Thermostats

[peepsalot]

I have seen some members talking about changing out their thermostats for lower temperature ones. It sounded like a good idea to me(cooler engine = better running/longer lasting engine), until I read an article that claims engines run best at about 200 degrees.


Inside your car's engine, fuel is constantly burning. A lot of the heat from this combustion goes right out the exhaust system, but some of it soaks into the engine, heating it up. The engine runs best when its coolant is about 200 degrees Fahrenheit (93 degrees Celsius). At this temperature:

The combustion chamber is hot enough to completely vaporize the fuel, providing better combustion and reducing emissions.
The oil used to lubricate the engine has a lower viscosity (it is thinner), so the engine parts move more freely and the engine wastes less power moving its own components around.
Metal parts wear less.
So with that in mind, what would the advantages be to having a lower temp thermostat? Can anyone give counterpoints to the three points listed here?Who do I trust, the modders on the forums or howstuffworks.com? (shrug) Are the rules different for NA versus Turbo cars?

Oh yeah, and what is the stock thermostat in the MSP set to?

[JDM Sam]

get the jdm mazdaspeed thermostat and radiator cap.

[wicked]

I went ten degrees cooler cause if you checked out the temps in our car you would see that they are above 220 degrees.

the thermostat may open at a spicific temp but thats not the temp of your coolent majority of the time.

[FSDET]

get the jdm mazdaspeed thermostat and radiator cap.
where from ?? i know its astupid question... a search will take 5 seconds but im too lazy... i think ive seen it on coksports website

[LinuxRacr]

Try http://www.Corksport.com

That's where I got my Mazdaspeed JDM Thermostat. I also have the 1.3 BAR cap.

[FSDET]

the cap is greddy ?

[byohndspeed]

found the cap, but couldnt find the thermostat

[peepsalot]

I went ten degrees cooler cause if you checked out the temps in our car you would see that they are above 220 degrees.

the thermostat may open at a spicific temp but thats not the temp of your coolent majority of the time.
Thanks Wicked. That makes sense to me. You seem to be the only person that actually read my question.

I'm still curious what the stock MSP thermostat is set to, anyone know?
Ten degrees cooler than what?



found the cap, but couldnt find the thermostat
(mswerd)
I could not find it on the corksport site either.

[1FASTMSP]

yep, could not find the thermostat either...

[FSDET]

which cap r u guys gonna go with ? greddy is 22 mazdaspeed 32 ...

[1FASTMSP]

it probably doesn't matter which one you go with, they do the same thing...probably greddy because it is cheaper

[LinuxRacr]

the cap is greddy ?I accually have the Mazdaspeed (Pink/Calsonic style) cap. The cap you use will depend on whether you have an auto tranny, or a manual tranny. The Manual Transaxle cars have a denso style radiator with a denso style neck. Get the green/denso style Mazdaspeed cap for this application. The Auto Tranny cars use the Calsonic style neck for the cap. The caps are NOT interchangable, so find out which one you have! I ran into this problem when I installed my AWR Radiator. I had the Denso style cap, and the neck called for the Calsonic style cap.

[1FASTMSP]

anymore thoughts on where we can get the thermostat?

[LinuxRacr]

You will have to get it imported somehow. I got mine thru Corksport. Call them.

[FSDET]

I accually have the Mazdaspeed (Pink/Calsonic style) cap. The cap you use will depend on whether you have an auto tranny, or a manual tranny. The Manual Transaxle cars have a denso style radiator with a denso style neck. Get the green/denso style Mazdaspeed cap for this application. The Auto Tranny cars use the Calsonic style neck for the cap. The caps are NOT interchangable, so find out which one you have! I ran into this problem when I installed my AWR Radiator. I had the Denso style cap, and the neck called for the Calsonic style cap.
so i shouldnt waste my money now .. cuz im gonna get the AWR this year..

[Fëakhelek]

If you guys want to blow some $$$ that's fine, but you should know that if "the thermostat may open at a spicific temp but thats not the temp of your coolent majority of the time", then all that means is that your coolent is not hot enough to open the thermostat and that is a good thing. A cooler thermostat will do nothing beneficial. If the car gets too hot, the stock thermostat will already have opened. A cooler one will just open sooner and won't do anything about overheating.

[FSDET]

yeah it opens sooner and will start cooling sooner ...

[Yay-Boost]

I ordered the Greddy cap from corksport and it doesn't fit the MSP!! Sent it back and waited for the green Mazdaspeed cap to show up. The green Mazdaspeed one does fit and is working nicely.

[byohndspeed]

i was doing a search on colder thermostats and came across a honda forum talking about drilling a few holes in the thermostat to help lower engine temps..might not be a bad "cheap" solution to get the engine alittle cooler..then in the winter just pop a new thermostat in and your ready to go...so, anybody wanna try this?? i cant do anything till this weekend, have to work extra hours to make for another guy that is in the hospital..

[byohndspeed]

oh yeah, what does the cap do?

[Yay-Boost]

The different caps raise the pressure in the system which raises the boiling point of the coolant. This helps small hot spots inside the engine that cause localized areas of coolant to boil. The boiling coolant doesn't cool the areas down and then it causes more to boil ect.. ect.. Downside is if you have any small leaks it will make them worse.

[starflare21]

I ordered the Greddy cap from corksport and it doesn't fit the MSP!! Sent it back and waited for the green Mazdaspeed cap to show up. The green Mazdaspeed one does fit and is working nicely.
the greddy radiator cap will fit but greddy's catalog listing is all screwed up. it helps when you've got both the sizes there with you so you can test fit both but one does fit.

as for the lower degree thermo, should it would help but like all things you have to get the right one. TOO cold of course for some cars will have the car run like crap and won't function properly. a little cooler then stock setting should help depending on what you're doing with the car (driving/racing), and what's the climate variables around where you live.

[Yay-Boost]

After Corksport agreed that the Greddy they sent me wouldn't fit they said the correct size one had been on order for over a year. I took that to mean that it hasn't been made yet.

[FSDET]

the silver MSP looks tight..