I just drained the oil cooler today, 1st time I have ever drained it. Anyway I tried to search but I keep getting a Proxy Error. So when I pulled the plug I a thermostat or somthing came out with it. I guess I did not even know this was there. Is it a thermostat...? Is this somthing that goes bad often..? Should I replace it as I doubt it ever has been replaced.

 

Yes, its a thermostat. I've never heard of one going bad but thats just me. It might be that if they go bad they stick in the flow mode not bypass mode and nobody can tell, just a thought. I'd just reinstall it.

 

Put it back in.

 

lol, you crack me up nz hey usmcjsy did you take that out while the cooler was still in the car? I need to do this to mine to make sure the tstat works corretly and I may just get a new one for the hell of it if mazda has it for a descent price. I just don't want to have to yank that bastard out again. It's a pain in the back side

 

I called lots of people about this and never got a straight answer. Everyone is scared stiff of the thermostat in the e-shaft going bad but noone ever talks about this one. I took mine out and boiled it in a pot. It opens at a pretty low temp like 100 degrees, the water in the pot was not very hot. I would say put it back in unless you live in the tropics. Everyone seems to love the efficentcy of the stock oil cooler so it can't be that much of a restriction.

 

Without the thermovalve in the oil cooler as a thermostat, the cooler is bypassed- which throws away about 30% of the engines cooling.

Failure of the thermovalve in the cooler is almost nil, as it is not subjected to the temps, tighter tollerances, and rotation that the E-shaft thermo valve is subject too.

 

Cool thanks for the info guys, I have never really heard of this being discussed before and for some reason I never drain the oil out of the cooler. I guess I will from now on. I put it right back in but just wanted some input.
HondaHater- Ya I removed it while it was still in the car. I did not realize there was a thermostat in there. If you end up replacing yours let me know what it costed. Next time I change mine I might just change it for the hell of it.

 

yeah 18+ years of oil build up is bound to play a number but of course you may be able to clean it just as easy as well. HOw bad did it look?

 

Well it looked fine as far as I could tell. I just figured a 18 yr old thermostat would not hurt to replace. I really do not wanna find out what would happen if it failed. Well if I get a new one I will let ya know the cost. You do the same.
Jeremy

 

will do! How is that stage III treating you? I still can't get it to 15psi but I have a crappy 10 dollar boost controller that I will be switching out soon enough

 

Have you done the TB mod...? If not just try wiring open your outboard butterflies on the TB it made a day and noght differance for me. Otherwise I am in the middle of a engine swap, should be up and running in a week or 2. Even then though I wont get to experience the Stage III till after break in.

 

hmmm, never heard of this before


cool to learn!