Too Much SMOKE!!!
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Joined: Jun 2004
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From: Grand Rapids Michigan
I'm sorry to hear that man. Good luck with the rebuild, and it will be interesting to hear if there were any buildup issues inside the motor. That seems to be the biggest reason people say not to use "block sealants" (and I agree with that), but I think the Alumaseal might be a bit more user friendly since you don't have to remove it after use, and it doesn't seem to affect the radiator or the heater core.
I think you are failure number 2 out of 20 or so. A 90% success rate ain't too shabby I guess.
I think you are failure number 2 out of 20 or so. A 90% success rate ain't too shabby I guess.
Thread Starter
Full Member
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 75
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From: Santa Monica
Hey so I know it is a little late but here is a video of what my car was doing when this whole coolant disappearing thing was going on as well as the burnout level smoke.
Sorry for all the crappy quality and stuff, it was taken from my phone.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6oIvgqhNxY
Sorry for all the crappy quality and stuff, it was taken from my phone.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6oIvgqhNxY
Even though I just picked up my FC, I'm slightly worried that it might have this issue. I don't know how much smoke is acceptable on startup in the winter/cold. It's not as bad as the video posted above, but I'm still worried as I don't know what kind of maintenance this car had before I bought it.
Hopefully the smoke is just because of the cold weather, but I'm going to keep an eye on the coolant level now just to be safe. If it starts losing coolant, maybe I'll try this alumaseal stuff (if I can get it in Canada...)
Hopefully the smoke is just because of the cold weather, but I'm going to keep an eye on the coolant level now just to be safe. If it starts losing coolant, maybe I'll try this alumaseal stuff (if I can get it in Canada...)
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Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 20
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From: NC
I'm sorry to hear that man. Good luck with the rebuild, and it will be interesting to hear if there were any buildup issues inside the motor. That seems to be the biggest reason people say not to use "block sealants" (and I agree with that), but I think the Alumaseal might be a bit more user friendly since you don't have to remove it after use, and it doesn't seem to affect the radiator or the heater core.
I think you are failure number 2 out of 20 or so. A 90% success rate ain't too shabby I guess.
I think you are failure number 2 out of 20 or so. A 90% success rate ain't too shabby I guess.
http://www.autozone.com/autozone/acc...er=527036_0_0_
also im going to try it on a rx8. I just drop it in the rad as is? Then turn it on and drive it dor 30 minutes?
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Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 20
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From: NC
I'm sorry to hear that man. Good luck with the rebuild, and it will be interesting to hear if there were any buildup issues inside the motor. That seems to be the biggest reason people say not to use "block sealants" (and I agree with that), but I think the Alumaseal might be a bit more user friendly since you don't have to remove it after use, and it doesn't seem to affect the radiator or the heater core.
I think you are failure number 2 out of 20 or so. A 90% success rate ain't too shabby I guess.
I think you are failure number 2 out of 20 or so. A 90% success rate ain't too shabby I guess.
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Joined: Jun 2004
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From: Grand Rapids Michigan
Good luck.
I was racing out of town yesterday, and while preparing to swap tires afterward for the drive home, my jack slipped off the crossmember and gouged my radiator. It took about ten minutes for all of my water to run out.
I found 1/4 of a bottle of Alumaseal in the bottom of my race box, and since the hole was at the bottom of the radiator, I figured what the heck (even though it was a big hole). Dumped it in, let it drain to the bottom of the radiator (theoritically, not confirmed), then allowed it to bake in the heat for about 15 minutes.
When we filled it up, it lost a couple of drops and then held. No issues on the 1 hour drive home.
I was racing out of town yesterday, and while preparing to swap tires afterward for the drive home, my jack slipped off the crossmember and gouged my radiator. It took about ten minutes for all of my water to run out.
I found 1/4 of a bottle of Alumaseal in the bottom of my race box, and since the hole was at the bottom of the radiator, I figured what the heck (even though it was a big hole). Dumped it in, let it drain to the bottom of the radiator (theoritically, not confirmed), then allowed it to bake in the heat for about 15 minutes.
When we filled it up, it lost a couple of drops and then held. No issues on the 1 hour drive home.
Junior Member
Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 20
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From: NC
Good luck.
I was racing out of town yesterday, and while preparing to swap tires afterward for the drive home, my jack slipped off the crossmember and gouged my radiator. It took about ten minutes for all of my water to run out.
I found 1/4 of a bottle of Alumaseal in the bottom of my race box, and since the hole was at the bottom of the radiator, I figured what the heck (even though it was a big hole). Dumped it in, let it drain to the bottom of the radiator (theoritically, not confirmed), then allowed it to bake in the heat for about 15 minutes.
When we filled it up, it lost a couple of drops and then held. No issues on the 1 hour drive home.
I was racing out of town yesterday, and while preparing to swap tires afterward for the drive home, my jack slipped off the crossmember and gouged my radiator. It took about ten minutes for all of my water to run out.
I found 1/4 of a bottle of Alumaseal in the bottom of my race box, and since the hole was at the bottom of the radiator, I figured what the heck (even though it was a big hole). Dumped it in, let it drain to the bottom of the radiator (theoritically, not confirmed), then allowed it to bake in the heat for about 15 minutes.
When we filled it up, it lost a couple of drops and then held. No issues on the 1 hour drive home.
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Joined: May 2011
Posts: 28
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From: Petaluma, CA
Yeah, I've gotten 20,000 miles of daily driving and weekend racing. Not bad for borrowed time. When this motor eventually dies, it won't be due to bad coolant seals or the method I used to fix it. Seriously, I even take the car down to North Carolina every year for the Deals Gap Rotary Rally, and haven't had even a trace of an issue.
So call it a temporary fix if you like, but it sure seems like a pretty damned long term temporary fix.
When this motor eventually dies, it won't be due to bad coolant seals or the method I used to fix it. Seriously, I even take the car down to North Carolina every year for the Deals Gap Rotary Rally, and haven't had even a trace of an issue. So call it a temporary fix if you like, but it sure seems like a pretty damned long term temporary fix.
After reading the thread up to this point it seems like my car might be having the same problem. Although there is an oil leak since my latest oil change. Before you fixed the problem was the smoke coming from exhaust pipes?
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Joined: Jun 2004
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From: Grand Rapids Michigan
Yes. There was so much smoke coming from the tail pipe that even just idling in my driveway produced so much smoke that you could not see from one side of the driveway to the other...
block weld is ALWAYS just a temp fix, from 1 week to a year, be ready because it WILL leak again.
ground pepper works too, better in fact because it can be flushed out of the system without any adverse affects. of course it will not work for the coolant seals it does work well for radiator and heater core leaks.
Good luck.
I was racing out of town yesterday, and while preparing to swap tires afterward for the drive home, my jack slipped off the crossmember and gouged my radiator. It took about ten minutes for all of my water to run out.
I found 1/4 of a bottle of Alumaseal in the bottom of my race box, and since the hole was at the bottom of the radiator, I figured what the heck (even though it was a big hole). Dumped it in, let it drain to the bottom of the radiator (theoritically, not confirmed), then allowed it to bake in the heat for about 15 minutes.
When we filled it up, it lost a couple of drops and then held. No issues on the 1 hour drive home.
I was racing out of town yesterday, and while preparing to swap tires afterward for the drive home, my jack slipped off the crossmember and gouged my radiator. It took about ten minutes for all of my water to run out.
I found 1/4 of a bottle of Alumaseal in the bottom of my race box, and since the hole was at the bottom of the radiator, I figured what the heck (even though it was a big hole). Dumped it in, let it drain to the bottom of the radiator (theoritically, not confirmed), then allowed it to bake in the heat for about 15 minutes.
When we filled it up, it lost a couple of drops and then held. No issues on the 1 hour drive home.
Last edited by RotaryEvolution; Sep 26, 2011 at 11:59 AM.
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Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 20
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From: Idaho
I Aldo recentlly have had this same issue.... scared the crappy out of me the first time... but I know its a cilantro leak by my intake... my freze plugs that I blocked my coolent lines for the racing beats intake failed... plan on really doing my gasket and really seal it wensday wen more Carb parts get here... do rx7s allways have alot of damn problems haha
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Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 11,359
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From: Grand Rapids Michigan
block weld is ALWAYS just a temp fix, from 1 week to a year, be ready because it WILL leak again.
ground pepper works too, better in fact because it can be flushed out of the system without any adverse affects. of course it will not work for the coolant seals it does work well for radiator and heater core leaks.
ground pepper works too, better in fact because it can be flushed out of the system without any adverse affects. of course it will not work for the coolant seals it does work well for radiator and heater core leaks.
Are you implying that I am lying?
After all, I have clearly stated the number of miles since the repair. 30,000 miles is a hell of a temporary fix. Also, this is not a "block Sealant". That stuff is nasty, clumpy, gooey stuff that will mess up your motor. I chose Alumaseal (which is a radiator sealant, not a block repair product) after extensive research and for very good reasons. If you would like to know what those reasons are, then you'll have to go back to some point where I explained it.
Karack,
Are you implying that I am lying? After all, I have clearly stated the number of miles since the repair. 30,000 miles is a hell of a temporary fix.
Also, this is not a "block Sealant". That stuff is nasty, clumpy, gooey stuff that will mess up your motor. I chose Alumaseal (which is a radiator sealant, not a block repair product) after extensive research and for very good reasons. If you would like to know what those reasons are, then you'll have to go back to some point where I explained it.
Are you implying that I am lying?
After all, I have clearly stated the number of miles since the repair. 30,000 miles is a hell of a temporary fix. Also, this is not a "block Sealant". That stuff is nasty, clumpy, gooey stuff that will mess up your motor. I chose Alumaseal (which is a radiator sealant, not a block repair product) after extensive research and for very good reasons. If you would like to know what those reasons are, then you'll have to go back to some point where I explained it.
i've tried them all, none really lasted as permanently as yours did. best i did was about 5k miles on the GXL which had a horrendous leak initially(got the car for free so i'm not complaining) and failed again several years later.
coolant seals fail for various reasons, there is no way to determine how the seal is holding up in the groove but i will say that a 12A engine is less likely to reject the sealant than a 13B with a broken coolant seal wall. it might hold up for a while until that one time you go WOT to pass someone, increasing the rotating compression of the engine enough to blow out what little was holding it together.
we haven't even touched on where it all goes throughout the cooling system during the process and hurts the radiator cooling efficiency and flow, same with the heater core which should be bypassed during the procedure but will still collect some of the residual crap as it won't all come out regardless of how well the system is flushed.
i just like to lay it all out on the table first, if someone still decides to attempt it then they're on their own because i'm not gonna drive 200 miles in the middle of the night to bail someone out.
Last edited by RotaryEvolution; Sep 27, 2011 at 01:37 PM.
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From: Grand Rapids Michigan
lol. All good points.
Anyway, it's not like I'm selling the stuff or making money here. All I have to go on are my own personal results, the results of people in this thread, the results of those who have contacted me by PM, etc.
Of those who had the seal fail in the "proper" way (i.e. coolant into exhaust rather than exhaust going into the coolant), we're running about 19 out of 20 successes.
Those whose seal failed in the "wrong" way only have about a 10% success rate.
I have had great success from this, as have many others. I don't have any cooling issues. I'm not afraid to drive the car, in fact I take it all over this side of the Country. I drive it to work every day. I race it every weekend.
But yes, it is a "temporary" repair. And there will always be people stopping by to claim that it will never work (I notice that many of them are those who offer rebuild service too, hmmm).
Like I said, I have nothing to gain from this discussion. This is a forum where people come for help. If they can solve their problem with a $4.00 bottle of addative rather than a $2,500 rebuild, then I have done some good.
Anyway, it's not like I'm selling the stuff or making money here. All I have to go on are my own personal results, the results of people in this thread, the results of those who have contacted me by PM, etc.
Of those who had the seal fail in the "proper" way (i.e. coolant into exhaust rather than exhaust going into the coolant), we're running about 19 out of 20 successes.
Those whose seal failed in the "wrong" way only have about a 10% success rate.
I have had great success from this, as have many others. I don't have any cooling issues. I'm not afraid to drive the car, in fact I take it all over this side of the Country. I drive it to work every day. I race it every weekend.
But yes, it is a "temporary" repair.
And there will always be people stopping by to claim that it will never work (I notice that many of them are those who offer rebuild service too, hmmm).Like I said, I have nothing to gain from this discussion. This is a forum where people come for help. If they can solve their problem with a $4.00 bottle of addative rather than a $2,500 rebuild, then I have done some good.
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Joined: Apr 2003
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From: Carlisle, MA
Need a new engine
HI,
It appears that the seals in my engine have failed. The dealer I spoke to told me that he cannot get a new engine from mazda. You mentioned that you can get a new engine easily in Japan. Do you know if I couold get one in the US? You can send me email directly on don_drinkwater@comcast.net
Thanks
Don
It appears that the seals in my engine have failed. The dealer I spoke to told me that he cannot get a new engine from mazda. You mentioned that you can get a new engine easily in Japan. Do you know if I couold get one in the US? You can send me email directly on don_drinkwater@comcast.net
Thanks
Don
Can almost gaurentee you its your engine o-rings. I'm told it is very rare on an FC (by mechanics here), but happens a lot on the FD.
I know because it happened to me just recently. Fortunately I knew exactly what was happening (thanks to websites like this one) and took steps to purchase a replacement engine right away (they're very easy to come by here in Japan for less than a grand).
You can keep on filling it up with coolant. I drove around for nearly two months with the problem, like yours mine would stop smoking after about a minute of burnout level white smoke got done kicking out. I just kept stocks of coolant in the trunk. Near the end as the problem worsened I would have to fill it up with coolant after each drive, and had to let it cool down for about 2 to 3 hours before I could start it again. In the end it just flat out failed to start.
I'd recommend you yank the motor early if you cannot get a replacement engine easily. The longer you wait the more damage you risk to the rotors/housings, to the point where they wont be reusable if you want to rebuild.
I know because it happened to me just recently. Fortunately I knew exactly what was happening (thanks to websites like this one) and took steps to purchase a replacement engine right away (they're very easy to come by here in Japan for less than a grand).
You can keep on filling it up with coolant. I drove around for nearly two months with the problem, like yours mine would stop smoking after about a minute of burnout level white smoke got done kicking out. I just kept stocks of coolant in the trunk. Near the end as the problem worsened I would have to fill it up with coolant after each drive, and had to let it cool down for about 2 to 3 hours before I could start it again. In the end it just flat out failed to start.
I'd recommend you yank the motor early if you cannot get a replacement engine easily. The longer you wait the more damage you risk to the rotors/housings, to the point where they wont be reusable if you want to rebuild.
he's referring to imported Jspec engines which are used and generally original 20+ year old engines.
there are a number of US rebuilders, like this one, which is about the only option left for refreshing the engine. you can still piece together a full new motor but the cost is just shy of about $6000.
there are a number of US rebuilders, like this one, which is about the only option left for refreshing the engine. you can still piece together a full new motor but the cost is just shy of about $6000.
masta of modi-F***-ation
Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 2
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From: Around
here is a bit of an odd problem regarding smoke... i bought my s5 in august and drove it to my friends house to keep it until i can legally get it on the road. when i bought it, it ran fine with no smoke, let it sit for a month, fired the thing up and there was a huge cloud of smoke. am i in the same boat or is it because it hasn't been driven in a month?