( TL;DR version in bold below )

Right, so. Welcome to RX8Club, me. Nice to be here. I'll make with the full introduction at a later date, in a less sheltered section. Here's the short version of my "HI! HELP?"

HI! HELP?

Okay, probably should expand. '04 RX-8, couldn't be happier - started the decision with my wife saying "Why don't we take a little cash and buy something you've always wanted?" Sure! Great! And now I have a little Lightning Yellow wonder in my life.

18k miles left on the factory engine (and powertrain!) warranty. Pretty sure the clutch is toasty. Very stiff pedal. First doesn't engage too smoothly, though reverse is butter. And when the clutch is released in neutral, the engine bogs far more than I have ever seen on a manual. Curious.

But the crunchy parts are: 6->5 shift at highway speeds, and 1->2 at all times. Hesitation at 5k and 6.2k rpm when accelerating.

Idle seems okay. Not silken, but smooth.

I am spectacularly fortunate in that the carfax - of all things! - has a record of oil changes, spark plug changes, a new alternator, all kinds of things. Apparently this was serviced at one dealer for its entire life... and then failed CA emissions. Innnnnnteresting. We'll see what the Oregon DEQ says next week.

So, before I spend my own money, which PDX-area dealer should I inflict this wonderful beast upon? I suspect they'll want me to pay them to put a clutch in and THEN diagnose any synchro issues. This is probably not unreasonable, but I'd like to get a firmer grip on whether I should have the crunchyclunk gears evaluated by a third party first, or replace ignition components beyond sparkplugs before asking them about hesitation, or....

Any pointers to local talent would be appreciated. All my local expert contacts are pistonheads. I know, I know...

Thanks for reading. Too long, I know.

 

I should note that I have cleaned the MAF sensor. I can use a screwdriver and a spray can! Talents aplenty, I have.

Also, I love my car.

 

My car has the same rough 1st to 2nd...That's just a characteristic of the RX8 until you put a short throw and some good fluid into it. Secondly, the clutch is supposed to be stiff (as it is in my car) because it's a performance clutch. It's determined where the catch point is on the car (close to the floor or not).

Thirdly and most importantly! WELCOME TO RX8CLUB! Glad to have you on board! Yellow is rare! My advise (do the cheap stuff first, it will make you feel better ;-) )

 

Welcome! If the idle fluctuates a bit it just might be that the car hasn't been driven hard enough. Make sure you redline the car at least once a day when the car is driven. Also you need to get the engine hot every once in a while. When it's been a while since I've autoxed or been to a track day, while driving 60 on the freeway, I'll kick it in to second and run it there for about 10 to 15 seconds. Driving the 8 like a granny is death to the engine.

 

I don't really know what to tell you as far as which dealer to use. I can tell you I've had all my work done at Ron Tonkin Mazda. I haven't had any problems with the work they've done, my problems came from the bad reman engine I got the first time. And the biggest catch is no matter how many times I took it in, nothing was really done about my problems until things failed catastrophically...... with both engines! But that was also because they call Mazda's tech line and they tell the dealer how to proceed.

Also the Powertrain Warranty Extension was for 5 Years / 60,000 Miles, and your over 5 years. The newer Rotory Engine Core Limited Warranty Extension is for 8 Years / 100,000 Miles.

 

I forgot to mention, you also need to let the car warm up before redlining, I've heard people say the car limits you to 6k until it warms up, but I don't go past 4k until the water temp is at normal.