Survey says It was a failed water pump.
With most of the covers off, I pressurized the cooling system and saw coolant dripping off the lower, back edge of the pumps weep channel. Removal of the pump revealed no obvious gasket failures so I guess I will be buying a Mazda pump and gasket. And timing belt. And To answer Davids question: Yes, it was an aftermarket pump purchased through a reputable Miata vendor. 7k miles should not fail a pump. Thanks everyone for their input. Luis _____ From: Ross Kuhns [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Saturday, August 14, 2010 9:14 AM To: Luis Cc: [email protected] Subject: Re: Failed water pump? if it's the lower right gasket (looking at the engine) you won't need to remove the pump...and timing belt, and....a lot of work. R On Aug 14, 2010, at 12:40 AM, Luis wrote: Thanks guys for all the replies. I hope to find out what failed this weekend. If the pump failed I will replace it with an OEM pump. If it is just a pump gasket I suppose I should replace the pump anyway since it will be off. Ill let everyone know what I find. Luis _____ From: Ross Kuhns [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Wednesday, August 11, 2010 11:41 PM To: Luis Cc: [email protected] Subject: Re: Failed water pump? Luis, You should be able to trace back where the coolant is coming from. I imagine if it's not obvious, it's coming from behind the timing belt covers so I'd take the drive belts off and pull the middle and loosen or pull the upper cover; loosen the lower one and see where the coolant is coming from. You might have just blown one of the pump gaskets. I've seen that a few times. Did the pump you used have the paper gaskets? I don't mind aftermarket pumps, but I try to use the metal mazda gaskets. Let's see, if it's the water pump, could be leaking from the rear main pump seal (to the block, main gasket), the front shaft seal (pump needs replaced), the water pump outlet (where the other gasket goes) or the oring on the water pipe. Ross On Aug 11, 2010, at 11:25 PM, Luis wrote: So I returned from a 2-day track event with my 92 only to discover that I am losing coolant at a significant rate. I pressurized the cooling system when the car cooled off and at 5 lbs it was already running off the front of the oil pan. Am I correct to presume that my water pump failed? It is that or a gasket failed. I think. Here is the weird thing: I installed the water pump only 7k miles ago. I checked the belt tension per the factory manual and it appears to be correct. (It is hard to accurately gauge 22 lbs load on the belt but I calibrated my thumb on the bathroom scale first). The car gets driven to the track and back so about ¼ of the miles are actual track miles. Have any others had similar experiences with failed pumps? (The pump was purchased from a reputable vendor) Thanks, Luis _______________________________________________ Miatapower mailing list [email protected] http://list.miatapower.net/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/miatapower _______________________________________________ Miatapower mailing list [email protected] http://list.miatapower.net/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/miatapower
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