What have you done to your P5 today?

Might be time to let that one go and bring up a new one from Cardone.

I don't just need a Cardone caliper, I need a complete Car donated.

She's rotting.

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She doesn't pollute though and doesn't burn a drop of oil.

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That was 10 years ago when they sniffed the tailpipe, then they plugged into the OBDII port, now they don't even check.
But I still don't burn oil...



The mechanic came out with a big smile on his face and said that he thought his sniffing machine was broken.
He was getting readings of zero.

He had to run the test twice to finally get a reading.

The air coming out my tailpipe was cleaner than the air going in the intake.

I was allowed 150 PPM of hydrocarbons idling at the curb.
I had none.

I passed. Lol 😆
 
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She doesn't pollute though and doesn't burn a drop of oil.

View attachment 302796

That was 10 years ago when they sniffed the tailpipe, then they plugged into the OBDII port, now they don't even check.
But I still don't burn oil...
Do you still drive it or is that one your parts car now?
The mechanic came out with a big smile on his face and said that he thought his sniffing machine was broken.
He was getting readings of zero.

He had to run the test twice to finally get a reading.

The air coming out my tailpipe was cleaner than the air going in the intake.
Looks like your Gas Cap Pressure Test did great!!(y)(y)
I was allowed 150 PPM of hydrocarbons idling at the curb.
I had none.

I passed. Lol 😆
Ok how'd you rig that??
Inquiring minds want to know...
 
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Do you still drive it or is that one your parts car now?

Yeah, that's my daily driver.
She's rotting, but still runs like a top.

Looks like your Gas Cap Pressure Test did great!!(y)(y)

I guess that they didn't need to check the other things because it passed the test ?


Ok how'd you rig that??
Inquiring minds want to know...


My car was a single owner car before I bought it.
She bought it new and went to Mazda religiously to have all maintainence done including regular oil changes.
(The parts guy at Mazda looked up my VIN number and could see all previous maintainence done at Mazda.)

So my car doesn't burn oil and runs really clean.

The mechanic did say that my car polluted less than when it was a brand new car.
He was quite confused. Lol

I wonder if I could still get a sniff test done ?
I'm curious to know what it's like now.
 
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Yeah, that's my daily driver.
She's rotting, but still runs like a top...
Isn't P5 Love grand...🥰 She's probably says the same thing about you.
I wonder if I could still get a sniff test done ?
The dogs are on their way... 🐕‍🦺 🐕‍🦺
Better hurry up and hide your...stas...err...car.
I'm curious to know what it's like now.
:eek:
I wouldn't temp Fate. :devilish:
Fate bites me in the butt everytime I seem to tempt it.
Like when I try to go beyond "good enough" or tighten something just a "little bit" more...
 
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I wonder if I could still get a sniff test done ?
I'm curious to know what it's like now.
I would love to see what mine does for actual emissions. In CT all that matters is having a functioning CEL and having the car not actively throw a code (or have a recent clearing). I did my emissions testing again a few weeks back. On the way to the shop I threw a CEL. Cleared it, drove a few days until my blue driver said I was in the clear. Went and got the thumbs up. A week later CEL back on :). Heres to another 2 years! If the car doesnt become one with the earth by then.
 
I would love to see what mine does for actual emissions. In CT all that matters is having a functioning CEL and having the car not actively throw a code (or have a recent clearing).


Yeah, that's what they started doing here the next time I went for the test (two years later).

Now they don't test anymore.

I did my emissions testing again a few weeks back. On the way to the shop I threw a CEL. Cleared it, drove a few days until my blue driver said I was in the clear. Went and got the thumbs up. A week later CEL back on :). Heres to another 2 years! If the car doesnt become one with the earth by then.


What was your code?

It could be a simple and cheap fix that may help with drive ability, fuel economy and reduce your contribution towards killing the world. Lol


Strangely enough, you could completely remove your main cat and not throw a code.

You could potentially polute like crazy and your ECU wouldn't know.

There is no sensor after the main cat.
 
Yeah, that's what they started doing here the next time I went for the test (two years later).

Now they don't test anymore.




What was your code?

It could be a simple and cheap fix that may help with drive ability, fuel economy and reduce your contribution towards killing the world. Lol


Strangely enough, you could completely remove your main cat and not throw a code.

You could potentially polute like crazy and your ECU wouldn't know.

There is no sensor after the main cat.

Oh I have been polluting for years since I removed the pre cat for an obx header prob 10 years ago. Code is for o2 sensor wiring I believe. Only will come on if the car sits for a while not driven, or if it is driven after a heavy rain. Still getting 27mpg city somehow. Every time i turn the key I am shocked it wants to keep going. Just keeping it alive long enough to be a backup, backup car
 
Oh I have been polluting for years since I removed the pre cat for an obx header prob 10 years ago. Code is for o2 sensor wiring I believe. Only will come on if the car sits for a while not driven, or if it is driven after a heavy rain. Still getting 27mpg city somehow. Every time i turn the key I am shocked it wants to keep going. Just keeping it alive long enough to be a backup, backup car


OK, that's different.

You must have the anti-foulers or the electronic version installed, or else you would get the P0421 code that would turn on your CEL.


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Keep in mind that the pre-cat is only active and useful during the first few minutes during warm up before the main cat heats up and starts catylyzing.
(It's a warm up catalyst.)

After that, the main cat warms up, and will do all the pollution control.

Your car is probably only polluting for a few minutes after startup, after that it may not pollute much at all.
(unless you are burning a ton of oil which can overwhelm even your main cat and burn it out too.
Then you really start to pollute and your car will run like s***.)
 
(unless you are burning a ton of oil which can overwhelm even your main cat and burn it out too.
Then you really start to pollute and your car will run like s***.)

Burning oil is the name of the game and the car runs amazing. It's a medical mystery.
 
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Question: what would cause the overflow tank to completely overfill after a drive, when it was at the mid-range of the tank when the engine was cold?

Hoping this is not timing belt/ water pump time.
 
The middle of the tank is too high when its cold. The low line is like 2 or 3 fingers from the bottom. Once mine puked out the overfill tube on the overflow. I opened the rad cap and filled it then drained the overflow down to the cold mark. It never did it again. I think it had too much in the tank and when i drove it it just overfilled when it warmed up. Try that and see if it works.
I had a honda long ago that also did that but the cause of that was a bad head gasket. The temp shot up and fluid came gushing out. Hopefully this is not your issue
 
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Question: what would cause the overflow tank to completely overfill after a drive, when it was at the mid-range of the tank when the engine was cold?

Hoping this is not timing belt/ water pump time.
I believe I had this issue last year when my radiator cap failed. Parked my car after a drive and heard boiling over at the expansion tank, dumping coolant out of it. Replaced it and all has been well since
 

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Question: what would cause the overflow tank to completely overfill after a drive, when it was at the mid-range of the tank when the engine was cold?

Hoping this is not timing belt/ water pump time.
Overfill or Overflow?

Overfill but not overflow may be normal expansion until the engine/cooling system cools off.

If Overflowing...

Any other work done on the cooling system like changing out a hose or thermostat?

Maybe it still has some air pockets in the cooling system?

This happened to my son's P5 when he first got it (and was overheating) so in order to purge the air out of the system, I had to elevate the car's front end up on an incline (air seeks the highest point to escape) and then I topped off the coolant in the radiator, cap off (while engine running), with heater on high and blower fan on, (so it would circulate through the heater core as well) and then tried to burp the air out of the system by squeezing the upper radiator hose best possible repeating the process and keeping the coolant topped off.

Then after that, I "overfilled" the coolant expansion tank (intentionally) and after running/driving it for a little while (with heater/blower fan on so you can purge the air and feel the heat from the heater core), it overflowed the tank pushing excess coolant out.

(NOTE: Always have to remember if you suspect the engine is overheating, TURN ON the AC AND BLOWER FAN so that at least the A/C fan will run all the time to assist the other fan to help keep the engine cool. You can also turn the temperature up to high on the heat while running the AC to dissipate cooling system heat if needed.)

Once the air is purged out, the engine/cooling system cools off, the coolant should settle back down near to the mid-point at the middle line of the tank.

I've noticed that on occasion I can hear the water in the overflow tank rumbling and checking it (just in case) the level goes down once it cools and has been staying around the mid-line.

Once it gets to a "normal" fill level, I recommend using a Sharpi to mark the level on the tank for a quick referenece line to quickly detect any abnormal coolant loss (like a system or head gasket leak).

The middle of the tank is too high when its cold. The low line is like 2 or 3 fingers from the bottom. Once mine puked out the overfill tube on the overflow. I opened the rad cap and filled it then drained the overflow down to the cold mark. It never did it again. I think it had too much in the tank and when i drove it it just overfilled when it warmed up. Try that and see if it works.
Agree.
I had a honda long ago that also did that but the cause of that was a bad head gasket. The temp shot up and fluid came gushing out. Hopefully this is not your issue
White steam/smoke from the tailpipe/coolant level loss might also be an indicator of a head gasket water leak.

Milky oil on the radiator cap might be an indicator as well but not all the time as the gasket may not have burned through the oil portions to mix into the gasket's water passages.

Stuck or proper type of thermostat.

The P5 needs to have a thermostat with a "jiggle valve" and postioned in the housing in the right orientation so that it lets some coolant/cavitated air bubbles pass so as to not starve and overheat the head.

In the "old days" the water pump/thermostat was located high on the engine. Newer days, the thermostat is at mid-engine level on the engine making it harder to bleed the air out of the system.
I believe I had this issue last year when my radiator cap failed. Parked my car after a drive and heard boiling over at the expansion tank, dumping coolant out of it. Replaced it and all has been well since
Yup - radiator cap valve can go bad for sure and let coolant blow right on through to the coolant tank.

That would possible explaing the boiling water sound I've noticed on occasion after a drive.

When I changed the radiator out on my son's P5, (cracked upper hose inlet), I got an afermarket radiator but the original radiator cap would not screw on as the cap mounting surface was too large (production flaw).

Rather than sending it back, I sanded evenly around the radiator cap's mounting surface neck until the cap would screw on.

It's still a little snug to get on/off for the new cap I bought and wonder if some of the coolant that expands into the expansion tank is just bypassed coolant under pressure? :unsure:

That would explain why when I measured the temperature of the "boiling" sounding coolant in the tank one day ith a cooking thermometer, I got 165* where the thermostat temperature is 185*.
 
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