Okay, so I have a problem.

The old coolant temp sensor on my swapped-in 13B has never worked. I went to replace it with the one Pep Boys had in stock (totally shocked) and it snapped immediately, with the hex coming with me along with the interior wire, leaving the plug and threads in the block. Like any resonable guy, I bought a set of easy-outs at Sears and tapped the plug. Problem is, the easy-out has a square shoulder, not a hex, so it can't be driven with a socket. The corners are too rounded to make an 8-point socket of any use, and there's no room for a Crescent wrench because of the oil pedestal. What can I do?

1.) Work with what I've got and get the damn thing out somehow.

2.) Drill it out and plug it, then tap the rear plate elsewhere for a new sender?

3.) Drill it out, retap the gaping hole, and find another sending unit with the same response curve as Mazda's part, and put a similar sender in with a bigger thread?

Damn y'all, I'm up against a tree. It still runs, of course, but I want, no, NEED to know how hot it is!!!

Suggestions?

 

take the easy out and grind the head down so you can fit a socket on it nice and tight...

 

BTW, I also tried to JB-weld a socket to the drill-driven shaft of the easy-out. Would it be worth my time to try JB-welding a hex socket to the square shoulder, being careful not to get it on the block too?

 

no they have a eazy out wrench, that you should buy theres a bigger one and a smaller one.

BE CAREFULL ! ! ! I busted the temp sensor in the block AND the eazy out, ended up JB welding the damn thing...

IM me on AIM....


i984se

or

w5ideryn


-Ryan

 

bump. Any ideas?

 

i know how u feel, had the same happen with my rebuild, paint in the threads, sensor broke just before the washer touched the housing. my remedy, went and got sunpro mechanical guage, put the probe in one of the threaded holes in the wp housing under the thermostat, problem solved. no the other place doesn't leak, do not try to drill it out.

 

I need to rectify my problem before selling the car and am looking for the best way to relocate my coolant temp sender. Is there any way to thread a Mazda sender into the choke switch hole or another existing spot on the wp, or am I better off swapping the entire pump to a 2nd gen setup?

 

By the way, do streetcorner parts stores carry water pump gaskets, or do I need to talk to VB, or what? Should I just go for some RTV?

 

A friend of mine told me he heated up a deep socket that was just a hair smaller than the easy out, then got the easy out in the deep socket (not all the way down I would imagine). After it cooled, it was in there pretty tight.

The only problem I see with that is tapping the easy out on the broken bolt without pushing it all the way down in the socket (then not being able to get the wrench on..) I've never tried that trick first hand, but I can say we both have had lotsa fun with easy-outs and old tractor bolts, so I imagine he wasn't shitting when he told me this..

Either way PITA...

 

If I tap the 2nd Gen WP housing and thread the alternator support into it, will I need to have a shorter bolt or anything? I would think so, but don't really have a clue.

 

If you get lucky from the above suggestions and get the old sender out, make sure that you only tighten the new one to MAX 6pounds and I would use a Liquid High Performance Thread Sealer. (Not Teflon Tape).
Had to do the same thing to my setup.
sgieldon

 

Well, as it happens, I have a 2nd Gen housing, but not the front casting, so I couldn't use the aluminum housing. I ended up tapping the original iron casting just right of the choke switch, and reassembled things. The old 30% of the sender is still in the block and is likely to live out its days there until the motor gets rebuilt again down the road.

 

oh ive been there done that, snapped the easy out... swore, had a tantrum, and then just sprayed over it so you cant see it... then put a mechanical one in the thermostat housing. i want to get mine working again so the dash is fully operational. on the new 12a i have its got a big ugly sensor on the rear (i think its oil pressure) and what i thought to be a water sensor on the front housing.. but it just shoots the guage to the top??? any ideas ppl


-James