mytwo

I came for a fresh look and hopefully be able to share mistakes on the few problems we have had with our 96 cars,and learn from those that have way more knowledge about the miata than I do.
I have found that what may apply for this year car may not apply for that year car even though they look alike or are similar

sixshooter

The stock radiator is marginal. With the A/C running my '96 overheated in a large hot parking lot in Florida in the summer. The air was stagnant and the asphalt surface temperature was quite high. After about 20 minutes of sitting idling it had heat soaked enough that it couldn't keep the temperature from rising. Both fans were working fine. I upgraded to the 53mm Mishimoto shortly after that and all is well. The Mishimoto has more than twice the core thickness of the stock one that came out. When I bought it I wanted one that could handle the needs of the later upgrades to forced induction and light track days while retaining A/C.

Track

Did you do any ducting to your radiator? If you did, then please share your handy work!

mytwo

We have had both of ours in the same condition esp this year with the heat and with new stock radiators on them neither one has overheated to any degree you can tell.
Maybe the area or something with or without humidity,would have been great if you had a new stock radiator that you could have put in the place of the old one just to see if it would have worked.
Here is somethingto watch out for is if you have any not ready monitors crop up then the new radiator you have may not let the car get to that last degree needed to set them,so keep that in mind
I really think you just used it as an excuse to the wife for the future mods your gonna do.
Will be waiting to see how you sell her on needing the turbo, that should be good LOL

sixshooter

Just stock ducting and undertray currently.

smustang1234

mytwo...Would you call 230* hot, or even go so far as to say overheating? If you ever see the stock gauge move past 12:00, it is over 230*. Me I don't like over 210*.

mytwo

Yes I would say that is hot and I do not like mine at 210 either ,but on both of ours I have checked them and the newer one I did it again today. When it is straight up 12 oclock the temp is at 204-206 a little past 12 and it is right at 208-210.
I think there are a lot of reasons why a different car may run hotter,Could be the difference in the gage ,the difference in the tool used to check the temp,the cooling system being over or under filled ,who knows.
You guys have been at this a lot longer than I have so have no intentions of doubting what any of you say . I have learned a lot on th emiata forums that was a lot of help when working on the first one
It is possible I am just fortunate that the two I have run cool ,do not have a clue as to why.
Just from reading other post over the years,I think a lot of info that was good for say a 90 1.6 is no longer good info for a 96 1.8
Kind of like the old days cars were made to run at a temp of 180-185, now the newer ones the closer to 200-212 they can get them the better they run
I understand if you are doing autocross which I know nothing about or if you are racing,or have a really heavy highway foot doing some cooling mods
It would sure be good before a person started doing some of the things that are suggested just do the basic stuff such as borrow a radiator ,check the cooling fans again make sure the right antifreeze to water ratio is correct
Track I apologise for hijacking your thread.

Track

It is not my thread! Its a community thread for sharing ideas. I don't think this discussion is really on topic, but there isn't much going on so I think we can let it go until others post their ducting solutions.

As for stock cooling, its a heavily discussed topic and is one google search away from putting an hour of reading into it.

sixshooter

The move up in operating temperature was related to tailpipe emissions and not what was best for mechanical operation, longevity, or power.

mytwo

would that not mean basically the same thing. Here is what I thought I as saying only I as taking the short route "Newer cars on the other hand commonly push the temperature much higher by intention, partly for fuel economy and partly for emissions control "