Actually its this weekend in PA (we've recently started a NE Ohio/Western PA meet).

1010 Village Center Dr
Tarentum, PA 15084

 

FYI in case anyone is interested.

http://cleveland6club.com/forum/view...php?f=2&t=2241

 

Got four new coils this morning from Fred Vincent. Put them on and cleaned the plugs = running great again.

Gave it a good SeaFoaming (and scared a new neighbor) and going to put the Super Cat back on tonight and all should be well

Thanks again to everyone for their input and help!

 

Thanks Megan. Yeah it's been a while been working and going to school to finish my masters in finance. How have you been? Still driving the speed3?

 

Hey Doc the 20th doesn't sound bad. Where do you guys meet at? I remember the last time I meet up with you guys was brecksville 2 years ago.

 

Damn... that'll be a lonely 9.5hr drive for me.
I might be interested... we'll discuss this more when I see you this Saturday at the meet!

 

Brecksville Boneyard sounds good.

Who's in: August 20?


1)Doc
2)Empire

 

I'll likely be in AZ then, so I'm out unless things change.

 

Wish I could make Sat. with ya Jon. However...


1)Doc
2)Empire
3)DeV

 

Its all good... I'm just pumped to watch my first imax movie!

What is not-so-cool is the situation with my Onkyo receiver's HDMI board.
I went through EVERY 100uF 10V part number in our database and the only components we have with the required values are surface mount tantalum capacitors.
These are good caps, but the length of the component overlaps the pads, so I can't actually solder them!
And I went through EVERY thru-hole component locate and nothing, which shouldn't surprise me since everything is going surface mount.

So with that said I actually had to BUY my own components!
x20 220UF 10V caps, x10 470uF 10V caps, x15 100UF 10V caps from Mouser Electronics for a whopping $6.25 + shipping.
I purchased the other caps in case the 100uF replacements don't work!

Having audio through my TV sucks, so I pulled out my other 1000W Onkyo receiver and hooked it up.
Only running Optical to it since it doesn't have HDMI... I have a 4-port HDMI switch from Monoprice for that!
Still haven't heard anything from Gigabyte about my RMA request... bastards...

 

IMAX rules! I really enjoy the movies that make you sick. Not really a fan of the real movies in IMAX though.

Could you have just done like pigtails out to the surface mount caps and then insulated them? BTW...remind me next time I see you. I have a Pinnacle Showcenter that was damaged in a lightning strike. It's all yours if you want it and can get it fixed. We tried replacing the blown fuse with a glass one but it didn't hold so there is an issue in the transformer board that Pinnacle won't let me order.

 

Brian. Before you go working on your tranny let me do some research. If you are having the same problems I am it is a pretty common racing problem. I'm looking into it. It's not the synchros, it's a spring in there. They came out with a new tranny in 09 which would fit and fixes the problem, but would likely put us out of class. I'm researching it now.

 

Sounds good Doc. Let me know.

For the most part it feel like every other trans I've had where the synchro goes out. Clutch all the way in, high rpm shift, grind grind grind.

Curious though as to what spring you may be talking about.

 

I'm having problems, once the car heats up, going from 3-4. Sounds different than you. No grinding sounds. It wants to (feeling) clunk out of 3 into neutral, then into 4. I talked with Eric Meyer about it, and just got off the phone with Mazdaspeed. It's a well know racing problem Doesn't affect street driving. They redesigned the tranny for 09 to take care of it. But apparantely the differences are enough that I believe it would take us out of STX. It's something we should be watching on other drivers!

I'm calling a guy out in CA this afternoon. He found some kind of fix.

I'm starting to head more towards the track than National Ax. So I may upgrade the tranny. I'm not sure. It's not a problem for Ax since you only go 1-2. And the car never heats up THAT much. But it's definitely a problem on the track.

 

As for watching out for if someone has done a trans swap, it really isn't that hard to notice. If I'm not mistaken, reverse is up and to the left (next to 1st) on the 09+

That should make for an easy spot

Definitely keep me updated on the trans though. And if you decide to swap to an 09+ let me know and I'll lend a hand with the install.

 

Yeah, you have to change the shift boot. The new tranny doesn't change any of the gearing, so it really shouldnt matter, and probably would be fine for NORA or NEO. But I'm sure it's protest-able at a big event.

 

Oh yeah, very protestable at nationals and pro's. hehe

Pretty sure it would put you in an *SP class (BSP unless they move the 8 to another class)

The thing is it's a HUGE performance advantage since the trans in that much more durable. Regardless of the gearing changes or not, I don't think it would fly for even local events. Personally I could give 2 ***** at a local event, but I know others will have issues with it. It's not like "whoops, I forgot to put my cat on" or "I welded up my clutch pedal to keep it from breaking". It's swapping out to a entirely different transmission.

Sucks, but those are the breaks. I wish I could legally get away with it because I'd be all over the swap in a heartbeat.

 

As long as Mazda is voiding our warranties, maybe they could do a service bulletin for this......

BTW Have you checked into that?

 

The problem is that for Mazda to release a TSB stating that the fix for trans issues in the Series I RX-8 is to replace it with a Series II trans is going to be pretty darn tough. Simply for the fact that it will cost them tons of money for all the people that still have a warranty and have trans issues.

As for getting them to release one for say, the clutch pedal fix (do it yourself welding, or at the very least, steps outlined to repair the bracket rather than replace it) that would be MUCH easier. If they released a repair process that someone would be able to follow that was something other than "replace broken part" that wuold solve the illegality issue with the diy welding repair.

I'm sure we could lobby Mazda in an attempt to do so, and if you want to draft a letter I will gladly put my name to it and send a copy as well. We may be hard pressd on getting that kind of TSB for a trans replacement though.

I'm all for trying though

 

You're likely talking about the detent check-ball and spring that pop out after enough times jamming into 3rd gear.
You usually find these on the magnetic drain plug (the check-ball looks like a ball bearing).
This is something the Synchro Saver really helps prevent.

 

I really thought about it, but decided to be patient and wait for better "fitting" components.
You have to be careful using jumper wires and ensure it doesn't short to one of the vias/test points.


Sure... never used a Showcenter before. Hopefully I can get it running to try out.

 

Doc- You might be interested in this discussion:
2009 RX-8 Transmission Gear Chart and Discussion
https://www.rx8club.com/showthread.p...highlight=2009

 

OK, just got off the phone with CA. Yes, it's the keys that are the problem. Jon that thread was helpful. It appears, that the best solution to the problem, for track purposes, is to go to the 09 tranny. Or plan on a very frequent and expensive rebuild......That's the problem with doing both. If you set the car up for track, it's out of any decent class for autocross. If you set it up for autocross, it's very mediocre for track. But my heart is rapidly heading towards road racing.....

I don't know anything about "synchro savers". Gonna have to do lots more research on this.

 

The synchro saver was something that Fluid Motorsports "designed" that prevents someone from overshifting. Problem is it's like $300 for 4 small pieces of metal and some bolts. It is probably the greatest mod for the rx8 but nobody will ever figure it out because it costs too much.

 

Last time I checked it was only like 150 or some **** like that...

Or, you could be like me and have jumped in on the group buy. I picked mine up for $80 shipped. And it's still sitting in the box uninstalled even though it takes a whopping 20 minutes to put in, and probably another 15 adjusting total.