Arxeight

Hello fellow rx8 enthusiasts! I may be in over my head, I need some help plz!
One faithful day, My Rx8 dislodged half an apex seal and bounced it around the rotor housing for several mins as I limped the rest of the way home running on one rotor.
(I know this because I removed the engine and dismantled the core myself afterward)

I recently bought a 2nd hand 6-port rx8 motor from a car parts dealer. The engine came from a salvage, but I was reassured by the parts dealer the motor was in working order, and had around 45,000 kms. I also reminded the parts guy to get a compatible year motor for my 2007 MT gt (during first phone contact with seller about a month ago). The seller is located 3 1/2 hours drive from where I live. A good friend of mine suggested I give him a call because he knew him personally, So I put faith in the guy selling me the motor.. I actually bought the motor before looking at it( stupid I know) for $2200 cdn, tax in.

I Love driving my rx8... turns out getting a replacement motor to start isn't as lovely..
The motor removal went smooth, besides two broken exhaust flange bolts and a tight squeeze past the ac pump upward.
I should state that I do all my own repairs on my cars, I can usually figure out any problem I may run into during repairs, but this rx8 motor is putting me to the test!

The replacement motor arrived in the back of a truck, I could tell by the look of it the motor had been sitting on a shelf for a while collecting dust. I was also weary of the 45km's claim.

Anyway, I put my OWN clutch, two bolts and the small metal splash plate were missing on the alum intake manifold, header pipe, alternator, belts and mazdaspeed air intake. Besides those parts, it was a complete motor, and everything bolted/hooked up perfectly.
After putting in oil and rad fluid, I attempted the first start.. I turned the backup key, I had been using for 6 months prior to break down, and there was nothing but a "click" sound.. Figured it was battery, pulled another car up to keep continuous boost, still just a click... I eventually found that the starter and bell housing mating surfaces had corroded enough during the (3 months I had the rx8 engine removed) affecting power to the starter.. little sand paper later and the engine was now cranking..

I did the 20 step tango in 8 seconds to reset the PCM memory, Checked for spark on all 4 plugs at the rotor housings, I cranked the motor several times with the plugs out to try and clear any dirt/oil fuel from the chambers. I had both clutch and gas pedal to the floor, I checked the Eccentric shaft plate and sensor for dirt, double checked the spark plugs for flooding.(Once seemed like there was oil on rear rotor plugs but the front rotor spark plugs were dry as could be) I do not have a code reader, I may be able to get access to one, There is no Mazda dealership within 3 1/2 hours of my town..

Any suggestions on how to start this beast would be great.. Some info on how to check fuel to the Rotors would be swell too. the fuel pump was working when I parked her before replacement motor... The front rotor housing belonged to the replacement motor has a number stamped on it: 478219- Thanks in advance

zendrums

iTrader: (2)

Easiest way to check fuel is to disconnect the fuel delivery system and see if any gas is coming out. I had to do the same with my v8 swap. I ran a braided line, so it was pretty easy for me to put a catch-can under my car and drape the line down.

Other things to check are air and spark, as well as sensors. First time I started my v8, I had the MAF sensor connected but not hooked up to a real intake. It shut itself down after running for ~8 seconds. If your ECU is getting bad readings, it could be running too rich or too lean and just shutting off.

That's all I can think of right now. Keep us posted

dannobre

iTrader: (3)

Try and start it without matting the gas first. If you do that it will cut all fuel off...try and crank it with your foot off the gas.

Did you use your coils and plugs etc? Often core motors will come with inoperative "accessories" that aren't warrantied by the seller

As others have said..check fuel delivery and spark...and make sure that you have the harnesses plugged in properly

Arxeight

Here's an update,

I got a lend of a code reader with mazda software.. Only code that came up was low voltage on the Cat o2 sensor.. which wouldn't prevent it from starting.. All connections are hooked up right, I triple checked everything...

Also if anyone knows where I can find out the year of this motor. please let me know.. I tried calling mazda canada friday, but they put me on hold, and my cell died.. I was at work all day friday.. now its the weekend.. I will try again Monday.

PS; I found what looked to be a birds nest behind the flywheel prior to putting the engine in the car.. I cleaned it out.. I wonder if anything could have crawled up into the exhaust ports while the engine was in storage ???

BigBadChris

iTrader: (4)

I called Mazda North America with a similar question several months ago. There is no publicly accessible database that links engine serial numbers to VIN. So, we can tell you what kind of engine it is (which you already know), but unforunately there is no way to determine what year it was built, or what car it was originally installed in. Why Mazda couldnt put a VIN plate on the engine when it was originally installed, we will never know.

dannobre

iTrader: (3)

Were hte motor came from is basically irrelevant anyway...as long is it is a 6port engine from 2004 to 2008 it will be a direct replacement..

You need fuel and spark...did you ever check to see if you have fuel?

I have seen one car that had the fuel line and the purge lines reversed. It is easy to do...and you will not get any fuel to the injectors. Just check to make sure you have fuel coming into the red fuel line connector...and not into the blue ( purge) line

Arxeight

I checked the fuel lines, they are in the right place.. I will point out, That the car revved up to 3000 rpm with the help of "Quick Starting Fluid". So the timing and spark are there.. I didn't use much btw, just trying different things..

Today I dismantled the engine enough to reach the fuel injectors.. I checked all the lines for clogging by blowing in them, including the two metal fuel rails that the injectors are attached to, I replaced all the injectors with the ones that came from my old engine.. thinking the ones in the replacement motor may have been clogged.. The only difference in the injectors was a three digit number.. the replacement engine came with ones that had 525 or something on the yellow ones, and the yellow ones from my old engine all had 7xx instead(exact number i forget, but started with 7).. Can anyone tell me if there is a difference in performance or operation?

Another question Ive been meaning to ask, What is the reason a 2009, 2010 or 2011 rx8 high power motor will not work in my 2007 rx8 gt 6-speed? Why does it seem like I'm not getting fuel?
Im going to check all the fuses tomorrow

ShellDude

iTrader: (12)

The S2 motor's biggest difference is the OMP and harness. There are no provisions in your S1 ECU for the S2 OMP setup.

I'm reaching back memory wise here but I think the S2 motor also only has 4 injectors so the harness is different there too, as well as the S1 ECU not having provisions for staging of the S2 injectors.

dannobre

iTrader: (3)

Did you check the fuel pump operation?

Arxeight

Here's the update we were all hoping for,

It took 11 hrs to hook everything up with the 2nd hand motor, a week straight trying to figure out why the bitch wouldn't start but only 10 seconds for the smile to return to my face once She Fired Up!! F@%& you faulty purge valve!

A Big Thanks! to Everyone that commented, and also to those of you who were going to comment but decided instead to carry on with your lives... you're forgiven.

Thanks also to Rx8club.com in general! I learned a lot about my car from the hundreds of posts I've skimmed threw and read this last week. Maybe this post will help someone in my situation months or years from now.

Buying 2nd hand motors is a risky business people, especially buying a Wankel, but some of us don't have the $$ to buy the motor they would like under their hood. If you know what to look for in a used motor, IMO, they can save you a lot of coin. That being said, don't do what I did and order a motor without first checking it out..

Im happy to report that the motor I purchased runs perfect now, better than my old one for sure. The motor should have been put in storage with more care. Also its not anyone's fault the purge valve was faulty, with a 2nd hand motor like this that came from a salvage, a busted purge valve is nothing compared to what could have been wrong with it.







Pic of the mazda in Alberta, Canada. Couple months after I bought her. She looks black there, but she's blue.. The registration says Grey lol

Arxeight

Got it fixed, It was a faulty purge valve. Thanks for all the help guys!

9krpmrx8

iTrader: (46)

It is listed in the FSM as a possible no start condition. Glad it was something simple, I just had to replace mine myself.