Mattlord

Hi all new to the club, ownership and rotary engines. Loving my 2007 RX8 Nemisis but had a couple of questions I couldn't find the answer to on the forum and wondered if anyone could help, please feel free to ridicule if the questions are stupid but I just wanted to make sure there are no issues. The car has just had a full service, new plugs and new cat
1. Is it usual for the engine to take around 90 minutes to cool down ?
2. Is it usual to have a lot of heat underneath the drivers seat/footwell ? The metal parts under the driving seat get very hot to touch
3. Do rotary engines take a little longer to start than a piston engine ?
Thanks

Loki

iTrader: (1)

1. Hard to tell and depends on many factors. Cool to the touch? Cool on the temp gauge? Completely settled down to ambient temperature?

2. It can be warm, but not hot. If it's hot, check under the car if the catalytic converter is glowing red around the oxygen sensor after a hard run. If it is, stop driving, replace your ignition coils, examine the cat for damage. Only drive if you're sure the cat is not clogged and the ignition coils are fresh. Check also that the heat shield above the cat is still on the car. If it's not, that'll make things hot for sure.

3. A healthy one should start in 1-2 seconds regardless of temperature. A low compression one will take longer to start or not start at all when warm.

Usually we recommend to have a compression test done at Mazda before you buy the car, but if the deal is already done, you may still want to do this to know what you're working with.

In any case, the ignition coils last about 25k miles. Beyond that they're questionable and if failing, can take out the cat and the engine.