Well I noticed a pretty big puddle of coolant in my garage today after bringing my car back from the mazda dealer (no comments, plz :0). They replaced my fluids (incl coolant) and belts. I drove the 45 minutes home, mostly easy, only on the boost 2-3 times. I let the car cool down in the garage for about 10 minutes which is when the puddle formed I think.

I took the car back out for about 5 minutes and parked in the garage again and let it idle for another 15 minutes, trying to see where it was leaking from. It seemed like it stopped leaking pretty quickly after stopping, as I couldn't see find where it from. But I think the puddle was just in front of the oil pan. However, about 10-15 seconds after turning the engine off, there was a really loud gurgling noise coming from the middle of the engine compartment, for about 2 seconds? Also, lots of popping (dripping) sounds from the engine.

Other info:
-there is white 'smoke' for the first few minutes after starting, but I'm not sure how to tell if it is just condensation? (it's like 20 degrees here).
-car starts pretty easily
-car seems to run fine, temp gauge doesn't move up at all

I want to do the champagne test, but the coolant is totally full (did the dealership overfill it? if so, where would it leak from) and I'm afraid it will overflow.

Anyone have any ideas? I am totally confused about the gurgling noise.

 

do you have a stock temp gauge? If so, that gauge wont move until your engine is overheated. Any aftermarket gauge is better than the stock one. Its possible the dealer overfilled the overflow tank causing some coolant to be pushed out. Try smelling the white smoke you're seeing. If it smells sweet, its coolant and you probably have a bad coolant seal in your engine.

 

thx for the reply. where would the coolant be pushed out from, if it was overfilled? do i have to jack up the car to see it?

i know i need to get a temp gauge, haven't had a chance yet. i did hear that the gauge moved a *little* when the engine was close to overheating, but mine moved 0, so i thought that might be a good sign.

i was kind of hoping it wasn't a seal because it was compression tested a month ago and was 8.5 across the board :o (and it's been driven only once or twice since)

 

It's kind of hard to see a coolant leak on a stock setup, since the airbox, intercooler, etc really block your view. From underneath is the best place to see, and that's blocked by the underbelly pan. Check the coolant level in the overflow tank (behind the pass. headlight) - but also look in the water pump housing filler, (right in the middle of the engine) to see if the coolant is filled nearly to the top. (Engine cold only, please!!)

White steam on startup is quite common, esp in weather where you can see your breath. It's really just steam, not smoke. The telling issue is if you can get white smoke after restarting a hot engine. Mine never puts out steam once warm, and won't do it unless the engine sits for a few hours in winter.

If you haven't had all the coolant hoses replaced recently, I can't recommend it enough. Very important and overlooked reliability 'mod'.

Dave

 

thx Dave, ill definitely get those hoses replaced asap.

any thoughts on the gurgling? also, is it ok that the bottom of the coolant dipstick is blackish?

 

i recently drained all coolant and replaced and in the process i removed the coolant reservoir and it was really dirty eg muck etc. Its quite normal i suppose. AFter changing out coolant i followed the "burping" procedure. Mine did have lots of bubbles and steam etc but subsided. Added distilled water accordingly and now its ok.

 

Its possible they did not tighten all the clamps properly. Take the black cover off the front of the engine bat to get a better look in there while the car is running. Watch it after you rurn it off because its still getting hotter. The stock radiator will leak around the joints at the endtanks.

 

Shops just love to top off that coolant to the point where it spews out the overflow tank. You can tell them not to touch it, but they will. it never fails.

 

Maybe your turbo coolant hoses. For the sake of your motor, don't drive it until you determine the problem and fix it.


FYI If you are going to be replacing the turbo coolant hoses this maybe of some help:

N3A1-13-536 Net $4.38
N3A1-13-54X Net $9.06

Call up Ray, he'll ship these out fast.

 

I also see white steam on startup.. but like your FD, mine does not put out steam once warm. Is it common to have one FD (my FD) give out steam and another(rotoboy661's FD) not give out steam when parked right next to each other?

Mikey M.

 

Thanks for the all help guys. It turned out to be the overflow bottle. The black rubber (?) material that connects the filler neck to the actual resevoir had crack and broken the seal completely. So when the the pressure built up in the system and coolant started filling up the tank, it would leak out the top.

This doesn't seem like a common problem, I wonder what caused it? Did it just deteriorate over the last 12 years?

 

Wait, are you talking about the milky-colored coolant overflow tank, or the black air separation tank beside the battery? The air separation tank is very common failure, the overflow is probably less common. But all parts of the cooling system are subjected to intense heat and aging doesn't help at all either.

Go to the FAQ thread (sticky at the top of the forum) and surf your way through the discussions of reliability mods.

Dave

 

yea i know the ast is common failure, but it's the milky coolant overflow tank that was busted. i dont know of any reliability mods for that?

 

i guess the level of coolant went from low->full when the dealership flushed, which caused the overfill tank to actually fill up to where the crack was. which explains why it wasn't leaking before the flush

 

The coolant overfill tank WILL splash out coolant if overfilled. It's normal.

What does the dipstick say as far as level. (Like Larz said, they will overfill no matter what you ask)