Broken thermoswitch connector, how to fix?
 

Today I was replacing my thermoswitch with the lower temp version from the FC. Unfortunately I broke the wire off the connector :( . I tried to reuse the inside metal connector but I mangled it trying to open it up and get the broken wire out. The plastic part is still okay though.

Anybody have ideas on how to fix this? Is there a place that sells the connector pieces? Can I buy a partial harness from Mazda?

I noticed that all the wires and vacuum hoses near the UIM see pretty brittle. I know the hoses can be replace, how easy is it to do the engine wiring harness?

Thanks,
Ken

Muwhahahaha welcome to the club! How is your soldering skills?

Ha, my soldering skills are okay. Too bad there was no wire left on the connector! I tried disassembling the connector to reuse, but no luck. I need parts, a harness etc. Please help me out!

I solder new wires into the sensor and fill the recess with epoxy ,then I put GM weather pac connectors on the wire, wires, Cut the stock connector off thr harness and put on the matching GM weather pac .The harness in my car has more weather pac connectors than stock connectors . I will also unwrap the harness wrap and replace the brittle wires .I have done this so many times for my self and customers that I buy the connectors by the box. I buy the pins and rubber rings 25 to the box .

Ah, great reply. What kind of epoxy do you use? Also, what is a weather pac connector? Can I buy these at the local chain auto supply store?

TIA,
Ken

Any plastic epoxy ,I go to Advance Auto for it . The General Motor weather pac connectors I get get from O-Reillys auto parts . GM uses these on alot of cars . Do not buy the prewired pins ,they cost way to much and they make you have an extra solder joint .Extra joints are failure points . These things are easy to remove the pins from with a cheap tool and you can configure them so you can not mix them up and plug them in to the incorrect mate if you have several with the same number of wires in the some area .A male and a female may cost $4 or $5 . Do not go to a GM dealer they charge to much .The GM map sensor takes a green weather pac connector and they want $27 for it .Sorry I but no green under my hood ,even through to map sensor is hidden as all my vacuum lines are .I used a black 3 wire WP from my stock that cost about $ 3 .

Dude, you have the exact opposite of my problem. I broke my plastic connector, but the metal one inside is fine. I dont think there is a replacement part where you can just buy the wire/connector. You would have to locate one in a totalled 7, then cut/crimp the wires together. It really sucks, right now I have the wire plugged into the thermoswitch with no plastic connector :mad: I live out in hawaii, so finding parts really sucks. I'm wondering if the FC or Miata connector is the same as the FD's

another option (what I will probably end up doing) is buyign the miata thermswitch and using it, since the sensor has a male spade as it's connector. you can just solder on a insulated female spade connector to your factory harness, and get the benefit of your fan coming on at lower temps.

Old thread I know...but do you have a part number? I went to a couple of GM dealerships at the beginning of the year and they didn't have a CLUE to what a weather pac connector was. I didn't think about checking a local parts store, but some how I have a feeling I'd get the same response.

I could attempt to repair this connection on mine, but the wire is soooooo brittle.

Can I splice in some fresh wire somewhere further away from where horrible engine temps killed the wire and then just reroute fresh wire to this switch?

Where does this wire originate?

It merges into the rest of the engine harness.
NOT my picture...just one I saved. I believe the thermoswitch is one of the two labeled "T-stat housing":
http://img682.imageshack.us/img682/6298/wireharness.jpg

this same thing happened to me a couple of months ago. in my case, the wire was corroded right where it meets with the plastic connector. i went to radio shack and got a female connector thing and it held real snug on the metal tab in the thermosensor. i also made sure it wouldnt back out from engine vibrations. i think it works...

another option for connector repair:

if you have a scribe, you can use it to de-pin the connector. There is a plastic tab you depress from the terminal (opposite wire side) side of the connector that holds the male or female terminal in.

now find a connector with similar terminals from another mazda...
get it from an interior harness or anywhere with good wires. de-pin that connector and make sure the terminals are compatible with the connector you're repairing.

insert the good wire with terminal into your connector. it should click into place. then use a crimp connection and a good crimp tool to splice.

I ran into this problem today. I snapped the wire off at the base of the connector and thought I was screwed.

FYI you can actually separate the bottom of the connector and it'll give you a small bit of wire and the metal pin inside to work with. Just solder on new wire to the old wire and you're done.

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...f97712680c.jpg

Just out of curiosity... Why not just buy a new connector and crimp it on?

Mazda doesn't sell just the connector. You could also just buy a female spade connector and lose the entire oem connector and just connect to the male end in the thermosensor that way.

I just thought this was a nice bit of info if you want to keep the oem connector in the event this happens to you.

Isn't this the connector? I just had Chris build me a harness and there's a brand new thermoswitch connector on it.

https://www.lms-efi.com/collections/...itch-connector

Well, look at that! Glad to know that's an option. That's why I love this forum over social media. I never find tips like this there.

My plastic connector is still good so I'll just go with resoldering the wire. But thanks for the info!

I saw the thread title and came in here to post that link but you beat me to it. Good show, old chap :nod::icon_tup:

The links in this thread are still valid for anyone looking to replace individual connectors.

Electrical Connector / Electrical Pin / Electrical Contacts

It's good for just about any year RX-7 or other Japanese car.

You can get the same connector off of other cars as well, I visit the junkyard occasionally and have found a few of these for the future when I need them, plus they are free as the junkyard I go to don't care to charge for connectors.

AFAIK these cars use the same type of thermoswitch.

88-92 Geo Prizm
88-91 Celica, Corolla, MR2 and Camry
88-92 Mazda MX-6 (only on certain model)
88-92 Ford Probe (only on certain model)

For anyone still following this in 2019 I found the replacement connector part number as well as the terminal and pigtail. The original links in this thread are either dead or the companies don't have access to the parts anymore. If you want them new instead of trying to find them at a junk yard they are Toyota harness repair parts.

Connector PN: 90980-10197
Terminal and Pigtail PN: 82998-12090

I bought mine from here:
https://www.toyotapartsdeal.com/oem/...980-10197.html
https://www.toyotapartsdeal.com/oem/...998-12090.html

The terminal and pigtail snaps into the new connector body and if you want to "weatherproof it" you can use silicone to fill the back where the original rubber plug would've gone unless yours is salvageable and you want to reuse it. I searched for days and days trying to find these parts and every time I googled it this thread was the first result, hence my reason for bumping an old thread.

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...6c71088294.jpg
FD Fan Switch Thermoswitch Repair

Awesome! Thanks for finding that! It's a VERY common issue and this is a nice easy way to solve it.

Dale

Great Find, Thanks! Just ordered.....