Greetings from a new member!

I am the proud (almost) new owner of a 1989 B200 Base Model 2WD. Literally found it in a barn in WY in 2017 at an estate auction when the original owner died and his son was liquidating the estate. The best news is that it only had 37,000 original miles on it and I drove it home to CO for $1500. Had to replace tires and other rubber parts since they were dry rotted, clean a lot of dust out of the cab - it was solely a ranch vehicle - and change the oil, filter and air filter. I have been driving it ever since and it now has 60,000 miles on it and is an amazing vehicle. No leaks, always starts no matter what the weather, and all I have done in repairs is to replace the clutch and brake master cylinders and a rear axle seal.

I decided to take a look behind the timing cover to look at the belt and it was showing signs of wear - the humidity in WY and CO is very low - and dry rot. So, I bought a kit to replace the belt and the water pump and the gasket and had at it after watching a great YouTube video on how to do it. Lots of bolts later, the job was done, the car started immediately and runs great. Here is my challenge; when I removed the radiator, there was a sensor on the bottom of the radiator that broke as I was trying to wiggle it loose. It is ID'ed as a temperature sensor in the Mazda parts diagram for this truck. Not to be confused with the block temp sensor which controls the temp gauge in the instrument panel, this apparently is an automatic fan switch sensor. I ordered one from Auto Zone and it was the wrong one; they ordered another; same thing. Part # on the box is correct, part is not.

Here's the question; do I really need an automatic fan control sensor since the radiator fan is driven directly by the one and only belt (alternator) I have on this engine?

Thank you for your patience in reading this long



question.

 

There are actually 3 temperature senders ! One near thermostat for the gauge, one on intake manifold, and the third one you are looking for.
I have a Weber carb on my B2200, and do not use such sender on my own radiator; I don't know if I have the intact sending unit around somewhere in a box or not. I don't think that it's a necessary part except maybe to decrease emissions before engine warm up. The sender on the intake manifold is also for emissions stuff. Once the factory carb "goes south", then replace with a Weber - keep factory carb as long as it works OK.

I do not have a part number for that sender either; you might want to call a Mazda dealer to even see if such sender is still available. There's more "traffic" on Mazdatrucking.com; I'm there too (as Cussboy) and maybe someone there has a part number for you.

 

Cussboy,

Great info; thank you so much for responding. I will look into Mazdatrucking.com.