my names darren. the first car i ever fell in love with was the 3rd gen rx7. lived in japan most my life, didnt see fd's too often on a military base. after joining myself, i got stationed in california and decided i would finally buy my dream car. i bought my 93 mb touring in november or 09 and have loved it since that day. i havent gone crazy with modifying the car yet since im still making payments. first thing i did was coilovers, then a couple interior things. did a few reliability mods; koyo rad, downpipe, exhaust. added an intake too.

of all the horror stories ive heard about rotaries, fd's mainly. i havent had any problems with the car really. it is my daily driver that i do my best to take care of. i hardly (if ever) let anyone but myself drive the car.

i have come across a problem that i cant solve without a replacement part though. im not sure exactly what sensor it is, but its located on the radiator filler neck and has a wire that goes right next to the alternator and under the turbo to intercooler pipe near the intercooler. the coolant is leaking around the sensor/plug. ive tried replacing the little rubber gasket around with a more suitable replacement, and thats when i noticed the sensor/bolt/plug itself is actually cracked. its more a hairline crack, but with coolant temps and pressure it can shoot a decent amout of coolant out of this crack. can anyone tell me the part number and/or where i can find a replacement? thanks in advance

 

that would be the coolant level sensor, call ray crowe over at malloy mazda to order a new one, and make sure you get all of the old one out before you replace it, plastic bits in the rad are no good. just throw some liquid silicone sealant around the threads and you should be good.

 

i found something on rock auto, im not sure which it would be. they had a coolant temperature sender and a coolant temperature sensor. neither has the wire that runs from the sensor/sender to the plug. ive tried to call ray, i just call at bad times i guess. i work nightshift and am in california

 

It's called a Coolant Level Sensor, and it does NOT come with a new gasket, you need to make sure you ask Ray for the gasket as well. RockAuto is a great website and I bought a lot of regular maintenance parts there for my FD, but when it comes to parts like this, OEM is the only way to go.

Ray is the parts manager of that dealership, so he is a very busy man and incredibly difficult to get a hold of. You need to call them first thing in the morning when they open up at 7am otherwise you will never get a hold of him. Trust me I know lol

 

As said above, that is the coolant level sensor, part no. N3A1-15-610. Having that crack is a common problem. So, two pieces of advice:

1. Get a replacement from Malloy Mazda , Ray Crowe is the parts manager, gives great prices to RX-7 owners, quick shipping: (888) 533-3400 , (703) 490-8170 , fax: (703) 490-3864 , hmkparts@aol.com

2. Do not over-tighten the new one as you install it. Since the body of the sensor is plastic, it doesn't take much to break it. IIRC, the installation torque is only a few lb-ft, basically just snug.

 

Ditto all said above. Ray Crowe is your friend now, save his number in your phone. With most of the prices we can get on OEM parts, it is a no brainer to use OEM over cheaper aftermarket interpretations. Obviously on some things it does not matter, but in several cases go OEM...