ravid_snake

i drive an 04 6 speed rx8 and a few weeks ago i flushed the coolant and refilled it with a combination of water and water wetter, i searched the threads and found this was better than useing regular antifreeze, shortly after i noticed the coolant light would come on for a few seconds then turn back off and be off for a day or two, now the coolant light comes on and stays on for about 10-20 mins before it goes back off then it just comes back on about the same time later but the engine temp reads fine. Today i drove about forty miles and stopped at a red light and my car died on me, when i tried to start it, it tried to start but it did not do so, i pushed it off the road, got in and it started up again like nothing happened. i got home, let it cool and opened the coolant overflow, i sucked some of the coolant out with a turkey baster and the coolant looks dirty, almost like someone pissed in it. Any help will be much appreciated, im going to flush it again but im worried ill just **** it up worse

wcs

iTrader: (2)

Sounds like you either have a bad Coolant Sensor, a very common issue, or you have air trapped in the coolant system.
Did you burp the system of air?

Did the car stall at the lights because it overheated, is that why you let it cool down?

If it didn't overheat, your car stalling at the lights is probably another issue unrelated to your coolant change.

ravid_snake

to be honest i did not even think of burping it, ill do some research and figure out how to do that, thanks, but i let it cool down when i got home so i would not get burned when i opened the coolant cap, i have no idea why my car died at the light, i figured it was because of something wrong with the coolant system, the coolant light was on when it happened and it would not start right away, it wouldn't start untill i pushed it into a parking lot and tried again. Any idea about the dirty coolant? I flushed the system a few weeks back so idk if i should flush it again, thanks for your help buddy

wcs

iTrader: (2)

I've never done a "Coolant Flush" ...

But I've had the radiator out of my car a few times.
I've also just used water and yes it didn't take long for it to look dirty.
I believe part of what the antifreeze does is prevent the oxidization of the water to irons.
You're likely seeing rust.

Now there is Mazda Specified directions for removing the air from the Coolant system.
Truth be told I've never used them or read them (yes I'm bad).

All I did was jack the front end up a bit higher than the back.
Leave the Rad cap off
Crank the heat
Start the car and watch fluid level and add more accordingly.
This took awhile.

Then I would go for a spin around the block, come back and recheck.
Rightly or wrongly its what I did.

It's hard to say why your car died at the light.

The temperature sensor can do all sorts of things like change timing and fuel ... maybe it is because of air in the system. I guess I would sort that problem out first. Then see if it continues.

ravid_snake

thanks for your advice buddy, ill try it out and hopefully it sorts everything out, thanks again