WHERE is the thermostat?

[Allen]

Hey folks,

Can you help a fellow member out here, please? I can't find the thermostat for my radiator. My coolant over-boiled through my reservoir tank the other day and I am thinking that the thermostat needs to be swapped out. Nothing is leaking and I don't see the coolant flowing from the radiator tank.

I bought a thermostat from Auto Zone and the guy there told me that the thermostat should be located on the top tube from the radiator area. Told me to just follow it and it should be on the bottom-end of the pipe.

Well, I didn't find the thermostat and I broke a plastic pipe along the way.

Anyways, I will have to get that pipe replaced AND I have yet to find where the thermostat is located. Help a fellow member out, please. IF you have pics, that would be much appreciated.

I will post a few pics as to what I broke and removed and pics of the thermostat I bought from Auto Zone..... for now, I'm MAZDASPEEDless until I can get it fixed.

 

[Allen]

What I broke

This is what I broke as I thought from description I was given to be the location for the thermostat. Grrrrr, a lot of people said this would be easy... guess not for me.

 

[low_psi]

Follow the lower radiator hose up to the motor. Then unbolt the piece the hose mounts to. you can see the housing and hose in this pic: http://www.msprotege.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=89062

 

[speedcicle]

Follow the lower radiator hose toward the motor, at the end you will see the water neck (the part the hose goes over) you will see 2 bolts on either side of the water neck take the bolts out and you will find you thermostat inside the water neck. Remember to get a gasket for the thermostat as well.

 

[patmaz]

Hey folks,

Can you help a fellow member out here, please? I can't find the thermostat for my radiator. My coolant over-boiled through my reservoir tank the other day and I am thinking that the thermostat needs to be swapped out. Nothing is leaking and I don't see the coolant flowing from the radiator tank.

I bought a thermostat from Auto Zone and the guy there told me that the thermostat should be located on the top tube from the radiator area. Told me to just follow it and it should be on the bottom-end of the pipe.

Well, I didn't find the thermostat and I broke a plastic pipe along the way.

Anyways, I will have to get that pipe replaced AND I have yet to find where the thermostat is located. Help a fellow member out, please. IF you have pics, that would be much appreciated.


follow the upper rad hose,where it goes at the engine,the thermostat is there....
I will post a few pics as to what I broke and removed and pics of the thermostat I bought from Auto Zone..... for now, I'm MAZDASPEEDless until I can get it fixed.

you simply follow the upper radiator hose,and where it connects to the engine,you should find the casing around the thermostat...

 

[Allen]

Also took this part out.

I took another pipe (from bottom of the radiator) apart, but found no thermostat that I could replace.

 

[orlandomsp]

This is what I broke as I thought from description I was given to be the location for the thermostat. Grrrrr, a lot of people said this would be easy... guess not for me.

I think this(red circle) is what you're looking for.

Edit: well seems I took to long uploading pics.

 

[speedcicle]

I took another pipe (from bottom of the radiator) apart, but found no thermostat that I could replace.

Thats your intercooler pipe your radiator hoses are rubber not plastic and it looks like you broke the plastic end for ther recirculating valve. You can try and glue it otherwise you will have to get a new intercooler pipe.

 

[fLyPiNoY7]

Follow the lower radiator hose up to the motor. Then unbolt the piece the hose mounts to. you can see the housing and hose in this pic: http://www.msprotege.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=89062

hey, thats my engine bay!...lol...

anyway, youve been pulling the wrong pipes...youre pulling the smic piping...just as the pic shows, its the pipe thats to the immediate left of the turbo that routes to the bottom of the radiator...

 

[ChopstickHero]

Thats your intercooler pipe your radiator hoses are rubber not plastic and it looks like you broke the plastic end for ther recirculating valve. You can try and glue it otherwise you will have to get a new intercooler pipe.

i broke that piece too. i used some elmer's super glue to reattach it and it worked fine.

 

[Allen]

Thanks guys, I know what you are talking about now. I saw those two bolts earlier and really didn't want to remove anything else until I got confirmation here. Coolio, will work on it tomorrow.

 

[speedcicle]

Thanks guys, I know what you are talking about now. I saw those two bolts earlier and really didn't want to remove anything else until I got confirmation here. Coolio, will work on it tomorrow.

Dont break anything else hehe good luck.....

 

[Allen]

i broke that piece too. i used some elmer's super glue to reattach it and it worked fine.

Sweet! Will I just so happen have that super glue handy too.


Thanks for all the help here... !!!!!!!!!

 

[Dugg E Fresh]

If gluing doesn't fix it, you can try a 2-3 inch 1/2" pipe nipple from a hardware store. This is what I used along w/ 100% silicone and attached the BPV hose to that w/ the clamp.
The reason I had to is 'cuz when I bought the car, it was just a hole in the IC piping. (ughdance)

 

[Allen]

Dont break anything else hehe good luck.....

I hope that's all it will take to bring my car back... I just hit past 50K miles this past week.... so can't even depend on warranty to cover it. hee hee.

 

[Allen]

A few photos

Figured I would add a few photos between a good thermostat and a bad thermostat for future reference.

Placed both thermostat into a pot of boiling water, the coil from the old one shrunk but couldn't open up.

I ended up not using the Duralast thermostat from AutoZone (going to refund it), because it did not come with any gaskets. I bought one from Mazda dealership and it came with two two different gaskets. One you can see on the old thermostat and another that fits between the thermostat housing secured by the two bolts on the outside.