Mazda Rotary Club

i\'m trying to find a bit of info on putting together an air temperature read-out and was wondering if anyone has done something similar?
 
so far i\'ve found:
 
http://www.lascarelectronics.com/temperaturedatalogger.php?datalogger=90 - a digital thermometer that takes a thermocouple
 
and:
 
http://www.picotech.com/thermocouples.html - thermocouples!
 
not sure i want to pay £60 for an eighties digital screen. there are also a lot of air temp sensors on ebay from different cars that look like they have an NPT thread on them:
 
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/FIESTA-RS-TURBO-ESCORT-RS-TURBO-AIR-CHARGE-TEMP-SENSOR_W0QQitemZ320361874216QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM?hash=item320361874216&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1683%7C66%3A4%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318
 
how difficult would it be to pop one of those onto the intake and then run a wire to a suitable gauge? that\'s if i can manage to find a gauge with a low enough temperature range...
 
thanks,

What are you trying to achieve? i.e. where are the probes to be placed?
 
I have plumbed in a temperature gauge into the air intake elbox just before the throttle body, but i did this before i had the RIAT sensor just to see what the temps actually were rather than crappy stock temp sensor.
 
I have also got a probe and temperature sensor in the airbox so i can see what the fresh air intake temps are. Did this just to make sure i was getting 100% fresh air rather than engine bay air as i\'ve modified the box, which seems to be successful.
 
Depends what you want to use them for or if you want to connect them to something else rather than a small temp LCD screen which is what i have...
 
I have two of these just for monitoring basically and do the job just fine :D
 
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Digital-LCD-Thermometer-for-Refrigerator-Freezer-B195_W0QQitemZ230312149896QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Gadgets?hash=item230312149896&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1686%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318

i really just wanted to put one after the intercooler. do these have a good refresh rate, like once a second? also is the cable long enough to feed through into the cabin?
 
thanks!

Just out of curiousity why?  If you buy the RIAT Sensor to replace the standard one under the plenum then you wont need to as this is way more accurate and responsive i.e. instant, than the standard one....
 
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Mazda-RX7-\'Racing\'-Inlet-Air-Temperature-(RIAT)-Sensor_W0QQitemZ250401040652QQcmdZViewItemQQimsxZ20090404?IMSfp=TL090404125002r31184
 
Answer to your question, the first one i have installed was from Maplin and the refresh rate was once a second yes but they dont make them anymore, so got two more from ebay as the link, but these are once every 5 seconds from memory...  Couldn\'t find a quicker one for less than a fiver lol

i can\'t afford an Apexi ECU just yet so the RIAT would be kind of wasted i think? i just want something visual so i can keep an eye on intake temps while i change a few things before i save up for the ECU.

It dont really matter to be onest whether you have the apexi or not, although you can\'t see the temps the ECU still can and this is what matters.  The problem with the standard sensor is heatsoak, which never goes away and the fact it doesn\'t react quick enough to temperature changes.
 
Have a read of my post about 2/3rds of the way down on here after my experiments, as i did pretty much exactly what you\'re doing here:-
 
http://www.mazdarotaryclub.com/forums/showthread.php?t=49035&page=4

aah, cool. thanks for the help!

On the FC I just piggy backed off the stock temp sensor - but ours is before the throttle body and is less prone to heat soak compared to the FD one which I believe sits under the UIM.
 
You could use any temperature sensor for a car - most have a tapped npt thread (1/8 npt) and they are usually a NTC thermistor (Negative Temperature Coefficient) which means that the resistance goes down relative to increase in temperature.  If fed from the 5V reference output from the ECU with a suitable resistor in series, they will act like a voltage divider and provide a voltage output that can be fed to a gauge.  That bit\'s simple....
 
 
...the bad news is that thermistors are non linear.  To get any sense out of your display you need to do get a non linear reading analog gauge or right some code on a microchip to convert the signal to something more useful.
 
Or alternatively buy an aftermarket gauge for IAT.
 
There is a link to my display here:
 
http://www.mazdarotaryclub.com/forums/showthread.php?t=31188&highlight=temp+display&page=5

i was looking at these gauges:
 
http://www.cyberdynegauges.net/blueice.php
 
they do a nice intake charge temp but i can\'t find a uk dealer, annoyingly, and it\'d work out a bit pricey to import from the US i think.
 
i\'m a bit too dumb to start programming my own microchips! i\'ll just wait until i\'ve got enough pennies for a Power FC and the uprated sensor.

i like the little £3 gadget .. thats dead funky.. might have to get one :D