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I took a bit of a detour off into a 1996 Miata right before the world went into pandemic madness. You can check out that story over at Miata.net if you like: https://forum.miata.net/vb/showthread.php?t=713114
I had pushed the RX-8 off to the edge of my radar. Still wanted it but wasn't really in a hurry to make it happen. Then another friend lost her car to an accident and needed my help finding something. I was moved to sell her my 2005 Toyota Matrix below market because it really helped her out and opened the door for me to move on the RX-8. I give up my gas sipping beater in the process but I do have my 2003 Ram for times and places I just don't want to take the 8 or Miata. I started the money transfer process yesterday so sometime over the next 2 weeks I should have it.
Here's what's happened with the car since I posted last year: My friend is starting to clean out the house where he stores it because he's going to put it on the market. He charged the battery and decided to "bump the starter" to see if it was seized up. He said it surprised him by firing right up. So he took it for a drive to get up to temp. Noticed the tires were badly flat spotted. As far as I know they're the originals from 2009 so they need replacing anyway. Other than that he reports it runs just as good as he remembered from before.
So here's what I'm planning so far:
Being as the car has spent most of its time indoors since being bought new by my friend I've already ordered an Avalon King ceramic kit and will be doing that right away.
As soon as the car was mobile he took it to the quick oil place for a change and let them talk him into synthetic oil. I've been going back and forth mentally between run syth or dino and finally settled on dino since I just recently figured out the S2 oiling system cannot be easily modified to not use crankcase oil. Plus I've read the thread about the proper OEM oil filter to deal with the higher S2 pressure so I have a filter on order from Mazdatrix and will do a change immediately. Who knows what quick oil screwed on.
As for oil weight I'm thinking of going with 10W-40 from stuff I've read posted online by a few rotary shops unless you folks here with experience think the extra weight might cause an issue with the S2 oiling system.
I have also decided I'm going to premix on top of the stock oil system at a half ounce per gallon. I ordered the Mazdatrix kit with bottle, funnel and two quarts Idemitsu when I ordered the filter.
I'll want to get a compression test soon even though the car has very low mileage (I think it's under 10K) just so I establish a baseline. Calling my local dealer today to find out what they charge and weigh that cost against just going ahead and getting the Rotarycompressiontester.com tool.
Then I need to look at doing other services from just sitting. Probably time for coolant and will need to health check the battery and maybe do spark plugs and flush brake fluid.
My ultimate goal for the car is long term enjoyment. I tend to keep my vehicles mostly stock so I don't plan on any major mods or tunes. I'd love to be one of those 100K+ mile folks. I *might* autocross or track day the car eventually but no time soon.
Very detailed story and you have obviously done some reading. Couple suggestions to add. The Series 2 really doesn't require premix. It has extra OMP ports and an extra pump so its not necessary. Could also put extra strain on your CC. The Avalon King coating is amazing but make sure you do a full detail and paint correction before applying it. You want the paint to look as perfect as possible. You'll want to do 2 coats and for me it took 1.5 bottles so get 2 kits.
Lots of reading and YouTube videos. What pushed me over the edge with premix was that the spray pattern of the fuel injectors is better than that of the oil injectors. Plus last Summer I had an excess of 2 cycle mixed gas from my boat and needed to use it and saw some videos of folks running it in 4 stroke small engines and getting very clean combustion chambers. I figure anything that can help reduce apex seal killing carbon is a good thing. I might reduce it to a quarter ounce per gallon. I watched a YouTube video of someone recommending that ratio for street.
Also probably going to wind up springing for a compression tool. I called my local Mazda dealer and they charge $185 for a compression test. I asked about getting a printed report and the service writer then tells me they don't have a rotary specific tester because the one they had broke and they don't see enough use to justify the cost of replacement so they use a conventional gauge and calculate.
Still waiting on things to run their course. Cannot believe I'm waiting on a check in the mail in this era of direct deposit but it is what it is. Meanwhile a local grocery store had these on sale 2 for $5. Seemed fitting to grab a couple :D
Still waiting on things to run their course. Cannot believe I'm waiting on a check in the mail in this era of direct deposit but it is what it is. Meanwhile a local grocery store had these on sale 2 for $5. Seemed fitting to grab a couple :D
Your story sounds just like mine. I’ve been in the market for years and this year decide to pull the trigger. I found a. 2010 with 13k on it and did it.
I had ceramic pro done ASAP because it was also stored inside.
As for oil I went with amsoil 0w40 syn. The benefits of that oil as far as temp, and anti wear far exceeds what possible carbon it may build. No one had ever proven that it is indeed worse in a rotary. Black halo even has stayed along with others they have seen no noticeable difference when rebuilding. I also am premixing but to make it simple I’m using amsoil 100:1 in 8oz bottles. Pour one in per tank and go. Plus I still believe that is the best two stroke ever made. I used to race snowmobiles professionally for a few years and even my most built motors were run on that stuff. And very little carbon deposits. Every few tank I use some type of fuel system cleaner like amsoil to remove carbon or sea foam. Before anyone flames on me I was sold on amsoil 2 stroke for my sleds and have had amazing luck with the 4cylce stuff in my build ecoboosts. The cleaner is just because the local Napa that is closest caries it.
I’m just saying this is my preference.
Heading to the track with it for the first time tomorrow.
Had new tires, and alignment done this week.
I am a bit concerned with using the amsoil filter. But they do show a difference in series 1-2 filters on the lookup. So I assume the new one is the correct one.
08-07-2020, 07:04 AM
Look forward to hearing good things.
