Coolant sensor

[Pritchett]

Hey...I did a search but I can't find the info I'm looking for..I could be way off on my search query tho.

My K8(93) has 2 collant sensors...my KLZE has only 1. Do I just hook up the one or do I need to drill and tap a hole for the second? Or if this is related can I hook up an electric fan switch..if thats what this sensor is for.

My motor is going in on the 13th/14th of this month so I kinda need all my duckies in a row.

Also I removed my intake manifold...will the original gaskets leak? then don't look damaged anywhere near the mating surface.

Thanks in advance

[Newfie_dan]

there are 2 on the old motor because 1 is for the dash and 1 for the ecm, on the klze it uses just the 1, the 2 wire coolant sensor is for the ecm, the single wire is for the dash gauge, so if you want the dash gauge to work you will need to drill and tap the hole for it.

[Pritchett]

Thanks for your wisdom dan

[Newfie_dan]

no problem anytime

[mazdags94]

The ZE should have both the temp sensor for the dash as well as the ecm. 92-93 MX-3's (V6) IIRC came with 2 coolant temp sensors for the ecm and one for the dash (3 total). The CTS's for the ecm have two wires each and the dash only has one.

94+ have one CTS (two-wire) and one temp sensor for the dash (one-wire). There's a whole write-up on this.

Are you sure you didn't have two, 2-pinned sensors and one single-pinned sensor on the old motor and then one less 2-pinned sensor on your new engine? I won't get into what it will cause as there is plenty of info through searching.

[hppwdn]

The ZE should have both the temp sensor for the dash as well as the ecm. 92-93 MX-3's (V6) IIRC came with 2 coolant temp sensors for the ecm and one for the dash (3 total). The CTS's for the ecm have two wires each and the dash only has one.

The newer ZEs coming over now only have one coolant sensor, a 2 wire one feeding the ecu. I just did a swap a couple weeks ago and we noticed it when we went to plug everything in that they no longer had the little spade connector for the dash.

To get around that you have two options
1) Tap the ZE neck for another sensor
2) Swap over the coolant neck from your old engine on to the ZE. If the motor is already in the car this one is rather time consuming.

[mazdags94]

I did not know this... thanks!

So that would make three variations:
- 2 two-pinned CTS's and a temp guage sensor
- 1 2-pinned CTS and a temp guage sensor
- 1 2-pinned CTS

Nice to know

[Pritchett]

No the engine is still out, was supposed to do the swap tomorrow but my mechanic had to go to another city. Kinda good cause now I can buy all the stuff I need like a new timing belt etc.

Since this is a 94+, do I need to swap anyother sensors?

[hppwdn]

If the motor is out of the car and you're gonna do the timing belt, swapping the water neck over is real easy. You just have to remove the timing belt pulleys and the black plate behind them to gain access to the water neck bolts. And when you swap over your current water neck you won't have to worry about the sensors because you'll continue to use the ones you had.

Now for the crank sensor, you'll see a funny thing they did on the newer ZEs. There is no crank sensor, just a little place holder. I guess they went to using only the cam sensor in the distributor for engine position on the newer ones. All you have to do to remedy that is swap over your stock crank sensor, it bolts right into place.

[Daninski]

Ok don't swap the neck that's too much work. Simply drill and tap a new hole in the ZE ccolant neck right where the old one was in your K8. Stuff a rag in the neck to stop any drillings from getting into the system. I used a shop vac while I drilled to suck out any metal. Get the proper tap and the whole job takes like 5 mins. Swapping the coolant neck is a hell of a lot bigger a job. But hey don't take my word I've only done like 3 engines this year. Cheers

[hppwdn]

Ok don't swap the neck that's too much work. Simply drill and tap a new hole in the ZE ccolant neck right where the old one was in your K8. Stuff a rag in the neck to stop any drillings from getting into the system. I used a shop vac while I drilled to suck out any metal. Get the proper tap and the whole job takes like 5 mins. Swapping the coolant neck is a hell of a lot bigger a job. But hey don't take my word I've only done like 3 engines this year. Cheers

Only 3 all year?? I've done three swaps in the past 8 weeks between my new motor and swaps I do for other people. Motor swaps are constant down here with all the guys boosting the crap out of stock motors to push the limits.

My only objection to tapping is I like to keep it oem when I can. Tapping is probably quicker, but with the motor out of the car swapping the water neck takes all of 20 minutes.

Just a matter of personal preference and ability. It may take some people a lot longer to swap the water neck than I do.