After driving a few miles I always see coolant dripping underneath the car. My dealer actually said it's normal? Wth?

My fans are always on after shutting off the car, I have to refill the coolant level like every other week. Why? Because if I don't, my engine light turns on and I get code P0125 (insufficient coolant temperature for closed loop fuel control). Last week I could actually see the car temperature needle moving slowly to H. Good thing I was 2 minutes from home. I parked the car and added coolant.

What I also noticed, I saw the coolant liquid all splattered around when I popped open the hood. I'll probably take it to a shop.

Has anyone had any issue like this before?

 

Could be something simple like a loose clamp or failing hose. Dripping coolant is not normal for any car.

Check with coolant pressure tester to find your leak point.

An over heat in this car could mean trouble and $$$$$

 

Fans being on after the car shuts off is entirely normal.

A constant coolant loss is NOT normal.

You have some sort of cooling system failure, probably a thermostat failure, but it could be a number of things. Keep in mind that if one part of your cooling system failed, there are other parts that are probably on the edge of failing. Because of this, if you are over 80,000 miles or so, I would highly recommend replacing everything. Everything can be had for relatively cheap from Mazmart, one of our forum vendors:

- Thermostat (MAZMART - Serving The Mazda Community Since 1980. RX8 REMEDY Thermostat)
- Radiator (MAZMART - Serving The Mazda Community Since 1980. RX8 Radiator - 2004-08)
- Coolant bottle and cap (MAZMART - Serving The Mazda Community Since 1980. RX8 Coolant Tank (2004-11))
- Coolant hoses (MAZMART - Serving The Mazda Community Since 1980. RX8 Radiator Hose Kit (04-08))

If you have a series 1 and are still on the original motor, I recommend adding the water pump too. If you have had a reman installed within the last ~3-4 years, then I wouldn't worry about the water pump. They rarely fail, and the remans have one that is nearly as good as the Remedy one.

You can replace it all yourself with a day or two of work, less if you get some help from someone that has done it before. It's not all that hard in my opinion. You can expect getting charged $400-$600 in labor if you have a shop do it, and it won't be much cheaper to just do one of those, since they all have very similar steps.

I had an issue a while back where I'd be pushing coolant out of the overflow constantly, even when not warmed up yet. I grabbed like 6 feet of clear plastic hose from Lowes, and ran that from the overflow up to my windshield wiper and ziptied it there, so I could see when driving if I was pushing out coolant. I never found the specific reason for it, and it only stopped when I replaced everything in the above list.


Also, keep in mind that it is possible that you already have engine damage. Don't panic about that yet, but it's possible. The coolant seals inside the engine can fail BEFORE the factory temp needle starts climbing. I highly recommend getting a bluetooth OBD2 adapter and using that with your smartphone or tablet to monitor the actual temperature of the coolant. Lots of other options there, but it's the easiest and cheapest.

 

Thanks for the reply. I'll probably monitor the coolant temp. Man, I hope there isn't engine damage. I'm guessing I'll have to replace everything from that list. I just hit 60k a few weeks ago.

It sucks though.

 

Update.

I went to the dealer to check it out, quote me on prices and to check the coolant leak. They found out it's a cracked radiator causing the leak. They told me they have to replace everything including the hoses and whatnot. And replace the damaged coolant sensor. Parts and labor, $660 plus tax. (like you expected). Pretty expensive.