How long do you normally warm up your RX-8 before driving in this cold weather?
Mmmmm... Rotary Donut
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 2,376
Likes: 4
From: Lake in the Hills, IL (NW Chicago Burbs)
Originally Posted by RedSheDevil
damn, for real? someone just told me the manual said dont use the ebrake in the winter.
ok off to read the manual! i will report on my findings!!! (its really no biggie, im prolly one of the few who has actually read almost all of it already!)
ok off to read the manual! i will report on my findings!!! (its really no biggie, im prolly one of the few who has actually read almost all of it already!)
Don’t use the parking brake in freezing
weather as the parking brake may
freeze. Instead, shift to P with an
automatic transmission and to 1 or R
with a manual transmission. Block the
rear wheels.
...but that last sentence is Mazda basically saying they can't guarantee the car won't roll while in gear. I think they don't want a bunch of service calls in the winter because the car seems stuck from frozen pads... but who in the hell does Mazda think carries wheel chucks in their trunk for parking on hills?
.:. causing mischief
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 1,820
Likes: 2
From: EVOLV-Chicago
Originally Posted by G8rboy
... but who in the hell does Mazda think carries wheel chucks in their trunk for parking on hills?
Mmmmm... Rotary Donut
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 2,376
Likes: 4
From: Lake in the Hills, IL (NW Chicago Burbs)
Originally Posted by RedSheDevil
hahahaha!!! i guess two 50lb bags of sand in the trunk do not translate as wheel chucks eh?
Black and B-E-A-UTIFUL!
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 287
Likes: 0
From: Wisconsin
I wish I would have read this post 2 days ago, when I snapped mine off. 
Originally Posted by jaedcem
Also, those really cold days are when the little plastic "thingy" around the parking brake lever breaks. If you use the parking brake in winter, be careful not to push it all the way down when releasing it. Let it go down below the last notch and it won't be "on" but the dash light may stay on. As the interior warms up, the light will go off. (You may end up breaking that stupid plastic thing anyway.)
I usually wait until the secondary air pump turns off - around 30 seconds or so on the coldest days.
I don't pull my parking brake on level surfaces, 2nd gear is good enough.
However, on an incline, the leak-down is suffcient enough to allow your car to bump down 3 or 4 inches every few minutes so wheel chocks would be needed. I keep a set in my trunk for other reasons.
Here is the tab that snaps off:
I don't pull my parking brake on level surfaces, 2nd gear is good enough.
However, on an incline, the leak-down is suffcient enough to allow your car to bump down 3 or 4 inches every few minutes so wheel chocks would be needed. I keep a set in my trunk for other reasons.
Here is the tab that snaps off:
.:. causing mischief
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 1,820
Likes: 2
From: EVOLV-Chicago
Originally Posted by sakura968
I broke it too. Alas, my poor little thingy, I hardly knew yee! RSD, any more spam you can send my way?
Guest
Posts: n/a
Originally Posted by G8rboy
the rubbery tab below the parking brake lever which becomes stiff when the temp is below freezing. On mine, when the temp gets around 0 or below, that thing is so rigid the parking brake sticks up a few degrees higher than normal, triggering the "e-brake is engaged" light. I just ignore it... as the cabin temp goes up the tab thingy returns to it's rubbery state and allows the brake to fully seat itself.
Registered User
Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 24
Likes: 0
From: Montreal, Canada
hey i actually created a thread about the thingy... my thingy broke off (ok that sounds bad)... i mean the plastic piece attached to the handbrake (show in the pic posted) broke off.
Dealer won't fix it under warranty, they want to charge me 200$ - anyone know what i should do?
thanks!
Dealer won't fix it under warranty, they want to charge me 200$ - anyone know what i should do?
thanks!
Guest
Posts: n/a
Originally Posted by ranny3
Dealer won't fix it under warranty, they want to charge me 200$ - anyone know what i should do?
Bite my shinny metal...
Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 46
Likes: 0
From: Chicago
Mazda (or any make) pays the dealership a LOT less than if they come to you to pay for the same job out of pocket. Basically call the dealer's bluff. "OK, I will just take it somewhere else that will repair it under warranty or for less than you want to." Dealers should look at it as "I can't get $200, so $0 or $100???"
New Member
Joined: Aug 2020
Posts: 1
Likes: 1
I usually let it sit for about 5 minutes or so in the morning.
By the time I get back out to my car the needle is approaching the halfway mark. It's about a 5 minute drive to the freeway so by the time I get there, the car is usually warmed up quite a bit.
Off Topic: Forget Florida! You need to come out to California.
Real Time Weather update-
84 degrees today. Talk about a nice sunny Thanksgiving this year...
Wind = 8 mph
humidity only 11%
By the time I get back out to my car the needle is approaching the halfway mark. It's about a 5 minute drive to the freeway so by the time I get there, the car is usually warmed up quite a bit.
Off Topic: Forget Florida! You need to come out to California.
Real Time Weather update-
84 degrees today. Talk about a nice sunny Thanksgiving this year...
Wind = 8 mph
humidity only 11%
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