I tried to find it on Mazdatrix and the forum didn't help much either, but I broke the coolant temp sender that bolts into the rear iron. I was just wondering if there was a difference between the turbo and the non turbo unit? Non turbo's aren't hard to come by in the junk yard around here, so I thought I'd ask.

 

They're interchangeable, go steal one from the n/a's.

 

They're fairly cheap at AutoZone also.

 

The next time you're wondering about part interchangeability an easy first step is to go to a website like Mazdatrix (which is good because they have pics) and look up the part in question. They'll tell you the models/years the part fits.

Many times there are only minor differences in the part but major differences in price.
A good example is the coolant level sensor which is essentially the same for all years but has a different connector- why the hell Mazda changes minor stuff like this is a mystery to me. A snip of the wire and a crimped bullet connector and voila!, the S4 sensor works on the S5 rad.

It's a place to start anyway.

 

Would having this sensor disconnected cause me to overheat?

 

^ no. it is for the gauge only.

s4 and s5 are different though

 

Really? I had the sensor disconnected when I started my car and the temp gauge went straight to H? Could my sensors possibly be fubar? I have yet to install a new thermostat to verify if that's what's wrong, but that should be here by saturday.

 

That would happen if the disconnected wire was touching ground.

 

My bad. Shoulda mentioned that in my post above. Thread pattern b/t series four and five are different on the water temp sensor on the rear housing.