hoole

Hey all. First thanks for taking the time to check this out and hopefully help me out. I'm out of ideas and just making sure there isn't anything I missed. So here we go...

Car: 2004 Rx-8

Mods: Weapon-R Secret CAI, kenwood dnx 6400 head unit, upgraded starter, COBB AP stage 1 mapping. And that's all I know of (bought it used)

Problems: Dies at idle or in neutral while hot, cannot be restarted until whole vehicle has cooled down, can be restarted hot if still moving and car is put back into gear above ~ 8 MPH.

AC doesn't work. Compressor turns on intermittently

Cruise control doesn't work unless vehicle is warm.

Power loss through entire power band. Varying degrees of loss depending (seemingly) on all kinds of factors such as engine temperature, vehicle speed, and RPM, higher RPMs are not as bad as the mid range, and we all know the low end power of the 8 leaves something to be desired for the most part.

Misfires at ~ >6500 RPM no DTC left behind, just the CEL flashing.

every now and then theres a lunging/vibration that seems to modulate in direct relation to speed that is intermittent at highway speeds.

DTC P0610 is chronic and will reappear after being cleared and even after stock style flash is restored.

DTC P0000

I used to have the DTC for SSV stuck, no longer appears after a whole tank of spirited driving.

attempts made at repair: Fuel pump replaced with a Detchwerks 200 pump

Ignition coils replaced (3 of the 4 were not sparking, this was tested the old school way with a screwdriver and insulated pliers, 1-3 (front to rear) were not arcing while the 4th was)

Reset ECU via AP

disconnected battery and mashed the brakes reconnected battery

Verified starter was functioning properly (autozone tested it and said it was fine)

Verified all intake fittings were snug and plumb

Verified vacuum fittings were snug and plumb

Verified fluid levels were correct and apparently free of contaminants (no grit in oil, coolant of good color, mixture of coolant of good quality etc)

Seafoam directly into the little nipples on the intake manifold followed with a small amount of 2 cycle engine oil to help keep everything lubed up nicely. Smoke show was white in color and dense.

I've searched and searched my *** off and I can't find any other possibilities other than what the title implies. My next step is to let it idle for as long as it will and see if the CAT starts glowing red hot. Ipso facto it (the CAT has an appointment with a rubber mallet and a pipe to bust out the laminate/ honeycomb. If not it's on a compression test. I also have to get someone with a wire testing set to see if those are still good. I'll check to see if there's a cracked or fouled plug while I'm in there. Other than that I'm at a loss. Anyone have any other ideas?

hoole

I forgot to include that I also used to get a DTC for: evaporative emission system leak (small) only once I saw gross leak on there and it wasn't when I was replacing the fuel pump. I haven't seen it in quite some time now (months)

RIWWP

iTrader: (2)

That intake needs to go. Seriously. The Weapon-R intake is the worst brand name intake you can get for the RX-8, and has been proven to cause power loss, idle stablity problems, misfires, possibly MAF CEL codes, etc...

The problems with it:
- No MAF screens
- Pulls hotter air than the stock airbox, not cold air
- A bend too close to the MAF
- Inlet isn't properly designed
- Filter isn't properly designed
- MAF isn't properly placed.

The only way you can do worse is if you get a no-name e-bay intake. (and there are only 2 intakes that are better than the stock intake, the others just suck less than the Weapon-R, but are still worse than the stock)

Until you fix that, it's going to mask any other problems.

The only other thing that stood out is that no where did you mention replacing the coils, plugs, or wires, or how old they are.

hoole

Ignition coils were replaced 2 days ago. Wires and plugs were replaced in October 2013. They still have <10,000 on them. I also forgot to mention my car has ~ 111,XXX miles on it. And I'll throw the stock box back on if I still have all of the parts for it around and see if that helps... I did mention the coils though, second item under attempts made at repair and also described why it was I replaced them.

RIWWP

iTrader: (2)

So you did, sorry I missed that.

Intake first, compression test second. Some of your symptoms don't fit the intake, and some of your symptoms don't fit compression failure, but between the two I think it would cover most of them. No cruise control and no AC sound like separate issues, though I guess a PCM issue could actually cause those too. It would be the first time I've heard of a cruise control intermittant failure though.

hoole

Yeah, the cruise thing is odd I thought too. I need to see if there's a way to test it out other than verifying all of the wires are securely seated in the harnesses. Well I do still have all of the pieces for the stock box. I'm gonna replace, reset, and see what happens.... Right after I find a diagram for where what hoses go where, because google ninja.

hoole

Just put the stock air box in... still running like ****. Uploading some videos to youtube now so all can see.

RIWWP

iTrader: (2)

The Weapon-R messes with the MAF, which will have a direct impact on your fuel trims, which are now wildly out of wack most likely. Reset the fuel trims too (though keep in mind the idle will probably be unstable for a few drive cycles). And make sure ALL vacuum lines are connected correctly, including the ones under the airbox.

Again, I'm not saying that the intake is your only problem, but it certainly isn't helping diagnosis since it adds issues of it's own.

hoole

no idea what the knocking noise is btw. I'll have to drive it around a bit so I can actually put a load on it to see if the cat get's red hot. I did notice while I was down there that there are some holes drilled in it and a dent in a spot or two. You might be able to see what I'm talking about in the video.

RIWWP

iTrader: (2)

Your engine is done. That throbbing/knocking noise sounds like you have a rotor hitting the housing, which usually only happens with a significant e-shaft bearing problem.

The points around the O2 sensor in the cat are just the anchor points for the O2 sensor shield, which is missing on yours:

hoole

and that of course is what causes it to idle like crap, run like crap, and sound like crap. Options?

RIWWP

iTrader: (2)

A replacement engine. I wouldn't even bother trying to rebuild that one. It's unlikely that a single part would be re-useable.

And frankly, you don't have a good outlook. The 4-port AT (that you have) is more expensive as a reman, less common in partouts/junkyards, etc... For example the 6-port MT from Mazmart is $3,300, the 4-port is $4,500.

It's likely that you will spend more out of pocket than the car will be worth even with a replacement engine (given the year, mileage, and least desireable engine)

Do some homework, don't just rely on what I'm telling you, but if I was in your shoes, I'd part out the car for as much cash as I could get back and then junk it. (or hopefully find someone that wants a roller, maybe to try an engine swap, and is willing to pay ~$2k+ for it)

hoole

Automatic transmission? I have a manual.... Unless you see something I don't lol.

RIWWP

iTrader: (2)

Oh, whoops, confusing you with another guy I was responding to... sorry That would both reduce the cost of engine replacement and increase the value of the car with a new engine, so it becomes more viable.

Cheapest new (reman) option is Mazmart, $3,300 + shipping + $1,000 core. You would want to discuss that core with Paul before committed to anything there, because they may not deem your engine as a re-usable core to get the refund. Check dealer prices too, since some dealers will actually charge $3,300-$3,500 for the engine itself, though most charge another $1,000-$1,200 more. Their labor cost is sometimes reasonable too, though often not. $6,000 is the cheapest dealer all-in replacement that I've seen.

hoole

Gotcha, well the other part is that I still owe $2440 on the loan. So if I get rid of it I need to make AT LEAST that much out of it.

hoole

stealership has the car. They said that there is a reman pcm in it, the starter is drawing 250 amps and spinning half as fast as it should and there is an excessive knocking sound coming from the engine.

they want to put a new starter in and put the newest flash as well as reset it to "same day as manufacture." before they compression test it.

my thoughts are that regardless of the flash and starter, they should be able to run the compression test and tell me if its even worth doing all of that right?

Loki

iTrader: (1)

Oh the ole "remove excessive knocking sound" flash. Yes, that could work.
Especially if you're paying out of pocket for all this, get a comp test first and foremost. For sure things will spin slowly if it's grinding bearing chunks against housings.

hoole

they said the starter isn't spinning the flywheel fast enough for the engine to build compression so a compression test would be both impractical and inaccurate....riiight.

Loki

iTrader: (1)

While that makes sense, you say you have problems starting hot not starting at all. So you must be building some kind of compression. It's not ideal, but they could do a cold comp test.

hoole

Exactly! How the shiite is replacing the starter and a reflash/reset going to get rid of my hot start problem? No answer to that besides "well it could be flooding out when it's hot" so next I'm going to hear that I need a new fuel pump. Then I'm going to need a new PCM, then finally I'm going to hear that I need a new engine.... $4,500 later.

hoole

good news: It's the PCM (dead) that's making it die. Bad news, it still sounds like ****. But I did forget to mention that my AC goes on and off sporadically, well more like stays off and kicks on every now and then for about 2 seconds. Good news again, they only want $1,300 to fix it.