i am not a mechanic, i know a little thing or two. Anyways my coolant light has been coming on the past couple days, normally when cruising in 6th around 70mph, i looked it up on here, seems that the sensor is useless and this issue is not much to worry about provided the coolant levels are normal, and they were. Today it was 112 degrees, hot as hell in AZ, i was driving around and sure the light came on but i was only driving 45 or so, i was a little worried. I went to the store. turned the car off, and when i came back and turned the car on smoke was coming out of the vents and the coolant light was still on. This scared the **** out of me. I believe it to be coolant burning in the engine as it smelled like a mix of sugar/sweet and ***. Coolant is ethylene glycol, a sugar alcohol, so makes sense it smells sort of sweet. I went to check coolant levels and noticed the tank when i unscrewed the lid, the edge of the plastic tank where the cap goes has a crack around the rim and when the lid is on there is a small circular hole, maybe .5cm or so formed from when the cap is on and the cracked lid is bent towards the interior. I believe that when the car is turned off the excess coolant was sent back to the reserve tank, and shot out the hole, when the car turned on the burnt coolant was sent through the vents, burned until completion, producing the smoke. Does this make sense? I am not 100% sure of the exact function and workings of the radiator and coolant reserve tank I took my car to a local shop by my work and they said i need a new radiator, $700. now my engine temps were never high, no observable leek in coolant was ever observed, yet they claim that is leaking coolant and it will only get worse. I am hoping someone on here is more knowledgeable and can hopefully comprehend my observations and let me know if that is even a feasible situation or should i listen to them and get a new radiator? Either way i plan to take it to a mazda dealer tomorrow and see what they think. I thank anyone for taking the time to read this and offer any input!

Zach

 

When the coolant purges it will spill out on the radiator...and that will smell till it evaporates off.

If the car isn't leaking coolant...it is likely the radiator is fine....

You might want to check the thermostat.....and/or the water pump......but likely the car just got hot cause of the ambient temps...and slow vehicle speed

 

Is yours a series II rx8? If not you picked the wrong section and it would be better to clarify it since the S1 rx8s are well known for having troubles with the radiator lights
Nothing to worry about for that matter, even spilling out some coolant may happen but for peace of mind I would seek some local help.
What coolant mix do you run? What's your car's mileage? What's your maintenance schedule?
Adding those little bits to your description would surely help since it looks like you don't have temperature gauges in your car!
You have BlackHaloRacing down the road in Chandler, Az and they could sort your eventual problems out without selling useless products like a dealership or some other shop may. Try contacting Charles R. Hill and see what happens!

 

First, are you SURE you got a S2 Rx-8? cuz it sounds like u got S1. and u post in the wrong section.

2nd, I usually don't read paragraphs like urs, damn I mean seriously break it up cuz its really hard to read.

anyway, I think the shop is shitting you, you dont sound like u need a new radiator, what u need is a new Coolant overflow Tank.

You're talking about the "plastic tab" thats on the overflow tank to hold the Radiator Cap down correct? the plastic thing under the cap in the picture



if it is, the only thing u can do is a brand new bottle. Its not that expensive. 150 or 170 bux I think. and its easy as hell to install, just make sure that when u try to remove the old one out, instead of pulling the 3 coolant hose out, try to "twist" the old hose out of the bottle, cuz if u pull it too hard, u might break something, especially the small short coolant hose thats attached to the Radiator (u might really break ur radiator if u pull around in a stupid way)

if thats the part that broke and if u don't replace it, your coolant system will never be able to build pressure , no pressure = coolant boils easily = bye bye engine.

Mazda really love to use cheap plastic parts, they already screwed FD with the AST. and now ... same fate