Hello all. I've been lurking for a while now and reading about RX-8's. I wanting to find something 'interesting' as a second car and they seemed to fit the bill. I found a 2004 stick with 97k today. Exterior is a little rough in places but they took my offer of 6k so I don't feel like I got ripped off or anything.

 

Have the engine compression checked...

 

Welcome aboard! Post pics of your rx8, thanks!

 

I have plenty of interior parts for sale.

 

First thing I checked after getting it home was air filter as I had checked the oil before buying it. Turns out it has the dirtiest filter I've ever seen and also has some oil on it. So after reading about that on the forum I think I'm going to install a catch can. Hopefully that will prevent that from occurring again.

I had tested out the AC on it before buying, worked really good, but today I drove the car to work and it was chilly so I cranked the heat only to find there was none. So I guess either the control is bad or the mechanism that works the heater core. There are no low coolant lights and I paid close attention to the temp gauge which moved up to about the 50% position and stayed about there the whole time I've been driving it.

To top it off I went to start the car for lunch and now the check engine light is on. The car still seems to run fine thou. My brother in law has a code checker so I'm going to figure out what it's complaining about tonight.

Glad I paid 2-3k less than any other 8 that has been for sale in the area recently. I figured the car would probably need a bit of work anyway so this doesn't upset me TOO much.

Here we are BTW

 

Nice just enough room for your 2 little girls
P.S. you have lots of reading to do!!!!!!

 

looks nice sir hope you get a good compression in your engine =) when i get mine i was lucky the i have a great compression (i did the compression test month ago) cause i didnt asked about it wich is soo important in our cars hehe.
WELCOME!

 

Damn! Your tall lol and congrats

 

Grats!

I'm 6'4-1/2 and 300lbs; nice to see another tall fella rocking the RX8! I got an R3 with the sunroof delete so I get little extra head room.

 

Ya, I BARELY fit in the car but since this won't be my primary means of transportation it's perfect. I did find the codes for my check engine light, P0442 and P0456. So I'm just hoping its the gas cap. I cleared them so we'll see if they come back.

I still need to read more about the details of doing a compression test. I think I'm going to replace the spark plugs anyway here shortly.

Thanks for the warm welcome everyone. :D

 

welcome! and good job talking them down on the price
I also am throwing the gas cap code. kind of annoying. But not an issue whatsoever

 

Welcome.
Sounds like a good deal. You might want to change the wires & coils also while doing the plugs. It's a good idea to do them all together every 30k.
Read the new owner stickies if you have not done so.

Coolant gauge is borderline useless.
If you have an Android phone, you can get the Torque app, read codes, clear CEL, monitor your coolant temps, and many other functions.
Have fun!

 

I've been looking around at different coils as I do plan to replace them with the plugs and wires. Is there a big difference between coil brands?

That Torque app looks cool. Does the ELM model make much difference?

 

BHR coils are best. You can get a kit from Black Halo Racing

from what I've read they sell a LOT of good stuff for the 8.

If I can remember correctly they come with MSD plug wires, and have a 1 year warranty.

 

Just get your coils from advance auto parts--the OEM equivalents come with a lifetime warranty. Meaning when the lousy mounting bracket causes them to prematurely fail you can waltz on down and get a free replacement set.

BHR coils are great--I own a kit myself. I just can't recommend them without adjusting for dwell via a tune.

 

That's the one I have. Some people prefer the more expensive ones. There have been a few discussions about them.

 

I went ahead and picked up a ODBII Bluetooth dongle from Amazon. I also ordered new plugs, wires and coils from Advance Auto Parts as they are running a special, 15% off your order plus they give you a $25 coupon off your next order of $50 or more.

I really appreciate the pointers and I'm amazed at how much information is available on this site.

 

Welcome.

I have an 04 as well. Check out the First $100 thread in my signature. Lots of good and easy stuff that makes the car nice..

Also, there is a lower the seat mod out there too...

For a code reader, I really like the Ultra Gauge, I have one in each mazda (3). Give a real temp reading, lets you set alarms, tells you the trouble codes (you still have to look up), and lets you track MPG, which is a great way to track engine health..

Also, there is a DIY in the heater control **** out there as well.

Welcome..

 

Some great info in your post, thanks! I did the heater control **** fix last night.

I have a couple other questions. I just verified that my 8 does NOT have 'MAZDA SPECIAL PROGRAM (MSP16) - ENGINE LACK OF POWER - PCM REFLASH'. The dealer called Mazda to ask if they could perform the update for me but were denied so if I want it done I have to pay $75. I assume this is worth paying for?

Also my car only came with a single key, no remote. I was reading some posts about programming keys/remotes but it sounds like I would be unable to do this myself because I don't have two of them? The dealer wants $115 for a remote and something like $125 for another key.