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I've been lurking for a few weeks now, absorbing as much information as possible. I've been eyeing an 04 RX8 GT 6 speed and went ahead and pulled the trigger on it yesterday. It is extremely low mileage, and the body and interior are almost flawless. The previous owner was told by the dealer that he needed a new engine, so I got a pretty good deal on it. I've been working on cars, building cars, rebuilding cars since I was knee high to a grasshopper, so an engine rebuild doesn't worry me. I'm looking forward to it actually.
Anyhow, just thought I'd introduce myself. I know very well how the car message board thing works, I've been doing it since you could count the number of car message boards on the internet on one hand. I even own a bunch of them, the first of which dates back almost 17 years now. I probably won't be a great contributor because of the wealth of knowledge already on this site, but I'll do my best.
A rotary engine rebuild is NOT like any piston engine rebuild you have ever done. Most first time rebuilders, even with prior piston rebuilding experience, often deliver an engine that is DOA. Read up a lot before you even think of doing this. Cheers !
A rotary engine rebuild is NOT like any piston engine rebuild you have ever done. Most first time rebuilders, even with prior piston rebuilding experience, often deliver an engine that is DOA. Read up a lot before you even think of doing this. Cheers !
Believe me, I am definitely heeding your advice. In the many years I've been working on cars, I have learned many lessons the hard way. I won't so much as break out the engine hoist until I have read every article or post and watched every video I could, have all the proper tools, and have a decent budget to back me up.
Just a bit of an update. Along with all the usual cleaning of sensors, oil change and such, I also replaced the coils, plugs and wires. That really did the trick. I think the dealer may have been wrong about this car. I'm not calling it a win just yet though. I sent away for an oil analysis and will be doing a compression test in the next few days.
Congrats on the new car! She looks pretty clean. They are a good deal to be had especially if the previous owner thought it was an engine issue but it wasn't. I'm sure you will enjoy and appreciate her once you get her running up to how she was supposed to operate.
Hello Dave and welcome to the forum! Glad to have you here. Congrats on your RX8, it looks perfect! There is a ton of information about our platform with supporting vendors who can get you where you want to go. Hope you stick around and find this place useful!
I spoke to the service department that told the previous owner he needed a new engine. They did not have any record of compression test results. They either didn't save it, or they never did it.
When I first got the car it had no power and ran hot (It hit 230 on the highway before I shut it down). After changing the coils, plugs and wires, it pulls very well up to around 6000rpm, then it seems to fall off. It also now idles around 204 and runs around 212 on the highway (in the Arizona summer).
I picked up a CSF radiator and FAL fans for peace of mind during our 115 degree summer days. I'll change out the thermostat and clean the SSV when I install them. But even before I tear into it again, I'll be doing the compression test. I also sent out an oil analysis. The oil did not have any visible coolant in it though, and I don't get any air bubbles and such in the system. While I'm not counting out a bad coolant seal at this point, I'm leaning towards it being OK. Bad apex seal on the other hand, I'd rather not think about it yet.
I replaced (what was left of) the stock cat with a Magnaflow direct fit catalytic converter. I'll try to post my comments about it soon (for the most part it is positive). The car runs great now. Lots of power, smooth all the way up to red line. My guess is the previous owner was driving around on bad coils, which eventually destroyed the cat. Chalk another one up to a bad dealer telling an owner he needs a new engine when in fact he didn't.
So now I have a strong running car, but I'm not done yet. Since I live in hell,er,Arizona I picked up a CSF radiator, FAL fans, 76° thermostat, hoses, etc. Will be doing some kind of fan override, haven't decided which way to go with that yet. And I'm sure there will be lots more to come in the future.
First RX8, but not my first rodeo
Make sure that compression test is a rotary specific one. 
