Coolant leak - may be dead engine \\o/

[leon]

Well i\'m looking at the possibility that i\'ve finally been bitten by a milestone of owning a rotary car: The engine going pop.
[STORY]
Yesterday i was doodling along on the m621/62 When suddenly the add coolant buzzer came on and the heat started to rise! I cut the engine then pulled over onto the hard shoulder :p I had to let her cool and my old man came along an hour and a half later we put about a tea cup full of water into the car!? At the time I was surprised at just how little was lost and that I could not find a leak for the life in me while at the side of the road.

Anyway today the car turned over first time and started up and I shouted to the gods in praise as not a single puff of white smoke came out of her ass! drove to work without a worry or a bleep. came out of work and agian filled up a cup full of fluid and drove home, i had a few beeps come on at random times while stopped saying "add coolant" i ignored them knowing that there was still coolant int he engine and the temperature was stable.

Got the car home and let her cool down, again i topped the engine up with a cup full of fluid and started her up first time (no smoke) I then noticed she ****ed all over the floor when the radiator fans came on the leak seemed to come from the expansion tank.
[/STORY]
As i write this i seem to be talking myself out of a water journal failure o.o
 
How hard is it to get to the overflow tank to find out where exactly the leak is if any? and does this sound symptomatic of a coolant seal failure?

Cheers
Guys an gals.

Now more Guinness :guinness

[Carl]

It might be your pressure cap getting a bit weak.
It is very important to make sure that you have no air in the system when you refill it.
Regards
Carl

[m1tch]

Also, did the engine temp read above \'H\' on the temp guage?

[leon]

Thank you for the reply Carl Is there anyway to test or is it best just to replace? The engine was shut of the moment the gauge started to move

[TTMan]

this happened to my car exactly the same, coolant buzzer coming on and losing water from the overflow and it was wrong pressue coolant cap hopefully a new one will solve your problem, lot less expensive than a rebuild! probably worth flushing your system just to be safe

[leon]

Im amazed at just how annoying it is finding another 0.9 bar cap or maybe im just missing a trick. :Thumbsup!

[fil_auto]

try jimmys bud or one of the other vendors / specialists - give them a quick mail or buzz and I\'m sure one them will be able to sort you out....

[leon]

Holy post revival batman!

This problem is driving me nuts :driving I\'ve changed the pressure cap now for a new 0.9 bar cap after trying one from an MX5. The problem does seems to be considerably less prevelent now but last night I did lose coolant and start to get hot again. The engine got killed before the gauge had moved more than a few mm.

What is annoying me about this problem is that its not consistant, I can go for a number of days without the coolant buzzer then when I get stuck in trafic it becomes more of an issue. No problems with startup (no firing on a single rotor) no plooms of white smoke nothing :3Confused yet the water is being pushed out of the expansion tank at a trickles pace again not constantly. Slap me if my logic is wrong here, but if it was a leak into the rotor housing wouldnt the pressurised system flood the chamber the moment you kill the engine thus making a restart hard? :spank

The only realisation that hits me now is that the cap on the filler neck is still the old one, clutching at staws here but is it possible if thats leaking its causing the system not to pressurise properly and thus overheat?

Cheers Guy an Gals.

[RemarkLima]

Sorry if I\'ve missed this in the tread, but you\'re sure the fans are working? And switching on at the right time etc?

[leon]

Good point, but my fans are working I used them to accelerate the cooldown of my engine while on the hardshoulder. I\'ve also seen them come one while iding the car and working under the bonnet

[Hayward North]

Your problem could be a sticking thermostat, it may be working most of the time but the odd occasion where its sticking it could be blocking the passage way to the radiator thus making the water in the block boil.

[leon]

Would this also give reason as to why it forces fluid out of the expansion tank? :wave

[Hayward North]

Yes as when it unsticks its expanding back into the radiator side and making it boil over into expansion tank, i have seen it countless times on mazdas.
Im not saying this is what it is, but i think your next move is changing the thermostat and seeing how you go from there.

[leon]

Cheers steve it does mate sense :wave

[907]

could be many things TBH, I have had this same problem a couple of times and on both ocasions it has turned out to be leaking pipes that go under the plenum.  The easiest way to check is to bypass the AST tank and pressurise the water system and see if it holds pressure. Chances are it wont.  I modifed a ford probe pressure cap to take a hose that goes to a pressure guague and via a valve to a foot pump to do the test.  The first time I had this problem it turned out I had four seperate small leaks.
If its the pressure cap leaking chances are you will get water leaking out dripping off the R.H. brake duct.
Neil