Water port on side of block?
 

I think I remember that the other port on the exhaust side of the block (other than the oil feed port) is a coolant port.

Can anyone confirm this? What thread is it?

Is it a good place to install an aftermarket coolant temp sensor? Why/why not?

I use that port in my coolant reroute to feed the heater.
I'll have to go through my receipts to find out what the thread size and pitch was for the fitting I used.

its just above the stock oil port, it's m12x1.25.

It's probably not the best place for a coolant temp sensor as it's going to represent to coolest water in the block, not the warmest.

M12 x 1.25.

Don't remember the size though.
Attachment 208072
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Why dont we use that port more often?

we are old school and don't have water-cooled turbos?

my old school 16g is water cooled, but I was planning on following the route shown in Braineack's FAQ thread unless this would provide better results due to cooler liquid

Dunno, any excuse to use more AN fittings and braided hose is a winner !

its probably a better feed port, since it's sourcing from water that hasn't gone through the motor first. However, the other way is easier :P

MSMs have a line in that feed port and have a return line going to the heater hose hardpipe, but aside from modifying that hardpipe, where can the return line go?

Any way to post that as an attachment? Can't see photobucket links at work. :(

return needs to go back into the mixing manifold and water pump inlet.

OK, so if you're getting coolant from the block and returning it to the water pump inlet, what do you do with the line coming off of the thermostat? Cap it?

tada

Attachment 208067
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Can't see photobucket pictures at work... I'll look later. :)

Yes
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Here ya go.
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Thanks Phil. I figured that's what you probably posted, but you also don't have a front thermostat, whereas I will. So if I go this route, which is looking more and more attractive, I'll just cap that line off.

Thanks, that one I could see. However, that's the traditional route I had originally, and I wanted to source the coolant from the block this time around.

Where do you think the best place would be? Top radiator hose? Back of head where stock gauge sensor goes?

No reroute?
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Not yet. Right now I'm more interested in getting the car running again without adding any new variables. I'm not even going to hook the W/I system back up yet. I'm more comfortable with the thought of making sure that it runs correctly and if there's a problem that it's easier to troubleshoot. Then I'll start adding things, especially the reroute. It hasn't proved to need it yet, and the car's been turbo'd in a few different environments, I don't think waiting for a little bit will hurt.

Got ya, although the reroute is sooooooo much easier with the head off.
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Yeah, this sounds like it could be a great time to do the coolant reroute (everybody's doin it, come on, you'll like it)
Move the thermostat to the back of the head with a JR spacer capped by a 1.6 thermostat housing, after the turbo the coolant could go to the heater "in", the heater "out" feeds into the JR spacer after the thermostat.
easy peezy ;)
Get rid of all those pesky little coolant lines for the oil cooler and throttle warmer (cause everybody has a oil cooler hang'n on the front of the car by now and the turbo will keep the throttle warm). Then you can knock off the silly thermostat contraption from the front of the motor and plug up the hole.

I skipped the turbo and went from block coolant port to heater "in".
The heater "out" is the stock miata heater hose that goes behind the head and feeds into the JR spacer (where the stock pickup used to be).

Yeah, I may jump on the bandwagon before the engine goes in, I'm still on the fence about adding it first. The ease of the installation is a good point. lol And I don't have an oil cooler, nor do I have any plans of adding one.

I'm still reading up about reroutes and trying to find the absolute necessity on a street car that sees full boost every once in a while, no plans of tracking it at the moment. Maybe I'll track it someday down the road when I have another daily. I do fully understand it makes a difference since Mazda didn't route the coolant very well to start with, don't get me wrong. But for a car that's been turbo'd for most of it's life in some pretty hot environments, it hasn't had any issues with cooling.

Im using that port for water as well.

What size fitting do you buy to use that port? I've not been able to find an M12 x 1.25 to AN adapter on Jeg's, Russell, etc.

Awesome! Thank you sir!