did oem thermostat change?
 

I ordered a new one from ray and this one is part number 8AF6-15-171-9U, inside is a 82C/180F stat made by "FDI" with a black outer seal and *NO* jiggle pin, although I thought stock was 87c/195f and had the jiggle pin?

changed the water pump / thermostat, reset idle (was wrong to begin with) and drove it on the highway, came to a stop and it still idled a touch high (1100-1200) for a few minutes (it's 10f here right now), prolly will work good in 32+f weather but I think 180 is a touch on the low side

IIRC, the OE thermostat always started to open at 180F.

Dave

The "jiggle pin" is now "hidden", but still there.

:-) neil

What I want to know, is if the factory (OE) rubber seal is really a problem.

This is taken from the Mazdatrix site:

http://www.mazdatrix.com/b9.htm

QUOTE:
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89-95
Note: We have had several problems lately with the
OEM 89-95 thermostats due to their rubber seal failing.
For this reason, we sell the Stant thermostat for this application."
=====

I replaced mine with a Mazda OE thermostat in 2005 due to a minor leak due to minor corrosion in the seal groove which caused a slow leak. The original seal was still good. The replacement seal and thermostat has been fine since.

IIRC, some antifreeze types (the green ethylene-glycol, which we are supposed to use, is OK) cause swelling and damage to rubber/plastic components. Maybe that is where the problems originate.