Well hello every one so happy i am here and back behind the wheel of a rotary YAY finally.

SO here is the story. I have been looking for an RX8 for a long time but never had the cash to get one on till recently. I came across a guy with a 2004 for sale for 2000.00 with what he said was a blown engine. He said it had been sitting at a shop for 3 weeks and he really needed to get rid of it.

so i decided to take chance and go have a look at it. keep in mind this is mot my first RX I had an 83 for years and loved it. So i have some experience with rotary engines.

So i get to the shop and have a look at he car and its not in bad shape considering and just for ***** and giggles i try to turn over the engine and to my surprise the engine sounds good defiantly did not sound blown. it of course did not start. At this point I kept my dammed mouth shut and started the haggling and ended up convincing the guy to give me the car for 1000.00 I quickly went an got he cash and closed the deal. then with sale slip in hand went and got my tools and booster cables. and after 25 min of working on the beast she came back to life smoking like a train filled the entire parking lot with smoke. the stupid garage told the guy the engine was blown when all that was wrong was it was flooded stupid garage.

The smoke cleared after about 10 min jumped in the car and drove it home what a fun ride runs great. So now I have to decide what to do first. any suggestions would be helpful. the car does have a lot of KM 185000 so that is a lot but runs surprisingly well considering. I want to keep this engine running as long a possible What should i do first with the Engine to prolong its life? I will post some picks once i get them off my cell phone.

 

Have you read the 'New Owners' thread? Post #9 specifically has a list of first recommended items.

Lots of other info in there. This is quite a different engine than your FB.


I also recommend using the enter key periodically, to break up your posts into more logical paragraphs. Makes it easier to read.

 

That is a great find! Have you ever had a compression test done on the engine? Do that first before you decide on how to take care of it, good luck.

 

Monchie ............... that is good advice . You are learning !

 

This thread is full of win +1111111111111!!!!!!

 

first things for me would be -

Run some seafoam through it

Then get compression check


remove coils and check for white spots on the back of them
Check spark plugs and ht leads for signs of water creeping in and causing corrosion

If any of the above replace ignition system


Then check the cat after a few hard runs make sure its not clogged or similar ( although doubt it will be but worth the check )

change oil




Then spend the rest of the time getting to the beeeeeep

 

The white spots don't mean anything on coils. Coils can fail without those spots there, and the coils can be healthy if the spots are there.

Considering he has no history and bought it flooded, I'd recommend replacing the ignition as a definite to-do.

My full recommended list:

 

Interesting you say that,

White spots here are considered bad by both mazda and by independent franchises its been described as the first signs of the coils starting to fail.

But ill bare that in mind

 

Ok so here is a bit of an up date checked the plugs they are defiantly brand new YAY.

there is no corrosion in the ignition system as far s i can tell but these parts are defiantly not new but in decent condition. I will most likely be upgrading them anyway.

I also noticed there is a new starter installed so i am assuming it is the up graded one also a bonus for me.

Also a brand new battery in the car to boot. :-)

So I agree compression test first as i live in the Barrie Ontario area does any one know a good rotary shop/mechanic in the area some one you would recommend?

 

Interesting that you make that claim by Mazda, since they have a document that states otherwise:

 

Cool

Ill hunt through the UK forum and find the letter they wrote to one of the guys who took his car in with problems.

Do you mind if i copy your pic and send it to him? Sure he would find that of use at the moment.

 

The white marks were believed to be an indicator until sometime around 2007-2008, when it was confirmed that it didn't make a difference and Mazda released that notice to dealers.

The original belief still persists however.

It's Mazda's notice, not mine, feel free to use it for whatever.

 

pic??

 

You should know that by now...lol

 

This is the latest TSB for OEM Coils...

 

WOW!!! That is the best story I ever heard. You got lucky on that find, do you have any pictures of the car? It's funny how the car was at a shop and nobody could tell it was flooded. I wouldn't bring my car to that shop. 1000$ I still can't believe it. You could put in a new engine from mazmart and still be in the money.

I would start by replacing coils, plugs, wires, clean MAF, clean ESS, reset fuel trims (20 brake pedal stomp), change oil, change air filter, maybe do a seafoam since it has been mistreated. That would be the single best tune up you can do and it's very cheap if you do it yourself. A few hundred bucks at most.

Good luck! Keep us posted!

 

looks better in the pics has quite a bit of rust around the rear quarter panels.

 

Well done,

Check the $100 thread in my sig for start up stuff.

 

Wow Awesome find.. Congratz.. I thought mine was good lol, I bought mine for 4k with 180k kms on it in Ajax Ontario. Now its at 230k kms.
Follow the expert advise of these rotor heads and you'll be fine :-)

all the best