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I just bought my first rx8 I have a beautiful green 2004 rx8 with just over a 100,000 miles on her. Interior, body,and motor are in beautiful shape the motor is real clean and seems lime it was really well cared for my check engine light pops from time to time and I'm thinking it has to do with the cat I have yet to test it..im in n.y so I plan on buying a good stock direct fit cat getting it to pass and replacing it with a mid pipe to preserve the cat for inspection and resale purposes. I was just hoping to introduce myself and see if help was still available out here for me and my new child lol.. my first car as a kid was an 88gxl I beat that car and to this day is one of my all time favorite cars. I have always loved the 8 and now being in the position i am and have this for a second car and something to play with on a summer day on our beautiful curvy mountain roads, I'm just making sure that help does exist on these forums still and look forward to chatting with you all and receiving and passing on when I can thank you and happy motoring!
Suggest you stop driving and asses its health, flashing check engine lights and questionable cats is how people lose engines. "Well cared for" and "check engine pops" don't belong in the same sentence. Best intentioned owners may not be working with all the necessary info. It sounds like you didn't test compression before buying it?
Check RX8help.com to get up to speed.
Plan to replace your ignition coils, spark plugs and wires.
Have the cat taken down and inspected for clogs or breakage. Get the code read.
Do not drive until the above is done.
Plan for a compression test.
Do not buy a direct fit cat, it will not last.
Currently not driving the car at all I plan on doing all the fluids and and plugs and wires and checking the cat first and foremost..i did not do a compression test "yet" but that is on the to do list. Overall the engine seems in good health I drove it from new jersey to upstate New York and I made the 150 + mile trip without a sputter she goes real well I'm thinking the engine has some life left in her for now..u don't suggest an one direct fit cat for the car jus for me to pass emissions I new york? I plan on removing after getting a sticker and replacing with a mid pipe.. I will only use the cat for inspection purposes..
Currently not driving the car at all I plan on doing all the fluids and and plugs and wires and checking the cat first and foremost..i did not do a compression test "yet" but that is on the to do list. Overall the engine seems in good health I drove it from new jersey to upstate New York and I made the 150 + mile trip without a sputter she goes real well I'm thinking the engine has some life left in her for now..u don't suggest an one direct fit cat for the car jus for me to pass emissions I new york? I plan on removing after getting a sticker and replacing with a mid pipe.. I will only use the cat for inspection purposes..
Cool OK, sounds like a good plan then. Way too many people show up here happy about their shiny new purchase, then follow it up with questions about why it doesn't start hot
Ah if it's for inspections only that's fine. There are good aftermarket cats, but they cost almost as much as the OEM cat anyway. Most of the $400-600 solutions will give you a year or two and need replacing again.
Welcome to the club! Please read through the new owner sticky as a lot of your questions and help you'll need is already there. Beautiful car! Green is a very rare color so take good care of it. Only thing I would suggest is not to drop $2,000 on a stock cat if you are intending to just pop on a midpipe after emissions testing. Just buy a cheap $300 Magnaflow cat. It will allow you to pass emission and save your money for when real problems pop up.
As long as you can deal with the smell, whatever. I can't, and that's why I had a cat on my 8.
Windows up with AC I cant tell. I can definitely hear the difference more than the smell. People gonna be hearing you coming about a kilometer away lol. Sounds awesome though.
Thanks for the welcome guys I appreciate it..the 2 codes I came up with are as follows
p2096- post cat fuel trim too lean
p0301- cyl 1 misfire
the car made home to n.y without problems and here it will will now sit until I've done my fluids plugs and wires heres the thing the check engine light is not on for all of that..seems like it only popped on halfway thru my trip home when it was hot..just a status report on where I'm currently at with the car I have been on the forums like crazy trying to learn all I can so I'm prepared for everything that being said thank you for being out there to help me along my journey!
This car isnt very hard to work on or diagnose, it's just how it works is different from any other car. Keep us posted with your progress. I wish you 7 bar+ compression results. Good luck!
This car isnt very hard to work on or diagnose, it's just how it works is different from any other car. Keep us posted with your progress. I wish you 7 bar+ compression results. Good luck!
thank you Cayman! I'm not really expecting those numbers on a 100 grand motor but on can hope LMAO!! This is going to be my fun time car as I work around the block and don't really need it as a daily..i have a 2016 Honda for that I just hope to get at least this summer out of the motor and begin the replacement process I'm thinking oem reman at about 3g give or take I will for sure keep u guys posted and look forward to the help and possibly meeting up with some of u guys on the roads somewhere!!! I have already received private messages from a local rx8er to assist me with my compression testing and give me some hands on tips! So this forum is amazing and I'm totally appreciative of u guys for your help with me and my new child/ dream car lol thanks a lot guys!
Seems like all I have been doing is reading reading and reading!!!leading myself up to this weekend when I get to get my hands dirty and tackle some of this work!! All the newb stuff is great and I thank u guys for all the hard work you've put into these threads!! Truly a blessing for me.. I will take some pics and let you guys know of my progress I appreciate all of the info this weekend will probably consist of mostly fluids and cleaning some key parts (maf,ess) and getting an overall feel for the motor then it's on to coils wires and plugs pretty much all the new owner steps! Thank you again!
Well today was a beautiful day to be under the rx8!! 1st thing I did was the transmission fluid! that was easy! While I haven't ran the car yet just moving from gear to gear seems so much smoother! That was awesome to see. Then all I really did was drain the oil.... my dumbass bought a nice socket for my oil filter and the existing one on the car was round so needless to say I did not get that off(I have to get a filter wrench) kind of glad! Because I would have refilled the oil and I drained the coolant as well I want to Check the ssv out on the car and if I filled the coolant back up I would have to drain it again! (Not so stupid now lol) I also cleaned the MAF and installed a new air filter.. so the next step for me is removing and cleaning the SSV while there's no coolant!! Today was a big step for me just to be out looking at and locating parts of my motor which is SUPER CLEAN! All while planning my next steps! I'll probably pull the cat off tomorrow and break out the insides! And start tearing it apart to get to the ssv.. Then I'm on to coils plugs and wires and taking this bitch for a burn!! Wish me luck fellas and happy motoring I'll post up some pics tomorrow!
Agree with Loki, dont gut your cat unless you know its damaged. Better to replace with a midpipe and keep it for emissions testing. Did you ever get a compression test done?
Agree with Loki, dont gut your cat unless you know its damaged. Better to replace with a midpipe and keep it for emissions testing. Did you ever get a compression test done?
No test yet no...im waiting to hear back from a local club member if that doesn't come thru I'll have when done when it's put back together and running again...its currently still jacked up waiting for parts..ill post the numbers on here as soon as I have them for sure! Pretty positive on the cat situation tho new one on the way ...midpipe to follow! Coils plugs wires and probably the ssv cleaning this weekend!
No test yet no...im waiting to hear back from a local club member if that doesn't come thru I'll have when done when it's put back together and running again...its currently still jacked up waiting for parts..ill post the numbers on here as soon as I have them for sure! Pretty positive on the cat situation tho new one on the way ...midpipe to follow! Coils plugs wires and probably the ssv cleaning this weekend!
Sounds like you’re pretty busy to me. Thanks for the update!
Sounds like you’re pretty busy to me. Thanks for the update!
can any of you guys recommend which are the best coil packs plugs and wires I can get in the under 200$ range I'll have good luck with...please and thank you!
can any of you guys recommend which are the best coil packs plugs and wires I can get in the under 200$ range I'll have good luck with...please and thank you!
Aftermarket coils can work but they usually dont work for long. I could recommend a set but you'll buy it twice before a set of Mazda genuine coils fail. Wires are cheap, go NGK. NGK laser iridium plugs as well. Total parts cost is close to $500 but well worth the investment.
If you're spending 500, you may as well get BHR's coil kit and not worry about coils for a looooong time.
$500 total including wires and plugs and starter. BHR kit raises it by roughly $200. 4 Mazda coils book out around $300, $75 for plugs $25 for wires and $100 for starter. So without starter it would be $400 total. Dont know why I included for that in original price. My bad.
