So i was driving up to my buddies house 45 min away and i decided that the wind sound was getting to loud. i put the windows up and turned on the a/c and was coasting at 75ish mph. then i notice my coolant light on, and i throw it into neutral and start coasting, it still stayed on for a few sec and i turned off the a/c and the light went out shortly there after. then when under light acceleration around 3500-4000 i was hearing a clanking noise that seemed to go with the engine sound. it sounded like it was coming from the rear of the motor, like more towards the trans. it sounds like its in the car. i have no real loss of power, my rpms are normal, didnt notice any smells. the twist is that my temp gauge was at a lower temp then it had been previously in the trip. My coolant light has come on before for like 2 or 3 seconds at most and with my temp gauge at a normal temp. i plan on taking it to mazda this week, but any help that could potentially keep me from sustaining anymore damage if there has been damaged sustained would be great. Im thinking the coolant looks really dark and smells weird that im do for some fluids (im a tech for lexus and i have my auto knowledge but im still learning the amazing rotarys) thanks in advance!

Tyler



P.S. Got a lil crazy with a vinyl cutting machine and software at work and made a free mazdaspeed 3rd brake light mask and made a "Shocker" decal. We shocked like 4 or 5 cars and some tool boxes and random spots all over the shop LMAO

 

I'm not sure about the coolant light possibly could b low/bad coolant...as forthe noise is it under any type of load in any gear? When you hit the gas the noise occurs and when you let off and coast it stops? If that is it I had the same problem and it was a bearing in the transmission shattered and ate up my synchros, gears everything and the who tranny was rebuilt.....but if it's only once and awhile i'm not exactly sure

 

the noise almost disappeared. i heard it once maybe twice very faintly. im not feeling any loss of power, no rpm spikes, no over heating. it only made the noise under load. around 3000-6000 rpm. coasting no noise, neutral revs no noise. with where the noise sounds like its coming from ( it seems like around the shifter, which i did notice a slight change it temp, it was a lil hotter then normal but maybe only 3 or 4 degrees. ) and and how its only under load, im thinking something with the trans.. hopefully its not, and if it is hopefully nothing serious.. thank god for 100k warranty

well its time to a fat one.

 

The temp sensor, integral with the plastic coolant tank, has been known to fail, so that may be the reason for the light. Assuming you don't have low coolant level, of course.

BTW, the temp gauge is a glorified dummy gauge. As long as the temp is in the range pre-determined by Mazda to be "normal", the needle will not move from it's parking position. If it does move up, chances are you are overheating already and it may be too late. And you don't want to overheat a rotary engine--ever. Best to install real gauges to track engine temps. Go to RacingBeat.com for one gauge pod option.

 

well it sounds the same as the problem i had with my bearing in my tranny only grinded/clanking under load in gear in certain rpm's up above 6k it quiets down some neutral nothing still had same power in every gear just annoying noise right? it sounds like the same thing i would take it to the dealer and have them look at it

 

well.... this is dumb but ive realized that it is my shifter.. it started to do it coasting on the highway and i put my hand on the shifter to shift and it went away.. i took off the **** and it didnt come back... lol... when they got my car it didnt have a shifter so they stuck tape on the treads and put a **** over it and it finally got to the point of buying another one..

thanks for the input g048 and rx8man! Im going to invest in getting a temp gauge. im gonna change my coolant as it is really dirty so hopefully it wont run to hot and if my light comes on again then i know ill have something happening.