bhdixon

How serious is this. Smoke comes out from under the manifold and gets worse if you stop at a stop light and engine is very warm. At about the same time this started happening, the coolant alarm sounded so I naturally think it is a coolant hose leak where it connects to the throttle body. Wasn't this a recall item? Anyway, if I have to pay to have it fixed, will it be expensive? Also, my automatic cooling fan doesn't seem to come on properly and cycle. It seems to only come on if I stop the engine and then turn on the ignition again. Then it will stay on after I turn the ignition off. But does't seem to be able to come on unless I follow that procedure. Again, recall item isn't it? All the recalls were supposedly done on it according to Mazda. By the way it is a 93 touring, with 42K miles on it. Any insights anyone?

13BAce

Fixing the hoses for the TB coolant hoses is pretty easy. It only requires removing the upper intake manifold. That type of job shouldn't be more than $200. Have you checked the coolant hoses going to the turbo? They're usually very delicate.

vosko

i would definetely check out the car right away. could be something simple but you won't know till you check. my car was smoking real bad because my coolant seals were shot and oil was pouring out of the side of the block onto the turbo manifold :frown:

13BAce

Yeah, the oil injectors are under the intake manifold.

bhdixon

Thanks for the replys everyone. Well I'm sched to see the dealer on Wed. so I hope its something simple like the coolant hoses. I don't think I have the more serious oil problem because I'm not low on oil at all. But I have been low on coolant as mentioned prior. What about that cooling fan problem I mentioned? Is that normal? I thought the thing was supposed to cycle on a lot more. When I start the car and let it idle, it gets up to temp but the fan never comes on. I've never heard it come on until I turn off the engine and then turn the ignition back on. Then it seems to work. If it's a problem do you think the dealer should fix it as a recall item?

Wishful thinking maybe. ???

SPOautos

What color is the smoke? White like coolant or bluish like oil? What does it smell like? It could be various things, coolant hose, oil metering lines, fuel which would be VERY bad but you would smell it. I'd suspect the coolant and the labor might be expensive since the line attaches to the motor under the rats nest.



To check your fans try turning on the a/c button. That will make your coolant fan kick on, if it still wont come on you have a prob with your fan as well. They are pretty expensive, there are 2 fans and I think they are around $200 each from the dealer. You might can find them used for around $80-$100 each (at least that what I've seen used ones go for)



I would check the fuse to your fan, its under the hood in the fuse block thats next to the drivers side strut tower. It a big yellow fuse I think 60amp or something



Good luck and let us know how it goes,

STEPHEN

bhdixon

Thanks for the comments Stephen! I'll try the air conditioner thing tomorrow. I didn't think of that. I'll check the fuse as well. If I can iron out all the bugs for not too much dough, this car should work out pretty well. It's in very cherry condition with only 41K original. On a 93 I'd say that's pretty good. No major paint chips in the silverstone finish, no tears or scratches in the red leather interior either. This was what they used to call the "touring" package. Has the spoiler in back, rear window wiper, fog lights, leather, & bose sound system with bose subwoofs in back. I had to junk the most of the bose system though. It had seen better days. Replaced it with a nice alpine system and 12 disc cd changer. Saved the bose speakers though as they work fine. I'm about 20K into it now with everything including transportation from the seller, CA taxes, new sound sys, and service to the AC and Cooling system. Bought it on Ebay believe it or not.

SPOautos

Silver on red is a pretty rare combination.



Keep us updated on your smoke situation



Good Luck,

STEPHEN

bhdixon

Ok guys, here is the update on my smoke situation. Dealer says there are numerous coolant leaks around the Turbo area. Says its been going on a long time and has caused corrosion and calcification on the hose nipples and that this may cause me to have to replace the turbo completely! They still have more work to do tomorrow before they will know for sure whether my turbo needs replacing. Meanwhile they said a new one costs $4500. Ouch! I thought they were cheaper than that by about half. I would guess a rebuild is cheaper. If it really needs a new turbo I was thinking to just bite the bullet and do the Single Turbo aftermarket route. I have been quoted $4000 for the kit and approx $1000 to install the kit which includes numerous other parts. So what do you think? Are these normal prices for things or are they giving me the rich boy prices? P. S. I'm not that rich and I'm already about $20K into this car. It is in very good condition otherwise with only 41K miles. Nice finish, nice leather, touring package options with the bose speakers, rear window washer wiper, sunroof, foglites etc.

13BAce

You can usually find a good set of used turbos for about $500. If you go single turbo you'll need alot of fuel upgrades, which will add quite a bit to the price.