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Oops... Just bought an rx8 and realized I may have an airbag issue
I should start by saying I bought minty car. Starts strong...runs strong... passed 88 point safety inspection first try. Yesterday the light over the glove box started intermittently going on and off. I attached a photo... I followed the link to the mazda site says recall for 2004 - 2011 rx8. So it's looking like I may have to take the car to mazda for a new airbag? Or is this something different? I would rather try and get some details first here if possible so I'm armed with some info if I have to call mazda.
just means there is no passenger or weight on the passenger seat, so that airbag is turned off, Same on many cars. There is a separate recall for the Takata airbags on all RX8.
There's a recall of all Takata airbags for a lot of different makes and models, not just Mazda. Look at the stickies in the main RX-8 discussion forum. This is only the biggest automotive recall in history, in case you've been living under a rock
This has nothing to do with your air bag "off" light. There is a weight sensor under the passenger seat that has to do with that. Now quickly delete this thread before someone really jumps down your throat for not searching!
Ah I see thanks makes perfect sense. It was going on and off when I had my back pack on the seat which is 20 lbs or so could be the weight of the bag being so light turning the light on and off.
Previous owner of the car just got back to me he didn't take the car in for airbag recall looks like it's on me to have it done. Is there a charge for this?
Who said I never heard of the recall?? Your sure quick to jump on people hey? Try being positive it will add years to your life. I said I just bought the car never having owned a mazda before it simply hadn't occured to me immediately after buying the car because the airbag recall is already old news.
And if you actaully read my thread... you will see I said I followed the link and that directed me to the mazda site. I'm not deleting anything I didn't do anything wrong I asked a simple question AFTER I read the link here... then went to the mazda site... then back here for more info which is what this forum is for... so that if I have to call mazda and I do... then I'll have some idea what I'm talking about. None of us are born with this knowledge we all have to start somewhere.
I'm not sure what your getting at as I've stated twice that I searched the new owners thread... then over to mazda site... then back here with a question. I don't understand how some people feel they have to comment on every thread and in a negative way just me I suppose but it screams of mass insecurity when some think it's cool to do that. I like to be helpful... positive... and constructive in helping people in areas where I have quite a bit of knowledge but if this kinda thing turns you on fill your boots sir!
Well I'm new here you've been very helpful in alot of ways but it's hard to feel welcome when people jump on you simply because your trying to find your way with a unique car that I know very little about. Sorry... if you were only kidding.
Well I'm new here you've been very helpful in alot of ways but it's hard to feel welcome when people jump on you simply because your trying to find your way with a unique car that I know very little about. Sorry... if you were only kidding.
It was an inside joke. New members do not get inside jokes, by definition. See jastreb's post above for the setup.
I'm bored at work today, so I'm going to take the time to write some things that might help you and others. Here is your trigger warning, if you are one of those who needs a safe space: Run awaaaaaaaaay!
The Forum
You'll notice very few people responded to your threads. That is because experienced members tend to wait and see what a new member is about, before potentially wasting their time trying to assist them. Here is the typical thought process: "Looks like he scored a nice car. Hope he doesn't screw it up. Will this person be patient, read the stickies, take good advice, make good decisions, and contribute to the forum? Or, will this person ask questions that have been answered a thousand times, argue against good advice, rationalize and justify his poor decisions, shoot before aiming, damage the knowledge-base which has been established here, then come back asking for help with all of that? Is his person ignorant (good) or stupid (bad)?"
This is one of the good car forums. Good car forums are filled with people who know a lot about at least one thing. Those people have no patience with stupidity, because stupidity misleads the ignorant. There is nothing wrong with being ignorant, as long as one is willing to learn. Knowledgeable people do not want to see ignorant people turned stupid by the stupid, and especially do not want to help them troubleshoot their future mistakes, when those mistakes were completely avoidable. This forum is hard on stupid people, and unfortunately, some innocents get caught in the crossfire. Most good car forums are similar. If you think it is bad now, you should have been here 5 years ago.
The Car
I'll keep this short, as it could go on forever, and it is all covered in the stickies, which you should have read. This car is nothing like anything you have ever owned before--even the various RX-7s. Not much of what you think you know applies. That means, as a new owner, you are working from a position of ignorance, whether you want to believe it or not. The New and Potential Owners and Newb Guide to Modding stickies both implore you to be patient, search, research, and search again for information about whatever mods you are thinking about doing, and whatever vendors you are thinking about supporting. A new member who leaps before he looks is behind the eight ball immediately. Things tend not to go well with this car for such a person. And, those people usually end up hating the car and hating us, before it is over.
Your Situation
You seem to think I have been acerbic or have poked fun at you. Truly, I have been direct. I have tried to prevent you from making mistakes, but because you pulled the trigger so quickly on certain eBay parts, all I could do was try to add context around the parts you were choosing, in hopes of creating opportunities for teaching moments.
Everything you need to know to be successful is already in this forum. Literally everything has been tried, and the few successful parts, products, and services have been identified. Stick with the successful stuff, and you will be fine. Do the opposite, and you will waste time and money and potentially damage your car and/or yourself.
It is human nature to want to be proud of and to defend one's decisions and chosen products--even before they are proven out. It is best not to fall into that trap.
The Coils
As soon as I saw the photo, I knew those had to be Intermotor coils at best, or (garbage) eBay coils at worst, stuffed in a yellow case. I knew that, because I have an electronics background, and know something about coils. So, being that you had already ordered them, all that was left to do was try add context to the claims that were made, and even tried to give an abridged lesson about how coils work, and why those physically can't be upgrades.
Coils are covered comprehensively in the stickies. There are three pathways to success in terms of purchasing coils: 1. Buy OEM, 2. Buy Intermotor, and 3. Buy BHR (or SB). Nowhere is it recommended to buy yellow mystery coils off eBay. In fact, it is recommended that you don't buy ANY coils off eBay. You may get 5 miles out of them. You may get 30K miles out of them. All that is left to do is wait for your report. There may be a number 4, or there may be yet another cautionary tale.
I'll say it again. Ignition health should be your number 1 concern. Bad coils kill cats. Bad cats kill engines. And, once the failure cascade begins, it is all over in short order.
The Header
I explained this pretty well in the other thread. The main point is BUY QUALITY. This is a critical component in this car. The Racing Beat header I recommended is high quality. All eBay headers are of unknown quality. This is not a place to gamble. You thought I was out of line for making fun of the ad copy in the eBay listing. The Engrish was funny, but the copy was funny for another reason that flew over your head: whoever wrote the copy has no idea how a good RX-8 (or any other) header works, and their description does not remotely match the design shown in the photo. The runner lengths and shapes are all wrong, when compared to RX-8 headers that are known to be good performers.
Mazda put a lot of engineering into every single part of this car, including the exhaust manifold. You cannot simply bend some tubes and weld them to a flange and collector and improve upon Mazda's engineering. Without many iterations of prototypes created through many hours of R&D and testing, you will end up making something that performs at a lower level. Chinese header mills do not spend any time or money on R&D. If you are lucky, they rip off someone who did.
As I already mentioned, many eBay headers use inferior alloys, use pipe that is too thin, have suspect welds, and have problems with fitment. Finally, just because you used an eBay header successfully on a Civic or a Subaru does not mean an eBay header will work on an RX-8, where exhaust gas temperatures are hundreds of degrees higher. In short, what you have purchased is a noise-making heat-spreader that will probably crack.
The Midpipe Congrats on choosing a good one. BHR's is widely considered to be the best there is.The other options tend to be raspy, change in tone over time, or blow their packing into the muffler. BHR's sounds similar to OEM and will never fail or change its tone after a short break-in period.
The Catback
I don't have a strong opinion on this component of the exhaust. Some look cool, some sound cool, some do both, and some do both without rusting out. None provide any power gains, so catbacks are not interesting to me.
The Airbag Light
There is a pressure sending switch in the passenger's seat. It is finicky--especially around the edges. An object with any decent amount of mass sitting in that seat can confuse it. Its confusion will cause the light to turn on and off at times. It is nothing to worry about, and many cars use similar switches that do the same thing.
Anyway, that's all I have. Enjoy the car. Yours looks like a nice one.
Please read my last post again... then again and again until you understand it please. I didn't join this group to argue with anyone that is a promise I came here to learn. Perhaps it's not the way you like exactly... but the way you bury insults in your posts... combined with your arrogance and the "last word" thing you seem compelled to do...and because you cannot present yourself in a positive and friendly sort of way I just don't care to read your posts anymore even though you are clearly very knowledgeable. Reply... don't reply I don't care either way.
Believe it or not I have read many many threads and could not find anyone that posted anything about the header in question... or the coils. Maybe they will work out better than you thought and add an inexpensive alternative for a lot of people impossible to say until a number of people run these parts. If they don't work to well I'll pull them right away. But I prefer to give things a chance. If the parts are junk I'll say they're junk I won't lie about it. And I'll eat all the crowd I have to for it. In the meantime I'll reserve my judgement.
And so as not to be labelled a trouble maker I will avoid responding to your posts I am new here and I am a very friendly... generous guy I don't want to bring that into question. Have a great day
Good lord... I have to believe that there are alot of helpful and friendly folks hiding in the bushes that would love to post and have posted many insightfull things in the past but we're made to feel stupid for their their thoughts or questions... or were just generally bullied and didn't feel it was worth the hassle to post anymore. That happens on every forum I've been a member of and it's a sad fact indeed. How you deliver a message is often just as important as the message itself. As someone who works with special needs kids I can certainly atest to that.
Geez, relax, everyone who has responded to you is trying to be friendly. Even me, I promise. No one has blown your questions off, you have gotten your answers even if there's a little humor/ribbing thrown in there. It's just the internet - tone does not come across in text very well. Steve is one of the most patient guys around here in explaining things - if you have a problem with him, you really need to thicken up your internet skin. People tend to be curt/direct because no one has massive amounts of time to compose posts that make others feel good. They are trying to communicate information effectively, not trying to put you down.
For future reference, the most effective way to search the forum is to actually do a google search and include site:rx8club.com as one of your search terms.
Good luck with your car.
Thanks I love the car and thanks for your input. It's not about thick skin etc to me... it's about passively aggressively insulting someone you don't know then just saying "hey man I was kidding geeze". It would be different if I knew who I was dealing with otherwise it's pretty understandable to take posts at face value and have misunderstandings. And I can hold my own... but seriously that's not the point. Simple manners go a long way... and it seems lost on more and more people all the time. If I'm guilty of anything it's defending that idea.
If you are throwing an airbag OBD code, that code might tell you you have failed seat position sensor. It is covered under the Mazda Federal warranty for safety items but only for 8 years.
Thank you for the advice... as it turns out I called mazda this morning and I need a few things as part of the recall. I'll be taking it in next week for warranty work so I'll see if I can get them to have a look see. As far as throwing a code there actually isn't anything coming up on the dash however the sensor light over the glove box keeps lighting up and turning off when I'm driving. I just bought the car last week I have much to learn
Lol... well sir... I'm certainly not trying to be a crusader! lol I'm simply trying to communicate with respect and expect the same in return that's all. It's a much better way to learn. No need to try and welcome new members by trying to make them appear stupid. We all have our strengths... rotary cars just doesn't happen to be one of mine which is precisely why I came here. What I don't understand is if you can't be constructive and respectful in your posts why then don't you simply back away from the keyboard and ignore the posts if they bother you that much? Just my thoughts
See you over on Facebook
A little searching on this forum would have found you this about coils for your RX8:
You have a number of options for coils: - The Cheapest option: BWD/Intermotor coils from auto parts stores like Advance Auto. 4 coils, 4 plugs, and 4 wires can be had for around $190-220 total based on whatever promotion is running at the time, shipped to your door for free. They are considered to be the first coil revision and you should expect to need to replace them around 20,000 miles, 30,000 miles max. They often come with a "lifetime warranty" by the auto parts store, which could potentially be leveraged for perpetually new coils.
- The Best Upgrade: The BHR ignition coil upgrade can be had for around $500, which eliminates the need to continue replacing coils periodically, as well as deliverying a significantly stronger spark for minor mileage and power gains. It is a proven kit with top notch customer service supporting it. It includes the wires, you still need to add plugs ($80)
- The For-Sure OEM: Mazmart sells all 4 coils of the latest OEM coil revision (C) for around $250, (just the coils, you still need to add plugs and wires) Supported by top notch customer service. They will likely last longer than 30,000 miles, but we don't have much solid data on how long the latest coil revision will last.
- The Most Expensive option: Buying from a dealer will run you around $300+ for the coils, $500+ for coils, wires and plugs, and if you have them do the install, expect to get a bill for anywhere from $700 to $1,800. You may not get the latest coil revision. Yes, you are getting shafted if you take this option, so bring lube.
- The Highest Risk option: Ebay coils continue to pop up as counterfeit, mislabeled, dead on arrival, and have zero post-purchase support largely. They are the "cheapest" listed price, but when you add that $92 or whatever to the price of anything in the list above from having to do it over again, you can see that they are no longer the cheapest option. Do it right the first time. "Motor King" coils are popping up at an attractive price on Ebay, but are being proven as ineffective, to the point of being unable to get the engine fired. "Mazda" branded coils on ebay are almost always counterfeit. Check the seller's name though, since some of our vendors sell legitimate coils there. The price will be $200+ though. Anything sold as "Mazda OEM" under ~$26 per coil should really be considered as suspect and probably counterfeit.
Be wary of "LSx D585 coil upgrades", as not all D585 coils are created the same, and the standard generic D585 coil is not properly designed internally for the RX-8's ignition needs. They generally "work", but there are anomalies and performance issues that have to be solved, if they can be solved. Definitely NOT a plug and play option, even if it is advertised as "plug and play"
Who's not reading the posts now? lol look I said I read those posts already... I'm trying a new product good bad or ugly it's good to know if a new product can stand up to its claims and become an affordable alternative. Again... if they are not I'll pull them and post here they're junk and nobody else will have to waste their time. Consider it product testing in the real world. There are several excellent reviews on these coils Amazon claims are verified buyers.
And I get all the ritual hazing stuff but for my taste like many others I find it infantile that's all. I'm not here to stroke egos and I don't want mine stroked! lol
The sensor for the seat is definitely reacting to your backpack. When it says its off it just means it wont deploy if in an accident. If anyone sits in it and it says the airbag is off, it could be dangerous especially if a teenager is up front. But best of luck with figuring out the recall!
04-12-2017, 07:51 PM
