Agreed, when my stock fan was working, I *rarely* had to look at the temp gauge. Because once it warmed up, the thing never budged--for like 17 years. But when I switched over to the efan setup(to save some $$'s), the first thing I did was buy an aftermarket gauge(since I read the stock gauge isn't 100% accurate) and since then have been *constantly obsessing* over that gauge. And, go figure, I take my eyes off it for 5 minutes on the hottest day of the year, and overheat.

Unfortunately, I continue to learn the hard way that some things are worth the money and other things aren't worth the risk.

 

It never budged because FC temp gauges are notoriously unreponsive, better considered as a warning light rather than a gauge.
The fact that your aftermarket gauge moves/responds more actively than stock makes it more attractive to the eye and I bet you still obsess over the temp even after the clutch is installed.
That was a terrible bit of luck, that was.

 

my 1988 temp gauge mimics not only my aftermarket mechanical one, but the sensor for my standalone as well.

yes it kind of just points in a certain direction, but when the car would climb over 200 degrees ( which it never ever did with the stock set up ) the stock gauge moved right up along with it

in a twist of irony last time I drove the car when it was 90 degrees out the mechanical gauge got stuck at 210 and the stock gauge kept working, lol
The electric fan was cycling on and off so I knew the car was fine. Can also feel the difference in the cabin when it truly starts to run warmer

 

+1 the Rx7 stock gauges work fine up to 1989. the S5 gauge is WEIRD.

i put a potentiometer on it and its linear up to about 65c and then from there to whatever it was, 95-100c it barely moves, over 100c, it actually seems to be totally undamped, so its VERY quick up there. so basically if you see the S5 gauge move, you need to do something NOW.

the danger zone is 115c, so there is enough margin unless it popped a hose or something. it has been my experience that any engine can tolerate getting hot without damage if it has water in it, but getting hot because it blew a hose is usually fatal. piston or rotary doesn't seem to matter.

 

Oops. I guess I really opened up a can of worms on this one. I will say My Efan setup has now outlasted the stock setup(Time wise). Clutch fan lasted about 11 years before it failed. Don't know the mileage. I'd guess around 140k to 150k. Efan has been on for 15 years approx. 136k miles. I will agree that there is nothing wrong with putting a stock clutch fan back on. I do think though Efans as of late get beat up on unnecessarily due to the people who picked the wrong fan/didn't install it properly etc. My fan and controller came from Summit Racing and is still available, my relay came from Autozone. Maybe I just got lucky. I prefer having the fan and shroud out of there. Makes the front of the engine easier to get to without spending 30 min. tearing things apart to get crap out of the way. To each his own. It just seems the attitude lately is your stupid if ditch the stock setup and you go to an Efan, and that I disagree with.

 

Dak- I agree with you, and not to sound like a broken record but when we are dealing with a NA car or a stock TII there is a much greater margin for error versus a modified turbo car with a FMIC and god forbid AC. Just removing the AC condenser alone does wonders

I also dont think its "stupid" to ditch the stock fan- but I would say to remove a perfectly good fan just to install an electric one for the sake of doing it is not worth it.

 

So, the s5 clutch attached to the s4 fan without a problem and attached the assembly to the s4 water pump without a problem.
Took it for a test drive today in traffic with no issues. Actually, cools much better than the electric fan I was using prior(Mercury Villager 2 speed fan). No knock against that efan, but just an observation.

Back to reliable, cool temps. :-)

 

I just went through this with my own car.(1988 N/A) I ended up going with the Nissan quest fan. I could not get a fan clutch that worked. I bought a "nib, never used" s4 clutch that came dead on arrival, then tried the s5 clutch (with s5 fan). No matter what I did it would not balance correctly and the car shook like holy heck above 5000 rpm.I even had a local shop make up a little spacer to help center it, didn't help at all.

Installed Nissan fan, no vibes, good temps. I'm running the stock rad, but I did clean the bugs out of it while I had it out. If I get some downtime this winter I am going to clean the bugs out of the oil cooler, I figure it can only be worse.

 

Want to know where ti get an s4 clutch? Pretty simple, I believe I have one. Pm me with an offer and ill make it happen.

 

You are a bit late to the party.

 

Well, a week into the new fan clutch including 5 days of rush hour traffic in during the hottest time of the year, I've gotta say I'm much more satisfied with the stock setup than the efan.
Interestingly enough, it cools a bit better in stop and go traffic with the fan on, then doing 65 with the fan off. Time to try and source an undertray, I guess.
But I've gotta say, you spend 10 minutes bolting it on, then it just works with no issues. I guess those Mazda engineers knew what they were doing.

 

Buy a new s5 fan clutch from Atkins. $250, but well worth it. It bolts right up to the s4 waterpump. The 4 studs on the s4 waterpump housing fit perfectly into the holes on the s5 clutch-so there's no balancing involved. And the s5 clutch bolts right up to the s4 fan.

 

if you don't mind buying new water pumps periodically or the wobble in the fan, go for it. sometimes you will get lucky and it'll be good'nuff but i wouldn't expect that result.

you're relying on the bolt pattern to center the S5 clutch to an S4 water pump, the snout is actually what centers it properly.

with a little creativity and a nylon bushing though...