While my car was in getting deflooded yesterday my Service manager called to inform me that I had a leak comming from my water pump.

He said its not uncommon on other mazdas (3/6/etc) but mentioned that he's never seen nor heard of one fouling up on the 8.

SM said its likely just a bad part and will cover it under warranty.

I've only got 22K miles on it, Feb 04 build date.

Anyone else had a problem with their water pump???

Any common reasons why a water pump would break other than clogged hoses causing too much pressure and warpage?? I dont think this was the problem with mine but I've seen it happen before on a buddy's Eclipse.

 

ive never seen an 8 with a water pump problem

 

My dealer doesn't seem too worried about it but this [^] is exactly why I'm concerned it may be a bigger problem that I'm yet to see symptoms of.

 

By the time I saw mazda rotaries with waterpump issues, the mileage was waaaay up there... 150,000 miles plus.

My Rx-7 stll had the original waterpump when I sold it. That car had almost 200,000 miles on it.

My Miata's pump let go at ~90,000 miles. That was my fault. The radiator was also crap by that point... I neglected frequent coolant changes

 

So far, everyone that has had coolant leak from their Renesis has ended up with a replacement motor.
That is because the leak is not the water pump but a seal leak from between rotor housings caused by warpage of the motor.
A bad water pump makes noise - it is kind of like the sound of detonation, but slightly lower in pitch and more irregular. Water pump "seals" just don't go bad. It usually takes a severe hit to its impeller shaft (i.e. - a whack across its pulley with something really heavy).

 

Dont you dare tell me that!!!!!!!

is there anyway I can easily check for a seal leak due to motor warpage?

or do I just wait untill they notice a water pump leak again and determine its not the water pump??

or in the extreme case my Rotary explodes at 80 mph down the highway?

 

Sounds like you just got a bad pump. It happens, even with the best designs. Even if only one in a million is bad, somebody's going to be the one who gets the bad part. If I were you, I wouldn't worry about it. If it leaks again, then there may be something else going on.

However, if the dealer mis-diagnosed it and it is in fact the engine problem others have had, that's a bigger concern. After they change the pump, keep an eye on the coolant level and let the dealer know if it drops again.

 

No extreme case. If it gets bad enough, it will steam and loose power - no explosion.
The trick is to find exactly where the coolant is coming from - looking on the floor under the car is not sufficient.

 

thanks Maniac.....looks like I got some hunting for water to do once I get her back tonite.

 

Yeah. Just drive it hard then get it up on ramps and crawl around underneath with a flashlight.
Start looking around the seal of the oil pan and work your way up from there.

 

Yeah, that would be great.
The pump may have gotten man-handled when the motor was cradled at Hiroshima.

 

Not an uncommon problem is correct, even for the RX-8. Here are some of the related threads you would have found if you had done a search on "water pump":
https://www.rx8club.com/showthread.p...ght=water+pump
https://www.rx8club.com/showthread.p...ght=water+pump
https://www.rx8club.com/showthread.p...ght=water+pump
https://www.rx8club.com/showthread.p...ght=water+pump

 

Good news!!!

just the water pump....the tech showed me where it had failed.

he said that if you are leaking coolant the first place to check is the back side of the pump behind the housing....should be obvious that its dripping from there if the water pump has gone bad.

replaced under warranty....no questions asked