Does your 8 vibrate at idle?

yes it does, and the girls aren't complaining ;)

ROTFL!!!!

Just how is this question worthy of a poll??? It's been discussed several times in several different threads (ie, MANY TIMES) - the Renesis at idle does have some vibration, that can be readily felt through the shift lever etc. Normal, no big deal. Why again does this need to be a poll?

Regards,
Gordon

Originally posted by Gord96BRG
Just how is this question worthy of a poll??? It's been discussed several times in several different threads (ie, MANY TIMES) - the Renesis at idle does have some vibration, that can be readily felt through the shift lever etc. Normal, no big deal. Why again does this need to be a poll?

Regards,
Gordon

The vibration I'm talking about is not the normal vibration felt through the shift lever. My entire car vibrates. Not all the time, and only at idle. It's subtle (it almost feels like it's the base), but it's there. I get a slight vibration and then the rpm's go up just a tad. I posted this poll to see if this was normal or not.

red_rx8-my 8 vibrates also

Guys I havethis problem tooand the entire car vibrates and sometimes it does it so violently that the top of the hood often shakes. I took my car in to the dealership where a service tech tested it outand said the definitely should not be vibrating that hard. Theyve given me a rental until they fix it.

Please let everyone know what they find. I find it rather annoying - a car with an engine as smooth as the Renesis should give no indication that it is actually running (at idle). If Toyota can do it, Mazda should be able to as well. Mine almost feels like some body part is loose, and some resonant frequency is causing a vibration.

I was going to mention that it could be the airconditioner compressor turning on and off at idle, this will cause a slight vibration and is normal but it's probably not the problem you are having.

khoney yes I popped the hood and checkedto see if something was loose b/c thats what I also thought the problem was at firstbut I never found anything. I thought something was going on w/the transmission but I dont think abad transmission would cause the entirecar to shake like this for so long. Another example ofthe problem is I would stop at a stoplight and have my foot on the brakes andthe car would not stop vibrating until the light turned green and I took my foot off the brakes. I am disappointed aboutthis b/c the car doesnt even have 5000 miles on it yet. My Rx8 is auto btw but Im sure a lot ofyou have manual and have the sameproblem. They have onlyhad my car since Monday so I will call the service guy tomorrow afternoon to seeif they have figured out the causeof this problem.

Yes, but since this is my fourth Mazda rotary I didn't even notice it until someone in this forum pointed it out. It is very subtle and the engine smooths right out when the RPMs go up. My take is that it has pretty much been the same for 30+ years so I consider it normal.

Originally posted by JimW
I was going to mention that it could be the airconditioner compressor turning on and off at idle, this will cause a slight vibration and is normal but it's probably not the problem you are having.

That's was my first thought, because the vibration does come and go, but it happens with the HVAC completely off. I guess I find it annoying because it's so smooth when not vibrating that when it starts to vibrate I keep wishing it would be silky smooth all the time. Don't get me wrong, anyone, this is not a rant and I do love the car. I would just like to know where this vibration is coming from. And of course the best guesses will come from forum members, not the dealership :D

Also, the fact that 28% of us do NOT have an idle vibration tells me that whatever it is, is capable of being corrected.

Originally posted by khoney
- a car with an engine as smooth as the Renesis should give no indication that it is actually running (at idle). If Toyota can do it, Mazda should be able to as well.
Toyota doesn't make a rotary.

A different service guycalled me back just nowand said they havent been able to reproducethe problem. Iguess the first guyI talked to earlier was just bsingme.They said its only making subtle vibrations thatare normal the same way as allthe other Rx8s and they wantme to take the car back tomorrow morning and comein next week to demonstrate the problem with a shop foreman if it acts rough again. I ampissed off b/c before I evengave them the car they had one of the mechanics sitin the car w/me to feel the vibrations and he toldme it definitely needed to be checked out. Now someoneelse says the shop foreman sees no problems. Imnot comingback next week w/the car Im going to take it toanother dealer a few miles away instead. I cant believe I wastedall that time in a rentalcar just for them to tell me nothing is wrong.

Next time you notice it drive over and let the shop foreman sit in the car, see what his response is and take it from there. This might be a stupid question and I didn't research but was anyone having problems with the flywheel, maybe there is a intermittent balance problem.

Only on initial start up when it is moderately cool out (under 40*). Otherwise nothing noted.

is this a manual thing?

Originally posted by JeRKy 8 Owner
A different service guycalled me back just nowand said they havent been able to reproducethe problem. Iguess the first guyI talked to earlier was just bsingme...

Or maybe he was just being honest and got overruled by management when they didn't find an easy fix? Keep us updated.

I clicked "yes" before I read the above thread. I'd have to change it to a "no" now. I get the vibration in the shifter that everyone else does but the CAR itself doesn't shake that I can tell. I've not spent a lot of time thinking about it but I don't think I've ever felt any vibration in the wheel either or in any other internal parts; just the shifter at idle.

Probably a dumb question (following) but since all these observations are subjective for the most part, is there some "meter" out there that can track vibration more quantitatively? It's occurred to me to put a glass of water on the hood and look for ripples. If the car's vibrating as badly as the guy who got stuck with the rental for no reason, you should be able to see quite a bit going on atop the glass of water. Not quantitative but it would (could) demonstrate the difference between smooth idling and the vibration that is being reported by some on here.....

[QUOTE]Originally posted by FirstSpin
[B]I clicked "yes" before I read the above thread. I'd have to change it to a "no" now. I get the vibration in the shifter that everyone else does but the CAR itself doesn't shake that I can tell.

Reminiscent of old joke: Q: Do you smoke after sex? A: Don't know; I never looked.

Originally posted by jonalan
Toyota doesn't make a rotary.

Gee, thanks for the news flash. If you think the vibration is caused by the rotary engine, please enlighten us with your reasoning as to how it is causing a vibration. I would love to know why an engine that can rev smoothly to 9000 RPM is more likely to vibrate at idle.

Originally posted by khoney
Gee, thanks for the news flash. If you think the vibration is caused by the rotary engine, please enlighten us with your reasoning as to how it is causing a vibration. I would love to know why an engine that can rev smoothly to 9000 RPM is more likely to vibrate at idle.

When I took delivery in July I asked about the rough idle; dealer said it was because it's a short, unusually direct hookup, back of engine to transmission to shifter, so any vibration is felt more. They were obviously prepared for the question. (I was startled enough by the idle that I asked to sit in another car, which idled identically.) Of course, doesn't mean that the answer they were supplied with by Mazda is complete or factual. I just figured the faster a rotary turns the smoother it gets, so naturally it would be roughest at idle.

This is what I noticed from the RX8 I borrowed, sometimes the engine idles at 1000 rpm and there is no vibration but sometimes it drops down to 800 rpm and then it does this suttle vibration throughout the car. I am sensitive to these things and I really didn't give it much thought . . . it was very minor but I wanted to note it here for others to see in case they are concerned.

I would think it is normal as I couldn't imagine what could possibly be the problem except that this low rpm (800) was a little too low for the car to comfortable idle. I don't think I would want the dealer messing around for something like this plus enough people here have it to chauk it up to normal.

Originally posted by JeRKy 8 Owner
Guys I havethis problem tooand the entire car vibrates and sometimes it does it so violently that the top of the hood often shakes. I took my car in to the dealership where a service tech tested it outand said the definitely should not be vibrating that hard. Theyve given me a rental until they fix it.

It's been a while since you took it in. Any update on your 8 yet?

khoney I already got thecar back from the service. They didnt do a single thing to it except put 22 more miles on my car and left me w/less than a quarter of the tank left. Theyasked me to setup an appointment to show the shop foreman anexample of the problem next weekbut I am tired of their shitty service and BS. I amtaking it over to a better dealership sometime next week.

I knowit has been a while sinceI posted anything about this again --wow almost 3 weeks- butI finally took my car down to the other dealer today and they examined the car thoroughly. First they thought it was exhaust but then they say they have determinedthat one of the catalytic converters ishaving an internal problem so they have ordered a new cat for my Rx8. Its going to take a week for it tocome in but I am hoping that when it does and they replace mine with the new one that the problem will go away. So thoseof you that have the problem as bad as I do well get yourlocal service reps to have the mechanics check out the exhaust --especially the cats.

So it's been more than a week now, I'd expect you have your car back. Was the problem fixed by the replacement of the catalic converter or was it something else? Or did they change their minds and decide "Oh don't worry about it, it's normal"?

The newcat came in late last week w/o an oxygen sensor and now they are orderingone of those as well. Looks likeanother week

I'm looking forward to hearing the results. I've thrown a "CATALYTIC INEFFICIENCY " code four times in the last 1000 miles. Maybe the vibration is causing a cat problem or vice versa.

Originally posted by JimW
I was going to mention that it could be the airconditioner compressor turning on and off at idle, this will cause a slight vibration and is normal but it's probably not the problem you are having.

South Florida huh? Yea, i'd guess you'd still be using your airconditioner ;)

well mine doesn't vibrate that much, not enough to shake the roof...if i don't lay my hand on the shifter, it'd be hard to tell if the car was even on...

still, Canzoomer's Stage 1 is supposed to smooth out the rough idles...i figured it's something that has to do with Mazda's last minute ECU hack job

The new cat wasfinally installed on my car and so far I dont feel as roughof an idle vibration as I did before but it is still there and so the old cat was not the source of the problem. The mechanics and shop foreman thought that was where the vibration was coming from but now theyre stumped. On the bright side I have a brand new cat installed.

If your'e still out there, Jerky8Owner, did they ever find your idle vibration?

Bump.


Still having a SERIOUS vibration at idle. Also about a 3Hz squeaking sound from under the car. Car sounds like a POS when I pull it into the garage, and I am really getting tired of it. I think I'll try a different dealership, since the one I use seems unable to reproduce some of the problems I experience every day.

Jerky8Owner, any update on your idle vibration?