well i'm not sure if most noticed this but the difference in design between the Stant and mazda thermostat is pretty noticeable. The previous thermostat that was in my system that i suspect failed looked just like the Stant i purchased so i figured the previous one was a mazda thermostat and it looked just like the stant so i figured it was fine, but i think i found the source of my problems, i ran the car without the thermostat and it ran a lil above the quartermark and when i got home i culd hear a little bubbling in the rad, but it didn't overheat at all. But i noticed with the stant installed the temps started to go right up, the mazda design is much smaller and its got this little dangling device on the ridge its hard to see from the pictures. I just figured i'd post this to those who think going with other brands besides OEM is ok (I once thought it was ok to go with other brands til now). By the way before anyone says get a new camera my mom had it, so i had to use my 1 year old cell phone camera, not bad for "old" technology, the mazda thermostat is the short one with the three bars over the top of it.

 

interesting, Ill write this for anyone who will be searching in the future:

overheating problems

there, now they can know to check their thermostat condition AND brand before posting.........*crossing fingers*

 

yeah, i had to call the mazda back to make sure i got the right parts number because the difference was so noticeable.

 

Some people hate stant and swear by oem...

 

OK **** stant, sorry for my language it has caused me to go through all sorts of things to see why my car was overheating, the original stant that was in there the previous owner installed failed, and so did the one hte woman at advance auto provided me with, she could have by chance provided me with the wrong thermostat, but who knows, but i popped in a good ol OEM thermostat and my overheating woes are GONE!!!

 

And the debate on running the car without the thermostat in well when i ran it without the Tstat the car ran a little over 1/4 mark maybe closer to 1/2, and drove for about 16 miles, and when i got home i culd hear bubbling in the rad and some noises. So i put a OEM one in and my needle stays at around 1/8- to 1/4 mark on the temp gauge, soo in my case running w out the tstat made me run warmer.

 

**** stant X2

they may work fine in other applications but can pop a motor in a rotary if you're not careful. aftermarket thermostats just don't work right in there, i have pulled out perfectly fine aftermarket thermostats that were causing overheating issues. i don't see anything wrong with that thermostat either, do you?

 

I used my autozone tstat till just today and the only reason for changing it was because I didn't want it in there anymore. I had no problems with and it never let me down. Only part of my cooling system that sux is my 30amp relay for the efan. Funny you mention this today though cause I just got the new oem tstat today and rad cap