MX5Ireland

Illustration of it's purpose:




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General info:

Inspired by others enthusiasts' work, the spacer is simple, but effective design with two threaded holes - one for temperature sensor, one for heater core hose connection. The blanking plate has a threaded fan sensor hole for 1.6 NA engines, or just plain plate for 1.8 NA and NB. Material is 6082 T6 aluminium alloy with excellent corrosion resistance. Items have been professionally machined and any visual imperfections can be polished out. I personally checked all of them if they accommodate sensors and thermostat properly. More info on reroute available on http://coolant-reroute.com/

Few hints and tips:
- remove coil pack for easy access (don't forget to mark ignition leads)
- if buying a new thermostat, consider getting one which opens at 82°C (OEM is 85/87°C)
- install the thermostat with weep hole facing the top (upwards)
- reroute is not recommended for VVT engines (147 PS) unless using a non-VVT head gasket
- don't delete the heater core as it's wise to keep the coolant flowing, unless it's a track car
- if you run fans from custom ECU, you can order the cheaper version regardless of the engine

For details please see https://skidnation.com/product/mazda-mx ... route-kit/

Forum members have 10€ discount from the price listed on the web site.

You can pay via Paypal or via SEPA bank transfer. Delivery takes 4-5 working days.

To order please send me a PM.

IMPORTANT NOTICES:
Please learn everything you might need on doing a coolant reroute and fitting the kit. I'm in no way responsible for any issues you might experience during installation. You can google coolant reroute to find many many pages with relevant information.

Please feel free to ask if something isn't clear.
Samuel

Hi Samuel, big thanks for giving MX5Ireland that discount, it looks like a great kit.

Hi,
Will this fit an NB 1.8 block easily enough? very interested.

Hi, yes, it fits both 1.6 and 1.8 NA and NB. You can check various photos of installation on the internet - http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=reroute+spacer. The only issue I came across was with 1.8 NB engine mounted to 1.8 NA transmission, but 5 minutes with grinder solved the problem (taking off just a few millimeters from bottom of the spacer). It's a very robust design, so in very unlikely case you need more space you can just cut or grind off almost half of it's thickness.

Pm'd

Shipped today.

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Why coolant reroute? Is it needed for everyone?
Short answer does not exist, it depends on your driving style. MX-5s suffer from insufficient coolant flow through the back of the engine and NA models tend to overheat it a bit more than NB - in high RPMs or when forced induction is used. In NBFL (2001+) Mazda tried to fix this issue by changing the head gasket - restricting the flow to 1st cylinder in order to compensate for poor flow to the 4th cylinder. So clearly the issue is there, but it's not something you cannot live with.

If you're driving nicely and you're trying to preserve your car in (almost) stock condition, I'd say you should keep the stock cooling system design. If you are used to visit red line often, or go to the track days, or just drive above 4500 RPM for longer periods, I'd recommend a reroute to you. It's money much better spent than waste it on "premium" fuels.

I'm not a business - of course I make some money on it (as I spent a lot of my time on it), but I'm not trying to sell you as much as I can of something you don't really need. I just offer a possibility for performance upgrade as many of us MX-5 owners struggle with stock cooling system, especially with forced induction. I originally created the spacer for my own turbocharged NA as I could not get one in Europe (just US and Australia, but shipping costs are crazy). Now I offer the same for others.

Explanation from 949racing.com

Benefits of a coolant reroute for the B series Mazda Miata engine:
Lower and more stable coolant temps - factory ECU runs in standard temp map (not hot enriched) for more power
Fans will only turn on at idle, cycling on and off on the warm days - less alternator load means more power
Cooler CHT's raise detonation threshold so timing can be advanced - more power
Much faster warm up
On most mildly boosted engines a 55 mm radiator is no longer needed, a lighter 37 mm is plenty

The Miata's engine was designed for a front wheel drive car then turned 90* lengthwise in the Miata. To make it fit, Mazda's engineers moved the coolant outlet from the rear of the head where it belongs, to the front of the head. As a result of this backwards flow, only a small portion of the total coolant water flow goes around the 4th cylinder at the rear of the head so it runs hotter that the front of the engine. In addition, not all of the heat the engine generates is being fed to the radiator so a much larger radiator must be used even for mildly tuned engines. Even a bone stock first gen Miata will kick on its cooling fans in steady state hot weather highway cruising with the A/C. As soon as you hit the track or add power the OEM routing becomes a major problem no matter how big the radiator or how much venting/ducting you have. The reroute returns the coolant flow path to the correct configuration used before the Miata came along.

01-05 owners: the 01-05 OEM gasket works OK with the reroute but will work even better with the BP26-10-271 gasket from the 94-00 engine. So if you are rebuilding your 01-05 VVT engine, consider the 94-00 head gasket.

any pics of one installed?

Some photos from rerouting on my car:

Installing the spacer... As the brass plugs are not yet available I plugged the hole in thermostat housing with M16x1.5 sump plug and used some thick paper / cardboard as a gasket.



Installing blanking plate in the front of the engine (NA 1.6 with fan switch sensor)



And finally the piping is done (I cut a hose from NB and used it's bends to route the straight hoses).



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Another happy user from different forum: