Picked up a 2004 RX8 manual 6 speed....Ohhh Nooo
 

Greetings,

I picked up a 2004 RX8 for $500, body is in great shape, interior great shape. I knew the engine and clutch needed to be replaced, I budgeted myself 5k for the replacement. I purchased an Engine from SWengines ($2,900), new clutch, flywheel and a few other odds and ends. All put together and got 0 compression on the front rotor 40 on the rear....Dohhhh Looks like the Apex seals are shot and who knows what else. Any suggestions on where to purchase a true "low mileage" engine that is in decent shape??

You don't mention it in your post but your first order of business would be to check their return policy, and return that engine or sue them if it's practical in your circumstances. I've never dealt with them so I don't know if it's possible or not.

If one of the rotors has 0 compression, then half of your engine is screwed (most likely). The apex seal probably unseated and gouged the hell out the rotor, housing, and plates. The other 40 psi rotor is not encouraging either unless the test was done at a really, really low RPM.

Oh and, 3k for a used Rx8 engine is a total rip off mate. For 2,900, you can get a decent to great condition re manufactured engine. Reason I say decent or great is because it all depends on the quality of the builders work and what parts they are willing to reuse. Not trying to be a nagging nancy, but you really should educate yourself. Buying used rotaries is a tricky business (some are in good shape, some are crap) and many people that work on/with cars, in my opinion and from my experience, lack integrity and are more than happy to knowingly rip you off so it's not a surprise this happened to you...or maybe they were just clueless as to what they're selling...I doubt it if they have experience in this field though.

Anyways

Your best bet would be to:
1) Build an engine yourself if you know how.

or

2) Spend some time researching builders that live close to your location. Check their reputation through yelp, this forum, or any resource with credible objective information and buy from them.

Good luck.

Bad luck. I paid $2600 for a compression-tested Renesis from J-Spec Auto and it's been running great.
Here's the video of my actual engine: For $3k you might get a decent rebuild, but for me, a drop-in, good running engine seemed a better bet.

Kabz- i bought one from them too because of the compression test done with an actual tester
mine had 10's and one or two 9.8(cold numbers)
3k miles still running like a champ and even did a track day

As for op, definitely look intow warranty, if its not a mazda reman(which have warranty) you gotta have a comp test. That price usually means reused parts.
sorry you had bad luck.

ops thread is 6yrs old............