im having problem with my rx8.
its a 2009 6 speed manual.
it seems as if every so often when i try to turn my car on, no lights no sound nothing comes on...so i have to push it down hill and kick the clutch with the gear in 1st to actually jump my whole car back alive. its like im rejuvenating the battery back to life.
Does anybody understand what is going on here?
For example: im going to my garage in the morning to get in my car to drive to work. and as i stick my key inside the ignition and crank it. i see the lights on for maybe half a second and it all blacks out. My friend who works on bmw's says it may be a shortage or alternator...
what can it be?

 

with only 35,000 miles

 

Perhaps the battery is on its way out.
If you don't have a battery tester, take your battery to auto parts store to check battery health.

 

i just had my battery exchanged. (not a very good brand)
does the brands matter?

 

^^ It does matter. Could be a number of reasons the car doesn't wanna start.

1.Starter
2.Power to starter
3.Battery
4.Bad ground

Swap battery if that doesn't work diagnose the starter and check the wire going to it.

 

so for sure its not the alternator? i replaced my battery maybe 3 months ago. it was a fresh one and it did turn on right away the moment after i changed it. but i guess i have to change it again?

 

Replace your coils, plugs, and wires. They can easily cause a hard start problem, and you are past due for replacement anyway.

Other possible causes are:
weakening starter (and a superbly fresh battery just barely gives it enough juice to start the car)
failing compression (and a fresh battery bumps the starter speed up just enough)
something is draining your battery
grounding problem that doesn't let full current through.

 

i've seen the mazda rx8 tune up package, but i dont know if its trust worthy..
i rather keep my rx8 all oem if possible.
04-11 Rx8 Tune Up Kit (ARE59)
what do you guys think? have you guys seen this kit?

 

1) You can buy all 4 BWD coils, 4 OEM (NGK) plugs, and 4 OEM (NGK) wires from Advance Autoparts for around $190 after discounts, shipped to your door for free.

2) The K&N filter is a bad idea. The OEM filter is far better at fitlration (race teams were blowing engine due to sand ingestion on the K&N filter, went back to OEM and the problems stopped), and it flows plenty of air. The 450hp 3-rotor Grand Am RX-8s ran the same OEM filter that you have in your street RX-8. They flow PLENTY.

 

Test your alternator to see if you can (somewhat) rule that out:
BTW, how often do you drive the car? Do you have a monster amp or some other huge electricity hog?

 

@dynamho no i do not have anything added to my 8.
its pure stock and clean. @RIWWP: yes thanks RIWWP, i will try that one out. changing out my wires coils plugs and clean filter. i was pretty close ordering the K&N Filter, thinking its tougher and flows better than oem..@Phil B, i have no idea what your talking about...
i just plugged in ODM II diagnostic computer from Snap-on Tools.
It's reading "o2 sensor" going bad and Nothing about any electrical problems or engine management area..is this right?

 

or maybe my ODB isn't able to read most of it...

 

OBD2 isn't going to give you much of anything useful for this problem.

 

Obd2*

 

In addition to all the recommendations above, make sure your batter cables are tight and secure as well as grounding cables...check them all.

 

yes im wondering if this battery terminal swap would do better.
Autocraft Top Post Battery Terminals, Toolless-AC188/A14049 - Advance Auto Parts

 

I purchase an 04' RX8 on 10/31/03 red 6sp GT. During the 9yrs of ownership I did everything necessary to maximize its longevity eg.rev. to near redline every time driven,changed oil every 2500 to 3000 miles, changed coils and spark plugs every 30,000 miles,and now with 144,000 miles on it its a beautiful sparkling red useless sports car with worn apex seals which results in compression so low it won't even start. According to the dealer it will cost $6,000 dollars to drive it again.I used to be a great admirer of this car but with other Japanese sports cars (Nissan Z, Infinity coup) just breaking in at this mileage I wonder how the manufacturers of the Renesis 13B can sleep at night. Is there anyone out there who has acquired more than 150,000 miles on a Renesis 13B or even 135,000 miles. If so how does it perform? ..... Former Admirer Of The Rotary.

 

You can do a lot better than a dealer quote, under $4,000 is easily doable, under $3,000 is possible.

No manufacturer every has designed their car to last forever. No part lasts forever, no engine does, etc... Remember that the original warranty on the engine was only 60,000 miles. Looked at in another way, Mazda only had confidence that the engine would last 60,000 miles. You put over twice that on the engine, and were generally lucky to have gotten that much out of it, given the rate of engine replacement. Remember that "RX" stands for "rotary experimental". Yes, it means that you put 144,000 miles on a companies experiment that they only expected to last 60,000 miles.

I'm fairly sure that they sleep just fine.


Start reading here: https://www.rx8club.com/rx-8-discuss...e-club-210536/

 

So back when cars were warranteed for 1 year/12000 miles that's all they expected them to last?

I made out like a bandit with cars I bought back then!

Ken

 

Actually yes.

At the very basic level, when a company issues a warranty for something, they are saying "I have designed this to last at least <this> long, and if it breaks before then, then I will accept legal and financial responsibility to repair it."

When you start viewing all warranties like this, it starts putting another perspective on all those cars with really low warranty periods. Like Porsche, the longest they offer is 3yrs 36k, and do some digging on their motor troubles with the Boxster, a motor that costs $15,000+. Look at the warranty periods for Ferarri, Lamborghini, etc... There are a whole host of cars that are really NOT designed to last even a "reasonable" period in today's standards. That doesn't mean that they are expected to fail early, but that the manufacturer has no illusions about how long they do expect them to last, and isn't willing to cover them past that period.

One of the arguments that typically comes back toward me from the above perspective is that the owners of those cars are somehow paying extra for cars that aren't expected to last. I call BS. Yes, the people that can afford most of those cars typically aren't hurting on money or resources to deal with the problems post-warranty, but that doesn't suddenly mean that those cars are exempt from the same basic expectations. It's the owner's what have a different perspective, not the hardware on the car.


To look at the Renesis's lifespan in yet a different way...

Mazda got ~232hp out of a 1.3L engine. Go get a 1.3L piston engine and do what it takes to get 232hp out of it without increasing the displacement. It doesn't matter what you do to get there, that engine will almost certainly:
- Have a significantly shorter lifespan
- Have heat management problems that need to be addressed
- Have trouble passing emissions

Sound familar?

 

Just a thought could it be your key is no longer working and the security system is shutting down the car to prevent theft? I've got a 95 Oldsmobile with the crap security system and when it decides it's not going to accept the key it shuts down almost every thing.