First of all, sorry. I always post in the S2ki forum and personally cant stand newbies and there 1000 time's answered questions.
To my defense, this forum is totally different from the setup i'm used too and i'm having a little hard time finding everything. i did use the search and been reading stuff for like the past 1 1/2 :)

I traded my 02 Honda S2000 today :( and bought a used 2005 RX8 12K miles on it :ylsuper:

I dont know jack shit about it. Never ever looked into rotary engines. So here are the newbie questions.

The oil. My god you guys defenitly talked about that enough. I decided to go with a semi synt 5-30W ( i'm in GA. it's hot all year round lol) Not sure what brand.

The spark plugs. No clue. OEM? And there are trailing and leading ones??? So when i buy aftermarket ones from my local advance store, are there going to be 2 different kinds i'm going to need? I'm a little lost.

And anything else you guys can tell a new guy about his ride. Like i said, S2K questions, i'm your man. Rx8 -- i'm a newbie :(

Here's my ride. Took off the badges and re-badged the front with the rx-8
Changed the turn signals and ordered clear side markers
Any other suggestions?

http://img267.imageshack.us/img267/9144/cimg0996og0.jpg

http://img373.imageshack.us/img373/4193/cimg0999af5.jpg

Thanks guys.

- Spark plugs: The leading and trailing plugs are different. The leading ones have grooves in them.

- Congrats on the 8!

Pics please. Welcome.

Check the oil every 1000 miles or so. Rotaries use more oil than piston engines. The stock Bridgestones are junk in anything cept dry weather. Use any oil other than Mobil-1. The gas mileage will be worse than your S2K. That's about it for now.

a lot of ppl here like royal purple oil but it is synthetic so read up on it. i dont use it, just letting you know what many other ppl use

congrats on the car!

Redline at least once a day. It clears out carbon buildup in the engine.

Personally I prefer doing that through all gears, but 1st or 2nd will work just fine. ;)

Oh right! MT or AT?

If MT, get a RP/AFE short shifter. It makes the car more fun to drive and only takes about 45 minutes to install if you are taking pictures of the process.

oh boy this is like hell in a cell. My brain is trying to compare apples to milk!! lol
the S2000 did burn a lot of oil by design, so i'm used to checking the oil, thanks. I just got done reading about the ecu and flash and all that stuff. again, clueless. the S had a non flashable ecu. when it ran crappy, i pulled the ecu fuse for 10 sec and all is well.
here i have several options. anyone care to explain, why and how you would reset the ecu? also, i noticed when the dealer drove the car for me, it "Beeps" at 8500 rpm. i read in the owners manual and its an "overrev" signal or something?

I can only continue to apologize for the newbie questions. but thats exactly what i am to the rx8. newbie. :(

don't worry about being a newbie, at least you are admitting to and still reading your owners manual.

it beeps at 8500, and redlines at 9k. after that there is a fuel cutoff.

I believe the ecu will be reset when you disconnect the battery, but someone else should answer for sure. I believe there is also a method of pumping the brake pedal 20 times to clear something else in the ecu.

if you disconnect your battery, you may need to recet traction control. to do this, turn the car on, both the dsc and tc lights will be on when you start, turn the wheel all the way to the right, then all the back to the left. restart your car,the lights should be off.

Welcome...you maybe new to the 8, but at least you'll know how to drive it coming from an S2k, being high rev and all.

I haven't have my 8 long enough for oil change, but I'm sticking with dino juice. It uses oil by design and the oil probably got burnt well before it has a chance to break down. It's like constant oil change ;) Most so-call synthetic other blend anyway.

Turn on your car (don't start), stomp the brake quickly for 20 times or so, the oil gauge will move and the ECU will rest. There are plenty of threads about it.

And the beep? It suppose to tell you it's time to shift, but I haven't had a fuel cut yet, even though i get over 9k a few times during heel-toe's. The power drops after 8500 anyway. I found the beep nice for racing/going fast, cuz I don't have to look at the tach all the time.

It's a manual. :D

Yeah, i was suprised to find another car that redlines at 9k. i love it. yes i've read a bunch of threads about reseting the ecu. although there are 2 ways. one is holding the trip reset button i believe and the other is the way you described.
I'm not entirely sure what the benefit or the reasoning behind the reset(s) is.
As for the oil, i'll be going castrol semi synth or synthetic blend, whatever they call it. I'm used to valvoline maxlife in the S.
thanks alot guys. Keep the tips and info coming.

You'd want to reset the ECU to erase any of the previous driving habits and fuel maps from the previous owner (ie if he drove it like a grandpa ... the throttle response will be more gentle). The ECU is adaptive ... so reseting will just bring you to "stock" ... and from there it will adapt to your driving habit. I'm sure that a number of members who track their cars can attest that the 8 feels more responsive after the track.

If you have the latest flashes, the fuel maps won't erase by simply doing the brake tap. You do have to disconnect the battery then do the brake tap to reset the NVRAM
To reset the KAM, hold the odometer reset button while key is in off position, turn key to on, continue to hold and you will see the readout say "TEST". Turn key to OFF again, and repeat again.

The only crappy thing about disconnecting the battery is that you have reset your radio pre-sets, etc. Oh make sure you copy down the mileage if you are anal about mileage of the 8 like the rest of us

As for oil, I check roughly after every 2nd fuel up and add as needed.

Congrats and welcome

The spark plugs. No clue. OEM? And there are trailing and leading ones??? So when i buy aftermarket ones from my local advance store, are there going to be 2 different kinds i'm going to need? I'm a little lost.

I don't think you'll find RX-8 plugs at Advance. sparkplugs.com has them for $19.95 apiece. That's right: 80 bucks for a set of four. They'll cost you about twice that at a dealer.

There are a number of posts here from people who use RX-7 plugs, which don't last as long but whose price is closer to the normal range for ordinary plugs. Searching should turn up those posts.

Ken

If you see yellowish goo in the dipstick, it's normal from condensation. There's a TSB for it. So if you don't like seeing that, go complain to your dealer. I'll be doing mine soon.

You've probably read already, if you're looking for power, basic intake/exhaust don't do much to this car. So if you want better look and sound, by all mean go for it, but if you're hoping for 10-15hp, you'll be disappointed.

I think that should cover the big ones.

Learn about the OMP (oil injection for apex and side seal lubrication) and fuel adds to clean out carbon (such as FP60 or FP3000) - these are key areas for rotary engine longevity and continuous smooth running.

Thanks for all the advice guys, i'll be glad to take it all in consideration.

One thing i noticed today on my first day driving is that my OIL PRESSURE GAUGE stays three clicks over half, all the time.
Even after reseting the ecu (holding the trip button) and rotating through the test cycle where it test's every gauge, the oil pressure one didnt' go all the way to the right, stayed about 3 clicks right of half. Anybody know if thats normal???

It's pretty much a dummy gauge. someone will chime in and answer more directly, or you could do a search.

Thanks for all the advice guys, i'll be glad to take it all in consideration.

One thing i noticed today on my first day driving is that my OIL PRESSURE GAUGE stays three clicks over half, all the time.
Even after reseting the ecu (holding the trip button) and rotating through the test cycle where it test's every gauge, the oil pressure one didnt' go all the way to the right, stayed about 3 clicks right of half. Anybody know if thats normal???
It is not a true pressure guage, just an indicator like a light.

good idea to read this

http://www.rx8club.com/showthread.php?t=35405

Congrats on your '8!

welcome and congrats!
...as far as oil consumption, you can install a Sohn OMP adaptor. It's an adaptor that goes in between the Oil Metering Pump (OMP) and the engine block, this will allow you to feed the OMP with premix (2 stroke oil or rotary premix) from a separate reservoir instead of using the oil inside the engine.

...as far as oil consumption, you can install a Sohn OMP adaptor. It's an adaptor that goes in between the Oil Metering Pump (OMP) and the engine block, this will allow you to feed the OMP with premix (2 stroke oil or rotary premix) from a separate reservoir instead of using the oil inside the engine.

How many of these are in use? I really like the idea but I guess I need a bit of reassurance. Sorry, I don't want to hijack the thread so maybe send me a pm

Didn't see this in the thread already sooo....

Remember the flood young Sky Walker the Flood!!!
Try not to move your 8 when its cold without letting it warm up. Example you need to move it out of the way for another car in your driveway. You start it up move it and shut it down. You're just asking for trouble.

If you have to move your 8 at least take it around the block. There are methods to start your 8 after you have flooded it but why bother if you can prevent it in the first place.

And I don't care what anyone else says this has happened to me!

Theres a Leading and Trailing plug because, when the rotor spins the leading plug will fire first(most of the time, besides idle), then the Trailing will fire. Thats how they got their name from. Stock Leading plug has diff designs than Trailing maybe because its stronger ? dunno.

If you don't like weak starts then replace the battery with one with more crankin' amps or a bigger starter or both.

Ok so, first weekend done, did oil change, filter and plugs. Realized that the dealer had about half qt too much oil in it!!!

I love this car. anybody have a solution for plugging up the holes in the trunk that are left once removing the emblems?

I searched, yes it appears its not a real oil pressure gauge. bummer, that would have been really cool. Thanks for the advice guys, if anybody has something else to chime in with, tips and tricks, i'm open for more.

:rock:

Pics please. Welcome.

Check the oil every 1000 miles or so. Rotaries use more oil than piston engines. The stock Bridgestones are junk in anything cept dry weather. Use any oil other than Mobil-1. The gas mileage will be worse than your S2K. That's about it for now.


Lol, I 've been using Mobil1 for 3 years. When does the bad stuff start happening? :Freak_ani

At the risk of offending my valued colleague, Nubo, and starting the inevitable battle, I would like to point out that Mazda recommends using 5W-20 dino oil only, not synthetic. We use Castrol GTX 5W-20 on ours. Since the car burns oil by design, and since any good dino oil easily lasts the length of time it'll stay in this car before it burns up, dino oil is fine with me.

For the record, I'm a fan of synthetics, using Mobil1 with my S2000 and Miata.

At the risk of offending my valued colleague, Nubo, and starting the inevitable battle, I would like to point out that Mazda recommends using 5W-20 dino oil only, not synthetic. We use Castrol GTX 5W-20 on ours. Since the car burns oil by design, and since any good dino oil easily lasts the length of time it'll stay in this car before it burns up, dino oil is fine with me.

For the record, I'm a fan of synthetics, using Mobil1 with my S2000 and Miata.

such a rotary conservative you are Spider... :D:

I would like to point out that Mazda recommends using 5W-20 dino oil only, not synthetic.

Mind to share where did you see that *recommended* part ? 5w-20 is true, but where is the *dino oil only* part ?

Im not trying to start another VS war, but I just want to see it

Good question. I've seen things like in the first post on this thread
http://www.rx8club.com/showthread.php?t=16430&page=1&pp=40
a bunch of times, which is enough to convince me that dino oil is the way to go with this car.

such a rotary conservative you are Spider... :D: But a TRUE conservative. ;)

pics added :)

I love this car. anybody have a solution for plugging up the holes in the trunk that are left once removing the emblems?



:rock:


my advice is take the rx-8 emblem off the front. seriously.


And to plug the holes I assume you are not going to go to a body shop and have them welded shut and painted over? That is the best way. Or there are little plastic plugs you can get from a Home Depot, Lowes, Menards type place.

do you have pics of your S?

The 5W-20 suggestion is on a DVD supplied with the vehicle. I just watched it a little while ago. It said use 5W-20 and don't use synthetic.

I would check out www.racingbeat.com.

They have some good writeups on the car and have been a top tier rotary shop for 30 years. They also sell an oil temp/pressure and water temp gauge kit that includes sensors and gauges that fit in your ashtray slot.

They also have some good articles on breaking in your rotary, basic maintenence and what certain performance upgrades will get you.

I'm a new owner myself, and I enjoyed racingbeat's link to the royal purple faq that shows synthetic oil is perfectly fine. Thank you. I don't recall anyone linking that faq in the 4000 pages I read in the synthetic/dino thread.