dmention7
Hater
Let me list off the symptoms I've been experiencing today, and maybe it will ring a bell in someone's head:
-Upon startup/warmup this morning (-18F outside), I quickly noticed that the water temp needle was rising faster than I'd expect for just idling in cold cold weather. It leveled off at the normal operating temp.
-Even at normal operating temp, and having driven a mile or so, the heater was still blowing ice-cold, so I pulled over, popped the hood, and looked for problems. Belts were good, radiator fans had come on--no obvious coolant leaks
-Decided to turn around and head back towards home, at which point I began to notice that the engine was slightly overheating--normally the temp needle is rock-steady at one tick under the halfway point, but it was drifting up to around 3/4 of the way to the H. Whenever I'd come to a stoplight, it would settle back down to the normal range fairly quickly. Note: all driving was at ~30mph, no highways yet.
At this point I was thinking either the thermostat was stuck shut, or the water pump had failed--both cases resulting in no coolant circulation.
-About 2 hours later (sitting on the street for 2 hours), I pulled the car into the garage and let it idle for several minutes out of curiosity. Sure enough, the heater was blowing warm air as soon as the temp gauge began to rise.
-I also noticed a couple tablespoons of coolant had dripped onto the street while my car was parked. Inspection in the garage revealed that maybe a cup of coolant had leaked from the overflow reservoir. Aside from being covered in coolant, the reservoir is the only likely source of the coolant--the rest of the motor and underside of the car was coolant free, except directly under the reservoir.
I am about to take the car for another test drive to watch for overheating or coolant loss.... but at this point, I'm kind of at a loss for likely culprits. I dinno, all the symptoms so far seem to point to different issues, unless I'm just missing a common thread?
Anyone have any specific ideas on things to test?
Also, I should mention that I have mazda's TotalCare warranty for another 2yrs/20k miles, but there's a $100 deductible. So unless it's looking pretty unequivocally like a water pump failure or other large job, I'd rather handle this myself.
-Upon startup/warmup this morning (-18F outside), I quickly noticed that the water temp needle was rising faster than I'd expect for just idling in cold cold weather. It leveled off at the normal operating temp.
-Even at normal operating temp, and having driven a mile or so, the heater was still blowing ice-cold, so I pulled over, popped the hood, and looked for problems. Belts were good, radiator fans had come on--no obvious coolant leaks
-Decided to turn around and head back towards home, at which point I began to notice that the engine was slightly overheating--normally the temp needle is rock-steady at one tick under the halfway point, but it was drifting up to around 3/4 of the way to the H. Whenever I'd come to a stoplight, it would settle back down to the normal range fairly quickly. Note: all driving was at ~30mph, no highways yet.
At this point I was thinking either the thermostat was stuck shut, or the water pump had failed--both cases resulting in no coolant circulation.
-About 2 hours later (sitting on the street for 2 hours), I pulled the car into the garage and let it idle for several minutes out of curiosity. Sure enough, the heater was blowing warm air as soon as the temp gauge began to rise.
-I also noticed a couple tablespoons of coolant had dripped onto the street while my car was parked. Inspection in the garage revealed that maybe a cup of coolant had leaked from the overflow reservoir. Aside from being covered in coolant, the reservoir is the only likely source of the coolant--the rest of the motor and underside of the car was coolant free, except directly under the reservoir.
I am about to take the car for another test drive to watch for overheating or coolant loss.... but at this point, I'm kind of at a loss for likely culprits. I dinno, all the symptoms so far seem to point to different issues, unless I'm just missing a common thread?
Anyone have any specific ideas on things to test?
Also, I should mention that I have mazda's TotalCare warranty for another 2yrs/20k miles, but there's a $100 deductible. So unless it's looking pretty unequivocally like a water pump failure or other large job, I'd rather handle this myself.
Last edited:
