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Need help diagnosing a coolant leak

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Old Jun 24, 2012 | 10:38 AM
  #1  
TheFCDrifter's Avatar
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From: Florida
FL Need help diagnosing a coolant leak

I copied this post from my introduction thread hoping more members would see it here.

When I bought the car, after talking to the owner I believed the car needed a rebuild, I diagnosed it as a internal coolant leak, from the engine itself because coolant was coming out the exhaust/engine bay. But upon closer inspection of the previous owners shoddy workmanship I'm not entirely sure. When I squeeze intercooler hose which connects to the front of the engine there are obvious sounds of a leak. If I'm not mistaken it is the thermostat housing, the previous owner told me that he did the fix himself, the top bolt closest to the back had its head twisted off and when I crank the engine air is sucked through. I'll submit this post as a new thread in the technical section when I get home, but for those of you who are subscribed to this thread and interested in helping, heres a pic of what I'm talking about if I mislabeled a part. Its the one covered in silicon putty.
In either case I plan on rebuilding, I'm not sure it has been done before as the car is in great condition, and seems to have had fairly responsible owners.

http://postimage.org/image/usx9h9c5d/

Sorry if image hosting is not allowed from there I'm on my phone and wanted to see what other members had to say.
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Old Jun 24, 2012 | 09:59 PM
  #2  
misterstyx69's Avatar
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From: Smiths Falls.(near Ottawa!.Mapquest IT!)
you are squeezing the RAD hose.
intercooler hose is on a turbo engine and you do not have that(s5 N/A engine from what it looks like)
That part with all the Goop on it is a Thermostat neck..S5..3 bolt black plastic,and prone to breakage.
You would have to replace that..Can you get the Broken bolt out?..IF NOT,then you would have to drill and re-tap for a bigger size bolt OR get a new waterpump housing.
TIP: here,this part will last better than plastic.
http://www.rotary13b1.com/p/1245/Alu...1992-RX-7.html
Ps:If the last owner was a "responsible Owner" he wouldn't have done a Half-assed fix like that..A Monkey with a Crack problem could have done better!
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Old Jun 24, 2012 | 11:17 PM
  #3  
TheFCDrifter's Avatar
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From: Florida
I wish I could have spellchecked for sheer ignorance before I posted that -_-, it is a s5 n/a, could this possibly fix my problem though? I have a neighbor who offered to help me drill out the bolt, I don't have any tools and he said he'd bring over his drill/easy out bit and get it out for me.

I'll order that neck that you linked me to, because even if it doesn't fix my coolant leak, this obviously seems like something that should be done rebuild or not. When I replace the neck, is there a gasket I need to replace as well? Should I use more of that putty to seal it up or should that not be there at all? Thanks for the reply

Last edited by TheFCDrifter; Jun 24, 2012 at 11:42 PM.
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Old Jun 25, 2012 | 05:46 AM
  #4  
misterstyx69's Avatar
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From: Smiths Falls.(near Ottawa!.Mapquest IT!)
there will be a gasket,and you may as well replace the thermostat and replace,flush and fill the coolant while you are there.
TIP: www.foxed.ca THIS is the best Link someone will ever give you!.This link is for Factory service and PARTS manuals!
Take you neighbor up on his offer.The bolt is broke and need to come out anyways as it
won't seal without 3 useable bolts..Don't get Pissed if he can't do it though as it is a little tricky.The worse case scenario is that you end up back on Forum and put up a Wanting to Buy Ad in the Sec Gen Parts section for a used S5 Waterpump housing.
Good luck.STYX.
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Old Jun 25, 2012 | 06:57 AM
  #5  
TheFCDrifter's Avatar
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From: Florida
Thanks for the help!
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Old Jun 27, 2012 | 10:53 AM
  #6  
Rodgersrotaries's Avatar
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From: Springfield, Missouri
If you have a broken bolt on the thermostat housing you will need to fix that first before diagnosing can go any farther with it. Of corse you will always have some water coming out of the exhaust because burning gasoline makes water. When you have an internal coolant leak you can usually smell the coolant at the exhaust if it is very bad. Of course your coolant level will go down also, but another leak like at the thermostat housing will cause this too. Fix that first and see what happens. If you stop losing coolant, engine is probably ok.
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