Mazda fun

[DrEntropy]

Neighbor's wife has an '08 Mazda 3 as her transport, the car has been giving them a problem with overheating. Spewing coolant out "someplace" at the back of the engine. Saturday morning we put it in my driveway and began the exploratory procedure. Battery out along with a bunch of plastic shrouding and ECM attached to battery box. There's a plastic "manifold" at the rear that has the large hose from the radiator going into it and three smaller hoses distributing coolant to heater matrix and two other areas. Evidence showing water coming from between that manifold and the aluminum head. Four bolts well hidden and it came away. Turns out it's a FoMoCo part. Evidence shows it was apart at least once before, typically it had been brutalized by a prior attempt to "fix" it. Replaced the bit with a local franchise auto parts one. About an hour's worth of work, took two trips to two stores to get the correct replacement, spent four hours chasing around. The gasket is a silicone O-ring like thing, the old one had slipped out of position due to the damaged lip visible in the photo. Ham-fisted people shouldn't touch things.

 

[Gliderman8]

Good job doc!

 

[DrEntropy]

What puzzles me is whoever did that HAD to know they'd damaged it. Instead of owning up to it and replacing the thing, they just bolted it back together.

 

[Gliderman8]

Doc... I once stopped at a gas station in New Jersey. The "mechanic" was running a tap into a spark plug hole on a Vega since he stripped the threads installing a new plug.
I politely said to the guy "what about the metal shavings going into the cylinder" he told me he's "not worried about that".
He was right, he shouldn't be worried but the owner should be.
It doesn't surprise me when people do e-coli work and pass it off to someone else.

 

[DrEntropy]

The 10/10 warranty; ten minutes or ten feet off the property. No conscience, no ethics, no responsibility. It really irks me.