High Mileage Rotary
 

As Footman said in the meeting, it came out to my mind...I have a high mileage RX8...
So I am here to ask if there any method to keep this engine alive...cause even I have the extended warranty, since last time my 8 was sent to dealer because of the engine, every time I drive this out I would afraid it die on a road...

Do I need to take extra care or other motor oil for high mileage rotary?

What do you consider "high" mileage ?
 

Hey Millchan:

Just what exactly do you have on your 8 ?

When you say 'high mileage' I'm assuming your over the 160,000km mark

Sigh, to be honest, my 8's "Check Engine Light" always stay on. (2007 Rx-8 GT, with approx 17,000km on engine ONLY) Everytime I bring it to Avante Mazda Dealer to oil change, they reset the code for me, and said nothing is wrong on my 8's..... Usually after 1 month after oil change, my CEL will stay on on the dashboard, I sometime wait until my next oil change in order to fix the problem, or turn it off by dealer......... Dealer just said nothing is wrong, and I am sure my gas cap is tighten every time I put gas...... i don't really know how reliable an 8's engine is...... My Rx-7 doesn't have that much hassle conversely...... i don't know!

Take it to a different dealer to diagnose the problem. Your check engine light should not be coming on like that!

Ka Kui, drop by my place anytime (near Yonge/Finch), I'll read the CEL code for you. You shouldn't ignore these codes eh?

Yeah, Thief use the CEL code for me like 2 months ago (and it said something P0288 leak or something, I forget the code or something) I then bring it to Avante Mazda to oil change, since it's about time, and then they said nothing is wrong, just reset the code for me........ Maybe I shall bring it to other dealer then....

Yeah, Footman, I drop by your place next time, my CEL just went on 4 days ago on my 8's, sigh.......

Key to keeping a high mileage rotary engine alive....................keep clean oil in it and dont put any additives in it! Dont rev it when its cold, realize it cant do the same things it did when it was but a youngster! lol

not that much yet, I went through 100K last month, according to my usage of my 8...I guess 160K is not much to go...

130k? That's alright i guess. If these engines go past 200k, are they considered reliable?

How much would a new engine be around anyhow?

Yeah, that's a good question... Anybody know??

About $2800 over here (from dealer).

from dealer $2800?

no way its only 2800 for a new renesis....its like 4 grand for a mazda 3 engine

I have 112K km on mine.

It gets warmed up gently. (sub 4500 RPM)
It gets driven hard. (redlined frequently, high RPM enthusiastic driving)
It gets cooled down before shutdown (sub 3000 RPM a few minutes before shut-off)
It gets scheduled maintenance.
It gets premium gas
Its oil is frequently topped up.

Alright I do the same for my 102K.

It only walks when the rpm is below 1K rpm
It only gets rev-ed when the temperature raise up to the middle
It gets redlined once a day if I drive it
It gets oil change every between 3-4K km
It drinks either 91 or 94
It gets scheduled maintenance
It gets no engine flooded so far
It gets shifted between 3k - 4k under my casual driving daily, I rev it over 5.5k, whenever I got "ARGO"
It gets cool down depends on how hard I drive the car (the gasoline level tells if your engine gets cooled down)
It runs on winter whenever there has no snow or ice on the road

I really do feel the different during -0C of the rotary engine, a little power gained and much less engine sounds from the inside
Besides, I found rotary drinks less gas during the winter, but I don't know if the rotary runs better.
However, here is my little story on a cold day to start my 8, it was like -17C to - 20C with out wind chill, my engine automatically went up to 4K+ rpm with huge noise once I started it (I drive stick and it was in neutral) and it took around 15 mins to get below 1K rpm...then it ran smooth with the cold temperature

Just under 116k on mine, warmed up gently, driven to redline daily, fluids are topped on religiously.

After speaking with Al a lil while ago, I'll be getting my engine rebuilt through Mark (Mazmark) whenever my engine decides to go (>160,000km that is...) he can do a thorough massage of the renny over the winter months :)

im at 125K but only 50k on this engine

You mean you had rebuilt your engine already?

I finally got to do some hwy drivin to see where my mileage is. I got 367km on 3/4 tank, so I'm thinking full tank would be around 420ish. Not to bad. Just city driving is brutal...320/tank :(

That was my range at tonight's fill up, 420km. Best range I ever got was 450km but I think she was running on fumes when I finally stopped to tank up.
Railton