MPLSrx7

My cars temp is usually about in the middle of the guage. i think this is running a little warm probly. It was about 90 today so i didnt even want to risk it with the ac if it is. so my question is is that to warm. and if it is should i flush it out or change the thermostat or something?

J-Rat

iTrader: (2)

Those stock gauges are notoriously inaccurate..

MPLSrx7

yea i hear they show its cooler than it really is.

iceblue

Sheez what’s up with the temp questions this week. If you have a S5 89 to 91 half way is normal. If you have a S4 86 to 88 the normal temp is 1/4th. The Stock gauge and more so on a S5 tend to be inaccurate.

Since you did not post your car. I will say on my S4 TII swap my gauge sits between 1/3rd and 1/3.5 the way up gauge.

The turbo motors tend to put out a little bit more heat. Normal operating temp for a engine is 180F to 200F. Normal TS opening temp is 180F or 195F depending on TS used.

Low cooling capacity is usually the culprit of. Improper cooling fluid mixtures, Bad fan, Engine and ambient temp is producing more heat then the cooling capacity of your RAD.

J-Rat

iTrader: (2)

Mazda spec thermostats will open between 183 and 197, with full lift at 203.

And if you want to place your faith in the factory gauge, knock yourself out.

MPLSrx7

its an s4 na so, i guess it is too hot. i checked the coolant and that was good so i dont know where to go from there. it has ran this warm since i got the car a few months back but i figure since its hot now i should look into it more.

jm93rx7

iTrader: (7)

I went to a local speed shop yesterday and i sa this thing called ICE WATER its supposed to make your car run 20 to 30 degrees cooler but it should only be used in the summer months and shouldnt be mixed with coolant. Have any of you guys heard of this and is it safe to use with a rotory motor?

iceblue

I dont know about that method. I am familur with water weter and purple ice. However I hope they are refering to 20 to 30F capacity. Because your motor still has to run at 180 to 200.

As J-Rat posted with factory TS. I have heard to only use factory TS's and his post on the F seems like it makes it a betor choice by far.

I have posted several times. Allways bench test your new TS in boiling water befor placing in car. Could save you a motor.

MPLSrx7

to test if my ts is still good should i take it out and put it in boiling water too?

iceblue

Dosent hurt. If it wasent working at all you will or would have burned up motor allready. If your gasket has ben on for a long time you will need a new one to replace it with.

MPLSrx7

alright so i will do that tomorrow and flush it out too probly because i have no idea when it was last done, and probly just buy a new ts too. they are only like 25 bucks aren't they?

iceblue

I dont know about OEM. $1 for gasket and $4 for TS at auto parts store.

MPLSrx7

are they just as reliable as oem, do you use the generic kind?

trainwreck517

iTrader: (1)

Buy an OEM thermostat from your mazda dealer, about $20.

ilike2eatricers

^ditto. It comes with the oring gasket also.

iceblue

I am going to go with OEM. My recent luck in TS have ben 1 in 6 now.

NZConvertible

Why would you want your engine to run cooler than normal? Engines are designed to run in a particular temp range because that's where they work best. Cooling system mods are not supposed to make the engine run cooler (unless it was actually overheating), they're supposed to increase the cooling system's capacity, so you can generate more power without an increase in engine temp.

Having said that, anybody who knows how the cooling system works will know that this product won't magically drop engine temps, because the temp is regulated by the thermostat, not by the fluid in the system.

HAILERS

Like JRAT said, *go ahead and beat your head against a brick wall*.

It's like this. I own a few RX-7. Two or them will show the water temp gauge in the first quarter of the gauge on a HOT day in TEXAS. ONE car will show the gauge at the half way mark. When I rebuilt that cars motor I was sure I'd screwed the pooch. But then I put a meter(digital meter) on the Water Thermo Sensors input wire and compared that cars reading to the other two cars. Gee Whiz. It read colder than the other two cars.

I swapped the clusters b/t that car and another and sure enough the car that had the gauge at half way now read in the bottom quarter of the gauge and the car that HAD read in the last quarter now read halfway.

Buy a aftermarket AutoMeter gauge and install it temporarily in the upper radiator hose and see what your real water temps are.

On the other hand, your car could have a bad coolant seal and it's about to blow sky high. Whatever you do, don't listen to JRAT! humor

billzrx7

my car didnt have a bad thermostat per say in it but it would only open up halfway as opposed to the stant i just repalced it with,. seems to have dropped my temps by 20 degrees.

RXgirl7

stock temp gauge is basically an idiot light with a needle. on my s5, halfway is normal opperating temp. but there are basically three settings: cold, normal, and "congradulations, you just blew your motor"
if you think the car is running hot check all cooling systems, thermosat, rad, oil, etc. i would highly reccomend an afermarket water temp gauge and/or oil temp gauge to make sure your motor is running happy.

iceblue

I can tell if mine is getting hot just from driving it and how it feels. My guage jumped up to 3/4th from 1/4th So I just pulled over and checked evrything. Car was in perfect heat range :-/ . Another day it went to half and I felt power drop I thought odd for only half. I immediatly pulled over and parked next to a hose to cool the RAD down if needed. Water was spewing 2ft high out of the RAD cap at TS. I cooled the system down and over this time and siting, let stand for 2 hrs then proceded to cool motor down slowly with the water. Removed TS and got on my way and evrything was fine. Checked coolant 13PSI held fine and car ran great. TS went bad and closed shut.

J-Rat

iTrader: (2)

Hey Iceblue, you mispelled "obtained" in your quote about knowledge vs age... Whatever..

NZConvertible

That's only true for S5's. Like pretty much all modern temp gauges, the S5 temp gauge only has three readings; too cold, normal and too hot (although some say "too late" would be more accurate). The S4's temp gauge is a proper linear gauge that will move up and down roughly in proportion to engine temp.

RETed

First of all, this whole thread is useless unless you have a good, quality aftermarket water temp gauge.

Arguing about the stock water temp gauge is useless.
It's only good to tell you - TOO cold, OK, and TOO hot.

Install a gauge and tell us the numbers it's showing...


-Ted