Mazda Rotary Club

Cars by Model Type => 3rd generation RX-7's => Topic started by: JP825 on April 17, 2005, 08:27:28 PM

Title: Smoke under the bonnet??
Post by: JP825 on April 17, 2005, 08:27:28 PM
Started the car this morning and after about 10secs some smoke came out from the vent behind the windscreen on the driver side, this lasted around 10secs and when I opened the bonnet smoke has dissappear, no idea where from and it hasnt appear again.

Very puzzled right now and worry, the night before my turbo timer didnt work for some reason and the car just switched off straight away, but I thought I will leave it becasue I was only driving it normally without boosting it.

Any idea anybody??

:confused:
Title: Smoke under the bonnet??
Post by: Martiny on April 17, 2005, 08:40:26 PM
I think you\'ve answered your own question there, buddy!!
Title: Smoke under the bonnet??
Post by: JP825 on April 17, 2005, 08:44:07 PM
Will switching the engine off straight away causes the smoke, whys that??

I took it easily all the way home so no boost really for the last 10 mins driving....

Will this causes any damage??
Title: Smoke under the bonnet??
Post by: Andyp on April 17, 2005, 09:36:36 PM
I had the same thing at the weekend bud.. I was doing the same thing too driving slowly back from my mot.. pulled into shell to take some oil back and started it up again.. smoke coming out for about 10 secs.. then fine next time i started it.. very odd but fine now :)
Title: Smoke under the bonnet??
Post by: TRex on April 17, 2005, 10:19:31 PM
Is it \'smoke or steam\'?
 
 Are you losing water(coolant) by any chance?
Title: Smoke under the bonnet??
Post by: Warthog on April 17, 2005, 10:28:16 PM
Good call. It may be one of those two small coolant rubber pipes that cool the turbos that has split. You will not see any water on the floor but will have collant level loss.As the fluid is next to the turbos it evaporates, so no visable signs. I did mine the other week and found and solved a few other very minor leaks, now sorted, sweet.:wave
Title: Smoke under the bonnet??
Post by: TRex on April 18, 2005, 12:04:54 AM
Spot on Warthog, thats what I was getting at! ;)
Title: Smoke under the bonnet??
Post by: JP825 on April 18, 2005, 12:23:55 AM
I am not sure if I am getting coolant loss becasue when I open the filler neck the coolant level is always around 1-2 inches below the top, able to dip my finger in and reach the coolant.

So where is these two pipes so I can examine it?? Is it easy to find and get to??

Thanks for your helps in advance guys.
Title: Smoke under the bonnet??
Post by: Warthog on April 18, 2005, 12:43:27 AM
TREX put up a thread not so long ago on this subject named------
---WATER LEAK --- do a thread search on that. I put up a comprehensive how to do reply in there. You will have to remove the air pump first, to get access, if you still have one, as i wrote it as if it had already been removed.
Hope that helps. If the pipes are not split then it may be the pipes are old and perrished. Look for a greenish stain or dark mark around where the rubber pipes connect to the right angled pipe connectors on the main filler body above the thermostat housing. You will still have to remove the air pump to view these.
This is a very common problem and needs to be done A.S.A.P. if it is this, as coolant loss and not stopping it means a dead engine. For the cost a few pence for two bits of tube a 4 x jub/clips, it\'s worth the couple of hours it will take you to do the job.
Best of luck. :wave
Title: Smoke under the bonnet??
Post by: Martiny on April 18, 2005, 10:15:11 AM
Ok , what I meant was..

You turbo timer stopped working at the same time as you saw this smoke.

So, what are the chances of 2 things going wrong at the same time?  Not much! - so, begin by seeing whats up with the turbo timer.
Title: Smoke under the bonnet??
Post by: JP825 on April 18, 2005, 06:48:36 PM
The smoke was in the morning when I try to start my car up and turbo timer stopped working was the night before.

I will try and have a look but I am not very good a tfinding things so if anybody has a handy picture then it will be great.

Cheers :p
Title: Smoke under the bonnet??
Post by: Speedworks on April 19, 2005, 06:58:30 PM
totally correct.

I had it also. Still need to replace them with something better, for now it was taken care of by toghtening the clamp..



QuoteOriginally posted by Warthog
Good call. It may be one of those two small coolant rubber pipes that cool the turbos that has split. You will not see any water on the floor but will have collant level loss.As the fluid is next to the turbos it evaporates, so no visable signs. I did mine the other week and found and solved a few other very minor leaks, now sorted, sweet.:wave
Title: Smoke under the bonnet??
Post by: RobbieRX-7 on April 25, 2005, 06:27:00 PM
WARTHOG

How did you get on with the turbo coolant hoses? was they difficult/tricky to do? Did you just use normal rubber hose and cut it to lenght yourself or did you buy the genuine items from mazda.

I was looking on robs site  

http://robrobinette.com/turbo_lines.htm

 and he said that using normal "do it yourself" hose was unsuitable due to the short length and angle of the bends..just wanted to know how you got on.
Title: Smoke under the bonnet??
Post by: JP825 on April 25, 2005, 06:44:11 PM
All sorted now, jus the hose :rollin
Title: Smoke under the bonnet??
Post by: Warthog on April 25, 2005, 08:13:40 PM
I used normal hose. It was a Biatch but no probs with the bends ( ref flow ) it\'s the one to the left that is a tight fit as far as bend is concerned. I did it with what i had at the time. Now you have brought that point to me attention i may well get hold of the other type of hose whatever it is, and redo that left one. I would therefore say do it in the better stuff. Can\'t be too careful with the coolant flow. Best Regards J.C.:wave
Title: Smoke under the bonnet??
Post by: ro284 on April 25, 2005, 08:43:30 PM
I got new turbo coolant hoses from Mazda. the right ones and only a few quid, had to order, what made it easy and so much sense was that the rebuild was going on, (turbos off) must say the 12 year old ones were a bit grotty, also found it benificial to clean the crud off the tubes with sandpaper taking care not get any bits on the inside of the tubes of course, get a bit of peace of mind having done that, there are also some small tubes over the spark plug area, i think to throttle body i plan to do next,
Bob
Title: Smoke under the bonnet??
Post by: RobbieRX-7 on April 30, 2005, 11:14:52 PM
yes..i remember when i did the rats nest job. When i came to put the uim back,i had a problem with a short coolant hose  by the oil filter..it is so short (4") and has to bend 90degrees.i found that  the hose i bought from the motor shop would not bend so sharp without kinking, so i got round this problem by cutting this new hose 3 times longer and looping it back on itself rarther than bend it at 90degrees. Your best off getting the proper hose from mazda.