My work in progress.
10-11-2011, 07:40 PM
#1
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My work in progress.
About a week ago now, I found a nice car.
2004
Mazda
RX8
M/T
69,000 Miles
Little did I know that the dealership was pulling one over on me.
I'll admit it, I'm not the greatest when it comes to cars.
But, I'm learning as I go along.
My first mistake was being too awestruck by the car to realize that the check engine light was on (big mistake I know).
After realizing this I decided to get it checked by another Mazda dealership.
To my surprise there was a list of things that were wrong with my 3 day old car.
1. The battery was near dead.
2. The alternator was on its last limbs.
3. The rear brake pads needed to be replaced which brings us to...
4. The rear rotors need to be replaced.
5. Both lower control arms had torn bushings (I have a thread up about this for clarification).
6. Both strut bars needed to be replaced.
7. The serpentine belts needed to be replaced.
8. The valve that switches between hot and cold air was stuck and needed to be replaced(The reason for the check engine light being on in the first place).
I got my car back, heard the news, etc.
The next day my car dies in the middle of the road on my way to work.
Luckily triple A towed my car back to my place and I got a ride to work.
So afterwards i buy some parts and replace the alternator, battery, and both serpentine belts.
1,2,7 finished!
http://foxed.ca/foxed/index.php?page=rx7manual#rx8
That manual was a life saver, which I found on these forums thanks guys and girls!
Today I drove down to the dealership to raise some hell about the car they sold me just to find out that the guy I needed to talk to wouldn't even be in there until Friday.
2004
Mazda
RX8
M/T
69,000 Miles
Little did I know that the dealership was pulling one over on me.
I'll admit it, I'm not the greatest when it comes to cars.
But, I'm learning as I go along.
My first mistake was being too awestruck by the car to realize that the check engine light was on (big mistake I know).
After realizing this I decided to get it checked by another Mazda dealership.
To my surprise there was a list of things that were wrong with my 3 day old car.
1. The battery was near dead.
2. The alternator was on its last limbs.
3. The rear brake pads needed to be replaced which brings us to...
4. The rear rotors need to be replaced.
5. Both lower control arms had torn bushings (I have a thread up about this for clarification).
6. Both strut bars needed to be replaced.
7. The serpentine belts needed to be replaced.
8. The valve that switches between hot and cold air was stuck and needed to be replaced(The reason for the check engine light being on in the first place).
I got my car back, heard the news, etc.
The next day my car dies in the middle of the road on my way to work.
Luckily triple A towed my car back to my place and I got a ride to work.
So afterwards i buy some parts and replace the alternator, battery, and both serpentine belts.
1,2,7 finished!
http://foxed.ca/foxed/index.php?page=rx7manual#rx8
That manual was a life saver, which I found on these forums thanks guys and girls!
Today I drove down to the dealership to raise some hell about the car they sold me just to find out that the guy I needed to talk to wouldn't even be in there until Friday.
So for now I'm waiting to see if I can get them to fix some of this stuff and reimburse(spelling?) me for the expenses I've already paid for.
In the meantime there's a couple other things I'm planning on doing.
A. The climate control in my car doesn't work.
B. The air filter housing is all torn up.
C. The air filter itself is as black as night.
D. My idle is unstable and has killed my engine twice while waiting at a light.
E. And I want to hook up my old sub-woofer system from my old car.
E:
From CarToys I purchased their fit kit for the 04-08 rx8's.
I'll be running 2x 12" JBLs in the custom box from zenclosures.
1800 Watt Kenwood amp (Don't laugh at my Kenwood!)
With 4 gauge wires and a capacitor of course (Learned my lesson after going through 4 batteries and 2 alternators in my previous cars).
The deck itself I don't even remember which model it was...it's another Kenwood.
A:
Now luckily since I'm 90% sure that the problem is some bad connections in the chip itself, the fit kit I purchased bypasses the chip and has it's own device
B/C:
Purchased a new K&N filter housing /w the filter.
D:
I'm trying everything that I can think of to fix this problem.
Again thanks to this website and the members here I have some things to try.
I tried redlining my 8 in first gear since I was in the city and all.
And it seems that from what I've read here is that my coils are bad.
So I ordered a set of OEM coils, 4 Denso spark plugs (2 Leaders 2 Trailers), and a set of Magnecor wires.
After all my parts get here and they are all installed I'll give an update about how my idle is working out now.
(Yes I realize that many people agree that K&N is the cause of this problem, but it came with the car so I'm seeing if i can make it work)
If anybody has any advice, or has some questions that maybe I can help with (remember I'm not the best with cars though!), let me know.
Any help would be appreciated.
In the meantime there's a couple other things I'm planning on doing.
A. The climate control in my car doesn't work.
B. The air filter housing is all torn up.
C. The air filter itself is as black as night.
D. My idle is unstable and has killed my engine twice while waiting at a light.
E. And I want to hook up my old sub-woofer system from my old car.
E:
From CarToys I purchased their fit kit for the 04-08 rx8's.
I'll be running 2x 12" JBLs in the custom box from zenclosures.
1800 Watt Kenwood amp (Don't laugh at my Kenwood!)
With 4 gauge wires and a capacitor of course (Learned my lesson after going through 4 batteries and 2 alternators in my previous cars).
The deck itself I don't even remember which model it was...it's another Kenwood.
A:
Now luckily since I'm 90% sure that the problem is some bad connections in the chip itself, the fit kit I purchased bypasses the chip and has it's own device
B/C:
Purchased a new K&N filter housing /w the filter.
D:
I'm trying everything that I can think of to fix this problem.
Again thanks to this website and the members here I have some things to try.
I tried redlining my 8 in first gear since I was in the city and all.
And it seems that from what I've read here is that my coils are bad.
So I ordered a set of OEM coils, 4 Denso spark plugs (2 Leaders 2 Trailers), and a set of Magnecor wires.
After all my parts get here and they are all installed I'll give an update about how my idle is working out now.
(Yes I realize that many people agree that K&N is the cause of this problem, but it came with the car so I'm seeing if i can make it work)
If anybody has any advice, or has some questions that maybe I can help with (remember I'm not the best with cars though!), let me know.
Any help would be appreciated.
10-11-2011, 11:21 PM
#2
A, B and C- your battery dying is probably causing your unstable idle. Unplugging the battery resets the ecu, and the fuel trims have to be relearned. Until you fix the alt/battery, you'll have to live with it, unfortunately. Also, changing your air filter will affect the fuel trims, anyways.
Next, this thread doesn't belong in the DIY forum. Read the sticky "What belongs in this forum". Ask a mod to move it to the "troubleshooting" subforum
Next, this thread doesn't belong in the DIY forum. Read the sticky "What belongs in this forum". Ask a mod to move it to the "troubleshooting" subforum
10-12-2011, 02:56 PM
#4
Shinka
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: Virginia Beach
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If you bought this at a Mazda dealership, you are covered under the Lemon Law.
http://www.lemonlawamerica.com/
http://www.lemonlawamerica.com/
10-12-2011, 03:17 PM
#5
2005 White GT
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If you bought this at a Mazda dealership, you are covered under the Lemon Law.
http://www.lemonlawamerica.com/
http://www.lemonlawamerica.com/
Last edited by EDZRIDE; 10-12-2011 at 03:53 PM.
10-12-2011, 04:17 PM
#6
Shinka
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: Virginia Beach
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^Agreed, almost every dealership supplies a 90 day warranty and if they do no matter what that warranty states - you are then covered on the Lemon Law.
Need clarification on the dealership end of this though. Even if it's a small shop if they supplied some sort of a warranty he's covered.
Need clarification on the dealership end of this though. Even if it's a small shop if they supplied some sort of a warranty he's covered.
10-12-2011, 11:57 PM
#8
I HATE SPEEDBUMPS!
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