TamSE3P

Long story short, been having occasional rough idle, only seems most noticeable with AC on or with lots of passengers, usual loss of power and MIAC sound as well. I have owned the vehicle since 25k miles. Changed oil every 3k, topped off fluids, drove it to red line, and AutoX it every month for at least 2 years now. Drives amazing around town and on the highway. She hasn't ever stalled at a light, she's not ever not wanted to crank and even got 19 mpg on a highway trip I took the previous weekend. Anyways, brought it to the dealership whom I trust very much. I used to work there as a tech so I know the guys very well. Even with my Racing Beat intake and HKS Hi-Power single outlet exhaust, they never hassled me about it. The master tech (a really great guy who would go out of his way to fix small things like missing plastic clips, and always jacking the car up because of my Bilsteins) told me that after driving it, he felt there wasn't an issue at all, and he couldn't duplicate any of the problems. He proceeded to check coils and plugs which they turned out fine because I've replaced them recently and moved on to the Zoom Cleaner stuff. He didn't do a compression test before, but all of my rotors are in the 5.5-5.7 numbers (just so the noobs know, 7 is the bare minimum tolerance while 8+ is best). He was absolutely astonished, and so was I. He told me that he's seen engines with just 7 and they ran like crap compared to mine. I was proud, but at the same time saddened. So I'm getting a remanned engine, which I'm just sketch about because I've heard bad things about them, but rather upset, because even after all the care I've taken of my RX-8, that in the end, it still blew-up. I have a SOHN adapter but with 67k on the odometer, I think I'll refrain for the sake of warranty, and just do pre-mixing in the gas tank. So yeah, she's going under the knife tomorrow. I hope you guys will give her a little prayer. Thanks for reading .

Just a quick update since it's been a few months. I've got a few pics of the process and the SSV and AUX valve cleanings. My master tech helped me out with a "homie hook-up". It's a good thing because the actually cleaning took longer than 2 hours because of how much build-up was present.

Here's the old clutch.



Here's the old engine and subframe dropped from the chassis.



Old engine about to be separated to it's bare core and reassembled on new engine.



Old core



The AUX valve completely filled with carbon



SSV Valve covered in oil. Not sure the cause since I assumed the 2008 had the revised intake. Never seen actual oil in the intake track either.



The SSV Valve's home



AUX Valves completely cleaned



Some more cleaning that was done as well



Remanned core completely reassembled



Engine back on subframe



My baby all put back together and about to be cranked for the first time



Here she is back out on the road

tylerdurden

I have an 06 with 35K (yep, that's right) with a compression test well under spec and Mazda is denying my warranty claim, so at least be thankful they're giving you the reman, I'm still fighting them. Could be worse. Mine drives basically fine too, other than a bit of a rough idle. I love the car otherwise, but I do hope the V8 swap route gets fine tuned in the next few years . . .

Mazdaspeed RX8 ver2

Good luck! I was denied a reman due to my rp supercat so i'm spending my own money to get a reman from mazmart which i do trust and i'm looking forward too. If you're experiencing some vibrations, double check those engine mounts or buy new ones. While you're engine is out, you'll save the labor cost of having them install engine mounts. Take advantage of it!

TamSE3P

You're right at that 8 year mark. Damn, you were so close. It still bugs me though. That Mazda built this engine with a serious bit of engineering but they still drop like flies. I don't know, I just keep telling myself that the person that owned my car before me just forgot to add a bit of oil, but I'd just troll myself and be like "you never pre-mixed, ***". edit: I must be rusty, but I thought it was 10 years? or was it 8... Why were you denied the claim?

TamSE3P

I asked the master tech if I should go ahead and replace motor mounts, and he said "you can if you want, but just so you know, they're not that difficult to replace even with the engine in the bay" so I will just hold off. I bought a new clutch (Exedy Racing Stage 1; heard there were shimming problems?), tires (BFGoodrich Comp2), SOHN adapter (which I'm not even going to install now) so I've kind of hit the ceiling on my finances. Good luck with your new engine btw.

Bladecutter

Mazda doesn't deny engine replacement claims without a good reason.
So, first question:

Do you not have any oil change receipts?
If you don't, you're not getting an engine swap.

Next up, was your car declared totalled at one point in time?
That's their second best reason.

Third reason, was your car ever a fleet, or rental car?
No warranty on those when the car gets sold to an end user.

Fourth, have you tried a different Mazda dealer?
Some dealers are just ******, and don't actually submit the claim to Mazda, while others are more willing to do the work.

BC.

tylerdurden

1) They never asked for receipts of any kind.
2) No, clean title and carfax.
3) No, two prior private owners.
4) Not yet. The dealer actually seems OK, they said they can probably produce some low power situation once the weather warms up but for now they can't get the car to act up. I called MNAO myself so it's not like the dealer just said they were going through the motions and then blew me off, I spoke with Mazda multiple times, and the only reason they gave me was that it has no driveability issues (hard starting, intermittent power loss, misfire, etc) and until it does, no dice. Apparently 50% compression on one rotor and 75% on the other isn't an "issue". I tried to escalate it past the CSR and he said nope, there's no one to appeal to. *****.

Anyway, I still have 18 months on the extended warranty, so I'm not too stressed about it. I'll just follow recommended maintenance to a T, not mod a thing, and drive the everloving **** out of it. There's no way the compression numbers I have will drive fine forever, just hope it acts up before next November . . .

tbearx8

iTrader: (1)

My Mazda reman engine has compression numbers in the mid to upper 8's after 10k miles so hopefully you get one like that.

WTBRotary!

iTrader: (6)

Ive been through so many Mazda Remans its unreal... Goodluck with your new engine... Mazda Reman's are so hit or miss... Like Pandora's box of parts...

Killawattz

This is one magical car if even when the engines die left and right, people still keep them, and keep buying new ones.

TamSE3P

I was in the same situation. Whenever the tech drove it, it would never act up. I basically could only get it to act up if I drove the car through stop-n-go traffic for a good 20 minutes, or go on a really long trip doing about 80 mph with the AC on. The only way think I can recommend is to get a compression test. Be aware that you may end up paying for it if it isn't below spec, but it does seem to me that you're having similar problems as I was. If they see compression is low though, they'll do that Zoom cleaner stuff, and do another compression test. If compression is still low, then they'll warranty out the engine. That is literally the only hard-proof they will take.

TamSE3P

Sounds great man. I have heard lots of good as well, but of course, this forum will encompass only a small percentage of the actual ownership of this car so it's possible real-world statistics of perfectly running remanned engines could be higher than the doom and gloom we have here.

Bladecutter

Go to a different dealer.
Your car fails the test, and will get covered.

BC.

tylerdurden

I did get one done, at my own expense, and it failed, one rotor was in the high fives/low sixes, the other the high threes/low fours. Seeing as how I spoke with Mazda themselves, I highly doubt going to another dealer will result in anything other than another hundred or so dollars out of my pocket. I have a feeling this is one of those things where the dealer knows what Mazda will approve and under what circumstances and they're kind of coaching me with a wink and a nod to come back when it's 85 degrees out so they can produce whatever power loss they need for Mazda to sign off on the claim. I mean, it's in their best interest to get the work, so the fact that they weren't able to get the claim through makes me think Mazda is getting really stingy with their warranty at this point.

tylerdurden

Still drives "fine", or fine enough I guess. Failing compression isn't enough, at least it isn't anymore. Trust me, I was very persistent, and they basically told me to get bent. Really makes me want to never buy another Mazda. Last car was a Miata, was looking at a new 6 next year for the wife, but now, I dunno. Horrible customer service. Let's say the car had 10 miles on it, just drove it off the lot, and yet it pulled those compression numbers; do you think they'd just call it fine until it stopped starting? I've defended the RX8 more than a little over the years, now I kinda feel like an idiot.

Bladecutter

Yes, but you're getting it at YOUR current dealer.
There have been lots of other reports from other forum members who's engines are in better shape number wise, in comparison to yours, who have gotten engine replacements.

The problem is YOUR dealer.
Go to another one.

BC.

tylerdurden

MNAO is the final decider. I went above the dealers head on this one and spoke directly to MNAO. If I don't get what I want this summer I'll look at other dealers though.

TamSE3P

Just updated original post.