joanie

Does anyone know what the proper idle is for the 6speed MT when it is properly warmed up?

Pavehawk

I don't know the textbook answer but mine seems to like 800 RPM after it's warm.

Haze

You say something about a rough idle, is this your problem?

I too have a rough idle after my car is warmed up, and I took it to the dealer, after a fair amount of run around, they told me to "try amother brand of premiumi gas". This answer was and is laughable. I hope that you have a dealer with a brain because I don't. Near as I can guess, it's a problem with fouled plugs, but if anytone else has an idea, I'd LOVE to hear it. I am pulling the plugs on Saturday tomorrow to inspect them so I can post what I find if you'd like to know.

I need to start moving against the dealer on monday for this and a loose gear shift lever that they refuse to fix. You know I love the car, feel pretty good about Mazda, but their dealer network is horrible. These guys have been total jerks to me since I bought my car, but the only other dealer within driving distance just became a Mazda dealer from a ford dealer, and I question whether they have a rotary specialist. Well, I guess that I could ask, and I think that I will do that right now since I have a minute.

Post more about your "idle problem", I'd like to know what sponsored your question.

Haze

speardive RX-8

I agree with Haze. I think is fouled plugs. My car ran smooth at idle when I first had it. I would say that after 2000 miles I started feeling the rough idle when warmed up. I have never flooded the car but some times it does not start until about 2 seconds of continous cranking. I have let the dealer know about the rough idle and they say " can not duplicate". I feel sometimes like flooding the car so they can change the plugs..But still it is a temp fix because it will happen again after a few thousand miles. I heard that Mazda changed the A/F ratios on a new ECU reprogram. MAybe this and new plugs will help long term.

Xyntax

Mine is the opposite. I had a rough idle when I first got the car. After 1300 miles, it's smoother now. I've also noticed the difference in smoothness, in terms of delivery and idle, on the 87 and 91 octane. The best one so far has been 91 Chevron.

Haze

Thanks for the posts. I have the new ECM remap and the car defintiely seems to be running better with it than it did originally. It is smoother and has more midrange power, however, the car still misfires at idle.

Gyro

I'm not convinced that this popping at warm idle is actually misfiring.

The RX8 PCM is very sensitive to actual misfire and would store a code (and subsequent MIL) when misfire is experienced.

I think it is fuel rich exhaust gas combusting in the exhaust system, creating a small pop. We all know that the A/F is fairly rich, and the cat is very hot as compared to the average piston conterpart. The exhaust gas with a rich mixture could combust given the right environment. Speed Racer showed quite clearly that the stock PCM calibration has enough unburned fuel in the exhaust gas to ignite.

Actual "misfire" would be more obviouse to the computer and it would get cranky about it.

Xyntax

Could the popping sound, people are talking about, be the fans turning on? I've had this before and I tried setting the fans to 0 while I was idling and I didn't hear a popping sound anymore. I turned it on and there it goes again :D

zoom44

when the tech says "can not duplicate" can you just go and sit there with them and point out what you are talking about?

Haze

Well, my tech didn't only duplicate it, but freaked out and did a compression test because it was that obvious as he pulled the car into the repair bay. It also could be that the tech guy did pull a code. All I know is that the service rep went from being really condescending when I asked for a loaner, saying that I thought it would take all day to deal with the car, to getting me a loaner five minutes later. The guy is a real ***.

Also there was a guy who posted on this in the Tech Garage who watched as his service manager pulled a code from his car's OBD, and that code had not set a CEL or anything on the dash. His techs put the hotter plug upgrade into the car. However, my guys called the "tech line" who told them that that reapair was only for misfires at cold engine temps. I'm really not convinced. The other thread said that his car got better from that repair, but of course they were also clean plugs.

As for the fans, not unless the fans are internal to the power plant because I can hold my hand over the exhaust and feel the popping not just hear it.

As for the theory that it's fuel combusting in the cat convert, yeah OK, but I've never heard of that. Usually unburned fuel in an exhaust just burns because it is not in a contained area to create an explosion, hence no pop. However, I won't rule it out. Obviously, these guys didn't know what was going on, nor did the "tech line" so who am I to rule anything out. For right now, I am going to check the plugs to see if they are clean, and if they aren't demand new ones on Monday. If they are clean, then I guess I just go back and try to cause trouble.

As always, any ideas are welcome. Thanks to all who have posted so far, and Joanie, still want to hear back from you and I hope that I am not hijacking your thread. I just thought that this was a similar problem. Is it? Hoping to help you out as well - Haze

joanie

Haze,

My car idles at about 800 rpms when warm. I was just trying to figure out if this is normal and if not I could use this as a reason to get a ecu reflash.

The only time I brought my car to the dealership was for its first oil change. Dropped it off in the morning before work and picked it up at 5:50, 10 minutes before closing. They were locking up and I was lucky to get my keys back. They were very abrupt and it was all they could do just to be civil.

I had gotten a letter from Anguili Mazda, the dealership near me saying it was time to come in and get an oil change and they would do some type of 100-point checkup and I was supposed to get a readout with the results.

All they did was the oil and filter change and I have no idea what oil was used.

If you want to drop your car at this dealership it has to be before 10 a.m.; they won't let you make an appointment; and you have line up outside and wait your turn.

When I go back for the 2 recalls I would like the reflash and anything else I'm entitled to. This winter my mileage has degenerated to about 12.20 mpg city driving, and I only occasionally go over 5,000 rpms.

When I had mentioned bad gas mileage to the service manager when dropping it off for the oil change, he just laughed and said these cars were notorious for that. Well, now I want them to at least look into it had have it documented that I think it is a problem.

80CuIn

Haze,
What dealer for service did you deal with? Because I will try to avoid them. I purchased my car at Falulkner. Their servcie reps are rude. Taking my 8 to North Penn for warranty work as well as rough idle.
I'll let you know what they did.

Al

shebam

Haze, did they give you much grief about agreeing to do the reflash?

RevRaz

Bought my car on Saturday, it idles about 800-900 and I also notice a small idle change every so often.. Sounds like a common issue.

Haze

Y'OK -

I'm not trying to hijack anything ere so let me get this out as I can . . . well that and I have six gin and tonics. That was until I ran out of Gin, then I had several vodka tonics. So, onto the cars!

Joanie - 800 Revs per minute seems about normal. It's hard for me to say because my car constantly dips down below that, but 800 seems cool to me. As to your question as to the ECM remap as well as the orther posters question as to whether they gave me griefe about it, foar from it. They never asked me if I wanted it. I did but they never offered and I never asked. They simply did it, and told me, "mazda is constatly updating these things so we gave you the current update." I never had a choice they just did it, which was the right thing to do. The car is definitely running better with that update, but three hundred miles down the orad since Thursday, my car is still misfiring . . . even though I switched gas brands again. Go figure. I did not pull the plugs over the weekend. I had an emergency that wrecked my weekend so I didn't get to it. I will, and I will post what I found.

My feeling is that they will give you the ECM reflash whether you ask for it or not. My guys definitely give me the feeling that they believe that they work for mazda and not me and mazda wants the car to have that reflash. If your dealer is refusing to do it, I would think that it's because you came in before they had it to give you or that they are a little slow on the uptake. Either way, the next imte you come in they should just do it, and if they don't ask, and if they don't then complain to mazda directly by e-mail because they should point you to a source for that reflash. They want you to have it.


Joanie, if you have a rough idle, which I'm still not sure about, the reflash won't be a fight, but the spark plugs will take some argument. Ask them to check your spark plugs to see if they are fouled. Get the reflash. It definitely is a better mix ratio than the standard mixture.

Best of luck - let's hope we'll get past this.

Oh, and the dealer is Brandywine in West Chester. I'm going to try Kennedy. They are new to mazda and sound is if they are hungry to build a clientelle so I'll try them. - H

RX-GR8

haze,

did the reflash cause any reduction in performance? some have mentioned this is the case although the car may not have "relearned: yet. the reason i ask is because i'm taking her in on the 12th for the recalls and some other issues one of which is the low MPG. why so many G&T? hope your emergency has passed.

Haze

The emergency and the G&T's are not related. The G&T's are soley 'cause it was a nice summery day out, and it set my mind to Gin . . . then I ran out and then Vodka, a russian summer.

It might just be because of how my car was running when I took it in, but I have noted an increase of performace in my car since the reflash. My car was definitely down on power before I took it in. It is also possible that the tech cleaned the plugs with a rag while they were out if they were fouled then slammed them back in. I can't really say without pulling the plugs, and I just haven't gotten there yet.

In my opinion, my car has more power with the reflash, but I can't say what else may have happened to cause that change. The tech could have done a number of things to my plugs including replacing them without my knowledge so I don't know how that plays in reference to otehr experiecnce. To me the relfash is a really good thing. That's all I can say.

Hope that helps. - H