Csay814

Hello everybody, first things first my name is chris and i bought a 2004 rx-8 about 5 months ago. For the most part i absolutely love the car. But as of last week it started giving me a headache with some problems. Also i am sorry for the lengthiness. But please read and try to help me.

so it starts out with no consistant issues, it had a missfire very rarely and would almost instantly go away pretty much since ive owned the car. Didnt really think much of it because like i said it always goes away almost as soon as it starts. Thats mainly just extra info incase its needed. But a few days ago it was running fine on my way home from work i parked it for the night, next day i left for work and it was seeming fine for a while then all of a sudden the rpms slowly started dropping, as well as my speed, on the freeway with cruise set. It was severely struggling to maintain speed. Then it got so bad that in gears 1, 2, 3, and neutral it wont rev past 6k, gears 4, 5, and 6 wont rev past 4k. Also it will only do so at 1/4 throttle. Anything over 1/4 throttle in lower gears the car gets super jumpy, as if it is cutting out, across the rpm range, and in higher gers sometimes is jumpy and is sometimes just non-exsistant.
i have changed the coils, plugs, wires, cleaned the maf, clead the throttle body, new filter, checked the bap. Every common suggestions given to people who had similar issues. Not exactly the same issues though.
after i did all that the issue still exsists and is worse because now when the car idles down from moving it stalls. It does start fine, and idle fine though. It only stalls when i come to a stop.
I am at a loss so if anyone could please help me that would be f$%&ing awsome. Thank you in advance.

sonicsdaman

iTrader: (3)

bap? how many miles are on the engine? did you have a compression check before you bought it? have you cleaned the ESS? did you do the 20brake stomp? vacuum leak test?

Have you read the new owners thread? <- if not read it about 12 times

have you looked at the cat? misfires(blinking cel) if not taken care of right away will damage/clog the cat which will kill the engine.

Csay814

Bap ---> Barometric air pressure sensor.

and there are 92k on the car, about 15k on rebuild. Likei said it was running perfectly fine. lots of power. Untill this random fluke. So i do know compression is there. I have not cleaned the ess yet. I will do so tonight when i get the chance.

I have read the thread as well as a whole bunch more before i even bought the car. And i have not tried the break stomp yet but ill give it a shot.

And with the cat, that was somethingi have been seeing a lot. I plan on checking that out as well tonight.

sonicsdaman

iTrader: (3)

The engine can run with crap compression it would have a hard time with idle/low rpms. only way to know for sure is a rotary specific compression test. I'm not saying it is compression but it's easy enough to check.

Clean the ess do the 20stomp and look over any and all vac lines, also double check the ignition components and make sure none of the wires are crossed, etc. Do you have any way of watching the ecu aka obdii scanner?

If you drove it today after you get home instantly look under the car from the driver side so you can see the side of the cat with the O2 sensor if you see anything cherry red its clogged. That doesn't mean that it's not restricting air flow if you don't see anything tho.

Another thing to consider would be fuel pump/injectors you could try a can of seafoam/lucas in the tank but it wont do much if the pumps going bad.

Csay814

I will check it, but it idle perfectly fine, smooth quiet, and right at 750 no fluctuations. And low rpm is the only place it has any power what so ever. Not that its much right now, but still. So it is something i can and will check but ill be honest i dont expect much issue here.


i deffinately will do this. As far as ignition components go, specifically with wire going to propper locations i checked, double checked and tripple checked all that when i did it, also the issue was there befor i even touched anything. And i am able to get it checked at autozone or a mechanic. A buddy of mine has a scan tool, but soonest id be able to use that is this weekend. I dontwant to wait that long. Might consider buying one.


i deffinately will do this. Everything ive been seeing im thinking, slightly hoping, this is the issue with it. Easy cheap fix compared to compression and/or severe electronic issues.


i did try some seafoam through the tank. Also i dont know if this means anything as for determining if any of that stuff is good or bad, but i have also noticed since the issue started i have been signifigantly going through more gas.

Also i appreciate all of the help.

Loki

iTrader: (1)

This all sounds like the cat. Do not drive the car like this, it will only damage the engine further.

Csay814

That would be good news for me.
and if i had a choice i wouldnt. But its my dd and i dont have another car. I baby the **** out of it thpugh when i have to drive it. And its only been like this for 2 or 3 days now.

Loki

iTrader: (1)

I get it, but you realize what you're risking, right?
​​​​​​
If it's good news because you intend to gut the cat, you may as well do that, you'll see if it's clogged once you take it off.

Csay814

i do unfortunately.. but like i said i dont have a choice.. and its good news because ive planned on deleting the cat anyways amd its a free fix for me as ill just cut the cat out and weld in a piece of straight pipe in its place myself. I really do appreciate the help too. I wont be able to get around to seeing if it work untill tomorrow but i deffinately will update if it does.

Csay814

i do unfortunately. But as i mentioned i dont have any choice..
good news because it free and easy for me to fix. and ive been wanting to delete the cat anyways, and all ill have to do is get the cat off the car, cut it off the pipe, weld in a piece of straight pipe. I have exhaust pipe sittin around in my garage and welding is what i do. Only reasons im sayin its good news. Lol.

I do appreciate all of the help. I wontgeta chance to see if it works untill tomorrow evening though but i deffinately will post an update when i find out.

Csay814

Just got done checking the cat, and dang that thing was plugged. No wonder why it had no power. I did the ole remove the honeycomb guts on it for now till i can weld up a new pipe for it and took it for a spin afterwards amd shes alive again. Crazy to think how much issues can come from a plugged cat. Deffinately a big thanks to loki

40th8Jake

More of an excuse for me to spend money on a midpipe from BHR. Glad to hear she’s okay!