Well... a few weeks after the exxy 60K service (including new plugs and injectors cleaned), she's running very badly - obvious lack of power at about 4-5000rpm which is the engine speed I spend most time in during city traffic, of course.

I've been using BP or Shell premium unleaded (95 or 98 octane) all the time since I first had the car. Have switched to Mazda rotary oil since the TSB came out (dealer used synth before then). Haven't done any spirited driving for a while, but for it to clog up this soon after a service...?

I've booked it in for a checkup next week. Any suggestions welcome, so I can make sure they do the right things!

Ask me more if you need more info - and some of you can see for yourself at the weekend....

Will

Did they put the spark plug cord in properly ;)?

Well I've taken a quick look but they're not easy to find without pulling stuff of the engine...? (displaying my ignorance here - last car a did any real work on was a Morris Minor LOL)

OK I found the spark plug changing thread so at least I know where they are! A dirty job, methinks.

check your coils too. could be your trailing coils.. have you gotten any 301 or 302 CEL codes?

^^ No warning lights or anything... but that'll be on the list to check

you can check the spark plugs by taking off the driver side front wheel. from there you can access the front rotor's plugs, and if you jack up the car, you can reach the rear rotor's. Just pop the spark plug wires off, then push them on again till they snap into place. If any of the plugs didn't "snap" off, then it might not have been plugged in properly. search this site for DIY spark plug change, they have excellent pics.



even with really destroyed coils, I rarely got a CEL for misfire. So it's still possible your coils have issues without one.

smells like a cat problem.

Agreed.

Will, has it ever been flooded??

Ah right, I never had a bad cat, so it's not on my mind, I agree that it would be the most likely cause

My car wouldn't make power past about 4000 rpms - in fact, to get to freeway speeds I had to FEATHER the gas...Took about 1/4 mile? more? to get from an on-ramp, onto the freeway and up to 60mph.

If it were me I would take it back to the dealer straight away, not wait. I would turn up on their doorstep and get them to look at it there and then. I have no idea what it is but I prefer to err on the side of caution and get it looked at immediately.

Others have better more knowlegable advice than me but I am sure they would all agree better be safe than sorry.
Sorry to hear that your car is unwell though specially after your service, I'm sure it's nothing bad and should be covered under warranty???

Good luck getting it sorted.

^^ Id do what Julia said........

Thanks all, it's booked in next week (earliest they could do). So far the dealer's been good to me so I'm not that worried - just want my car fixed!

I'm certainly getting armed with suggestions of things to tell them to check... looks like plugs, coils and cat are the most important things so far.

An ECU reset by disconnecting the battery, then driving relatively gently and without the aircon on while it re-learns (dunno how long that would be?) is another interesting suggestion from the US threads.

I'll also get them to do a compression check I think.

No 'mez, it's never been flooded.

Maybe I can swap with one of you at this weekend's drive, see how it compares with yours. I realised the other day I've never driven another RX8...

Anyway, I'll keep y'all posted.

Will

Good luck with it Will and let us know what the diagnosis is.

u can drive mine if u want Will :)

For the record, my cat went bad w/o ever having been flooded. :)

dead cat, poor kitty..

beers :beer:

No 'mez, it's never been flooded.



I say it's likely a cat because it's not uncommon for a cat failure to bring on these symptoms without illuminating a CEL. That said, cat failures are rare here. Probably because flooding is rare here......for a combination of reasons. Flooding can cause an extremely high cat temperature when the car is eventually started. Some cats have been seen to glow red hot after a post-flood start......not good.

Coil or plug failures often throw a misfire code and a flashing CEL.

Pics of dead cat.....


http://www.rx8club.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=86660&stc=1
http://www.rx8club.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=86661&stc=1

And yes, floodless cat failure does occur..... :sad:

good kitty.

20 k miles.. 3" with premix, and syn oil....

beers :beer:

Thanks for the pretty pics, boys.

I'm gonna tell the dealer to visually inspect the inside of the cat, and show me a picture of it as well. I reported hearing a rattling in the exhaust when I put it in for the last service, but they said it was all OK.

I reckon there's some of those cat guts rattling around in there...

I had floodless cat failure.
Well it was floodless, but then when I took it into Mazda after noticing the problem (on route to Bris via Sydney), they flooded it trying to diagnose. Nice one.

That said, when my cat failed it wasn't a hesitation between 4-5, it was massive loss of power 5k and up. That doesn't sound like what you have. You should buy a Hymee, they are good for diagnosing broken cats :) I had my Hymee installed when the cat was still collapsed, and the exhaust note did not change at all, that's how bad it was...

Thanks Muzz.. I already have a Hymee :-)

have u had it looked at yet Will ??

Did you have a power loss on Sunday :lol:

Well - according to the dealer there's no problem with my car. They had it for the day, checked plugs, coils, cat and said that everything's fine - and that the power is normal!

I said that's not my experience when I drive my car - and it still isn't. Nothing's changed.

But if they can't diagnose what's wrong I imagine they probably couldn't fix it either. Oh, and I'm out of warranty now anyway. Think I'll take it to a rotary specialist - I don't think Mazda dealers are rotary specialists.

Watch this space.

Auzoom, Taka and myself are going to dyno our RX8 just to make sure we know what our baseline figure is like. Perhaps it is a good idea to join us Will - if there is still a spot available. It'll be this Saturday.

Pretty sure there is a sport or 2 avail. Only $35 Will. Come on...I want to see if the Konis made your car any faster :)

Come to worst you can have my spot. I am just there to have fun and BBQ, and I have done bugger all since last dyno.

Well thanks guys - count me in! I'll come along. I think it would be a good move.

http://www.rx8club.com/showthread.php?t=100158 Here is the link. See you around 11am

Cheers - I've emailed Silas too.

If there is much trouble, I am willing to let you have my spot.

Thanks - you're a pal!

Thanks - you're a pal!
Not a problem at all. I think you need to it much more than me and it will be interesting.

http://www.youtube.com/v/zVp4YCTmX9g

I don't see any problem :dunno: :evil_laug

OK... here's what I did today after the dyno yesterday showed (we thought) a slight lack of torque below 4000 revs (but it was all fine above that):

Cleaned the MAF sensor (there's a good description HERE (http://www.mazda6tech.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=62&Itemid=1))

Did a 3-part ECU reset:
1. Disonnect the battery, press brake pedal for 10+ secs, reconnect battery
2. Odometer reset - press tripmeter button in while turning on the ignition, keep it pressed until 'test' appears in the odometer display)
3. Brake pedal reset - turn on ignition, press brake pedal 20 times in under 8 secs, oil pressure gauge moves in confirmation

Then I started the car and let it idle for 10 minutes, turned the wheels full left then full right to reset the DSC, and drove to Healesville and back (great day for it!) without the aircon on.

It feels MUCH better, I reckon - the idle is clean again, and there's a much smoother and more progressive power delivery.

We'll see what it's like over the next few days!

Sounds like you may have a cracked / faulty ignition coil showing up with the loss of power bellow 4000rpm or incorrectly set faulty spark plugs (.my 5 cents worth )

Michael

Hmmmm, I would have liked to have seen that done in stages, to try and identify it a bit more.

FWIW, my money was on the Dirty MAF.

Update...

The symptoms hadn't fully gone away after last weekend's drive, so Simon at Promaz took a look today.

He found that one of the (new at 60K service) spark plugs was loose, and also that the leading plugs they'd put in were hotter than standard plugs (6 instead of 7). So he put in some 7s (and some new 9s trailing) and cleaned the throttle body too. I'll see it's like after a bit more driving; the initial impression is good but not yet great. He suggests one step at a time...

I'll look at the coils next - maybe it's easy to do them myself.

It was good to be driven in his (FI'ed) 8, too... :shocking:

EDIT: as it says elsewhere on here, the hotter plugs are a warranty fix by Mazda, apparently to try and reduce plug fouling.

That reminds me...Anyone looking for a turbo'd black RX-8 should contact Simon at ProMaz.

Will, I was reading a post yesterday about how easy it was to change the coils. I am also going to Mazda tomorrow to have my plugs looked at.

I think I was reading the same post - praps we should both change our coils before next weekend!

depending how much they are I might just ask Mazda to change them. I read that there are new coils around but not sure if they are better in any way.

Was also looking at the Denso (Colder) Iridium Racing plugs http://www.sparkplugs.com/results_app.asp?productTypeID=1&AAIA=1416844

The Victorian boys are getting serious... :Freak_ani

Andrew, will you have your coilovers in time?

So its easy Andrew? Ohhhhhhh I gotta come over tomorrow night.........pick up the stuffffffffffffffffffff :) My exam finishes at 6pm. Talk to you about it later........

Unfortunately I wont have them installed by Wakefield Dave. And Mazda decided that the fix to my problems wasn't plugs but an ECU Flash and to change my aftermarket leads back to factory. I took the flash but have booked on with ProMaz to have my plugs and leads changed.

Unfortunately I wont have them installed by Wakefield Dave.

You're welcome to take mine for a spin if you want to compare the two options.

Mazda decided that the fix to my problems wasn't plugs but an ECU Flash and to change my aftermarket leads back to factory. I took the flash but have booked on with ProMaz to have my plugs and leads changed.
:spank: :spank: :spank:
Nooooooo No problem here Mazda!!!

:spank: :spank: :spank:
Nooooooo No problem here Mazda!!!

ouch,

beers :beer:

I think you should print the pics and send them to Mazda.

i might go with greenpeace! :cwm27:

exxon valdease..

beers :beer:

I think you should print the pics and send them to Mazda.

I can think of a more forceful way of getting the message home to your service manager...it may involve some further brown deposits on your plugs though. :bottom:

i might go with greenpeace! :cwm27:

exxon valdease..

beers :beer:
:mdrmed:

I can think of a more forceful way of getting the message home to your service manager...it may involve some further brown deposits on your plugs though. :bottom:
To many people agreed with taka when he told me the plugs had gone so
I specifically asked for the plugs back so I could do exactly that.

My arrangement with the dealer (or so I believed) was that my plugs were gone. Full Stop end of story, no questions aske. What was in question was whether they were covered under warranty or not. I believed they were going to pull the plugs regardless, at worst at my cost, but at best under warranty.

I guess I wasnt clear enough :icon_no2: So I am headed back there as soon as I get back from Nationals to ... :bottom:

I wrote to Mazda Australia today outlining my continuing problems (and citing the US recalls which appear to be picking up problems in cars with very similar driving conditions to mine, i.e. lots of low-rpm driving in peak city traffic, lots of idling), so we'll see what happens next.
Will

Good luck , i e-mailed them as to if the recall applied to OZ cars , So far i am still waiting for a reply .........6 weeks . :bootyshak

Michael

Good luck , i e-mailed them as to if the recall applied to OZ cars , So far i am still waiting for a reply .........6 weeks . :bootyshak

Michael

Ahem, Michael,

I have this funny feeling...not sure what it is...just a vague notion really...a mere hint of an idea...that you may be on Mazda's 'Do Not Respond' list.

:mdrmed:

That reminds me...I took my plugs back to Mazda. Their response was, lets get it booked in for a warranty claim! I asked what the point was as I have already had them changed. I have to sa, I was a bit miffed and didnt really take in the response.