nielsen81

Hi all!

New as in new poster, but I've been following the forum for a couple of months. I know there are a lot of answered questions around here that are about the same as mine, but I don't really have the time (4 kids, 2 cats, 1 dog, an old house and a girlfriend that takes more of my time than all of those other things toghether!), and the knowledge/experience to go too deep into my car engine.

I got a good price on an US-imported (I live in Sweden) RX8 7-8 months ago. I knew the car was running bad but decided to give it a shot as the car was in good condition otherwise (stupid choice but it seemed good at the time). The previous owner told me he had exchanged the engine a couple of years back, but according to him the car was running perfect until he had the front resprayed. After the respray the car was was next to impossible to drive at all, and he said the mechanics who did the respray claim they have nothing to do with it.

Anyways, I took it to my mechanic, turns out the catalytic converter was jammed of old exhaust residues (whatever the respray had to do with that...) and I ordered a new one. After replacing it, the car was finally drivable, but nowhere close to what it's supposed to be like. I changed the spark plugs, the (front, I think) lambda sensor after an OBD-reading claiming it was broken. The car got better and better, but still not perfect. I'd say it feels like it has around 130-150hp instead of the ~238 it's supposed to have. On idle, the car was at 1500 rpm instead of 800, and when the engine got warm (like after driving for a while) it would usually die when stopping the car instead of idling at 800rpm. I still got a bad reading from the front lambda, so I thought it could be the MAF that was broken. Tried cleaning it without success so I bought a new one that arrived today.

It's just a little better, but it still runs like s-it. When revving up from idle, the car goes up-down-up-down-up-down and then finally up before I can drive. As long as I keep it above ~3000rpm it runs fine (but with lacking power). The idle however now stays at around 800 rpm instead of the previous 1500. I just don't know where to go from here...

Another thing that could be of interest, the previous owner had the air filter changed into a K&N which I've heard perhaps isn't the best choice for this car, but I don't have the original air filter box so I can't try to change it back. I've found some sensors of some kind within the engine compartment that I have no clue whatsoever what they're good for, but it looks as if they've been connected. I bought some tube and connected them, but the car runs even worse when connected. Pressing down the gas pedal fully at idle kills the car completely. See the attached pictures.

Please help me if you have any ideas . At the moment it's just standing unused in my garden (even though it's looking good).

200.mph

iTrader: (9)

those are vac lines from the vfad. follow them back to the intake and just cap it there. also how old are your coils, plugs, and wires? clean the maf, ess and do the brake stomp

Love_Hounds

Rotary specific compression test, make sure the engine itself is healthy enough to run, before putting money and time into fixing other things.

Loki

iTrader: (1)

That first one isn't VFAD, I'm not sure what vac line there is on the passenger side of the engine.
The MAIN thing once you get that sorted is ignition coils. If you don't know how old they are, change them.

200.mph

iTrader: (9)

good catch loki, i kinda breezed through the pics

9krpmrx8

iTrader: (46)

The first one is the baro sensor and it is really important. Doesn't look broke except the mounting point. The second and third are VFAD related. And it needs to be capped at the intake manifold or put back to stock. That car looks like a basket case.

nielsen81

Thanks
I'll order new ignition coils. These were the cheapest I could find shipping to Sweden, will they do?
http://www.ebay.com/itm/SET-4-NEW-Ig...9418fb&vxp=mtr

I'm sure there are better ones out there, but I just want the car up and running.
The mounting on picture 3 should be on the K&N filter, but somehow (don't ask me...) the previous owner didn't place it where it's supposed to be on the filter box, and the bracket is missing. Should I just plug these three sensors or should they be connected to something? I'm not sure I understand what you mean that I need to cap them? If I put my finger into the one on picture 3 it sucks a vacuum, however nothing happens with the one's on pic 1 & 2 if I do the same.

yurcivicsux

pressure test first, then go from there. as stated ^^ be careful with ebay colis too........

kevinande

I am hoping that driving around on a bad Catalytic converter did not cause serious damage to the engine itself. I would stop throwing parts at it and get the engine compression tested before I spent any more money on it. It would really suck to go out and spend money only to spend more money to find out you are losing compression.

Loki

iTrader: (1)

You definitely want to plug the one that sucks vacuum. #2 can be left alone if you don't have all the stock intake parts. #1 sounds like it should go like this:

dannobre

iTrader: (3)

The most common reason for CAT problems after a body shop visit is they likely flooded it really badly. A CAT full of fuel isn't a good thing...they get really hot burning it off...especially at a cold start when the airpump comes on and supplies a nice source of fresh air

As others have said..make sure the Vac port is plugged at the manifold....

Don't put a hose on the Baro sensor ( first picture) and conect it to a vac source. It is supposed to be open to the atmosphere..if you pull Vac on it you will really make your car run poorly

nielsen81

Just found that pic 1 just had a broken mount, so I think that one is okay (I'll just leave it there). Downloaded the instruction sheet for the K&N air filter, it looks as if the sensor on pic 3 is to be plugged into some vacuum tube somewhere? I can't find where it's supposed to go (and the picture is really low-res).

9krpmrx8

iTrader: (46)

Loki

iTrader: (1)

#3 is supposed to connect to #2, but don't worry about that, you just need #3 to not be a vacuum leak. It's not a sensor, it's an actuator for the Variable Fresh Air Duct which sits in front of the stock intake, but since you don't have the stock intake there is no point in actuating anything there. So just plug #3. That's probably why your idle was surging.

dannobre

iTrader: (3)

The solenoid is not important...just make sure the nipple on the intake (the other end of the vac line used to be hooked to) is plugged off