NKYspdemon

I've been putting together my FD for what seems like forever. Thought I had it done, but there's an open coolant line and I can't find where it goes to. Its a metal line, runs across the front of the block and comes down right underneath the oil filler pedestal and just dumps into the drivers side of the engine bay. Ideas? Thanks ahead of time.

Signal 2

Sounds like your refering to the portion of the hard line for the throttle-body coolant line. There's a short section of rubber "jumper" hose that would run from that hard line to a nipple on the rear underside of the T-body. See pic below......

NKYspdemon

Is there any reason to block off the coolant flow to the turbos? I think i half fixed something and the line running to the TB is bypassing the metal pipe. When I got it, the nipple on the bottom left side of the water pump that runs coolant to the turbos was missing and a bolt was in its place. And there's a line running to the TB but its rubber and passes over the oil filler pedestal instead of under it. Could that be the problem?

Signal 2

I absolutely would reconnect the coolant lines to the turbos...immediately. The rubber lines are a bit of a PITA to install, but aren't expensive. IIRC ~ $30 for both. Find the previous owner and kick him right in the uh.....'shins' for doing that. It was stupid.



As for the throttle body coolant line....THAT can be deleted and many owners (myself included) have done it. MAZDA ran coolant from behind the t-stat for cars that operate in a cold climate. It warmed things up quickly, the car ran better and helped with emissions. Even if you intend to drive it during the winter, Kentucky doesn't qualify IMHO as a cold climate.



*IF you choose to keep it, I would buy the two hoses and do it right using the hard line.

*IF you choose to delete it I recommend blocking it off at both ends (behind the waterpump housing and at the rear iron)preferably with nice barbed plugs and quality clamps.

*A third option is to bypass the throttle body but keep the line as an excellent spot for an aftermarket coolant temp sensor. You get accurate readings immediately (without having to wait for the t-stat to open) and it's arguably the hottest coolant in the car...right after going past both combustion chambers (see above flow diagram). I looped mine directly from the back of the WP housing to the rear iron and put my sensor in the middle, just under the UIM. (see below)

thatpoorguy

Kind of a crappy design for the flow pattern. The rear rotor housing and endplate will always be hotter than the front. Is this why I see more seal issues in the rear rotor?

Signal 2

Yeah, but think of all the extra plumbing to run straight from the waterpump to the center plate, and likewise from the center plate straight back to the radiator after going thru the front iron and housing. And the design works pretty good on NA engines. It's just the Forced induction ones that tend to be prone to coolant seal failure every 100k or so.

As for seal failures, it might be for soft seals. When mine went it ended up being a rear seal too.

For hard seals I think it's because at high rpm and load the rear housing tends to run lean first... due to the design of the stock LIM.

That rear rotor and housing seems to get abused a little. Makes me wonder how they deal with it in 3 and 4 rotor engines.

Signal 2

accidental

thatpoorguy

I would deal with the extra hoses if it meant it cooling evenly through the engine :/ and I hadn't heard of the rear rotor running leaner first, what's the issue in the design and can it be corrected with a little porting of the lim?