Best place to fit oil/water senders? impressions pros/cons

[RETed]

Originally Posted by TitaniumTT

For Temp, well I would get the same adapter on the front cover.... I always found it odd that people datalog the oil temp at the coldest location - after the oil coolers as it goes back into the engine - where the coolant temp is generally tapped is the hottest part, as it comes out of engine.... which is why I kinda want to probe both the front cover and the rear pedestal.... I'll probably end up welding a bung onto the front cover and tapping it that way if it doesn't interfere with the AC belts.

Or from the oil pan...


-Ted

[TitaniumTT]

Or that.... more accurate than the pedestal, but still not a true representation.

[speedjunkie]

Originally Posted by TitaniumTT

The stock ECU for purposes of fuel/ign calcs only uses the temp sensor that's on the back of the waterpump housing. The sendors on the rear iron are for just for the gauges.

Datalogging the oil pressure and temp is always a good idea, a better idea is to datalog fuel pressure, that's some good info to have.

As for where to mount the sensors, I wouldn't drill into the Mocal t-stat though, I would get something like this if you're looking for pressure






For Temp, well I would get the same adapter on the front cover.... I always found it odd that people datalog the oil temp at the coldest location - after the oil coolers as it goes back into the engine - where the coolant temp is generally tapped is the hottest part, as it comes out of engine.... which is why I kinda want to probe both the front cover and the rear pedestal.... I'll probably end up welding a bung onto the front cover and tapping it that way if it doesn't interfere with the AC belts.

Ok, as long as the oil pressure sender on the rear iron doesn't feed info to the ECU, I'll put the Spa sender there. Ok I'll get one of those fittings for the oil temp. As much as I'd like to just put the Spa water temp sender in the rear iron, I think I'll leave it where it is since it's hotter there. Or I guess it is anyway. Maybe not, since the stock sender is next to the spark plugs. Maybe I will move it after all. I like the idea of seeing what the shitty stock gauge SHOULD be reading lol.

Thanks Brian!

[C. Ludwig]

Anyone that wants to use the coolant or oil ports in the rear iron, they're tapped for 1/8" BSP. It's almost 1/8" NPT, which is what many temp senders are, but not quite. I've seen a lot of people "make them fit". But, when you do that, you'll destroy the threads on the sender and it will probably leak. We stock the 1/8" BSP to 1/8" NPT adapters. Easy peesy.

http://www.lms-efi.com/sunshop/index...t_detail&p=176

[TitaniumTT]

Chris is 100% right on that.

The other thing to note Eric, some temp senders are 3/8" NPT, and would require drilling and tapping that fitting IFF it's big enough..... you may be able to get an adapter or drilling/tapping the fitting to 1/4" NPT and getting an adapter from 1/4" Male to 3/8" female.

[RETed]

1/8"BSP - 28 (British Standard Pipe)
1/8"NPT - 27 (National Pipe Thread)

28 TPI versus 27 TPI
TPI = threads per inch


-Ted

[speedjunkie]

Thanks for the heads up guys! The Spa senders are 1/8, but I'm not sure if they're BSP or NPT. I'll have to look on their site. I have fit them into the rear iron, but I'm not sure if it's a perfect fit or not. I'll check and if I need to, I'll get those adapters from Chris.

[JL1RX7]

You can take one with you to NAPA or the like. They should have a thread "comb" to tell you thread count.

[C. Ludwig]

SPA may use BSP. The NPT fittings will thread into the BSP ports a couple turns and make you think it's a good match. Then you tighten it down and it all goes wrong.

[FerociousP]

Quick question to the more experienced guys. Most sites say 210f oil temp is about as high as you want to see on a rotary. This has always seemed low to me. Is it because of where the typical measurement location is (pedestal) which is after the coolers on its way IN to the engine that 210 is considered high? Because it assumes 230+ in the pan or as exits the engine directly after the pump?

I'm debating adding a oil temp gauge to my RX8 as it mostly sees track use, and am debating between a pedestal and the banjo bolt at the first oil cooler. If I put it in the banjo bolt, I'd imagine the scale of "danger" would shift to a higher temp.

[Prodigy]

for people with FD's, why not tap the bango boot coming of the front cover?

Just like people do for the rear bango but before the oil gets a chance to go through the cooler (s) would that be a inexpensive option that is still fairly accurate?


J.

[FerociousP]

Originally Posted by Prodigy

for people with FD's, why not tap the bango boot coming of the front cover?

Just like people do for the rear bango but before the oil gets a chance to go through the cooler (s) would that be a inexpensive option that is still fairly accurate?


J.

I would think so, unless people have already converted to AN lines as part of an oil cooler upgrade. It'd be nice to see a port located at the oil thermostat (if so equipped)

[RETed]

Originally Posted by FerociousP

Quick question to the more experienced guys. Most sites say 210f oil temp is about as high as you want to see on a rotary. This has always seemed low to me. Is it because of where the typical measurement location is (pedestal) which is after the coolers on its way IN to the engine that 210 is considered high? Because it assumes 230+ in the pan or as exits the engine directly after the pump?

I'm debating adding a oil temp gauge to my RX8 as it mostly sees track use, and am debating between a pedestal and the banjo bolt at the first oil cooler. If I put it in the banjo bolt, I'd imagine the scale of "danger" would shift to a higher temp.

http://fc3spro.com/TECH/MODS/EL/GAUGES/otemp.htm

I think the MazdaComp / MazdaSpeed and RB #'s still stand today...


-Ted

[speedjunkie]

Originally Posted by C. Ludwig

SPA may use BSP. The NPT fittings will thread into the BSP ports a couple turns and make you think it's a good match. Then you tighten it down and it all goes wrong.

So far they've threaded in alright. I'll have to look at them again. Now I'm just trying to decide if I want to move the water temp sensor into the stock port or keep it where it is. I figured the stock port might read higher temps since it's right next to the spark plugs (and I figured there was a reason Mazda put it right there), but looking at the coolant flow picture, it looks like the hottest temps are where I have it now, right behind the thermostat, and I like that.

Originally Posted by FerociousP

Quick question to the more experienced guys. Most sites say 210f oil temp is about as high as you want to see on a rotary. This has always seemed low to me. Is it because of where the typical measurement location is (pedestal) which is after the coolers on its way IN to the engine that 210 is considered high? Because it assumes 230+ in the pan or as exits the engine directly after the pump?

I'm debating adding a oil temp gauge to my RX8 as it mostly sees track use, and am debating between a pedestal and the banjo bolt at the first oil cooler. If I put it in the banjo bolt, I'd imagine the scale of "danger" would shift to a higher temp.

I don't remember what my temps are during the summer (the car has been down since last summer lol), but during the winter I've seen as low as 109F and I've had my sensor in the oil filter pedestal.

As for what you're asking, that's hard to determine if they don't tell you where the sensor is mounted. I'd say just decide if you'd rather know how hot it's getting at it's hottest point, or if you want to see if the oil coolers are working so you put it in the pedestal (although you'd still be able to tell if you mounted the sensor at the front of the engine and one day you notice your oil is hotter than normal). Either way, decide which one you want, pay attention to it for a while to see what's typical and under what conditions, and keep that in mind so you can spot a condition should it arise.

Originally Posted by Prodigy

for people with FD's, why not tap the bango boot coming of the front cover?

Just like people do for the rear bango but before the oil gets a chance to go through the cooler (s) would that be a inexpensive option that is still fairly accurate?


J.

I have AN lines and fittings already. But that's why I'm going to get the fitting Brian linked to. Otherwise I would think the banjo bolt is a good idea on a stock setup.

[C. Ludwig]

Originally Posted by Prodigy

for people with FD's, why not tap the bango boot coming of the front cover?


J.

I wouldn't want the sensor bulb plugging up the middle of the bolt where oil needs to flow.