yellowrx8inoz

Well... a few weeks after the exxy 60K service (including new plugs and injectors cleaned), she's running very badly - obvious lack of power at about 4-5000rpm which is the engine speed I spend most time in during city traffic, of course.

I've been using BP or Shell premium unleaded (95 or 98 octane) all the time since I first had the car. Have switched to Mazda rotary oil since the TSB came out (dealer used synth before then). Haven't done any spirited driving for a while, but for it to clog up this soon after a service...?

I've booked it in for a checkup next week. Any suggestions welcome, so I can make sure they do the right things!

Ask me more if you need more info - and some of you can see for yourself at the weekend....

Will

takahashi

Did they put the spark plug cord in properly ?

yellowrx8inoz

Well I've taken a quick look but they're not easy to find without pulling stuff of the engine...? (displaying my ignorance here - last car a did any real work on was a Morris Minor LOL)

OK I found the spark plug changing thread so at least I know where they are! A dirty job, methinks.

mysql101

check your coils too. could be your trailing coils.. have you gotten any 301 or 302 CEL codes?

yellowrx8inoz

^^ No warning lights or anything... but that'll be on the list to check

mysql101

you can check the spark plugs by taking off the driver side front wheel. from there you can access the front rotor's plugs, and if you jack up the car, you can reach the rear rotor's. Just pop the spark plug wires off, then push them on again till they snap into place. If any of the plugs didn't "snap" off, then it might not have been plugged in properly. search this site for DIY spark plug change, they have excellent pics.



even with really destroyed coils, I rarely got a CEL for misfire. So it's still possible your coils have issues without one.

dmp

smells like a cat problem.

Gomez

Agreed.

Will, has it ever been flooded??

mysql101

Ah right, I never had a bad cat, so it's not on my mind, I agree that it would be the most likely cause

dmp

My car wouldn't make power past about 4000 rpms - in fact, to get to freeway speeds I had to FEATHER the gas...Took about 1/4 mile? more? to get from an on-ramp, onto the freeway and up to 60mph.

Rotor Convert

If it were me I would take it back to the dealer straight away, not wait. I would turn up on their doorstep and get them to look at it there and then. I have no idea what it is but I prefer to err on the side of caution and get it looked at immediately.

Others have better more knowlegable advice than me but I am sure they would all agree better be safe than sorry.
Sorry to hear that your car is unwell though specially after your service, I'm sure it's nothing bad and should be covered under warranty???

Good luck getting it sorted.

yellowrx8inoz

Thanks all, it's booked in next week (earliest they could do). So far the dealer's been good to me so I'm not that worried - just want my car fixed!

I'm certainly getting armed with suggestions of things to tell them to check... looks like plugs, coils and cat are the most important things so far.

An ECU reset by disconnecting the battery, then driving relatively gently and without the aircon on while it re-learns (dunno how long that would be?) is another interesting suggestion from the US threads.

I'll also get them to do a compression check I think.

No 'mez, it's never been flooded.

Maybe I can swap with one of you at this weekend's drive, see how it compares with yours. I realised the other day I've never driven another RX8...

Anyway, I'll keep y'all posted.

Will

Revolver

Good luck with it Will and let us know what the diagnosis is.

dmp

For the record, my cat went bad w/o ever having been flooded.

swoope

iTrader: (5)

dead cat, poor kitty..

beers

Gomez

I say it's likely a cat because it's not uncommon for a cat failure to bring on these symptoms without illuminating a CEL. That said, cat failures are rare here. Probably because flooding is rare here......for a combination of reasons. Flooding can cause an extremely high cat temperature when the car is eventually started. Some cats have been seen to glow red hot after a post-flood start......not good.

Coil or plug failures often throw a misfire code and a flashing CEL.

Pics of dead cat.....

Gomez

And yes, floodless cat failure does occur.....

swoope

iTrader: (5)

good kitty.

20 k miles.. 3" with premix, and syn oil....

beers

yellowrx8inoz

Thanks for the pretty pics, boys.

I'm gonna tell the dealer to visually inspect the inside of the cat, and show me a picture of it as well. I reported hearing a rattling in the exhaust when I put it in for the last service, but they said it was all OK.

I reckon there's some of those cat guts rattling around in there...

Muzz

I had floodless cat failure.
Well it was floodless, but then when I took it into Mazda after noticing the problem (on route to Bris via Sydney), they flooded it trying to diagnose. Nice one.

That said, when my cat failed it wasn't a hesitation between 4-5, it was massive loss of power 5k and up. That doesn't sound like what you have. You should buy a Hymee, they are good for diagnosing broken cats I had my Hymee installed when the cat was still collapsed, and the exhaust note did not change at all, that's how bad it was...

yellowrx8inoz

Thanks Muzz.. I already have a Hymee :-)

takahashi

Did you have a power loss on Sunday