Something weird happened to my RX8 today, I left the engine running while i went into the post office really quick and when i came back, the car was smoking
Not too much, at first I wasn't sure it was coming from my car, but as I pulled out it started smoking a lot.
The check engine light was not on and the temperature gauge was reading normall, I parked and noticed the coolant light was on.
I got out and I could hear the coolant boiling inside the engine bay. After it cooled off, i popped the hood and the coolant cap had come off and there was coolant everywhere.

The car got towed to Clear Lake Mazda so I will find out tomorrow what's going on.
I was just wondering if anyone had any idea what could have happened??

I miss my car.................. tear

 

At least it wasnt the FD, that would have broken the bank....

 

That is weird, because at least the low coolant buzzer should have come on.
Also, that the temp gauge read normal when the coolant was all over the engine with no cap.
This tends to make the temp go up rather quickly.
Today was not a super cool/cold day to keep the temps low or even normal.
Pray it was only coolant loss and not a coolant seal.

 

I'm just hoping it's covered under the warranty, otherwise I'm screwed

 

The coolant level light did come on when it started smokin but the temp was normal and the check engine light was not on. Last week the coolant light had come on and off a couple of times but the level was normal and my hubby added a little water just in case.
I am praying.........

 

Doesn't the RX8 has an audible very annoying buzzard when coolant is low???
Apparently your hubby didn't screw all the way down the coolant cap, leading to loosing the cap.
What year is the car???
And I wouldn't say you added water/coolant, in fear that they will hold that agaisnt you and not want to honor the warranty.

 

It's a 2007. I didn't hear an audible alarm. My hubby claims he did tighten it all the way. I don't think it was just a lose cap. Obviously, there was something makin the level sensor read low when it wasn't so I think there was another problem going on. Hopefully my warranty is void just cuz I added coolant. That would be pretty dumb. But I'm sure they would say anything to make me pay the repairs.

 

Scotts Rx8 is allways showing a low coolant level, but it isnt ever low.

 

Scotts Rx8 is allways showing a low coolant level, but it isnt ever low.

 

I know you meant is "NOT void".
If you think about it this way, it's not dumb, dealers are looking for a way of negating warranty service, so they can charge for the job and keep the money inhouse.
You adding coolant, is not the reason to invalidate the warranty.
Dealer can claim, that in the process of you doing so, you/hubby left the cap lose and reason why it came off.
How else could this happen, if you were the last one to deal with it???
Therefore, the car lost the coolant, it overheated as you drove it some and the engine is now damaged, due to operator's negligence.
I am not accusing you of anything, don't get me wrong, but having dealt with dealers and warranties, this is the kind of absurd mentality you might be facing.
Now, RX8's have been blowing engines left and right from what Don Marvel told me, and Mazda has been replacing them under warranty with no hassles to the owners, so you might get lucky here.
GL

 

So i have some good news and bad news.
They identified the problem as being a bad coolant level sensor, they will replace the coolant tank because the sensor is integrated.
The engine itself did not overheat but they are going to run diagnostics on it after they replace the tank and coolant to make sure everything else is ok.
They said the car was no loger under warranty and it wasn't covered under the powertrain warranty.
Luckily, i had purchased an extended warranty and they are going to cover it w/a $100 deductible (would have been $0 if I had taken it to the dealer I bought the car from)
The car should be ready tomorrow afternoon

 

I still wonder what blew the radiator cap off.

Would a bad sensor cause pressure build up? It wouldn't make any sense.

 

^^^ What Chuck said. My coolant level light is ALWAYS on. I pretty much ignore it because from what I can tell - the sensor is a piece of **** and fails on lots of cars.

Since I know the coolant level light is fucked, it does make me check the level more often. Good work Mazda!

 

Only one logical explanation, lose cap to beging with.

 

Yes it is under the powertrain warranty unless your over 100K. Mazda extended all rx8 motors warranty to 98K miles and 8 years. I had one and have the letter I received from Mazda themselves. Do not let the dealer screw you. I would be concerned with the coolant seals down the road.

Good luck.

 

Still bothers the hell out of me on my FC. I make a turn and it goes off... then eventually randomly goes away.

 

I may be way off here, but depending on how much coolant/water was added could have contributed to some coolant "boiling over". Many moons ago, I added too much coolant to my old rx13, and after fully warming up, I had massive amounts of coolant shooting out of the overflow tank. The presure cap on the water neck was also under extreme pressure. Just a thought.

 

Many moons ago, you didn't know your head from your assh... and you still don't.
You probably had air on the cooling system, your fans were acting up by not turning on and you already had the expansion tank full of excess coolant.
Once the car started to warm up and coolant expansion, you had immediately the coolant spilling all over, like the first time you dated a girl many moons ago.

 

Just an updated, so I went to pick up the 8 on friday afternoon, guy said they replaced the coolant tank/sensor and everything looked good. He said they had test drove it and had no issues. They replaced the coolant cap incase it was faulty. So i take off and drive a couple of blocks down the road, i'm waiting at a red light when I notice my AC is blowing warm air. I look down and the car is overheating. I pull into a shopping center and the coolant is going everywhere, spilling out the bottom of the car.
I was furious, called the dealership back, and they sent a tow truck to take it back to the dealer. Of course, they were super apologetic and gave us a loaner car.
Wont know whats wrong till monday.
So......
the coolant sensor was bad but that was not the real problem, i found out its pretty common and some people just ignore it.
they coolant did not overflow because my husband overfilled the reservoir or left the cap loose
there is a bigger issue that is causing the car to overheat

i really don't know what to expect at this point and i really hope its not gonna cost me a fortune to fix.

thanks for yall's suggestions, anyone have any idea what the underlying problem could be??

 

Coolant seals have failed. New motor time or rebuild.

You should not pay for a thing to the dealer. They should replace it for free.

I have built several renesis for this exact reason. Its pretty common and the failure is almost always right where the side exhaust ports are.

Good luck and keep us updated.

 

It is possible then, that by the coolant sensor being bad, the car was overheating and not sensing it and the coolant seals are now gone.
So much for a cheap part, that now cost so much more to replace the damage caused.
Mazda and the RX13's.LOL

 

And the winner is…
Cooling fan

 

The way you told your story, did not point in that direction.
You had 2 issues going on plus human intervention (hubby).
Your real overheating issue the fan, was being masked by the other issue, the faulty coolant sensor.
We are happy that you got it fixed, now go dump that RX8 or add a good aftermarket Temp gauge.
I wouldn't be able to trust a car with a bad and most critical gauge (coolant sensor) for the rotary engine.
I have 3 water temp gauges on my RX13, the factory POS, the Power FC one and a Greddy gauge.

 

^ Agreed

The problem is that the Factory Temp Gauges from S5 2nd Gens through RX8's is that the temp gauge is centric. That is, the needle will stay centered despite 10-20 degree water temp fluctuations. At least the S4's and earlier give you a decent clue what's actually going on.

 

One more thing. I'd still have the dealership do a coolant check for carbons while it's still there just get peace of mind about the seals.