MolecularConcept

hey guys im new to the forum. just bought my first Mazda Yesterday!!! an 06 RX8 with only 40K miles! super clean. and i LOVE IT! im an audiophile so ill be carrying my touchscreen pioneer over to this car and im having a few questions...

ive come accross 2 diff kinds of dash trim kits which will do

this one is the exspensive one

Mazda RX 8 Car Stereo Double 2 D DIN Radio Install Dash Kit Metra 95 7510 | eBay


heres the cheaper one

Double DIN Aftermarket Radio Stereo Installation Install Dash Kit Trim Mounting | eBay



also this is the important question... will the LCD display still work with an aftermarket stereo? like how it displays temp and the climate controll stuff??? obviously it wont have the radio info on it...



i want to say than you to the people ofthis site!!! i have found ALLL KINDS of info on here. i didnt know what exactly i got myself into untill i got home and found this site! since i got the car used and its got 40k miles ive already ordered the ignition coils, plugs and new wires! wouldnt have known about that without this site. im gonna flush the coolant before this week. oil was just changed and i have some heavy weight oil in the trunk to keep it topped off.

am i missing anything else? like what else should i put at the top of my maintenance list?


sorry for the long post

Colon Terminus

Welcome to the club ... we're here to help.


I can't address your stereo problem. If I were gonna change my sound system, and I'm not, I'd buy everything from Crutchfield due to their outstanding knowledge and help.


Things you'll want to do other than those mentioned.
Clean the IAT and MAF sensors.
Check and clean/replace the air filter.
Clean the throttle body.
Clean the ESS.
Inspect and maybe clean the SSV.


You'll find Do It Yourself (DIY) here on the forum for all of the above.


Use Google to search the forum, eg:
site:rx8club.com clean maf


After all of the above, go get a rotary specific compression test at your local Mazda dealer so you'll have peace of mind about the health of your engine.


Other than that, enjoy your 8. Drive the **** outta it and it'll reward you tenfold. Don't EVER baby it, except when the engine is cold. RX8's thrive on being driven hard.

Legot

iTrader: (1)

The cheaper kit doesn't have the electronics and harnesses that would get the AC controls, LCD, or speakers actually working with the new radio...

yapakanichi

Yea man you want the more expensive one that has all the proper harnesses.

MolecularConcept

I have the pioneer AVH X5700 BHS. It requires its own adaptor to keep steering wheel controlls. Your saying the more expensive kit will do that?

It also will allow me to keep the LCD display active. Oh yeah that was the only other thing wrong with the car the LCD occasionally goes haywire like theres a loose connection or something. I heard this was common?

I have the parts for the tune up bit I don't have a lot of tools I might have the garage swap them out when the finnish the allignment.

dmengel

Aftermarket radios are a headache. I think the factory sound system with some sort of FM transmitter works quite nicely.

Colon Terminus

Fergit the stereo ... go get a compression test at your local Mazda dealer. Make sure your engine is sound before you go investing a buncha money into auxiliaries.

MolecularConcept

For a audiophile an fm adapter is blasphemy. The investment has already been made I'm just movingn my pioneer into the rx8.

The car has a clean carfax only has 40k miles and its been garage kept and babied it belonged to some rich dudes wife they traded it in for her dream car some lexus convertable.it hasnt been beat on do you rwally think a compression test is absolutely necessary? Anyone have a ballpark estimate for this ? And thanks everyone for chiming in here I really love responsive forums!

Colon Terminus

Yes, a rotary specific compression test is an absolute NECESSITY. The cost should be between $100-$150 at your local Mazda dealer. It's the only way you can know for absolute certain that your engine is healthy.


Rotary engines require 2 things to maintain health. Regular maintenance and aggressive driving. From what you describe, the car probably had the first ... maybe not the last. Rotaries want you to regularly take 'em out and thrash the **** outta 'em. That's one of the things that make 'em so lovable.

Legot

iTrader: (1)

Absolutely! Babied rotary engines do not last long. It should be a little over $100 at a Mazda dealer, normal shops aren't equipped to compression test a rotary.

MolecularConcept

Alright that dosent sound bad ill get that done. Thanks guys!

Is there a fix for the lcd display going on the fritz? Or just Replace it?

Legot

iTrader: (1)

There's probably an issue with the connector going to it being loose, I remember some people with that problem but I can't find the post. If it works sometimes it shouldn't need to be replaced.

MolecularConcept

Made an appointment for thurdsay for compression test.

MolecularConcept

okay so i had the compression test


rotor 1... 7.4,7.4,7.7 kgf/cm2
rotor 2... 7.0,6.6,6.6 kgf/cm2

rotor 2 is just under min specs

i was tlaking with the dude for a while he recommends to decarb it, ZOOM engine cleaner is illegal now so it said obtain locally, but the tech has a few cans at home he said hed bring one in and do my car! and hell do another compression test after to see how it worked, he said he wouldnt charge for the second compression test, i thougt that was cool. so i came home and did the sea foam treatment. i want to run some steam through it too and probly seafoam it again lol and then friday hell do zoom cleaner and well see how all this cleaning goes! maybe the secone seafoaming is excessive??

my NGK plug wires finally came in so i went and got an estimate to see how much the local garage would cost to do the replacemnt job as its been wicked hot and humid lately...they wanted 80 dollars just to replace the coils plugs and wires! something that would take them all of 20mins to do F**K that! Went home and did it in an hour, swaeting my nuts off.... when i pulled the plugs they were pretty well carbonized so i can deduce that , htat is what is causeing my compression problems. (well its not really even a "problem" per se')

when i bought the car dude said it could be run on regular gas... so thats what the previous owner was doing regular gas and driving like a sissy carbed it up......now I have her she gets what she needs premium gas and i ride her like she needs to be ridden! and really the car drives great i only got the test done cause you guys recommended it and im glad i got it done just to know where im at with it

anyone run steam through thier 8's? advice?

Legot

iTrader: (1)

Useless if they didn't include an RPM number for each rotor.

MolecularConcept

sorry forgot to include that 1, was 258 and 2 was , 259 rpms