Looks to be a great cheap DIY reroute. I am holding out for the Mtuned reroute that I saw Emilio showing off @ the Miatas@MRLS event last weekend - the machined parts look REALLY nice and the kit looks well thought out.

-Mike

 

Drill & tap the Protege neck?

 

I thought there was a place on the back of the head near the water neck to drill and tap... didn't TomBRG do that?

 

Srsly, though. If you've got the head on a workbench already and are willing to drill holes into it, then none of this is necessary. Just stick the thermostat directly into the back of the head, drill one hole on one side for the sensor, and another for the bypass.

 

Wait a sec...the CLT sensor is already in the back of the head, no?

 

Yeah, I don't think he's got one.

 

I think on the 1.6s they're in the front and the thermoswitch is in the back. Not totally sure, though.

 

A heads up to the 1.6L owners; I ended up using my OEM neck because it faced towards the coldside of the engine. The 1.6L one won't do the job in this case.

The diagram looked easy. That's not the case when it comes time to finally put it to work.

I'll upload pics tomorrow afternoon (we'll be finished by then).

BTW Rob: many thanks!

 

The thermoswitch is in the front, on the t-stat housing.

 

Yes, it is (on the 1.8's at least), but the outlet is pretty small, 0.75" I believe.

 

it screws in to the cap that has the heater core feed on it

 

^ Aha. I've been looking through some reroute threads, and everything is starting to make sense.

 

Yup.

On the 1.6, the thermoswitch is in the front outlet, the CLT sensor for the dash gauge is in the head, and the CLT sensor for the ECU is in the outlet that feeds the heater core.

The 1.8 eliminates the front thermoswitch, and the NB eliminates the dash gauge sensor and integrates it into the same housing as the ECU one.

 

Looks like my fan turn on failsafe for MS is going in the circular filing cabinet, then. :(

 

Im sorry guys not sure what model your talking about na or nb dont know much about the nb but on the na i just went to napa and bought a U shaped hose and ran the two lines that were going to the heater core in a loop. and sorry if you already knew that but I was thrown off when m2cupcar said buy that piece.

 

hey noob; you have to read some more. I got no clue about what you said.

FWIW, NA Miatas: from 90 to 97 NB Miatas: later models

 

An update. I took my car out of the shop last night. I drove it a little bit last night and this morning.

I would call this project a partial success. I've seen improvements in water temps (from a 235* max before to a 210" max now). I'll take some pics after I eat some lunch. I can honestly say that it's more complicated to put into operation than I originally thought and when I take into account the parts I had to buy (piping, hoses, clamps, etc.) and the labor; the final price is not worth it. I would presume that it may be worth a try for those of you serious DIYers but not for me.

A heads up to anyone who decides to follow this path: I suggest that once you fill the car with coolant and start it up, you'll have to be careful with air bubbles in the system. I had to remove the gauge's water temp sensor to do it.

At least I can now use my A/C. Thanks Rob.

 

You're missing one big benefit that you can't see on your gauges. You have equalized the cooling across the engine by sending the cooling in at the bottom front, through the block/head and out the back top. That is a huge improvement that your boosted engine (cylinder #4) will love you for. btw- that is a large temp drop IMO - I would have never expected that. At what temp are your fans coming on? stock?

 

Rafa,
Have you any pictures of the final configuration?

 

Hey Rob, you're absolutely right; I'm not knocking your suggestion. On the contrary, I appreciate your suggestion.

My coolant fan is coming on at 185* (the A/C one comes in with when I turn the A/C on).



I'm about to take some and I'll post them this afternoon. I have to go back to the shop. I'm dealing with very high EGT temps. I think my WB sensor took a crap. I'm going to change it asap. BTW shooter; since you know these things; do I have to calibrate the AEM O2 sensor in any way before install?