Ball joint failure is more noticeable when driving over bumps.
Wheel bearing failure is noticeable even when driving straight (though turning puts more load on the bearing and it'll be worse sounding).
CV Joint failure is noticeable while turning (creates a ticking sound) and at speeds above rough 45mph (vibrations).

Could it be that the car is out of balance... sure, that'll explain the vibrations at higher speeds.
But the sounds while turning would not be because the wheel isn't balanced.

To check the CV Joint, first inspect the boots for any tears.
Also look for excessive grease that may have flung around the boot area.
This is another sign that the boot has a tear and lost its grease.

 

Amy just had really bad road noise. Since Steve didn't specify....

 

Alright, I'll get under the car and take a look this week. I was hoping it was alignment. The outer shoulders of the tires are worn a bit more which led me to alighnment being toed-in. But the ticking sound is present on both sides. . . so that could be bad.

 

Blizzaks for sale in forum if someone was looking for them.
https://www.rx8club.com/showthread.p...72#post3260272

 

Steve....

Listen, this may sound stupid but....

Make sure there aren't any big rocks stuck in the tires, or a nail. That "could" account for the clicking, which obviously would increase with speed. Also, check for any signs of a bubble in the sidewall (both inside and outside) on the tires. If she hit a pothole hard enough to bubble the sidewall she could have broken a belt in the tire, which would then cause the car to shake at highway speeds.

The tires being worn on the outside shoulders definately leads one to believe that there could be a toe in problem, but also it could be as simple as a positive camber issue. Look at the vehicle from the front, if the top of the tires lean away from the centerline of the vehicle then that is called positive camber. If there is too much then you will wear the shoulders too fast.

Too much toe would be apparent across the whole tire as basically you would be scrubbin gthe tire across the pavement at an angle. More than likely though it's one of the two of those causing unnatural wear on the tires.

 

When I rotated all the tires I inspected all of them pretty well, and I had a broken belt on a company truck a few months ago... so I don't think that is it.

Its hard to tell the camber because her car has leaking shocks also... which could cause the body to sag which will make it look like bad camber...

I bet its a combination of bad CV joint and worn tires causing road noise, out of balance tires, and poor alignment.

Women.

 

Looks like you guys have had some fun the past couple of weeks

 

So like im curious. i talked to Brice down in florida. when i told him my battery dies like its a religion, he said it could be from the sucky starter killing it. any input on that from you guys?

 

A battery should recover from the high draw of a bad starter. Personally I would lean more towards bad alternator. I am interested to hear what Brian and Jon have to say about it though.

 

I'm not so technical either, but I would have to agree with John off the bat on this one. Sounds like a bad alternator... but I'm not soo familiar with poor designs on the starter and having an effect on the battery..

 

Well... the Bronco had dead battery problems last month... Goes like this.... No problems. Then I changed batteries to a new optima red top... that's when the problems started.

Long story short... the "new" battery I had purchased had sat on the shelf for a few years and was bad...

I'd run up to autozone and have them test the battery. Its quick, easy, and free.

If it is the starter... i have a non-upgraded one laying around now if you need to borrow it.

 

Take it from someone who went through 1 oem and 3 gold duralast batteries under warranty from autozone in 3 years that it's the starter. The weak starts draw enough power that it kills off cells in an auto battery. Even a trickle charger in the winter only delayed the battery death.

Replace the starter then replace the battery and you'll be fine for the next three years or so.

 

Btw if it's ur alternator the battery never charges. If it's ur battery it starts fine right after short stops but it struggles overnight and dies after a few days.

 

Unless you really don't get a good charge from that bad alternator...then it is just a matter of time.

 

Doc (et. al.):

I wish you could have made it. This track is more incredible than I thought. It was the longest track I have been on @ 3.4Miles. It is a wicked fast place with at least 5 spots where you are over 100+ MPH. One of those places is a fast left hand turn (87 degree) that separates the men from the boys very quickly. We had a ball. When I looked at the track Map, I did not realize how fast the place really is!!!!

I learned how little torque this car really has this weekend also. Unless you are carrying a ton of speed through the corners, the straights are very uneventful. But when you do......man, do those next turns come up fast. I learned to use the following expression a LOT. "I am peddleing as fast as I can!!"

We had a great laugh on Sunday when I was hustling down the back straight and said to my instructor..."Oh my God!" He got real concerned and says, "what's the matter!?" I replied by saying, "I do NOT believe this! We are about to be passed by a F%$$ng pickup truck!" We laughed all the way through the next two turns. Some guy had a Toyota Tundra Pickup was there with what probably about $25K in suspension mods and Extra Horsepower. But he was a good driver too. He blew past me in one big hurry and I was at about 110.

I want to hear about your trip to Beaver Run.

 

My trip to beaver run is scheduled for this weekend, but I may have a problem. . .

Well. . . now that the cooler weather has returned, so apparently has the sticky SSV. Jon, it appears we got it clean enough to run the rest of the winter and summer, but since I disconnected the Battery for the starter install, I've been dealing with stalling, not as bad as before, but I'll still look down at a stop light and see that I've stalled.

So, the 8 may be put away for the winter sooner than I had planned.

 

Steve, we can spend a day removing the SSV valve if you like.
Almost the same process as we did with the water pump install.
Just add the removal of the lower thermostat housing, the UIM, disconnect the SSV positioning switch, and two bolts hold the valve in.

 

Are you free friday afternoon? I'd still like to make it to the track Saturday if possible.

 

I believe I'm free Friday afternoon.

 

sweet, want me to bring the car to you for a change? Have a garage at your new place?

 

No garage at the new place yet.
I can probably borrow my father's garage, he is right across the street from my complex (same place we did my transmission).

 

Alright, let me know... only problem with my driving up there is that we'd be working on a hot car... but you've also made the trip down here like . . . 12 times by now.

 

I think I win the award for the RX-8 with the most parts off the car as of right now...


Just talked to the dealer.

Front e-shaft seal = bad

Rear e-shaft seal = bad

Apparently my car is in a bunch of pieces right now. In case some of you don't know, you have to pull the transmission, clutch, and flywheel in order to get to the rear e-shaft seal.

The front seal is a little less intensive, but you still need to remove the battery, airbox, pullies, belts, and some other things (potentially the front plate...)

Sandy said they were pushing like crazy to get a new engine for it, but Mazda wouldn't let them. The thing she kinda laughed about was when they go and do a compression test after it is all back together and it fails, they are going to have to do this all over again

I guess the tech is going crazy right now. I told her not to worry about rushing the car back to me and to tell the tech to take his time and if needed, walk away from it for a few hours to cool his head. I'm not in a rush for the car right now so I'd rather he not go crazy trying to get it back to me.

I think I may need to buy the service department lunch after all this is said and done.

 

Still no word on the OMP yet Brain?
Or maybe they didn't get that far yet
Its good to hear that they are going to do a compression test.
I'll be surprised if it passes.

 

And why did the the front and rear seals go bad?

Also, if you're going to buy them lunch... do it while they're working on the car so they do a good job... if you wait until after, then they'll just feel guilty about the stuff they know they didn't do..., but eat your lunch anyway.