TL;DR- I'm an idiot and cut the side seals too short, put in some pre-cut ones and car is amazing again.

A long time ago I posted up with some engine issues in this thread:

https://www.rx8club.com/new-member-f...m-loss-260466/

The car was dying after it had warmed up unless I kept throttle applied, it overheated (or nearly did), and there was a sputter at higher rpms. I think I put about 40 miles on it, using the handbrake to stop (I was desperate) I have since taken the engine out and did a (re)re-build which I finished up a few months and a few thousand miles ago.

Something wasn't sitting right with me and I wanted to replace my Atkins solid corner seals with the OEM 2 piece ones, so I pulled the engine again and took it apart. Since it was already apart I decided to check the tolerance on the seals that I had put in.

As I was going through it I found that my side seals were way too short, well out of tolerance. The side seals I had used were the Atkins Cryo treated ones that you had to cut to length. I am not sure how, but I trimmed too much off. I already had the 2 piece corner seals, so I ordered some pre-cut side seals from Mazdatrix. They fit perfectly (go figure)

While I was at it I replaced the fuel pump with a Deatschwerks DW300- I figured my stock one was nearing its end of life- and I replaced the SSV because that sputter was worrying me. And I replaced the passenger radiator fan motor. I noticed that the passenger side fan was not spinning when it should have been, hence my overheating.

Well that was a few thousand miles ago! My 8 is running amazingly well now- starts right up, hot or cold. No sputter all the way to 10k (thank you Racing Beat), no overheating, no leaks, oil pressure is good, everything!

This forum was a huge help to me in getting it running, and I will be visiting more and more as I start looking into upgrading my suspension.

 

If anyone has any questions about what else I did or if you want to call me a retard for messing up the first time, go for it.

 

Well, no one seems to want to, so...
You're a retard!





Jk.

I think attempting a rebuild is commendable, and admitting you're mistake is helpful to the entire forum.
Good job.

 

Hard lesson learned but glad you saw it thru. Most would have thrown in the towel.

People assume a rotary rebuild is easier than a typical piston engine rebuild until they actually rebuild a rotary and that it's not so simple to do right.

 

 

Yeah I just kind of jumped into it... I was ill prepared, and I knew it, but I had a bit of extra cash and time so I thought "what the heck?" 5/7, would do again!

I was one of those people... When I saw the plethora of components in the rebuild kit, I knew I was in a bit over my head! But it was fun and look forward to learning more about the RX8s!
You and the other senior members were a huge help in sorting through it! I've read through tons of old posts trying to figure out what's going on.

@NotAPreppie
I see you quoted my spirit guide...

 

Making mistakes is part of life......

The trick is learning from them and not making the same ones again 😉

The learning is a lot easier when you don't have your head up your butt

Good job on getting it sorted out

 

Oh my head definitely hovers right around my toothless wonder... trying to keep it out is tough sometimes!

And thank you! It is extremely gratifying having it running again. Hopefully one day I can actually contribute some knowledge to the forum.