has anybody used their rx7 without a thermostat and had no problems. cause i'm running without it and my dads friend said thats probably why it overheats, he said when its in their it sends a message to the ecu. what u guys think.

 

the thermostat does not communicate with the ECU. the ECU reads the water temp. but with the thermostat not installed and the bypass opening not plugged the car may overheat. during mild conditions it may work fine but when the outside temp increases or sustained high rpm's are encountered it will start to have problems. the thermostat has a "foot" on the bottom of it that blocks the bypass opening when it is open and uncovers it when it is closed. this keeps from blowing up the water pump when the t-stat is closed. the t-stat is also a restriction in the system. this is needed for there to be a pressure drop accross the pump which is how a centrifigul pump works. if there is no pressure drop the pump will turn but not pump any water. if you want to remove the t-stat first plug the bypass(small hole under t-stat) then gut out the t-stat and use the plate with the small hole in it for your restriction. on my race car I even use a smaller hole in the plate to help with high rpm pump cavitation. I have found a 5/8" hole works the best for my car. best setup for a street car is to use a lower temp(180 degree) OEM or equivilent t-stat.