Confused here with which one I need, maybe the community could shed some light upon me:

was driving along the freeway one day, felt a loss of power so i got off the gas then pressed on it again. the car then drove sluggish from 6k rpm on up. so i cruised back home (about 20 miles) parked it for a few days. after about 2 days pass i took it for a ride to see if the problem would repeat. it did not. ever since that day there has been no problem what so ever. drives normal, no loss of power, no sluggish feeling, and pick up is back to the norm.

Car has about 77k miles on it. 2004 6spd. oil changed frequently. fully synthetic.

my car is not under warranty so a new motor would suck a$$.

research ive done:

read up on the new engine club thread
searched and read threads under "Marbles in a can" (seems similar to my problem, except i didnt hear the sound)


mostly what i was interesting in is having the engine rebuilt by CRH and possibly ported by mazdatrix if possible??

please help asap.

if you are not experiencing any loss of power any more what makes you think you need a new motor?

due to that experience i feel something is wrong because obviously thats not normal. and im the type to solve something before it goes horribly wrong and could be dangerous to myself and/or others around.

if this is a sign of a future failing engine id like to get it fixed before it fails during driving.

It could have been one of 18 million things. For example the car was on the verge of overheating (was it hot outside?) and the PCM pulled timing. In that case the engine would be perfectly fine.


If you want to know about the health of your motor go to a dealership or rotary specific mechanic and have them do a compression test.

if this is a sign of a future failing engine id like to get it fixed before it fails during driving.

It's not necessarily a sign of anything.

And a failing rotary motor won't hurt anyone. It probably won't even strand you on the side of a road like a failed piston motor. Because the 2 rotors work basically independently of each other you could blow a seal on 1 rotor and limp the car along on only 1 rotor to get home, get it somewhere to fix it, etc.

so basically a compression test will let me know the status of my motor? thanks for the quick help, i really do appreciate it. and sorry for the noobness. basically that would be the first step in figuring out what is going on?? and yes it was very hot that day, 90+

sounds like it is no big deal if the car has returned to normal since then.

But yes to check the health of a rotary, or any other motor, a compression (and leakdown for a piston) test is where to start.

If you go to a dealership they should have an instrument that will give you 3 numbers for each rotor, 6 in total, and they should be able to give you a printout of what these numbers are. If you get it done bring them back here and post them up. Don't just let a dealership assclown tell you something like you need a new motor w/o verification.

thanks sir. i can get this from my local dealership right? $100 i believe i read on another thread.

It could be your ignition coils. Could be a bad Catalytic Converter. Could be a bad fuel pump. Could be a clogged air filter. Could be bad gas. Could be a bad plug wire. Could be bad spark plugs.
Oh and 90 + is not hot. Our overnight low a couple of days ago was 97 degrees.

Easy, what would you recommend? all feedback is welcome. should i change plugs and coils? would the compression test be able to tell me if those things would need to be replaced?

How many miles on the car?
BHR can rebuild your engine, but is it necessary? I think I would just have a compression test done. But the thing that it runs fine is questionable to the compression issue. A little service history would be good. Anything replaced?

Where are you at str8hustlin?

coils, fuel pump, cat in that order..

the compression test will answer the question.

btw, you now have a 8yr 100k mile warranty on the motor..

beers :beer:

would the compression test be able to tell me if those things would need to be replaced?

no..

compression test will tell if the motor is good or bad.


if you have flooded once or twice i would go with cat. covered under warranty..

if you have not changed the plugs in the last 20k miles i would do that first.

if you coils have not been changed that would be # two.

then the fuel pump.. it sounds a lot like that. do you premix?

mac. the new avatar cracks me up. thx.

beers :beer:

mac. the new avatar cracks me up. thx.

beers :beer:

lol, thanks. been looking for this one for a long time.

Swoope has a good scenario for you to follow and check

lol, thanks. been looking for this one for a long time.

I have this on the windshield.

How many miles on the car?
BHR can rebuild your engine, but is it necessary? I think I would just have a compression test done. But the thing that it runs fine is questionable to the compression issue. A little service history would be good. Anything replaced?

Where are you at str8hustlin?

car has around 78k miles.
never had anything replaced other than fluids and tires.

Swoope has a good scenario for you to follow and check



I have this on the windshield.

i guess i am to old to find good stuff like that.. :)

beers :beer:

car has around 78k miles.
never had anything replaced other than fluids and tires.

replace the plugs and coils (and again every 30,000 miles) your car (and motor) are fine.

compression test will tell if the motor is good or bad.


if you have flooded once or twice i would go with cat. covered under warranty..

if you have not changed the plugs in the last 20k miles i would do that first.

if you coils have not been changed that would be # two.

then the fuel pump.. it sounds a lot like that. do you premix?

mac. the new avatar cracks me up. thx.

beers :beer:

never flooded.
i have a rp supercat.
havent changed the plugs or coils since i had the car (about 40k miles)

replace the plugs and coils (and again every 30,000 miles) your car (and motor) are fine.

I concur. More than likely just and ignition issue.

if its the coils and plugs would any of you recommend just upgrading to the mazsport ignition solution??

if its the coils and plugs would any of you recommend just upgrading to the mazsport ignition solution??

If you have the money, absolutely. Mazsport puts out great products.

if its the coils and plugs would any of you recommend just upgrading to the mazsport ignition solution??

Wait a couple of weeks for the BHR ignition system. It's half the price and much better. I have it on my car now and it works great.

BHR Ignition System (http://www.rx8club.com/showthread.php?t=145128)

Wait a couple of weeks for the BHR ignition system. It is half the price and much better. I have it on my car now and it works great.

have you had the mazsport system on your car?

both products are good.. (coils)

so i am guessing you have not been premixing?

some issues with fouled fuel pump socks causing the fuel pump to temporarily over heat. thus shutting down the car. but will restart and run fine.

btw. letting fuel sit low for a month and a half might cause the same issue..

but start with the ignition and build up..

beers :beer:

both products are good.. (coils)



I'm not going to debate the merits of one or the other. This is hardly the place and I have had neither on my car so I wouldn't be qualified and unbiased to an acceptable degree to say.

I only question if he has had both on his car to speak on the quality of the Mazsport part, as it is generally speaking, very hard to beat the quality of the components that come out of Scott's shop.

have you had the mazsport system on your car?

I've had the BHR system on my car for the past month. I'm just going with what I've read about Mazsports system.
Agreed this is not the place to debate. Which I am not doing.

sounds like it is no big deal if the car has returned to normal since then.

But yes to check the health of a rotary, or any other motor, a compression (and leakdown for a piston) test is where to start.

If you go to a dealership they should have an instrument that will give you 3 numbers for each rotor, 6 in total, and they should be able to give you a printout of what these numbers are. If you get it done bring them back here and post them up. Don't just let a dealership assclown tell you something like you need a new motor w/o verification.

Be sure they also record the cranking RPMs the compression figures are pulled at. Data is useless without knowing how fast they were cranking it over when the numbers are pulled.

Be sure they also record the cranking RPMs the compression figures are pulled at. Data is useless without knowing how fast they were cranking it over when the numbers are pulled.

I've debated this fact with others before, and don't really feel like getting into the full depth of it again. I just want to toss in my $.02 on the matter.

I will say that I do think that piece of information is helpful, yes.

I, however, do not think it makes the data useless. We have been doing this same procedure before all the electronic aids for many a year.

I don't know what dealership technology is like for other makes but with piston motors I know it is still very commonly accepted just to give the raw numbers. ANd before you get into "but the rotary is different" in this case it is not. Both motors use sump oil to create a seal between the seal and the housing to build compression. Both motors will build higher compression as it spins up and creates a tighter seal between housing and seal.

Again, I think it's a good piece of information to have, but not absolutely necessary.


That being said if he goes to a dealership to get the test done their machine should provide this number and it should come with the compression results.

But I'm not sure if he is even getting the test done as I believe we have a consensus that he just needs new plugs and coils?

I've debated this fact with others before, and don't really feel like getting into the full depth of it again. I just want to toss in my $.02 on the matter.

I will say that I do think that piece of information is helpful, yes.

I, however, do not think it makes the data useless. We have been doing this same procedure before all the electronic aids for many a year.

I don't know what dealership technology is like for other makes but with piston motors I know it is still very commonly accepted just to give the raw numbers. ANd before you get into "but the rotary is different" in this case it is not. Both motors use sump oil to create a seal between the seal and the housing to build compression. Both motors will build higher compression as it spins up and creates a tighter seal between housing and seal.

Again, I think it's a good piece of information to have, but not absolutely necessary.


That being said if he goes to a dealership to get the test done their machine should provide this number and it should come with the compression results.

But I'm not sure if he is even getting the test done as I believe we have a consensus that he just needs new plugs and coils?

No debate needed, just a simple fact. If he wants to compare his results with the factory manual chart on whether the motor is or is not withi n acceptable outputs he will need the cranking speeds. If he wants to throw money at coils and plugs in a best guess scenario, or if he knows for a fact he is due to get these serviced anyway, then I guess you could say there is consensus.

No debate needed, just a simple fact. If he wants to compare his results with the factory manual chart on whether the motor is or is not withi n acceptable outputs he will need the cranking speeds.

ok.:lol:

have you had the mazsport system on your car?

BHR's system will work out of the box without you needing to set the dwell.
That, along with being cheaper makes me think BHR's system is the better option for the average joe.

(I've got one on order right now)


I'm surprised nobody has mentioned the possibility of a faulty butt dyno.