blocking off the TB coolant line. You can always pressure test the system so you can find the leak without risking any issues with the car (if you have access to it of course). I'd get in there and take a look.

 

It is actually the inverse

 

edit: I'm an idiot, don't mind me

 

I think he's got that worked out.

 

what about the leak under the intake manifold, wont that just keep leaking?

radiator cap says "16lbs" on it, and the AST cap says a bunch of japanese crap and " .9"
i thoguht 16lbs was the right one? or do they go bad?

 

.9 PSI is stock. It's good for running your system at stock pressure. If you get some lower boiling temp coolant, you'll want to get a higher pressure cap (1.5 PSI I believe), or if you get Evans then you'll want to just remove the rubber seal from your cap and run a 0 PSI system.

You'll need to repair the leak under the IM. Is it the thermowax coolant line that is leaking? The one that goes through the TB.

 

as far as i can see from the cooling diagram in the FAQ, that is the only thing under the manifold that could possibly be the leak, but the previous owner eliminated the line, so it must just be the blockoff plate/tube that is leaking ?

i cant quite see under there to really get a good look at it.

 

forgot to update the thread, it was just a rubber cap on the TB coolant line that was leaking, just very hard to see it due to the manifold in the way, loosened the upper manifold, squeezed my hand in there to tighten on a new rubber cap and clamp and its good as new.

car runs all day in the florida heat and stays between 87-91c at hottest !

 

IMO. get rid of the rubber cap - they are very prone to failure. A much more reliable solution is to use a piece of heater hose clamped on with a plug clamped in the end.