Mazda Rotary Club

Cars by Model Type => 3rd generation RX-7's => Topic started by: TRex on April 03, 2005, 11:31:10 AM

Title: Water leak?
Post by: TRex on April 03, 2005, 11:31:10 AM
Hi
 Can someone shoot me a link with photos/explanation of the cooling system run/piping on the 13B REW engine please...

 Basically I think I may have a slight leak near the turbo area, after a big run seems to leak coolant, puddle on floor after half an hour or so!
 
 No it is not the expansion tank etc, all undertrays are off the car so I can trace the leak better.

 Looking at the front Turbo, I see there is some piping going to it so also asuming that it is also water cooled as well as oiled?

 Anyway, this piping seems to be corroded a bit and I suspect thats where it\'s coming from, cannot see to well as it is in there..
 But before I removed surrounding bits to have a better look, it would be nice to see a setup of the water lines around the engine to have a better idea what to look for and where to trace from and to.........

 rgds
Title: Water leak?
Post by: Ricco_04 on April 03, 2005, 12:19:18 PM
Sorry to hear about that mate.  Just posted one up too as mines also desided to loose coolant (must have been writing them at the same time!)  Hope its nothing major for you.
Title: Water leak?
Post by: TRex on April 03, 2005, 09:59:04 PM
Thanks m8.....

 Should not be something big as it\'s better to have an external leak.  You know what they say, \'better out than in... \' :D

 It\'s just that it looks like a crappy place where it seems to be ****ing out from and would like to see exactly whats around that area with regards to piping etc for a better idea and understanding.........

 With regard to your prob and your photos, it looks like the AST and tank area. So could also be the common fault of the tank splitting.
 
 New to these machines, so hopefully some nice person that knows what they are talking about will be along soon to set us right....... :god
Title: Water leak?
Post by: TRex on April 05, 2005, 11:11:59 AM
Thread still here>>>>>> :wiggle
Title: Water pipes
Post by: jonrx7uk on April 05, 2005, 11:58:25 AM
They are at the back as shown.  IIRC the hoses can be removed without removing the turbos.  All the pipework / airpump need removing to get to them though.

Cheers
Jon
Title: Water leak?
Post by: Martiny on April 05, 2005, 12:16:44 PM
I have EXACTLY the same symptoms. I even removed all the Turbo heat shields to try and see where the leak is. WHile I was down there, I noticed I had incorrectly (previously) fitted the turbo oil return gasket.

At least I think I have fixed the oil leak.

I do have a little leaking from the inlet manifold gasket, and the radiator. :-(
Title: Water leak?
Post by: TRex on April 05, 2005, 04:13:40 PM
Thats what I\'m talking about!!

 JON, thank you very much sir............ :cheers

 I see those pipes look corroded similar to mine and exactly where you have circled is abouts where I suspect could be leaking.....
 Airpump already off, hence why I can see them! But thats about it, I can only see them and they look a bugger to get at without removing more stuff!! :(

 Anyway dude, thanks again for that photo as thats exactly what I was after...
 This is what this club is about....... :yes
Title: Water leak?
Post by: jonrx7uk on April 05, 2005, 04:58:57 PM
No probs.

The turbo to intercooler \'Y\' pipework needs taking off (the photo actually shows it on the wrong way round? dont ask).  to do this you need to take off the 2nd turbo inlet pipe.  Its a tight squeeze but it does come off if you loosen all the bolts for both pieces (i loosened the clutch pedal bolts in the footwell to help me and loosened the brake servo heatshield).

Let us know how you get on.

Cheers
Jon
Title: Water leak?
Post by: TRex on April 05, 2005, 11:17:08 PM
Cheers, I\'ll tackle it by the weekend and let you know how it goes...
 
 Funny thing is, took her out for a blast today and not leaking now somehow! :rolleyes:

 BUt will still have a hunt in there as the pipes does seem a bit unhealthy.. I have some lenghts of new hose, so may as well replace what I could with new clamps etc.

 Rgds
Title: Water leak?
Post by: TRex on April 06, 2005, 11:41:00 PM
Took a blast today and can confirm the leak..
It\'s exactly where I thought it was....... yes in a right bastard of a place! :mad:

 Look like the Turbos, manifold assy may all have to come off.

 It\'s where the arrow points to in the photo below, the pipe has a pin hole leak and after a big hard run with the temps up, it sprays like a mutha......

 If anyone has a simpler idea how to get to the pipes(remove them) without taking off the manifold assy, then please yes!
 
 Thinking a quick fix of putting some metal epoxy around there as I can just about get in there to do that... but it\'s gonna be taking some serious heat around that area..... hhmmm....
Title: Water leak?
Post by: Warthog on April 07, 2005, 01:15:50 AM
Yoh boys slow down. Both pipes can be done without taking the turbos to bits. I had the same problem and took it nice and slow.
The first pipe is under and to the rear of the bracket that holds the intercooler piping ( grey plastic pipe with two bolt holders one on either side ), it bends to the right and down. Remove the cross brace ( the one from the suspension bolts ) then remove your intercooler pipe connection into the turbo. You should then be able to see a small upright  right angled connector which comes out of the top of the thermostat housing, it is situated behind the filler cap. This is the first pipe to replace. Pull/cut if off both ends. It\'s tight but you can clean up both ends of the pipes that the rubber hose connects to. Now slip the new pipe over the pipe that is down and to the right. DO NOT RE-USE THE SPRING CLIPS FROM THE OLD PIPE. Slide a new jub/clip down and do it up. Now slide another one on and fix to the top right angled connection. Thats the easy one done. The 2nd one is to the left and down towards the bottom of the thermostat housing, same type of angled connection and a very tight other pipe. This pipe should have a heat covering sleeve on it KEEP IT don\'t cut it off.
Remove both ends of the pipe and clean up both ends of the pipe. Fit the new pipe to the pipe connected to the turbos using the same method as above REMEMBER TO SLIP THE RUBBER HEAT SHIELD back onto the new pipe before fitting the last j/clip.
Job done. TIP--- also check that the coolent level sender plastic nut with the wire comming out of it is not also leaking. It\'s difficult to see if it is as it\'s so near to the main rad feed pipe junction under the thermostat. My one had been tightened so much the plastic thread had twisted off, i changed the complete sender. You may get away with unconnecting it\'s wire junction and removing it replace the washer DON\'T TRY AND GET ONE FROM A DIY SHOP THEY DON\'T FIT get a mazda one it does have a part number. The other place i found a leak was the thermostat it\'s self i was going to replace it anyway so having taken it off i discovered that the water had been leaking from this flush plate seal area so i cleaned up the seating hole fitted the new one and sealed the flush joint with high temp sealant. I no longer have any leaks. Hope this helps.
Title: Water leak?
Post by: jonrx7uk on April 07, 2005, 09:11:06 AM
I think TRex is on about the actual metal pipes on the turbos themselves as opposed to the rubber pipes (replace these anyway).  Looking at the position of them on the turbos, it looks like the turbos have to come off i\'m affraid...:(  as they are right at the back under the LIM.

Good Luck

Jon
Title: Water leak?
Post by: Warthog on April 07, 2005, 10:05:27 AM
When the rubber pipes leak you don\'t see any fluid as it evaporates with the heat from the turbos. It may well be the pipes, try it first, before replacing everything. Process of elimination.
Title: Water leak?
Post by: TRex on April 07, 2005, 10:06:57 AM
Warthog thanks dude... Trying to understand exactly what pipes you are talking about.  
 I am talking about the water pipe that goes to the Turbos for cooling them...  It\'s the pipe I have pointed to with the yellow arrow.
 As Jon said, the position is pretty close to the engine and lower intake manifold and sod all room to get anything in there insitu.
 
  If they are the same pipes, then fantastic dude, I\'ll give it a go from what you said there, no probs......... thanks

Got some very high temp metal-set epoxy, but I prefer to actually do a permanant fix as 1/  more of that pipe may be corroded and rupture again. 2/ Don\'t want to take chances with cooling system!

 I\'ll tacke it in a few days and if it gets serious I\'ll take snaps as I go along for someones future benifit........

 By the way, anyone got a decent set of these pipes they wanna get rid of? :p
Title: Water leak?
Post by: TRex on April 07, 2005, 10:10:12 AM
Ha, we posted at the same time........... :p

 Yes I am 100% positive where the leak/hole is now......
Exactly where I pointed to on the photo....
 It is deffo the METAL pipe thats ****ing........................

 rgds
Title: Water leak?
Post by: Warthog on April 07, 2005, 10:32:35 AM
Well done mate. God all that typing anyway it may help someone else with a like problem.:wave
Title: Water leak?
Post by: Martiny on April 07, 2005, 10:59:10 AM
QuoteOriginally posted by jonrx7uk
No probs.

The turbo to intercooler \'Y\' pipework needs taking off (the photo actually shows it on the wrong way round? dont ask)

Cheers
Jon

Ok, Im asking... how come the y pipes are the wrong wat round?:D :D
Title: Water leak?
Post by: jonrx7uk on April 07, 2005, 11:07:05 AM
QuoteOk, Im asking... how come the y pipes are the wrong wat round?

I used this photo (someone was selling the pack on Ebay and this was the pic) to try and diagnose my turbo probs in the early days.  You can imagine how confusing it was when everything was back to front.  What gave it away eventually was the CRV ponting towards the Firewall and not the air filters :D

Cheers
Jon
Title: Water leak?
Post by: TRex on April 08, 2005, 01:21:24 AM
Well I\'ll surley be changing the pipes now as it looks pretty crap!

 Looks like it\'s gonna be a right PITA just to get the pipes off!

 Hers the culprit!
Title: Water leak?
Post by: TRex on April 08, 2005, 01:22:53 AM
Closer...
Title: Water leak?
Post by: Warthog on April 08, 2005, 09:44:06 AM
BIATCH arn\'t they, but doable.
Title: Water leak?
Post by: Martiny on April 08, 2005, 10:02:27 AM
Thats a great picture. I think mine is leaking in about the same place.

Will have another look, so you can see that just by removing the air pump?  (says he, as if removing anything on this car is easy! Especially the air filter box, where you have to struggle with those huge clips, that NO pair of pliers seems big enough to get hold of!)
Title: Water leak?
Post by: TRex on April 08, 2005, 02:00:32 PM
I imagine with a stock engine and bay it will not be easily visable.
Mine is as is, no air pump, rad and fan, non standard piping etc.
 So alot easier to see, but still a \'Biatch\' to get at to mend or replace!

 So the lot is deffo coming off next week for a full and proper job!


 
 Now who\'s a got a big single they wanna sell......... :evillaugh
Title: Water leak?
Post by: msc125 on May 12, 2005, 06:57:29 PM
hi all,

i\'ve got smoke coming from the middle of the engine bay :( (underneath airpump, upper intake manifold/ alternator area), and a loss of coolant. i fear it may be the same problem as in this thread and also posted here:

http://www.mazdarotaryclub.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=14240&perpage=15&highlight=coolant&pagenumber=1

i\'ve had a coolant leak in the past and it turned out to be a dodgy pressure cap. i\'m not sure if it\'s the same problem this time as i didn\'t get a look at the faulty pressure cap when it was replaced, so don\'t know what a dud one looks like! i assume the rubber seal on the inside of the cap would be cracked, or is it something to do with the pressure (spring) of the cap?

is there any way i can diagnose the problem without taking bits off the engine to get to the turbo/ coolant lines?
Title: Water leak?
Post by: TRex on May 12, 2005, 10:57:28 PM
Hi m8, sorry to hear this but don\'t panic as hopefully it could be sorted.

 Top up your rad to the max(when cold) and then take the car for a good blast, park up with engine running still and have a look around the Turbo areas (like in my photos), you may be lucky to see if/where water is leaking from exactly.

 If you can see or have an idea of the area, then post em up and if not myself, someone else will surely guide you to victory!
 
 good luck :bandit
Title: Water leak?
Post by: msc125 on May 12, 2005, 11:34:03 PM
TRex, cheers for the reply

i tried to locate the leak earlier today, but no joy. the smoke seems to be coming from the same area where your corroded pipes were. looks like i\'ll have to take it apart- ah well, it\'ll keep me busy for a few hours!

as i\'m still new to all this, is there anything i should know before takin it to bits? can you just unbolt and lift it all out? what exactly do i need to take out to get down there? :confused:
Title: Water leak?
Post by: Warthog on May 13, 2005, 05:09:21 PM
Make sure you buy the Mazda parts -- less than £10.00 for both--DON\'T use any other pipe as the mazda ones are pre-formed and ensure the correct flow of water. If you use any other you MAY get a kink--I did-- so i replaced with correct parts made it work correctly.:wave
Title: Water leak?
Post by: Martiny on May 13, 2005, 08:21:00 PM
Right I replaced both the rubber hoses ( upper and lower) on my car today.

I cant see any split in the old ones, though? I will have to drive it a few days and see....

Its not such a bad job, but you do need to remove the air box, and air pump.

(I hate those big spring clips !!!!!)
Title: Water leak?
Post by: TRex on May 13, 2005, 11:25:29 PM
You can replace the rubber hoses that Warthog mentioned, which I believe is what you\'ve just changed Martin??

 Those arn\'t too bad, a bastard, but not too bad...

 If you get the \'lucky straw\' and it\'s the actuall Pipes that are attached to the Turbos, (what I had), then it\'s a fair job as the whole Turbo assembly and all pipes have to be removed. :(

 Hopefully it\'s the flexi pipes that will cure it for you!