Coolant Probs.....

[A. Waterfield]

I have Just bought a rex which was leaking from its AST, i checked below the first rad cap (on block) when i bought it, and saw no air bubbles rushing to the surface.  got the car cheap, replaced the AST with an ally one, and now the car is starting to have trouble on hot and cold starts, and seems to leak some water out of the overflow tank(runs down the side of the overflow tank).  Also if coasting 2-3k rpm the car sometimes cuts out....

Im confused, my brain says "apex seal failure" my heart says "must be a water leak..." the car drives great on boost.  i drove 70km this evening with the low water warning light coming on every now and then, before finally coming on permanently when i switched her off on my drive...

Any ideas......

Alex

[bnaellis]

Sounds like you have water seal failure. Take the spark plugs out and see if they are damp with coolant.

[Carl]

Might be low compression as well as water seal failure,but exhaust all of the posibilties forst as to if it has some kind of external leak somewhere.
See this thread http://www.mazdarotaryclub.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=10096

Kind regards
Carl

[JayDee]

I would check, both water caps and all the small hoses going to the ast, blow through them to make sure they are not blocked (coolant does not taste nice)
are all hoses getting hot at the same rate?
Could be thermostat?

Jason

[grinder]

you didnt just get that off ebay for 3400 did you ??

if so i was bidding on the same one

and i thought it would just be a simple problem to fix - maybe it isnt

if it is the same one - get it rebuilt - and its still a cheap car

stu

[A. Waterfield]

yeah got it from "ebay",  looked unloved, and the AST was leaking like a waterfall and i couldnt see any bubbles rising from the tank on the engine and thought  "result" but now it seems to bubble like a goodun.

If i have to rebuild it is still cheap, and since i cut the paint back she looks like new .

Should i blow down both the AST Tank pipes? anything else i can check....

Just to add, i re-earthed my battery, and it hasnt cut out since....

Regards
Alex