Damn! Sad day indeed But welcome to The Club anyway. Now get that fixed so you can start on your second 200000 miles LOL

Update: 247000 miles and counting ...

 

Elf: don't let your engine overheat ! I can't help but wonder if that might have contributed to Tigger's failure...

 

/\......

Agree...ANY Rotaries loath the following..

1.Heat
2.Low engine oil
3.Carbon/Soot
4.Low RPM use.
5.Low Coolant (see heat)
6.Silly owners.
7.And even dumber motoring public who believes burning engine oil is a flaw.

 

I'm quite certain the over heating did not do good things... though that was well over a year ago.

As for replacing the engine, the cost to value ratio is not there... but my 8 will have another life, a local rotory shop is buying it and planning to turn it into a hill climber!

I keep seeing 8's everywhere... it is very sad.

As I have not seen anything even remotely similar to the 8 in style/price/features/etc... rather than get something that fails to meet expectations, I will be going in a new, and somewhat shocking, direction... I have just put a deposit down on a new 2012 Toyota Tacoma! I've been doing a number of camping trips each year, biking more and skiing more... and it just seemed something more utilitarian might be a good switch up. I don't see me in an SUV, so I think a truck may just be a good change of pace! After so many years of driving sporty cars this will be a really big change, but fun I think.

For those who asked... the final mileage on the Odometer was 200219.

Keep racing to 300k Elf!

 

Wow an RX-8 and now a pick up..!?

 

Honestly, I drove a MazdaSpeed 3, and it was a blast... but really there isn't anything out there in the price range of an 8 that is as much fun and as well appointed as the 8. Anything I would have replaced it with, I would simply have spent the whole time comparing with the 8 and on the whole being a bit disapointed.

The truck will be fun, now I can go off roading! And hopefully in a few years we will be looking at an RX-9 that I can jump into!

 

I lost all engine coolant when a broken alternator belt cut through the upper radiator hose (Temp gauge needle almost instantly pegged to the right side ) --- I immediately shut off the engine and coasted to the side of the highway. But that was about 100,000 miles ago, and who knows what, if any, engine damage I incurred.

I don't like seeing ~210F on my water and oil gauges, but that's what the engine routinely sees during the summer months

I should have close to 248500 miles on the original engine by the time I hit Las Vegas (WHiV5) this weekend , and I expect to see engine coolant near 220F going up some of the hillier passes on Interstate 15.

 

I've heard that using 5w20 is one of the easiest ways to wear out these rotary engines. Gotta use 5w30 or thicker. I've heard that Mazda just recommends 5w20 for the USA and that is just to help the cars pass EPA emissions or MPG. Everywhere else in the world they recommend 5w30 I think.

 

Any updates? Well past 250k now?

 

I never quite made it to my goal of 175,000 miles. I had to have the car towed and dropped off at Lucky 7 Racing for an engine replacement this weekend.









This is the only time it's ever been towed during my ownership of this car, the last time it was driven was the day after it's third anniversary(July 28th). I had an oil leak while I was driving home on the freeway, heard the metal shavings sound and it was pretty obvious at that moment it was the end and ran it's last mile; exited and as I slowed the engine would die, so I placed it in third while coasting to start it up. I kept the engine rev'ed at 1,000 rpm on stop lights and drove the last two miles home in the street. It officially clocked out at 167,305 miles in Original Factory Engine. The shop will take picture during the whole exchange, I don't think I'll see inside how the engine would look.

 

I feel your pain That Metal on Metal sound is horrific. Mine died, I tried popping the clutch, there was no limping home for me... just had to coast in to a parking lot near by and park.

 

Elf, where you at? Haven't seen an update from you in a while!

 

Grace & Tigger, did you have failure due to compression, or oil leak/starvation?

 

I never had the engine torn down, so I can't say what was the cause of what... but given the sounds of metal scraping... I would guess an apex seal broke apart...

Any word from Elf on how his 8 is doing?

 

Sucks. Did you pre-mix (I know you've probably mentioned it a million times, but I can't recall)?

I haven't seen or heard from Elf in a while. I guess his motor didn't die after all? He is legend.

 

No, I didn't premix or use synthetic... oil changes every 3-4k miles. Pretty standard stuff really.

I did try to rev the engine pretty good at least once a day :D

I can't complain, 200k is very respectable for an engine. Just very sad

I suspect it had some carbon build up and probably just two much wear on the APEX seals. That in combination with a bit of sudden strain on the engine and I think one of the seals just let go. (I was accelerating from a light when the car in front of me hit its brakes for no reason and then continued to accelerate... so I was on the gas hard, off the gas, back on the gas when it let go.)

 

Likewise, I didn't get to see the engine taken appart. I did premix with Pennzoil TCW-3 at around 130,000 and used 5-30 since 105,000 miles. My major issue was a broken coolant seal. I noticed it at around the same time I started premixing at 133,000, but I can honestly say it's not caused due to the premix. Coolant overflow tank had less and less fluid in it every 150 miles or so then misfires at 6-7,500 RPM with P0301 CEL and usually that's when the spark plugs are around 5-6,500 miles old. Finally; in it's last 1,500 miles, I ran over a debris on the street and cause a leak somewhere around my oil pan. So every 300 miles I would need to empty a quart of oil, I didn't bother fixing it because I started having longer hot-starts on my last coolant change around 148,000 last November. Progressively got worst as far as starting the car, however, the engine still pulls pretty well considering the issues I have. Summer came, everytime the A/C is on, RPM drops below 750 then it will eventually stall. Just like what Tigger experienced; went home from work, four miles later, I heard metal scrappings while I was on the freeway three and a half miles from home. The RPM dropped and engine died when I let off the gas. Coasted slowly to the freeway exit then I restarted it in third gear, kept the RPM over 1,500 and just ran all the red lights. This was at around midnight, fortunately there weren't any cars around.

Addendum: the engine never had a Sea Foam or Zoom Zoom Cleaner treatment. I just thought that with the mileage I have, it's the carbons that kept my compression in the engine's last few thousand miles.

 

should i go to a high mileage oil at 1000,000 miles?

 

Why wait? I switched to 10-40 at about 80k

 

Naw, at 1,000,000 miles, Mazda will buy your car back and give you a medal.

 

I'm at 185,000 on my eight, second motor (replaced at 95 k) been wondering about keeping it or not. And, good to hear they are lasting so long!

 

Where has Elf gone? We need to know how he is getting on!

 

I'm so curious how much you have now! clocked 100k on mine not to long ago and runs like new!

 

Congrats!

Not having heard from Elf in a while... I'm starting to fear the worst

I did hear back from the guy who purchased my 8 and he told me that he put a new clutch and new (rebuilt) engine in it and she is happily back on the roads cruising around! Sadly he did not crack the old engine open before the swap, so no word on what it really looked like inside...

 

:l well im glad she is back on the road! i didnt know you sold lo what are you driving now?