Sorry if this has been covered. I did some searching and only found a "OEM Only" but it was from quite a few years ago.. things change..

Anyways, I just bought an FD off of a member on here and I'm getting to work on it.. My first task is reducing ambient temperatures in the engine bay. I ordered titanium heat wrap for the down pipe, new radiator hoses, and cleaned up some clutter.. .What I'm concerned about is that I also purchased a lower temp Mishimoto thermostat. Has anyone used this on the FD? Any issues?

I normally wouldn't second guess this purchase for lowering temperatures but now that I'm reading more I have a few doubts so I wanted to get some opinions.

Thanks!

 

Really no need to run a lower temp thermostat. The stock 82 deg. C thermostat is just the right operating temp the car should run at.

All the thermostat does it help the engine get up to operating temp faster, that's it. A colder one won't make the car cool any better, in a nutshell.

Dale

 

Hmmm.. I was under the impression that the lower operating temp thermostat will open earlier and start pushing coolant into the engine sooner to help keep the temps lower.

 

Well technically yes, but then in the winter you are going to be running around at a lower operating temperature (the temperature at which the thermostat first opens). That means the ECU will continuously enrich the mixture because it never reaches the "real" operating temperature.

If you want it to cool better try upgrading the radiator.

 

I always think it's great when a new owner starts out with reliability in mind, particularly cooling. So kudos. But just to be clear, no thermostat will reduce "temperatures in the engine bay" to any sigificance. And I agree with the previous posts, stay with the stock t-stat.

 

Swapping out the stock radiator fan thermoswitch for the FC part per Dale's suggestion has helped our underhood temps, as did the replacement of the pre-cat converter with a wrapped S/S Bonez downpipe. But the underhood temps will still be high, and advise replacing the vacuum hoses with something better... big job, though.

 

T-stat open early will not stop the car from reaching the operating temperature, it will only delay it. So in the end you will be running at the same temperature, just sooner or later.

Like other suggested, just stick with the OEM T-stat, it works just fine.

 

Ok, thanks guys!

Just to clear something up, this is by no means a DD. This is my toy car for show and go. I am still reliability first as I need it to last until the 20b goes in. :-) It will never see Winter so I am not worried about that one. I am much more worried about the 100 deg Summer we're dealing with here...

I did buy some DEI titanium exhaust wrap. The previous owner replaced the downpipe but I do believe it's still catted (guessing pre-cat is gone.. I'll verify all that this weekend). That won't last long. I do plan on wrapping the downpipe this weekend, however.

I also heard the lower radiator hoses tend to be bad so I bought some Mishimoto hoses, also going on this weekend.

This might be the right place to ask this too, then... The previous owner had new intakes that I put on. There are a TON of recirculated air hoses that come off with the stock air box. I put a mini filter on the air pump but there is also one that goes back to the back of the UIM. I tried putting a mini filter on it too but it seemed to run hotter and it makes an.. odd.. noise when first accelerating. Any thoughts?

It's the mini blue filter that looks like it's resting on the strut bar:


I appreciate the help / advice. I am just delving into rotaries and I'm spending WAY too much time researching (at least I'm ahead on my work.. )..

 

Look in the FAQ, I have a thread on eliminating airpump "moo". It's basically a chair cap you put on that nipple where the blue filter is and drill a few holes in it as a muffler.

Dale

 

Beautiful! Thanks! It does sound like a cow getting an inema...

 

Found your thread but the link gives me this:

FML