New Owner SAFE Question and Answer thread
08-02-2013, 04:24 PM
#1002
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I put a ground kit on early this week and it seems to have smoothed the idle out and made the engine much more responsive. Best 40 bucks I have spent so far.
08-02-2013, 08:15 PM
#1003
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Do you mind sharing where you bought your kit.
08-02-2013, 10:23 PM
#1004
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I got it from Z-Enterprises
I would just like to point out to any one new that I am not claiming you will get any kind of performance increase from these. I saw a performance increase and smoother idle because I must have had a preexisting ground issues that these corrected.
I would just like to point out to any one new that I am not claiming you will get any kind of performance increase from these. I saw a performance increase and smoother idle because I must have had a preexisting ground issues that these corrected.
buying second hand
08-05-2013, 05:11 AM
#1006
https://www.rx8club.com/new-member-f...t-here-202454/
It is a well written and mostly complete introduction for a person like you.
08-05-2013, 07:06 AM
#1007
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Had my first missfire last Friday. The closest dealer was about 12 miles away. I made it to the dealer, but I have two questions: During the 12 mile drive, "something would catch" the tach would go up, and the CEL would stay on, is this typical? also, did I do any damage by driving it 12 miles to the dealer?
08-05-2013, 09:19 AM
#1008
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With just 12 miles, chances are the only damage will be to your wallet as the dealer overcharges you on diagnostics and replacing parts that you can get far cheaper and replace easily.
If you have actually been misfiring for a while and it only then started flashing (the ECU doesn't see all misfires), then you could already be down the line of cat damage.
If you have actually been misfiring for a while and it only then started flashing (the ECU doesn't see all misfires), then you could already be down the line of cat damage.
08-06-2013, 01:32 PM
#1009
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Ok, I am posting this because I am still a newbie to this car, and I know that so many threads have been posted on the topic. I have spent several hours the past few days reading about the debates between synthetic and conventional oil.
Here are the details on my car: My car is a 2004. It has 54k miles on the original engine. It was taken care of very nicely. The oil on the dipstick is still a lovely golden color after 3k miles since the last oil change. The previous owner said he changed it with Idemitsu, though the top off qt bottle he gave me was Mobil-1, and he owned it for maybe 10k miles. I have no history on it prior, and obviously, I'm well beyond warranty.
I want to change the oil. I want to keep this car running as long as I can. I read about people saying don't switch to synthetics after 30k because deposits will break free and destroy your compression, but your engine only dies like 20k miles after the switch or something like that. I realize that synthetics, due to their higher flash point, have a greater chance of poisoning the cat. On the other hand, synthetics are supposed to run a truer thickness at lower (startup) temperatures, and this car will be driven in the winter, as it is my DD. Also, I redline it every day in 2nd gear on the on-ramp to my highway after the car is warmed up.
Really, all I want to do is the smart thing for my engine, fully cognizant of the unknown sudden deaths that the series-I engine has inexplicably had.
Given my scenario, and the fact that I'd have to get my oil from a local joint here (which then rules out the Idemitsu), please just give me your recommendation as to should I keep it synthetic or should I go dino? My gut was for synthetic 5-30... Please, I didn't want to get flamed or told to read the 2k posts on the cumulative thread. I did read the early pages as well as pages 75 onwards to see what people were saying about long term tests using synthetics...I saw some cool photos of oil analyses from that russian BMW site, but my question remains, and I just don't want to get flamed for beating a dead horse.
Here are the details on my car: My car is a 2004. It has 54k miles on the original engine. It was taken care of very nicely. The oil on the dipstick is still a lovely golden color after 3k miles since the last oil change. The previous owner said he changed it with Idemitsu, though the top off qt bottle he gave me was Mobil-1, and he owned it for maybe 10k miles. I have no history on it prior, and obviously, I'm well beyond warranty.
I want to change the oil. I want to keep this car running as long as I can. I read about people saying don't switch to synthetics after 30k because deposits will break free and destroy your compression, but your engine only dies like 20k miles after the switch or something like that. I realize that synthetics, due to their higher flash point, have a greater chance of poisoning the cat. On the other hand, synthetics are supposed to run a truer thickness at lower (startup) temperatures, and this car will be driven in the winter, as it is my DD. Also, I redline it every day in 2nd gear on the on-ramp to my highway after the car is warmed up.
Really, all I want to do is the smart thing for my engine, fully cognizant of the unknown sudden deaths that the series-I engine has inexplicably had.
Given my scenario, and the fact that I'd have to get my oil from a local joint here (which then rules out the Idemitsu), please just give me your recommendation as to should I keep it synthetic or should I go dino? My gut was for synthetic 5-30... Please, I didn't want to get flamed or told to read the 2k posts on the cumulative thread. I did read the early pages as well as pages 75 onwards to see what people were saying about long term tests using synthetics...I saw some cool photos of oil analyses from that russian BMW site, but my question remains, and I just don't want to get flamed for beating a dead horse.
08-06-2013, 01:46 PM
#1010
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Stick with what you have or go higher viscosity. All oils are synthetic in nature, even the ones not labeled synthetic. There is no true non-synthetic within the oil weight ranges our cars use.
Lots of mis-impressions in that post though, but I'll leave it at that.
Lots of mis-impressions in that post though, but I'll leave it at that.
08-06-2013, 04:08 PM
#1012
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Generally, yes. The higher oil weights are better.
If you go through the oil analysis thread, Mobile 1 0w40 consistently posts the lowest wear rates of oils tested.
If you go through the oil analysis thread, Mobile 1 0w40 consistently posts the lowest wear rates of oils tested.
08-07-2013, 01:34 PM
#1013
I've been running royal purple 5w20 synthetic. . Is that a proper how's the results and wear on this type of oil. The shop who built my new engine recommended me the rp oil after break in. Since they filled it with ams oil 5w20 synthetic
08-08-2013, 10:02 AM
#1015
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From what alot of dealers as well as great mechanics have told me, you should never run a synthetic through rotary engines. They burn oil faster than piston and full synthetics like Royal Purple isn't good for the engine. Any name brand 5w20 conventional will do great. Castrol GTX is what I use personally for my Shinka
08-08-2013, 10:06 AM
#1016
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From what alot of dealers as well as great mechanics have told me, you should never run a synthetic through rotary engines. They burn oil faster than piston and full synthetics like Royal Purple isn't good for the engine. Any name brand 5w20 conventional will do great. Castrol GTX is what I use personally for my Shinka
You will realize how inaccurate that statement is
We inject oil by design. The rate of oil burn won't be affected by the type or weight of oil in your engine, because it's forced injection at a specified rate. This is a complicated and expensive system that was deliberately designed by Mazda and you will destroy your motor if you were to bypass it for any reason. You MUST have oil injection.
The "higher oil burn" from piston engines is entirely unintentional, and is referring to how the synthetics will tend to slip past piston rings more easily, resulting in burn off.
So not only do we not have piston rings to deal with trying to save our oil from being burned, but we deliberately inject it and do not want to reduce the oil injection rate for any reason.
08-08-2013, 10:23 AM
#1017
If I may add, the oil that is injected and burned is used to lubricate the seals on the rotor. The amount that is burned changes with engine load.
The base stock of synthetic oil is the same as conventional oils. I use Shell Rotella Synthetic (blue jug) in all my vehicles.
The base stock of synthetic oil is the same as conventional oils. I use Shell Rotella Synthetic (blue jug) in all my vehicles.
08-09-2013, 07:19 PM
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Potential Owner noobish Questions
I'm dead set on buying an RX-8, it'll be my first car but i've looked around a bit on this site and have a better understanding on what will go into that. I had some questions though on how well it would work as my main mode of transportation.
First off i live out in the country right off a highway and only 4 miles from where i work, so i'll get a bit of a chance to get some higher speed driving than city folk on a daily basis but i read you should let the engine warm before 'rough' driving would turning out my driveway and bolting to 65 be considered rough? or harm the car?
also only getting about 8 to 10 miles on it a day be a good or bad thing? and how would that work with all of the stuff i should have done by 30,000 miles? Would i just do when i get close to 30,000 miles or more of after an elapsed instead?
Also im a bit hesitant on buying an '04 or '05 but (they're the only ones in to my price range atm) from the fact they have higher failure rates do you know roughly what the failure rate is? and how i could find out if im about to buy a $8,000 yard ornament or not?
First off i live out in the country right off a highway and only 4 miles from where i work, so i'll get a bit of a chance to get some higher speed driving than city folk on a daily basis but i read you should let the engine warm before 'rough' driving would turning out my driveway and bolting to 65 be considered rough? or harm the car?
also only getting about 8 to 10 miles on it a day be a good or bad thing? and how would that work with all of the stuff i should have done by 30,000 miles? Would i just do when i get close to 30,000 miles or more of after an elapsed instead?
Also im a bit hesitant on buying an '04 or '05 but (they're the only ones in to my price range atm) from the fact they have higher failure rates do you know roughly what the failure rate is? and how i could find out if im about to buy a $8,000 yard ornament or not?
08-09-2013, 07:23 PM
#1019
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Have you read the new owner's thread yet?
If you get a compression test before you buy it, you will know exactly what condition the engine is in.
Let it warm up before you go high RPM or high load, but otherwise have fun with it. Trying to turn the funnest part of the car into a scientific formula for how often you should do what is largely missing the point of the car. Let it warm up, and then don't baby the revs and load and don't be afraid of redline. Have fun with it and you will be fine.
If you get a compression test before you buy it, you will know exactly what condition the engine is in.
Let it warm up before you go high RPM or high load, but otherwise have fun with it. Trying to turn the funnest part of the car into a scientific formula for how often you should do what is largely missing the point of the car. Let it warm up, and then don't baby the revs and load and don't be afraid of redline. Have fun with it and you will be fine.
08-09-2013, 07:36 PM
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Yup
Yes i read the New and Potential Owners thread it was just a lot to take in i mainly focused on the maintenance stuff (though i read it all) since i had heard about people locking their engine together from treating it like a piston engine.
So if i just get the compression test and it passes im good? even on an '04 or '05? I realized i'd want to replace all the other stuff like the plugs, coils and such but would it last 2 weeks or so 'til another paycheck?
So if i just get the compression test and it passes im good? even on an '04 or '05? I realized i'd want to replace all the other stuff like the plugs, coils and such but would it last 2 weeks or so 'til another paycheck?
08-09-2013, 07:42 PM
#1021
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Hi Dusk Rider, I have a 20 mile commute, so I haven't thought about how many miles before I let fly, but now, on warmer days, I let it warm up a couple of minutes. I have a couple of side streets and stop signs before I get to the interstate.
I take it easy at first, not getting much over 3k rpms (granny driving) til I'm at the normal temps.
Then I really drive it, saving my redlines til I get off the interstate onto a long 4 lane straightaway right before I get to work.
I repeat the process on the way home, saving the redlines for last.
That's my routine,FWIW.
I take it easy at first, not getting much over 3k rpms (granny driving) til I'm at the normal temps.
Then I really drive it, saving my redlines til I get off the interstate onto a long 4 lane straightaway right before I get to work.
I repeat the process on the way home, saving the redlines for last.
That's my routine,FWIW.
08-09-2013, 07:43 PM
#1022
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Quite a few 2004s and 2005s have replaced engines, but so do 2006s, 2007s, and 2008s.
You are also missing one of the unique attributes of a rotary, in that a "blown engine" can last for thousands of miles before it finally won't start any more. Granted, if it was overheated or run out of oil and siezed, or the seals were shattered due to improper tuning, it would have trouble right from the start of the failure. There have even been numerous times that someone has blown one of the two rotors on track, and driven hours back home on the other rotor.
I would guess that most failures are from people neglecting the cooling system, and letting it overheat (which can happen before the needle starts to move). Another slice are from people not keeping track of their oil consumption, and letting the OMP lines clog up. Another slice from lots of low rpm lugging that over-carbons the engine, etc...
Get a compression test, and if it comes back good, just pay attention to the other stuff and don't neglect it ... and it will run for a long time.
You are also missing one of the unique attributes of a rotary, in that a "blown engine" can last for thousands of miles before it finally won't start any more. Granted, if it was overheated or run out of oil and siezed, or the seals were shattered due to improper tuning, it would have trouble right from the start of the failure. There have even been numerous times that someone has blown one of the two rotors on track, and driven hours back home on the other rotor.
I would guess that most failures are from people neglecting the cooling system, and letting it overheat (which can happen before the needle starts to move). Another slice are from people not keeping track of their oil consumption, and letting the OMP lines clog up. Another slice from lots of low rpm lugging that over-carbons the engine, etc...
Get a compression test, and if it comes back good, just pay attention to the other stuff and don't neglect it ... and it will run for a long time.
08-09-2013, 08:27 PM
#1024
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Walking into a rotary without your eyes open is going to kick you in your ***** and then take your wallet.
Walking into a rotary understanding the problems and solutions is going to be morning sex with an enthusiastic partner.
Sure, things get emotional and passionate in both cases, argument and laughs, but it's all about what you know going into it and how much attention you pay to her.
Walking into a rotary understanding the problems and solutions is going to be morning sex with an enthusiastic partner.
Sure, things get emotional and passionate in both cases, argument and laughs, but it's all about what you know going into it and how much attention you pay to her.