New, need some advice with our car please. - Coolant and oil leak 100K.

[ZoomFox]

Hello everyone I am new to the forums, I am sorry my first post of a cry for help.

My wife drives a 2010 Mazda 3 sport which has very quickly reached 100K miles.
We usually take the car for oil changes etc to a shop and I noticed some "coolant" stain on the heir engine bay as well as some oil on the driveway.

I could be very wrong on my diagnostic so I am reaching out for some help. We need to keep this car running as it her main mode of commute.
Is this coolant or could it be something else? its runs the passenger side of the engine down the belts and toward the rear (firewall).
Car does not overheat, and apparently this has been there for a while.








I am reading that we should replace the coolant, I don't think that was ever done.
I am also looking to change the belts.

Regarding the oil leak, I looked up the car and there was some oil around the passenger side bottom where the block meets the oil sump. I wonder if there is tiny leak somewhere along a gasket? The car recently had an oil change about a month ago and the levels are still full.

This car needs alot of TLC and I am going to make it my weekend project to bring it back to top health. I want it to last us another 2-3 years. We have had it since new and its been good to us. Recently change the spark plugs and filters and aside of the items mentioned above, everything is working well. I am sorry my first post of a cry for help.


PS: I was reading that aside from the rubber belts (AC and accessory) the car will not need a new "timing belt" it actually has a chain that should last for another 100K ?

Thanks everyone.

 

[Kedis82ZE8]

I wonder if whoever serviced it popped off the radiator cap while system was still hot and under pressure?

 

[Kedis82ZE8]

I wonder if whoever serviced it popped off the radiator cap while system was still hot and under pressure?

If it like an oil pan gasket that is a pretty easy repair. It probably is so small it will never show up as a fluid loss on dipstick but always best to keep tabs on it. I can't imagine a shop charging more than an hour to repair that.

 

[ZoomFox]

I wonder if whoever serviced it popped off the radiator cap while system was still hot and under pressure?

I don't know. The seems like a dumb thing to do. Plus I think I probably also see the water spots on the reservoir that side if pretty clean.
The motor mount side that is exposed to the engine looks all "orange". I wonder if there is also a leaking hose ? I don't think the block would leak / spray water to the outside.

While changing the belts, is there another "engine" cover with a gasket that could be leaking?

 

[concept]

I would first have your engine steam-cleaned. That would make it much easier to see if, in fact, there is an active leak. Next, carefully examine the engine bay upon initial startup and after the engine is hot.
Back a while ago when I had my MX6 GT, I had a similar quandary about coolant stains. Only after I put my car up on ramps and looked underneath did I find that the water pump was leaking from behind the timing belt cover.
At 90,000 miles our Lexus water pump gasket was seeping coolant. That was discovered when the timing belt was replaced. Otherwise, we would not have known.

 

[ZoomFox]

Does that look like coolant though?

 

[concept]

Some 5-year coolants are orange. What color is your coolant?

 

[ZoomFox]

Some 5-year coolants are orange. What color is your coolant?

Its teal. I am more concerned about the oil leak. I am going to get under the car tomorrow and snap some pics etc.
I need to see where its leaking from. It leaks while the motor is on.

 

[concept]

If there were a washer-gasket under the oil fill plug and that washer had not been reused, a small leak could've been the result. When I change the oil in our Lexus, the oil from the filter doesn't flow, unobstructed to the oil pan. It finds areas on its way down that are not accessible to clean, so for the first couple of days after the oil change, I need to wipe up a small amount on the garage floor.
If you look under your car, wipe up as much as you can, especially around the drain plug and filter. If the leak occurs while the engine is running, you may be able to see it happening with a strong light source.

 

[ZoomFox]

So I didn't find the coolant leak but I did find the oil leak... I got under the car, clean it all up and ran it to inspect...







Not sure what firestone did nor what what yellow thing is, but I basically cleaned it all up and changed the oil with a new Fram filter. Got under the car while it ran again and no more leaks.
next will be to change the acc. belt.

Thanks for all the help !!

 

[GrasshopperCO]

Firestone and Jiffy Lube are notorious for screwing up oil changes...the issue I've had in the past (not with my Mazdas) was with poor installation of the oil filters...they don't take the time to make sure the old gaskets come off with the filters and that the new ones have a good seal. I'm either taking my car to Mazda to get the oil changed or I'm doing it myself. I'm glad you were able to fix the oil leak.

As for the coolant leak, have you thought about trying UV dye to find it? I've heard about that method before for finding coolant leaks, but I'm not sure how well it works because I've never had that issue.

 

[concept]

...doesn't surprise me at all. I change the oil, myself an take my time to inspect things, as well as lightly spritz the engine bay with water spray to clean it off.

If the coolant is spraying out from a hose and then hitting the fan, it could very well be going everywhere. Did you see anything when observing the engine as it was running (and hot so the coolant was circulating through the engine)?

 

[ZoomFox]

...doesn't surprise me at all. I change the oil, myself an take my time to inspect things, as well as lightly spritz the engine bay with water spray to clean it off.

If the coolant is spraying out from a hose and then hitting the fan, it could very well be going everywhere. Did you see anything when observing the engine as it was running (and hot so the coolant was circulating through the engine)?

nothing abnormal. its all looked clean. I didn't think of feeling the hoses.
what is crazy to me is that this car does not have a temp gauge. How would you know you are overheating?

 

[ZoomFox]

BTW, I looked the car over last night and the pan and driveway are spotless - it was a poorly installed filter. Firestone did refund the money so I can't truly bash them. At least they recognized they made a mistake.

 

[concept]

I bought and installed (easy plug in to the OBD II port, under the dash on the left side) a ScanGauge II. It can display 4 of 16+ measurements. The four I display are coolant temperature, Intake air temp, voltage, and ignition timing angle.

Mazda, like every other car manufacturer wants to you feed money back to the dealerships, since they aren't making much money on repairs. (not the case with American and German manufacturers - they make tons of money on repairs. This may be why there is no coolant temperature gauge.

 

[ZoomFox]

I bought and installed (easy plug in to the OBD II port, under the dash on the left side) a ScanGauge II. It can display 4 of 16+ measurements. The four I display are coolant temperature, Intake air temp, voltage, and ignition timing angle.

Mazda, like every other car manufacturer wants to you feed money back to the dealerships, since they aren't making much money on repairs. (not the case with American and German manufacturers - they make tons of money on repairs. This may be why there is no coolant temperature gauge.

Who knows.. but I have had Honda, Mitsubishi, VW and currently Subaru. They all have water temp gauges.
I still think Mazda is a great car.

 

[concept]

...a great car without enough gauges.

 

[ZoomFox]

...a great car without enough gauges.

All pun aside, I consider water temp a very important gauge; too important not to have.