Actually, I soldered a wire to the body of the neck. Too crowded back there to have extra wires in the way.

On a topic again related to thread sealant for Npt sensors. I just put in the 1/8 Longacre water temp sensor which seems to go in all the way into the the housing and is very loose. I am wondering if this will just need to tighten up against the wall.

Update: grabbed some solid core mains wire, one wrap around sensor, one wrap around grounding point in the rear, now working as intended. Next time I flush coolant, ill remove sensor and sand down the seat. The body itself was already measuring 0.2Ohm against the head so its definitely the housing sensor seat that was not contacting correctly.

I just put the Qmax kit in my '97 1.8. I did it with the engine installed, non-turbo. I have to say that was the biggest PITA I've dealt with in a long time. I ended up replacing the top bolt of the new reroute thermostat housing/assembly with a cap bolt (M8 x 1.25 25mm) so an allen key could be used. That should be standard in the kit. I would have probably saved time if I had removed the stud for the lower nut and used a cap screw there as well.

The EGR pipe is a major pain. Disconnect it from the intake side. No access on the exhaust side. If you disconnect the intake side of the EGR you can then get just enough room to get the qmax housing over the lower stud and get the nut back on. Its then in the way of a socket, but I managed to flex it down with a tool while blindly putting a socket on and getting barely a turn. Had to force it around the housing to rebolt it to intake. I would think this would be pretty easy with engine out.

I read through this thread, but wasn't smart enough to figure out what PPF bolt meant until I was done. So I did not loosen those. Hint for other idiots- Power Plant Frame bolts. A little bit of extra clearance would certainly be nice by raising the trans. However, wouldn't that flex the exhaust pipe a lot? Looking at my rusty 21 year old flange coming off the header, it doesn't look like it would appreciate that. Its a nice kit otherwise. A total cooling upgrade is phase two of my turbo and track build. Im getting it ready for the track to test out suspension mods.

Edit: Finally filled it and started it up yesterday. No leaks! But the water temp gauge is not working. Sooooo, taking crap off again to get the sensor grounded :-(

Edit Again: Gauge problem was nothing to do with the QMax. I broke the wire off of the coolant sensor located under and drivers side of the qmax. The sensor screwed into the Qmax is for ECU only. Somewhere on here someone posted that sensor was for both the gauge and ECU. Not on a '97. And on a happy note, I took her to the track and it worked like a champ. No leaks, no temp issues. And FYI, I used a stock paper gasket for the thermostat housing. Just dont crank down to tight and warp housing.


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I'm considering this upgrade kit on my 2003LE and have been going over the install instructions from Supermiata and have gone through this thread but not entirely. Man, its a long one! Anyway, I'm a bit intimidated by what I've read and what I see under the hood of my car. I'll be doing this by myself so that means I won't be taking the hood off plus my right hand has a useless index finger as I got careless with a table saw and two operations alter ended up with a hypersensitive nerve damaged finger that can't bend at the tip :( I've learned to use my middle finger as a replacement but screwing on nuts, especially ones that are small and out of sight can be challenging. But the main thing that worries me is that it appears as though the ERG line is attached by a bracket to the coolant outlet and it may also be in the way of the Qmax housing or hose? Also, the instructions state to remove the original coolant outlet and disconnect the temperature sensor from it. Ok, what in the hell do I do with that sensor later in the install? The install instructions don't say where to reattach it to.

Anyway, if I decide to do this could ya'll give me some pointers that will save this 66 yr old shade tree mechanic some grief?

There's likely some pictures of the before and after of engines on stands or on hoists that would be instructive. Pictures are often the best way to tell much of a story.

That's what I would have thought also but every picture I've seen doesn't show the ERG tube. Most of the pictures show the driver's side of the Qmax but one did show the other side and it appears to show the temp sensor on the passenger side? Maybe I didn't google it right :)

EGR
Exhaust gas recirculation

Early cars didn't have it and most turbo cars delete it.

On most cars, the QMax fits with the EGR tube in place without a problem. However, not all EGR tubes are created equally and some cars have interference. Usually loosening (but not removing) both ends of the EGR tube allows shifting it enough to gain clearance. Occasionally the tube must be removed and tweaked slightly for it to fit.

The temp sensor screws back into the reroute - there are photos of this on the main product page: https://supermiata.com/images/produc..._Rear_View.jpg

Ah, ok, thanks that's very helpful!

I'm dyslexic :P

I dont know 2003's, but I do know you will want the car raised a good 2 feet. I have a lift, so it wasnt an issue for me. But on my '97 it took several hours to get that dang thing installed with engine in the car. I would be a cripple if I tried to do that at normal car level.


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Hi, does anyone here have experience using this reroute kit with the FlyinMiata stage 1 turbo kit? more specifically the FM kit uses a custom EGR pipe, what is the clearance like between the EGR pipe and the QMAX reroute? removing the EGR is not an option as this is a carb legal setup and I would like to keep it that way.

Need pics. How is the FM pipe different than stock?If its routed anywhere near the QMax thermostat housing it will be tight, since there is minimal space.

We have not tested our Qmax with the FM EGR pipe. If anyone does the install please let us know how many millimeters of clearance there is or isn't

I would direct that question to FM since they were a retailer of the reroute and they sell the egr pipe you have.

They'll likely have an answer but have replaced our Qmax with their own design so that might color things.

I have a question about coolant reading with the q max. Using the stock sensor and ms3 and an AEM sensor and gauge. Both mounted to the reroute. The AEM seems to read between 8 and 10 degrees cooler than the ms3, in tuner studio. System is bled well, I believe. Car has always run on the warm side and I'd like to know what to rely on.

Pretty common for megasquirt to read different than OEM or other brand sensors. Obviously, sensor location will play a role. Further, sensor scaling within the software.

The Qmax does not intrinsically distort sensor readings but because of the non-oem locations you're going to have some variances. Dealing with non-oem sensors and locations is part of designing any project car engine management system.

Emilio, thanks for the quick response. That's kinda what I figured. I'll just mentally add 10 degrees to the AEM gauge, to be on the safe side.