MitchWoody

I found a pretty cheap 04 black rx8 and it has 61,000 on the original engine. Is that too many miles on an original engine with the old flash. I recently crashed my 04 rx8 but it had the engine replaced in late 09 and from what I've read that's when they near perfected the renesis. I need some advice lol from someone who has an original engine in their 8.

tonik

compression test is your friend..

Karack

putting a fresh engine into the older versions still does not address many underlying issues with the engine and what bolts to it.

Loki

iTrader: (1)

Could be fine, could be completely finished, only way to know is compression test, and obviously make sure it has had all the flashes and TSBs.

monchie

As others already said...compression, compression, compression...should be good, if not, find another one, good luck.

EricB

iTrader: (7)

you got a reman S1 motor, not a S2 motor where they addressed the flaws.

supergoat

Depends on maintenance. i have 64k on my 04 now and it's perfect.

j9fd3s

these cars actually seem to be more reliable the less you touch them. mine has had tons of warranty work done, and most of it was done badly, ie they didn't align the power plant frame, so the engine was sitting on the body, stuff like that.

my friends car has almost literally been untouched, and its perfectly fine

that being said, have some extra money for coils/wires/plugs and maybe a start on an engine

simonmd

I have an '04 with 53k miles and shes fine. However, she has a full main dealer service history and apears to have been well looked after.

I think the key here is history, if the car has none, i'd be very sceptical and like has been said a few times already, a compression test is a must!

There are LOADS of early RX8's around with much higher milage so the engine can do it, just so long as it's been looked after.

TopGear8

iTrader: (3)

Sounds good to me.

Karack

+1, the more i try to fix the little random crap the more problems wind up popping up out of nowehere with my '04. i haven't even changed the oil in it yet but so far the track record with it it will eat a coolant seal the moment i do..(only had it 2 months)

i just tell it i'll do a REW swap into it everyday before i get in, indimidation factor.

8yourv8

iTrader: (3)

Mine has 67k on a automatic 04 on the original engine and runs great

New Yorker

Getting a compression check is wise, but no, it's not a bad idea. I dare say most second-hand 8's are bought with the "original engine"! In fact, if you were to ask most RX-8 owners if their car still had its "original engine," they wouldn't know what the hell you were talking about.

Always remember, this forum doesn't represent the real world. Like any car forum, it more represents, quite understandably, the complaint department. Few owners without problems will ever bother to find their way here.

zracer196

Great post New Yorker. Like you stated, most people post complaints.

I had a Mini Cooper S that was a great car. No issues. If you read those forums you'll run too. I know they can have problems, but I feel those cars also require a bit more looking after than the typical Toyota. That's all.

simonmd

Thats actually a REALLY good point. Even though some may chime in on a thread like this that actually they're not 'that' bad, overall, any internet search will quickly rank up a host of potential problems as thats why alot of people go online in the first place, to get help.

Just Google 'Toyota, Mercedes, BMW problems', etc. and i'm sure you'll find lots of stuff to put you off them as well.

Sure, the Rex IS more fragile than your average shopping runaround but with proper maintainance and an owner that understands it, they can easily go to 100k and beyond......










(most dont though...........)

Joe-the_tattoo_artist

I've got an '04 manual with 54k miles on it. No problems with the engine here.

Karack

i'd venture to say that many cars were diagnosed as needing engines that simply were flooded.

everyone does a short trip now and then, with the right scenario it is easy to flood even a perfectly fine engine and cause it to give symptoms of a blown engine with low compression.

supergoat

I would venture to say that's because the reliable ones don't need touched.

j9fd3s

i agree, in fact i'd go so far as to say that the best way to predict engine problems is to hang out on here

j9fd3s

the Rx8's seem to be like that, its like 3 steps back for a while, and then it'll sort of come together. like mine, the tire light was on, and i was thinking i'd have to go thru the stupid procedure to find the bad sensor, but when i got there the guy pointed to one of the wheels and sure enough it had a normal valve stem in it, i did find a broken TPMS sensor in the car, so easy diagnosis. i put a TPMS sensor in the wheel, and of course that would be the tire that doesn't hold air. so i went from the light being on, to the light being on....

although for a while i had an entropy theory for old rotary engines, its that you NEVER fix everything on an old engine, if you leave it leaking (or something) it'll continue to run, but try to seal up every leak, and it'll die a smokey death.

Hobbies

Compression test, not a must good idea like others have said. I just got done putting 500 miles on my new to me 04 gt. Im loving every minute I drive it. Check the carfax on it that will have everything lidted that was done to the car including tsb.

kennedy_RX8

I have an 04 with 100k miles and still runs fine. It's all about how it was taken care of.

8 Maniac

iTrader: (1)

I just want to say that you should ignore all the comments that says it's just a matter of how it was taken care of. Sure, that matters. That said, there was a recall for a reason. A 2004 will be more prone to engine failures and it happens to people who definitely took good care of their cars.

That's why the compression test is about the most important thing to look into. That will be about the best thing to tell you the health of the engine. It's impossible to know how exactly how the car was treated by the previous owners and even with that knowledge, the engine could still fail. If it has bad compression, then you know to avoid it.

nycgps

iTrader: (1)

these engines are hand build, sorry to say but that just mean you add another level of possible failure. especially in a mass produce kind of assembly line when they demand speed over quality(always)

and dont forget, everybody had their bad day every once in a while.


this is also the reason why some people can run the car without changing oil, and some has failure even when the owner changes it every 2k miles or less.

cool3865

i have an 04 and when i got it had 82k miles, now it has 91k miles and the engine is still running and purring like a kitten. still runs great, only thing i have to do is just change the spark plugs but its nothing big.