Ok, I have a 1993 Mazda mx-6. My husband has no idea wtf he is doing, even though he thinks he does, so I'm going to come on here and ask someone who may have some sort of idea. My car started overheating today...really bad. It went waaay over the H on the temperature gauge. We added some coolant and it was a little low on oil, so we added oil. It is still overheating. What could be the cause? There are like three places that we "could" add coolant...the coolant cap, the radiator cap, and the radiator coolant reservoir cap. Which is the correct place to add it? What could have made the car low on coolant to begin with? I haven't noticed any puddles or anything under the car, so it's not leaking enough for me to notice it.

4/14/2006 11:29:25 PM

replace your thermostat

cheap and easy usually

4/14/2006 11:37:53 PM

^ best place to start. check your hoses, too.

4/14/2006 11:44:44 PM

agreed.

4/14/2006 11:44:55 PM

Check that you don't need a new water pump... a bad one can cause your car to overheat, or least it did in my Jeep.

4/14/2006 11:45:48 PM

nm...i think it's fixed...ill post again if it fucks up...apparently, the fans weren't coming on...my husband got them to come on (don't ask me how, i dont know).

[Edited on April 15, 2006 at 12:10 AM. Reason : sdf]

4/14/2006 11:55:57 PM

^if it were the fans, it wouldn't overheat while moving.

4/15/2006 9:11:24 AM

ohh...well, it's not overheating now, but just for reference in case it pulls this again, how do you replace the thermostat? Where is it located?

4/15/2006 9:40:28 AM

if mazdas are like everything else, follow the top radiator hose to the engine, pull it off, unbolt the shit holdin the flange on (that the hose slid on), take the flange off, that round thing is the thermostat, pull it out with a screwdriver, scrape off the old gasket (dont let that shit fall in the engine), put on the new gasket, put in the new thermostat (same orentation as the old one), bolt it up, slide the hose back on, re-tighten the clamp, add a little water if needed, good to go. 15 min job tops if no bunch of bullshit is in the way...

4/15/2006 5:14:25 PM

lol over heating so we added some oil

4/15/2006 7:04:06 PM

umm is it leaving coolant on your driveway?

4/16/2006 1:25:00 AM

No, its not leaving coolant in the driveway, but the coolant is leaking somehow. We added about 3/4 gallon of coolant to it two nights ago and tonight, it was almost empty again. I also think that the people who changed my oil three weeks ago fucked up. The oil was nearly empty when it overheated the other day. We had to add almost 4 quarts to it. It hadn't had the oil changed since November and it hadn't leaked any at all (when the pre-oil check was done when they changed the oil, it was full and I haven't added any since November). All of a sudden in three weeks it leaks almost 4 quarts? Doesn't make sense. My husband put it up on the ramps tonight and looked at it and he was easily able to remove the oil filter with one hand...there was also oil all over the bottom of my car, like it had been spraying out. Could the oil thing have anything to do with the coolant thing? Also, anyone know what would cause the coolant to leak like that? How can we fix it?

4/16/2006 9:20:14 PM

Head gasket city, here we come...oh, never mind, we've already arrived.

4/17/2006 12:10:23 AM

coolant is getting into your engine

this is not a cheap repair. i'd start looking at new cars

4/17/2006 12:26:10 AM

my father-in-law suggested it could be the head gasket...is there some way I could check to make sure before taking it in to get repaired?

4/17/2006 11:38:07 AM

<insert image of guy getting fucked in the ass>

head gasket replacement is $texas$

4/17/2006 12:04:35 PM

Depending on how it is "blown", you could have the cylinders compression tested

drain the oil and see if there is water or coolant in it



[Edited on April 17, 2006 at 12:22 PM. Reason : ]

4/17/2006 12:20:16 PM

I don't know if anyone can help me, but I'm going to post this in here because I already started the thread about my car in here:

I purchased my car on March 16. In case you didn't read above, it is a 1993 Mazda mx-6. The previous owner had the oil changed in November. She mentioned that it may be time for another oil change. So, that Friday after purchasing my car (March 21), I took my car to the auto shop at Walmart for a quick oil change. I got the 21 point oil change. They changed it and I went on about my way. There were a few things I noticed that they did not complete (didn't check my power steering fluid, didnt wash the windows, etc), but it was nothing really big, so I let it slide. So, three days ago (April 14), my car overheats on our way back from Cary. We have to stop at a stranger's house and get some water for the radiator. We get it home (driving 35 all the way) and the oil light comes on as we are pulling in the driveway. We check the oil and it's bone dry, literally. I knew something was wrong because this car didn't leak oil before I had the oil changed (the pre oil check that Walmart did stated that the oil was full...I also checked the oil myself the day that we purchased the car). It had leaked 4 quarts of oil in 3 weeks...this could not be right. So, my husband puts the car up on the ramps and notices that the oil filter is loose...so loose that he was easily able to remove it with one hand. There is also fresh oil sprayed all over the bottom of the car. Well, along with all that, we are pretty sure my head gasket is cracked because the car ran out of oil. We took it to the manager of the auto center at Walmart tonight and they looked at it. He said, in few words, that it was not their fault. He said that there was no evidence that the car had leaked oil after they changed it and that we had too much oil in it currently (which is impossible). He said that there was no "fresh oil" sprayed under the car (which there was) and that they had nothing to do with the coolant system. Basically, he blew us off. Well, we called the Walmart headquarters and they are going to call us back.

My question is: Do you think we have a case to sue them for the damages on my car? Would we have any chance of winning? I spoke with a lady at Advance Auto tonight and she said she had heard of people being screwed by Walmart and Jiffy Lube in the same way and that they would fight you tooth and nail if you took them to court. Would it be worth our time to go to court and hire a lawyer?

[Edited on April 17, 2006 at 10:42 PM. Reason : oh yeah...]

4/17/2006 10:42:07 PM

well, i dont see how low oil would crack a head, it would kill the valve train/seize up a piston before that. but, a cracked head can make it lose water and overheat. You'd probably have a really hard time suing since the car is old, if it were new, then proabably. how many miles are on it?

Are there anymore problems besides the overheating? ie, with new oil and a tight filter, is it still using oil? Does it run rough now? hear any valve noise (kinda like a clanking sound, chatter...), engine shaking, low power, etc? it would suck if you had actual engine damage from this...

I had a remote oil seal blow on me dumping all the oil out on I40, ran it 3 hrs at 75 mph, no damage at all, no sign of trouble either (Cept low oil pressure but i just changed the oil so i figued the sensor was bad) But that was Mobil 1 in a 4.3l blazer, which are tanks....point is its not automatic that it actually screwed up your car...


eh, for the cost of a decent lawyer, etc, you'd probably be able to buy another '93 mazda...

[Edited on April 17, 2006 at 10:58 PM. Reason : court sucks]

4/17/2006 10:57:37 PM

had a friend up in va that got $3200 out of wal-mart for not tightening the drain plug and the engine locked up on his pos 626, it took about 6 months to get the money though

4/17/2006 11:18:19 PM

so lemme see if i understand this, the oil filter was loose, you lost most of the oil in the engine, low oil level= less lubrication = more heat = warped/cracked head. If this is the case, you can sue walmart, but chances are that you cannot prove they didnt tighten the filter and/or left the o-ring from the old filter on the block because you didnt catch the problem soon enough.

Let this be a lesson to all, do not take cars to jiffy lube, wally world, or other such places (cough, discount tire, cough) because in all likely hood you will get screwed.

4/17/2006 11:23:42 PM

okay, well it did something to my radiator...if it didnt crack a head gasket, it did something. I have put a gallon of coolant/antifreeze and close to a gallon of water in the radiator in the past 4 days and it is low again...it never did this before I had the oil changed. Maybe it did something else?

The car doesn't use oil now that the filter is tight. I have repeatedly checked the oil this week and there has been no change. IF it's leaking at all (which I don't think it is), it's not leaking enough for me to tell it so far.

There is no valve noise that I have heard and the engine is running normal. It's just using a hell of a lot of coolant.

4/17/2006 11:25:48 PM

drive it for a bit then open the hood and look for leaks...

4/17/2006 11:30:25 PM

get some radiator sealant shit from the parts store and pour it in the radiator.

call it a day

4/17/2006 11:47:41 PM

Quote :

"eh, for the cost of a decent lawyer, etc, you'd probably be able to buy another '93 mazda..."

but if she took them to court and won, she could make them pay the lawyers fees and reimburse her. but that doesn't fix the problem right now.

you could take it to a shop and have them pressure test your coolant system and they might be able to see where it is leaking.

4/19/2006 12:44:45 PM

I have never in my life heard of blowing a head gasket or cracking a head because the oil ran really low.

And I've worked on a hell of a lot of shit.

If your radiator fans were not coming on and the car overheated in traffic or at a stoplight or whatever, chances are that that's what caused the head gasket to blow.

Ten bucks says it's a head gasket leak. Twenty says I can take a can of K&W Block Seal and at least temporarily cure your issue.

Thirty says that the fucktards that changed the oil had nothing to do with this problem.

Forty says you'll be dumb enough to take the car someplace like this again to have your oil changed.

4/19/2006 1:40:35 PM

^
hahahahahahahah......
Thats the best post I have seen all day!

4/19/2006 2:56:25 PM

fifty said you're wrong as hell about the last thing you said...the only reason I took it to them in the first place was because I was waiting on my husband to get out of a job interview, which just happened to be right down the road from where I got the oil changed.

4/19/2006 3:10:41 PM

Quote :

"the only reason I took it to them in the first place was because I was waiting on my husband to get out of a job interview, which just happened to be right down the road from where I got the oil changed."

your husband wants to be a waiter at hooters?

4/19/2006 10:48:04 PM

no, it was at a warehouse...but i dunno, he might make a good waitress at hooters...maybe he should apply there

4/19/2006 11:00:49 PM

take off the radiator cap and start the car (while its cold and the rad is full of coolant) if you see bubbles comming up consistently then you have a blown headgasket or cracked head.

4/23/2006 6:04:21 PM