Emma777

Hi All,


Three weeks ago I bought a wonderful Rx8 231 Red beast! 53 plate and only 50K on the clock. Mot till next Jan and no advisories at the last one. I was driving him for a week and a half no problems- then the engine coolant light came on one night but then went off quite quickly. Ten minutes later the engine light came on followed by for a few seconds the oil light. Oil light went away straight away so the next morning I put water in the engine coolant (as I had no coolant). I went to Halfords and bought oil as I hadn't topped it up since I bought the car - I checked the dipstick and there was no oil in there only a mush like brown mayonnaise. I know now that's condensation and oil mixed together. I topped it up with oil and thought Ok so Ive put water in and oil so hopefully the engine light will go off now as I had to drive the longest I have in the car that night- approx. 40 miles.














On that journey the oil light stayed off and has done ever since- the engine light however stayed on and the coolant light came on but would go again.
At one point I thought I saw steam coming out the front of the car when I was in traffic but I couldn't be 100% sure.





So the next day I took it to my local mechanic who I trust and he did a full service. He cleared the alarm and said the car looks like its a great shape so that set my mind at ease. That was last Saturday- then on Weds night the engine light came on again and the engine coolant was again coming on for a bit and then going. I bought some coolant and put it in the car on yesterday (the tank still had the water I put in last in there so just added some coolant to it. Went for a 5 min drive to the pool and when I came out after an hour to my delight the engine light was gone!! I thought maybe it was adding the coolant had sorted it out- so I went and gave it a good blast down the motorway for the first time-great fun. Get nearly home and my two favourite lights come back on- yes engine and coolant lights are back. Went out today and put more coolant in. Got stuck in traffic and there was no doubt there was definitely smoke coming out of the front. Drove straight home and opened the bonnet and the engine coolant tank was really really hot. The car didn't smoke when it was moving or at least I couldn't see any- its only when it was in traffic. I cant get back to my mechanic until at least Tuesday due to the bank holidays. I have wondered if maybe there is a blockage from the engine coolant to the engine as this would make sense as to why the car begins to smoke and why the coolant light is off and on? ( I have read some threads about a faulty sensor in the engine coolant) Does this sound possible to you guys?




Is there anything I can buy to try to flush any blockage or should I just wait until I can get the car into the garage? I don't really have a huge amount to spend on repairs so Im really hoping this isn't a big thing. The car in itself is driving beautifully- no loss of power etc. Any advice will be gratefully received.

dannobre

iTrader: (3)

The coolant level sensor is a very common failure point ..... The oil level sensor not so much

You need to be really careful that you check the oil. Get in the habit to check it every fill up or every second at most. The engine injects oil...so it is normal for it to go down

If you are constantly adding coolant...it could be leaking into the combustion chamber through a water jacket seal...that is worst case.. You would need a rebuilt engine

The oil coolers will often steam when the car is warm...and it can look more ominous than it is. Make sure that your coolant fan are coming on properly when the car is warm...it can make it get warm when you are stopped

Check your oil....watch the coolant level for a week or so. You likely are fine

If you can find someone with a code reader and find out what the CEL code is. If you come back and tell us that it will allow us to help you on that

Jacob Stephens

my coolant light is constantly turning off and on. when i first purchased my car, of course i was excited to push it to the limits, and blew the radiator which is fairly common for an 04 with 90k miles on it. so i replaced it, and now ive found a new leek coming from the water pump. soooo hope this helps and you dont have to rebuild the engine! Goodluck

BigCajun

iTrader: (1)

An FYI in case y'all don't know, our 8s requires undiluted FL-22 coolant.
If there is too much water in the coolant, it may run hot.

Khurram

Welcome aboard! and congrats on finding the beast with beauty :-)

I'd suggest not to drive the car until the problem have been discovered at least.

You may have a leak somewhere, or it's quite possible that your thermostat is shot and not functioning as it should.

Coolant light comes on and goes off and a point comes where it just stays on. You can either replace the coolant bottle with the sensor or ignore the light and check your coolant levels every other day or twice a week like me.

In my 3.5 years of ownership i have never seen an oil light lol that's bad. You should always ensure your car has enough oil, running low on oil will force the cooling system to it's limits.

I am hoping you got the compression test done prior to acquiring this beauty.

Also when you have a moment, read this thread a few times to gain a better understanding of this car.
https://www.rx8club.com/new-member-f...t-here-202454/

All the best :-)

Emma777

Hi Everyone- thanks for all your replies.

Well since I wrote the post the oil light has never come back but the engine light is on constantly (although funny enough its gone this morning) and the coolant light is back every so often.

I went to my mechanic and he hooked the car up and the alarm it showed meant it was either a solenoid issue or a vacuum one. He took the car in and its the vacuum issue. He has ordered me a part and when it arrives he will fit it. Hes assured me car is fine to drive and the best thing I can do is take it down a few back roads and 'rally the granny out of it' !

Ok so before I took it into him last I was in traffic and saw smoke coming from my engine. Pulled into a side road as soon as possible and opened the bonnet but nothing stood out- there was no smoke or anything although the coolant bottle felt very hot. I drove home- all fine.

Car is driving lovely no issue- then today on the way to work it starts smoking a lot from the front. Its only noticeable when Im in traffic. I filled the coolant up before I left home and checked the oil which is fine. When I filled the coolant up last I did see a tiny hole in the coolant pipe as some trickled out when I was putting it in. Not a massive amount and I wouldnt say the car is drinking coolant- yes it does go down but not a huge amount. I once had a fiesta and I smashed it up on a wall and that damaged the water bottle and I literally had to fill up twice on every journey- that would smoke a huge amount!!! This is nowhere like as bad.

A friend at work said it could be smoking as if there is a tiny leak then the steam that is building up in the coolant bottle is escaping through the hole- ta da that is the smoke Im seeing. This sounds very plausible to me however I know nothing about cars!! When my guy gets the part for my car Ill ask him to replace this pipe too.

1.21 gigawatts!!!

If there is a hole in a pipe it will only seep when the car is cold. When the car heats up this "pipe" or hose will get soft and the coolant will pressurize. Any leak like this has to be repaired immediately

New Yorker

No matter how good your mechanic is, if he doesn't have experience working on rotary engines, I urge you to find a capable rotary engine mechanic ASAP!

BigCajun

iTrader: (1)

Do you have a Smartphone?
Android has the Torque app which when paired with a Bluetooth dongle plugged into your OBD port allows you to read and clear codes, and monitor your engine functions.
Others have different versions.

Setflyn41

A good rule of thumb is if there's a problem with any car leave it parked until you know what it is and if it needs to be fixed right away. Driving them when there's a problem can lead to more damage and could possibly turn a $200 dollar fix into a couple thousand trust me I've done it and it sucks