Hi guys, The US Mazda forum aren't as helpful as you hence why i'm posting here.
I broke down yesterday and had to get recovered. I was out for a drive and had done about 10 miles when i stopped at a junction and could smell burning rubber, I drove of another mile to my destination. When is stopped there was smoke coming from the engine bay but i couldn't see where, possibly down by the cam belt / water pump area but also from the top of the engine under the manifolds. I came back to the car after 30 mins and it started ok but there was a short puff of sooty black smoke so i started driving home carefully but i noticed that when stationary with it in drive the engine tickover slowed and it felt like it was trying to pull away more than normal when i eased of the brake, as if the clutch were dragging but of course it doesn't have a clutch. I also noticed that the temperature gauge was off the scale hot but i don't normally look at it so rather stupidly assumed it was a faulty gauge because there was no steam. It was driving fine because it was flat or down hill for 8 miles, when i got to a short incline the smoke started again along with a rattle from under the car whenever i applied throttle, then the engine died and i coasted to the side of the road.
i tried once to re-start it but it was really sluggish on the starter motor so gave up and called for recovery.
Once it was cooled down we could see there was no water in the system, top and bottom hose were both empty but it started normally and responded to throttle so we could move it close enough to get it on the truck. It was teh same for offloading, it started and ran normally but I only ran it for one minute.
My assumptions so far are.
- The water was lost slowly perhaps on recent journeys either by a leaking hose, core plug or head gasket.
The smoke from the engine bay was because the engine was hotter than ever and oily dirt was burning off.
It stopped running because the engine started to seize
Why would the autobox / torque converter start to drag? Would it be affected by extreme engine heat?
How likely is it that the engine was damaged given that it started and ran normally when cold?
I will do a compression test, if it should fail on a cylinder and i have to remove one of the heads should i do both?
Can anyone offer any other thoughts or guidance?
My wife and son found it funny but i'm gutted and fearing the worst, an engine rebuild costing as much as the car is worth.
Thanks
Kevin