gablekevin

Ok so the other day i was driving a friend to the airport and my car started overheating so i pulled off the highway to check it out and it started smoking.Long story short it now needs a new engine and various other cooling system parts(hoses,reservoir,etc) the estimate given to me was $5400 to fix and i cant even begin to afford that as i am unemployed at the moment and can barely pay the payments of $400 a month. So i guess my question is what do i do now its a 2005 Mazda RX-8 with 86,000 miles on it i put a car computer in it with a 7" touchscreen and the paint and body except for a small area on the front bumper is in great condition. I still owe $4200 on it and i have no way to pay the repairs on it. So please guys you always have given me good advice before what are my realistic options? EDIT:forgot to add the engine was replaced just 2 years ago under warranty so before it broke it had less than 15,00 miles on it

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nycgps

go tell Mazda to fix it under warranty again. you should still be under the 8 yr 100K warranty.

As for the rest of cooling system, u can get all those stuff much cheaper than stealership charges from Mazmart

RX8Soldier

part the car out, or sell it for what you owe. Someone here may want it as a project car

gablekevin

Im all for selling it for what i owe if i can just pay the loan off im just worried about getting enough enough to pay off the loan.

also the dealership said they wouldnt cover it because it was negligence on my part but there was no prior warning to low coolant or overheating one second it was fine next second temp gauge is maxed out and im on the side of the road with a dead car.

RX8Soldier

^I'm not trying to be a dick, but that is why it it important that you research your vehicle. It is well known that the coolant temp light gives only low, normal and KA-BOOM readings...

Post an add on these forums for your car, describe the details of your vehicle and hope you get your money. Good luck, and make sure you do your homework BEFORE you purchase your next vehicle

LifeAfterRx8

Try another dealership, sounds like your dealership is just trying to make a quick buck off you. Just call up multiple dealerships and explain to them that your car will not run, there's a loss of compression.

gablekevin

apparently theres coolant everywhere just curious how i can get away with that when i tried just adding a ton of coolant and starting it again it just spewed coolant out of the reservoir.

And i was kinda aware of the coolant issues before hand that damn reservoir is so hard to read it doesnt make sense why it was designed that way it seemed like it had enough coolant.

gablekevin

well i made a for sale thread if anyone is interested http://www.rx8club.com/showthread.ph...39#post4287039

jamesf

+1 to trying another dealership. Was this the dealership making this call? Did they even make a call to Mazda's service line to ask about this?

They will try to come with excuses to why you cant be eligible for a replacement issue. You gotta push them. I've read on this site that you can actually call mazda yourself and explain the situation and sometime receive reference numbers to give the dealership showing that you contacted them.

Its worth a shot anyways.

gablekevin

you know what your probably right maybe i should push the situation.

tronicj

Mine is at the Dealer right now. My temp gauge moved up two lines. I pulled over and turned the car off, had it towed home. I pulled the spark plug and Antifreeze came out. I will definatly be pushing the issue if they tell me it's not covered.

RX8Soldier

Allow me to introduce some reason into this thread...

THE OP IS UNEMPLOYED!! Does anyone really think that after the engine spewed coolant all over the place that it's going to be a specific engine core ONLY issue? Start thinking people! The warranty is for ENGINE CORE ONLY! There will be other costs that you don't see right now. Not only that, but does everyone think that this car is cheap to maintain? Does no one put any money into their car for stuff like gas, insurance, monthly payments, etc etc etc?
OP, you did the right thing by creating a FS add.
/rant

monchie

Op, you should be covered until 2013. Just make sure you have the oil change receipts for the last 3 years or 12 receipts, good luck.

gablekevin

Does anyone have any tips on how i should come back at the dealership or mazda to help my case.
The more i think about it, it is kinda ridiculous that there isnt some sort of failsafe built in to prevent overheating issues or at least give the driver a better visual representation of overheating issues.
This dealership replaced my engine 2 years ago with little to no fuss it only took them 2 days from bringing it in to new engine and driving away.
I dont drive my car like a madman either in 2 years it has less than 15,00 miles on it.

RX8soldier does have a point though 2 engines done in less than 100k miles isnt a good sign but still i would rather get the money for a 2005 rx8 in running condition than one thats not running

Loki

Just verify that the engine actually failed, it's not a cracked hose outside the engine or something simple. Did they actually trace what failed?

Already the fact that they're saying you need new hoses, reservoir, etc doesn't make a lot of sense. 1 of those things can fail, but not all of them at the same time, wtf.

Find another dealer.

SamPappas

your mazda service department sounds as useless as mine. They won't replace my cracked clutch bracket until it falls apart completely. and they wanted to charge me 80 bucks to even look at it, even after i explained to them that i took my clutch off and looked already, and explained that it was covered under warranty.

scooter_dmi

Agreed.

Bladecutter

Here's what you ACTUALLY need to do in your situation:

Find out what part of the cooling system is actually failed, and fix it first.
If its the coolant reservoir, find one for sale on the forum, or on ebay, craigslist, or whatever, and replace it. If you really need to go ghetto to fix it, go to your local auto parts store, and ask them if they have a plastic coolant tank repair kit, and see if you can fix the seam that burst.

Once you find and replace the broken part, refill the cooling system with coolant, have the system pressure tested for internal leaks, and then start the car to see if it runs properly.

It sounds like you pulled the car over before the engine truly overheated. You might have lucked out. I hope you did.

But get under your car, find out which part really is damaged, and fix it.
Since you say you are unemployed, you have enough time to do all of this.

If you post up where you live, someone on the forum might be willing to lend you a hand to troubleshoot, or help you repair it. If you lived in Denver, I would be there in a minute.

BC.

nycgps

it sounds like a stuck thermostat and killed the engine to me.


well, all engine from Mazda comes with new water pump and flywheel, i would tell them that its the engine coolant seal gave up and leak internally, nothing to me in any way cuz these telfon/rubber/Teflon stock seal sucks.

yea, if u live in nyc area, gimme a pm, i bring my tools over

nycgps

this car is cheap to maintain, its just that people make it expensive by neglecting it all the time, then blame it on the car for their own stupidity.

i have no idea how the coolant got all over, unless the engine blew up, maybe the plastic tank lip broke op didn't know . maybe the Rad is clogged cuz op never change coolant? maybe thermostat is stuck cuz op never change coolant and never bother to check?

not saying is op fault but sometimes i understand why Mazda does not want to do warranty, too many irresponsible ppl out there.

one thing he did wrong is driving a sports car when u can barely make car payments and other stuff. you should have got a beater like a civic.

anyway, if u are in nyc area lemme know, i will see if i can help

gablekevin

i live in loma linda,california and thanks again everyone for all of your help. I dont want to sound like im whining but i think the main issue that everyone seems to be overlooking is that this engine is only 2 years old with less than 15,000 miles that i have put on it. And also the first thing i did when i pulled over was add lots of coolant and i replaced the coolant reservoir cap because apparently it did damage the lip from the heat popping it off of the reservoir.
When i bought this car i was working at a very good job and could easily afford the car but when your unemployed thats another story.

gablekevin

a quick update: i placed a call to mazda customer relations with glenn and they are going to get back to me with the results of an investigation into the matter thanks again for the advice guys.
If i get a new engine does anyone want an rx8

Grace_Excel

^ well, you've already placed an add in the FS! Anyway, Loma Linda is in High Desert and there are guys in the Riverside/San Bernardino area, check the Regional Forums.

Bladecutter

You didn't listen.

You should have fixed the leak first.
Now you're going to have it on record that you had part of the cooling system fail, which then killed your motor.

You just shot yourself in the foot.

Why didn't you listen?

BC.

SubliminalPollution

Yikes! I'd definitely try another dealership and approach it differently.

If there is tons of engine coolant sprayed in the engine bay maybe clean it up as best as possible and try again.

Good luck.