Loss of Power and Timing
 

Hi all - I'm a newbie here. I have a Series 2 (2011 plate) RX-8 we have owned since new, and it has always been kept in excellent condition, serviced on time, etc etc.

The FP rings were replaced by recall two weeks ago and a routine service carried out (have always used Mazda Service only) a month earlier. Car has always run really well. About 70k on the clock. Manual 6sp petrol.

So, coming back from a 100km or so mountains trip (Springbrook, Qld) - noting that during the trip up and back with 17% inclines everything went fine - when get back to flat ground about 30kms outside Brisbane on the highway, a slight shuddering starts in the engine, the CEL is on (flashing) and the antiskid light is lit and stays lit. Car still runs and does 100km/h on flat but doesn't recognise accelerator depression further than about a centimetre and has no power going up inclines (small highway inclines) - can drop back a gear to get more revs but not much power difference. Kept driving gingerly to Brisbane and no further issue but constantly as above. Then, arriving in the city in Brisbane have 2 kms to drive home at regular city speeds. Stopping at lights and moving off in 1st gear, engine sounds like I've tried to start off in 3rd gear and limps across intersections but gathers momentum and drives (albeit very low revs and slowly) but still a little shaky. Idling in neutral without clutch in makes a tick tick tick sound, but depressing clutch removes the tick, but still as shuddery - feels like misfiring or sparkies not getting fuel.

So, limped home and turned off. No bad smells (smells like it was a bit warm in the engine but I didn't think unusually so, and just came off the highway - although my wife (her car) thought it smelled a little unusual), no fuel or other liquid leakage, no overheating - nothing awful except that experience.

Leave it 3 days and have it towed to Mazda Service - although switching it on to go a few metres to the towie the car was fine, engine sounded healthy and apparently had heaps of revs/power and didn't shudder or sound sick at all --- still had it towed to be safe.

We get to Mazda Service, drive it into their workshop, leave it with them after giving them full description.

Two days later they still can't find anything wrong with her - they say she runs fine and literally have no idea what was wrong with her.

Clearly I'm no mechanic, but wouldn't there be codes available to them to show why the CEL and ASL came on? Anyone else had this issue?

Don't want to "not trust" our car if I get it back from them with a shrug of their shoulders ...

Yes they should have found codes. Unless it's an electrical problem and the battery was disconnected and all codes lost. What have they tested or tried while with the car? Compression test? There are troubleshooting steps in the shop manual they should be able to follow to at least narrow down which problems it's*not*.

On initial description I was going to say the usual - ignition coils. But it sounds like there's a bit more to it, ignition coils don't just come back to life and don't cause traction control to light up. Are the battery terminals nice and tight?

Do you have a rotary specialist bear that's not Mazda? Or a Mazda dealer that has a proper rotary tech?

With the TSC light and shuddering and reduced responsiveness, I'd suggest it's possible that the alternator ground or some power distribution issue may have come loose and reseated itself after everything cooled down. It's a wild guess, but it's worth a shot if you have no other leads.

Thanks So Far ...
 

Thanks for your responses so far - will check these things with Mazda (who has still not come back to me yet so in other words not discovered an issue)

@Loki - not sure whether they have a rotary tech at Mazda Newstead (but a lot of shrugging shoulders and "no idea" goes on it seems). I don't personally know any rotary specialists but would gladly take an introduction if you know anyone in Brisbane, Qld, Australia who falls into that category? You don't fancy coming over from Montreal briefly do you? :)

I've had plenty of people mention "My mate Dave is a great mechanic so he'll know all about it" but I'm no so keen to let "Dave" loose on anything unless I know he is indeed a rotary guru.

@BluSpectre - it might be a wild guess but it's also the best (well, the only, but still!) guess so far. Have left a message for the Mazda tech to give me a call and I might helpfully suggest this as a rabbit hole to jump down ...

@Loki - apologies if you get this message twice - I did a Quick Reply but it doesn't seem to have gone through - so try again!

I don't know whether Mazda Newstead (here in Brisbane, Qld, Australia) has a rotary tech specialist but I would imagine so. That said, I don't know any non-Mazda rotary techs personally. Plenty of friends have suggested "My mate Dave is a mechanic so he'll know all about it" but I'm obviously not keen to let any "Dave"s loose until I know they're properly a rotary guru. I don't suppose you're due a visit over here from Montreal are you? :)

Anyhow, I'll keep you informed ...

The End Result
 

Hi all again. So, (un)fortunately, Mazda was unable after 70kms of driving and 3 days to find anything wrong with the car. Ok, great. Maybe.

I specifically asked about the codes after the CEL and ACS lights had been on but they said the computer had not stored any codes at all. I said that seems odd after there clearly having been a fault and the CEL flashing and ACS staying lit for 30 kms, and they agreed that was odd but said no codes were stored on the computer at all so they had literally nothing to go off other than my description.

I mentioned (thanks @BluSpectre ) the possibility that alternator ground or distribution issue may have come loose but reseated itself after cooling down, but she said the techs found nothing (and clearly had no idea what I just said).

I asked how the codes could disappear if the battery was never disconnected but she drew a blank there too. They seem to do that a lot.

Anywho - perhaps off to speak to an actual rotary expert ... maybe I can drive there ... ?

Where are you located? I'm going to assume you are in Europe by how everything is in metric. Maybe we can help pin down a local rotary expert for you...

I'm in Australia - Brisbane, Queensland to be exact.

In a nut shell, basically the US is 1 of 3 countries left that still officially uses Imperial measurement.
Countries that Officially use Imperial Standard

The rest of the world is metric.
A few of the colonial countries like Canada are officially metric, but all us old timers refuse to let certain things go, specifically weight, and temperature are often spoken in Imperial measurements.
I suspect Australia might be similar.
You'll also see a mixed bag in the UK, though their Imperial is not the same as the US Imperial measurement.
Simple eh? :Eyecrazy: :dunno:

That tick tick noise could be spark leaking on the ignition leads. That is also the kind of fault that can come and go as mentioned. With that many kms you should just replace coils, leads and plugs anyway (if not done already) so just do that and see if problem disappears.

Yeah, I get it. We're still stuck with stone age measurements. IDK, I was trying to figure out what continent they were in so I could search some rotary shops within a few thousand miles or something.

​​​​​​Rotaries are much more popular over in Australia than in the US. Over here, it's just constant berating and "Haha rotary bad" and "LS swap that peice if shit before your 5th rebuild or your basic dealer warranty expires" and I'm honestly kinda fed up with the US car scene.

Auzzies have some killer burnout builds!