Vyndictive

iTrader: (28)

See... this is what pisses me off.... I've never had the car over 100mph and I've gotten 2 speeding tickets and been pulled over 4 times in under a year...


Trademark: posting that makes me feel no pity if you ever total your car. Even great drivers can't control other stupid drivers on public roads or that random patch of black ice.

Unless there was a funday at a track I wasn't aware of.

Good pic though... what type of camera phone?

RK

iTrader: (1)

It takes absolutely no skill at all to hit 130. From someone who hit 120+ every 3 minutes for 240 miles it's the absolute most boring part of driving. Yawn. I managed to push my foot down on the ground. Next up I'll chew gum! Hell my last session out I was doing 120 while ******* with my headset because my instructor waited until cars were already on the track to get into my car.

And if you get caught doing 130 on the highway you might as well kiss your RX8 goodbye. Oh and taking a picture while you're doing it makes the job of the prosecutor pretty damn easy.

As for the sensors/gauges. Thinking I either pointed to the wrong threads or the wrong pics or something. John - don't confuse the intentional rigging of a gauge by mazda to take that the sensor is bad. The sensor is good. AP taps into the OEM sensor to get readings and you can just go back to my logs from Sebring to see how hot it got.

Jon are you saying that the upper rad hose is carrying from the rad to the engine? My understanding is the lower goes radiator to the engine and the upper is the return. That's why the OEM sensor is there and why it's the preferred placement. I have no idea why the RB sensor is where it is but the reason I didn't get it, even though it's a shitload easier to install, is because I'd read that the location wasn't the best for an accurate sensor.

Ideally I should have two water temp sensors. If I hadn't already committed my AP to be displaying wide-band AFR I could install the Megan adapter to the other rad hose and be able to see the temps before and after the rad. It would give me a good indication of when the radiator itself is losing its ability to cool.

Jon316G

iTrader: (1)

I was going to question this if you insisted on mounting your sensor near the OEM one.
Why bother when when you can just tap into the OEM sensor and use it's reading for your gauge.

Just look at where the hoses run from the firewall in your car.


I questioned that too. Why they have it mounted to the engine return/recirculate.

So you want to monitor the temp to/from the heat exchanger, not the engine?
I would rather know how well my engine is being cooled.
Both knowing both would be great.
But if your plan was to monitor temp to the heat exchanger, then that last pic you posted was right.

RK

iTrader: (1)

Ok. Finally found what I needed in the service manual. Here's the coolant flow:

I still don't completely undertand this flow. I'll have to look at my engine again with it. But to me it would seem that the sensor should most accurate either from the engine to the thermostat or from the engine to the heater. If I have my heater on, which I do on the track when I can survive it, I would definitely provide some cooling. I don't understand why you think it would be better to have it from the heater to the return. I don't really understand how the thermostat acts though since this flow seems to indicate it can either direct coolant back to the rad or direct it back to the water pump. If temp is involved in that path then wouldn't the hottest temp be coming out of the thermostat?

As for tapping into the OEM sensor I haven't read about anyone doing that and so I assume it's not a real viable option.

DeViLbOi

iTrader: (1)

Doesn't that seem a little backwards to you Jon? I always thought that the coolant came through the thermostat first.

Vyndictive

iTrader: (28)

I thought the hot coolant out of the engine is what opened the thermostat up... so having it before entering the engine wouldn't work as well...

But you guys all know that pictures with arrows, boxes, and numbers are nearly impossible for me to understand without seeing the system it is trying to represent.

Shinka_MJR

totally off topic from what you guys are discussing, but thought i'd share this with the local section... posted it in the media section of the site but it's too fun to not share here incase you guys don't catch that section often.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VteSX6KGzh4

insane

RK

iTrader: (1)

No. Not before it enters the engine. After it leaves the engine but before it gets to the thermostat.

There's really 3 things you're looking to monitor with water temp. The first is making sure you're not boiling your coolant. That what the OEM sensor, which I think is part of the thermostat but I'm still not 100% sure, does fine. The gauge is built to keep people from freaking out since the temps in the car routinely get around 210 and then jump right back down.

The other two things you would like to monitor, but can't, are the thermostat itself since if it goes bad it would definitely eff up the cooling flow, and the radiator.

Ideally with a sensor watching the flow from the engine to the thermostat, a sensor watching the flow out of the radiator, and a better gauge for the OEM sensor and you have all your bases covered. Then if you're overheating you'll know not only that you're overheating but why you're overheating.

But I only have one adapter and priority is to watch the hottest part of the flow to insure I'm not baking off anything. So I'll use mine as close to the thermostat as I can at least have some redundancy. The only question I have left is do I try to find a hose between the thermostat and the engine or be content with what most people seem to do and put it after the thermostat.

Jon316G

iTrader: (1)

I can't seem to find that in my HVAC manual.
What page is that on?

So... because other people aren't doing it makes it not a viable option?
I thought that would be a "viable" question to know.
But, its your car and you are free to follow others.

Thermostat is where the fluid leaves the engine.
This lets the engine warm up by recirculating the fluids until the temp reaches about 180 degrees.
Then the thermostat starts to open until fully open at 200 degrees.
The fluid then travels into the radiator.

Vyndictive

iTrader: (28)

Well... from case study in my own car with the RB gauges. The car settles in at 180... I've seen spikes up to 220 while sitting in traffic jams in the summer time, but drops quickly once the rpms increase and air starts moving again and the water pump does its thing.

I see what you're saying though. As close to the outlet of the engine as you can will give you the best indication to see if you're cooking something.

I re-read my post and I'm not sure what I was talking about actually... I don't know if "it" meant your adapter, or if "it" meant the thermostat. Oh well, doesn't matter now.

---------------------

That drag video makes me want to put a big semi truck style smoke stack coming out through the floor under my passenger seat and then out the sunroof. That would also solve my midpipe problem AND I could sell my catback to John for a reasonable price. I haven't thought of any draw backs yet.

DeViLbOi

iTrader: (1)

http://www.weathernet5.com/weather/3751560/detail.html

Everyone be very very careful today.

Jon316G

iTrader: (1)

I'm still trying to figure out if Ryan and I are somewhat talking about the same thing, just getting a little cross-communication.
Guess I'll have to start taking my car apart now to take some pics.

Vyndictive

iTrader: (28)

Dammit.... I had class canceled last week because of the snow... doubt that they'll cancel it again.

I know Doc lives in broadview hts. area.... Anyone know how Berea looks? I assume its bad because they mention they issued a snow ban.

I can handle snow... just not deep snow. As much as I might think it is, the front lip is not a snow plow.

-------------- Sunny skies and cold in Canton: high of 18. We had a "dusting" this morning.

DeViLbOi

iTrader: (1)

Broadview Hts is at 10.5" while the airport was at 5.6".

RK

iTrader: (1)

John. I download this:

http://pdftown.net/get/2003%20Mazda%20RX8.zip

And then there's a dropdown on the left side that let me choose something (I don't have it in front of me anymore) and then I chose cooling. I think the image I attached has the HTML page name on it.

Ok if there's no piping between the thermostat and the engine itself and it only releases coolant back to the resevoir/rad when it reaches a certain temp then I would have to put it past the thermostat. Which means if the thermostat malfunctions and is no longer reading correctly I would have no way of knowing - unless the sensor for the OEM gauge is part of the thermostat (?) and was still working.

And I'm very aware of my own limitations when tinkering with my car. Unless I have a ton of information on something I usually won't buy it (BHR coils might be my sole exception) and if I don't have any information on how to install it then I will let someone else do it for me. So if nobody has tapped their gauge into the OEM sensor then I'm not gonna go pioneering. I'll leave that to Steve.

Why? It's just a little snow. I had a nice drive in.

And Steve - Berea sucked earlier today but the snow has pretty much tapered off downtown (and probably there as well). As long as your class isn't until later you should be fine.

Jon316G

iTrader: (1)

Damn its cold out in the garage... need to grab gloves.
Ryan, you are welcome to come over if you want and see up-close and in person where everything is going.
Then, maybe we can make some sense of this.

Jon316G

iTrader: (1)

But there is "piping" between the engine and the thermostat.
Like I said, the engine warms up by recirculating its fluid through the pump, then thermostat, and then back to the engine (bypassing the radiator).
When the recirculating coolant reaches a certain temp, the thermostat allows the flow to travel to the radiator instead of back to the engine.

RK

iTrader: (1)

Ok. That makes a lot of sense. The diagram shows it a little differently in that it goes to the thermostat, water pump, engine, thermostat but I get what you're saying.

So while you're out there see if there's a 35mm hose coming out of the engine as a return path long enough to have an adapter inserted. Chop, chop!

I don't know if I'll make it down to Akron this weekend or not.

Shinka_MJR

i can handle snow... lots of snow... deep snow... love snow!

Heh, i didn't park my car because i was worried about wrecking or driving in bad conditions... i think i proved that when i was on here bragging about how well i'd done with those crappy protenzas, lol.

No, i parked it because i don't trust anyone else on the road who is not riding with me. Safest way to be on the road is assume everyone else not in the car with you, is a ******* idiot. Could be your wife, mom, best friend sitting in the lane next to you... they're an idiot.

Yes, it was nice waking up to nothing more than a few flakes... too bad everything that melted though turned the driveway and front walk into an ice rink. I'm fine with it but Heather is as graceful as a newborn deer... that has one broken leg... and blind.

Vyndictive

iTrader: (28)

I can handle snow also... but no matter how good you are... ground clearance is the issue, and then those ice ***** that form by the mud flaps and then fall off are like hitting small boulders with your front lip and bumper... I don't care how good of a driver you are, you can't change the cars ride height while driving.

RK

iTrader: (1)

Well you could change it before you started driving.

Snow Coilovers FTMFW!

Vyndictive

iTrader: (28)

After reading what I wrote and Ryan's addition... I guess I could get hydros, bounce in the summer and then jack it up in the winter to increase ground clearance in the winter AND jump the car over snow banks.

RK

iTrader: (1)

That would be so much cooler.

Don't forget you could make it dance to random music at meets. I've heard that's a great way to meet chicks.

DeViLbOi

iTrader: (1)

But he knows someone that went to univercity. (yes I know I spelled it wrong intentionally)

Vyndictive

iTrader: (28)

oh man, its univercity? I thought it was Universe City, dammit!! I've been looking like an idiot!!!

Eh, Carolyn isn't bad. She says mindless automotive chatter gets her mind away from her work... which I gathered is something to do with fabric and Kent State.