Worth it?
 

So, I've had my 2007 RX8 for 2 years. Never had an issue until now. Wife went to start it, flooded the engine. I couldn't get it unflooded and have no tools so I took it to Mazda and they unflooded it. They said it won't stay running so they did a compression test, 4 sets of numbers were above 6 but 2 we at 2.5 so they suggest replacing the engine. $7100 for new engine including labor. I had planned to take it to a shop a couple of hours from me anyway for a cheaper rebuild. Talked to them this morning and after finding out this, they said it's best to replace the engine and it would cost me about $6900 for them to do. Since I'd have to ship it to them, might as well have Mazda do it. Only problem is that either way, it's only a 12 month, 12k mile warranty. So, in a year I might be in the same boat as I am now. I love the car but is it worth it to swap out the engine and put $7100 into it for only a guaranteed 1 year of driving?

Shop wants $6900 AND you have to ship it?
That's crazy.
Look into some of our vendors like Rotary Resurrection and others.

Before you do anything, get in touch with Rotary Resurrection in Morristown, TN.

I think the guy(s) at Rotary Resurrection will even pull and reinstall the engine (for a fee) if you can get the car down to them.

Another near-by option is Banzai Racing in Pierceton, IN.

Banzai-Racing is the one that quoted me at $6900.

I misunderstood, I thought you meant shipping just the engine.

Shipping the car isn't a big deal, it's only like $250. Anyone have luck with a rebuild like this? I mean if I dump ~$7000 into the car and it lasts another 100k miles, great. However, if it dies after 12k miles, not so great.

I can't speak from experience, but I imagine most places wouldn't stay in business very long if their $7k rebuilds only lasted a year.

$6900 is probably a worst-case scenario (like, almost nothing from your engine can be re-used).

I'd get in touch with RR.

What do you mean R+R the engine?

Also, I've been in an E-mail chain with Elaine from Banzai all day. She thinks with the compression being that low, that the rotor housings are probably bad and to replace those with a rebuild would cost more than just replacing the engine with a reman directly from Mazda. I did ask about whether they check or just run off those compression results. She said
I really like her and Banzai, they are very professional.

There is also a place called BHR.

Might try calling or emailing them.
:)

https://black-halo-racing.myshopify.com/pages/services

If yours is an MT, then you can buy a Mazda reman for about $3,100 (plus $250 freight to you, probably another $250 back) and pay somebody to do the swap. You'll want to include a gasket set (~$100), 9 qts of oil, 3 gallons of coolant, new plugs/wires/coils and other incidentals.

ENGINE, SHORT M/T. ENGINE & GASKET SETS for 2007 Mazda RX-8. #N3H302200RV0

It kinda sucks cause I put an Ultima Red top battery in it at the end of summer. But the BHR coil kit in it recently and replaced the tires before winter. $2000 at the beginning of summer to redo the clutch.

I think $7K for a 07 car is too much to invest.
By adding a couple of grands you can buy a normal working RX8 and keep the old one for spare parts.
But if you're keen enough to invest in your car, I would buy a cheaper used, tested rotary engine. (check Ebay).
Alternatively you can also put multi-cylinder engine from other brands, but it will take more efforts.

any engine swap except a renny in an 8 will be much more expensive.........well except maybe a 383 stroker if ya got mad fab skillz

I do not know where the confusion is coming from we quoted $6200 for removal and install of a Mazda Reman engine. $6900 was never discussed. And as stated that is worst case, assuming the engine can not be rebuilt.

If you have AAA plus, the transportation is virtually free

"The removal & installation would be the same (The labor cost for engine removal and installation is $1600. There is an additional $250 for gaskets and fluids). The reman would be $3900 + $400 freight. Approximately $6200+
Plus whatever parts may need to be replaced (plugs, wires, thermostat, hoses, etc.). We cannot know this until we are working on the car."

Our assessment of the engine was strictly limited to the compression test provided by the OP, we have never seen the car. 6.9, 6.4, 6.7 @293rpm and 5.5, 2.6, 2.4 @285 rpm, normalization would be even lower @250rpm. Something is very wrong with the rear rotor, unless the Mazda dealer is giving out phony test numbers.


We do not sugar coat our estimates to try to get business only to then have the price skyrocket. We attempt to be as realistic as possible.

Just to clarify, this post wasn't about Banzai. It was about the worth of fixing the car. I've been researching Banzai racing since I bought the car 2 years ago. I think they are great. Elaine has answered all my e-mails over the past 2 years faster than any company EVER! Sorry about the $6900 confusion. That was my 1st post and I was including shipping the car in that price. That got kinda misconstrued in the following posts. Which is why I had posted the quote with the $6200 quote in it. As for AAA, I haven't looked into that like you suggested in our emails but according to Google, Bloomington, IN is 182 miles from you so I'd have to pay for the extra 82 miles. Not sure about what that costs.

My issues now are, it's $7100 from Mazda. $6200 from banzai if nothing else needs done. Who knows, maybe Mazda is dumb and Chris decides he can do a level 1 rebuild and then it's only $3500. Wishful thinking but who knows. I have to ship it to Banzai to find out. I just have to decide if it's worth it or if I should just invest ~$6500 into another vehicle. My wife loves the car but she always talks about the expense. Like I mentioned before, we dropped $2k on the Clutch, $800+ on new tires, $260 on the battery. She's not used to "sport" car expenses. Her last 2 vehicles were a Sunfire and a Honda CRV.

Pfft. Sport car expenses? If you think this is expensive, you've never owned a classic Porsche. $1500 for a clutch if you want to keep it stock.

Well, that's cheaper than my $2k clutch, lol.

I stand corrected? Idk. The clutch on these cars is cheap in comparison to euro spec stuff. Worth it is up to you. For the same price as an engine rebuild you could sell the car and buy a nice Miata.


Personally, I'm looking at doing a proactive rebuild with some porting action and going FI. Is it worth it? No, as I could probably spend the same money on my WRX and have it be dumbtardedly fast and reliable. However, I like my car. It's loud, it makes brap noises, and it's been fun. Theoretically, you could also for about 14k probably pick up a late first gen Genesis Turbo Coupe or FRS. Both RWD, however the "Sporting" aspect is up for debate.

Hope that was an Exedy twin disk or equivalent, anything else even with a LW flywheel is half that


http://www.banzai-racing.com/store/r..._flywheel.html

For 14k he could pick up a mint 335i and make 500WHP with $1500.00 in mods. Actually a lot of performers can be had in that price range.

Oh and if you paid $2,000.00 for a clutch job then you must like getting taken advantage of.

Actually, yeah, I was about to say, I found a PRISTINE Msport 335I, 09? with like 50k miles and all services for $11k.

Yep, Hoss-05 picked up a pristine one owner 2011 335i Coupe AWD, 6MT, M Sport, NAV, etc for less than that.

I have no clue. The clutch dropped to the floor. If you left it alone over night, it reset to normal position and as soon as you pressed it again, it stayed on the floor. Sent it to my mechanic who doesn't do transmission work so he sent it to someone else. I was working night shift in the ER when they fixed it and my wife took care of it. I didn't know how much it was or what he did until after the fact. I still don't know what they did to it. I do know that in my opinion it still isn't great.

You were charged way too much, sounds like it was just your master and/or slave cylinder which is less than a $100 in parts for both of them.