I decided to change my thermostat on my t2. I called autozone to see if they had one instock. They had 1 in. But for 3 bucks more I can order one that is 160 degrees. Is it worth the few bucks or should I just go with the oem spec thermostat? Thanks. I woulda done a search but I'm posting this from my phone and its a big pain to use search funtion from phone.

 

I don't think the thermowax fast idle system will retract fully at 160, but someone please correct me if I am wrong.

The stock thermostat starts to open at 170* so I don't see any usefulness in dropping to 160*.

 

Get a T-Stat from the Mazda dealership not Autozone & get the OEM one. There is nothing better about the stat that opens at 160.

 

factory thermostat specs:



Mazda has used the same thermostat specs in almost every rotary for the past 40 years, including 12A engines and the Rx-8 13B-MSP. The only exceptions are the 10A in the R100 and the carb'd 4 port 13B in the REPU.

 

Get the stock thermostat from the dealer. Aftermarket thermostats are ***** as a rule, not just for RX-7s. The only thing a lower temp 'stat will do for you is increase your fuel consumption and emissions by increasing the length of time it takes your car to get up to proper operating temp. Operating at a lower temperature than designed decreases combustion efficiency, and therefore power and mileage, because more combustion energy is absorbed by the chamber walls, taking away from the energy of the charge.

If your car has an overheating problem, it will still have it, because if it can't shed enough heat through the exhaust and cooling system with a working stock thermostat, it still won't be able to do it with one that opens sooner - the issue is cooling capacity/efficiency, not the thermostat opening temp.

 

It's supposed to drop the idle down to 750 rpm at a temp of 149 degrees. Page 25 in the link below.

http://foxed.ca/rx7manual/manuals/Tr...ol_Systems.pdf

 

id get one from the dealership except its 35 miles away. I really dont need to change it at this point so i may just buy a oem spec one from autozone and keep it for an emergency. For 6 bux its worth having for an emergency. The only reason i wanted to get one cause I had a few pices of the car off and figured a few more bolts to replace the thermostat wouldnt hurt. Thanks for all the help

 

I've used non-oem thermostats and gaskets from AutoZone in my FB and I will fully recommend getting an OEM Mazda one with gasket. The thermostat doesn't sit right in the housing, making it difficult to keep it lined up when putting everything back together. The AutoZone gaskets(Felpro) are way too thin and it leaked bad on me. It took me months to try and seal it before I finally ordered the factory thermostat and gasket. Put a little bit of sealer on the gasket and problem solved. Even if it is 35 miles away, make the drive. Don't cheap out on something as vital as the cooling system, especially on a Turbo II. This is coming from someone who works at AutoZone, I will only buy OEM thermostats for all my cars. (As a side note though the Failsafe thermostat did do it's job a locked open when it was suspposed to when I ran low on coolant)

 

how much did yours cost from the dealer. Just out of curiosity. Thanks