2007 Mazda RX8 98083K Engine Failure Mazda Replacing engine.
 

My 2007 Needs a new engine. ( I MEANT 99083 Miles)
They tried to say it was the Catalytic Converter, but there was no emissions problem, and no CEL.
I'm glad they're going to replace the engine.
I didnt know that the 07's had engine failure problems.

When they replace the engine, how do you know how many miles are on the (new or rebuilt engine) that they give you?.

My first engine replacement, guess that would make me an engine replacement newbie.

Also what's the cheapest Cat Converter that i can buy?

O miles on the rebuilt as you are the first one to drive it.

Cat is under warrent until 100k ask the dealer.

The 04-08 engines are all identical in terms of build and components used. IT is a myth that 04-05 models have a crappy engine while 06 and later models have a better one less prone to failure. They all use identical hardware. The reason you hear less about 06+ models failing is threefold: 1) those models are newer and have less mileage than the earlier models, and 2) the PCM flash programming originally equipped in those models may have been better for the engine than the flashes equipped on the 04-05...and not everyone got their PCM reflashed on the earlier models to compensate. Then 3) there were many more 04-05 models produced than 06+, so you hear more about those models failing than the later ones, even though the actual percentage may be similar.

Regarding mileage on the rebuilt engine you are being give. Zero miles on the rebuilt engine assembly as you are getting it.

Unknown miles on the major components inside that engine assembly. The rotary is modular and can be built with parts of many other engine blocks if need be. This is what mazda does...they intake a large group of failed cores, tear them down, do a quick inspection of the components, keep the ones that look reuseable and toss the ones that aren't. They don't track which parts were from the same original engine and pair them back together later. They toss these parts into a bin and grab those parts later in the assembly process as needed. They do this to save money versus building engines from all new parts.

Thus your rebuilt engine could have parts of unknown mileage from one or more used engines. Technically a rotary can be built with major components from at least 10 different engines, if all used parts were used (often they are). It's to my understanding at at least they always replace all the seals/springs in the engine.

"Cat is under warrent until 100k ask the dealer."
The dealer told me that the warranty for the Cat was 85K
They are trying to get me to purchase a new one.

Regarding the new engine,
are there any problems that i can expect having a rebuilt RX8 engine?

You should be OK with the rebuilt engine. Treat it just like you did yours. Warm up before shutting down, keep oil topped/changed, etc and you will be fine.

Don't buy a NEW cat. Get a used one, they are for sale cheap and everywhere. Or, if you're feeling saucy, go catless. *I suggest checking with the laws in your city/state first*

Where shoul I Purchase the used Cat?

^You can look in the for sale section of this forum or a junk yard. Another way would be to get an aftermarket high flow cat. There are several vendors in this forum that sell high flow cats. Do a search on "high flow cat" and you shall find the answer.

will aftermarkets void the warranty?

depending on what aftermarket parts you have in your car.

99083 miles? That's awesome. Gets the new engine right at the buzzer, like some Kobe Bryant type shit. SCORE!

99K? holy smokes, ye beez driving the wheels offn it. 17k on our 07. You Go.

Missed this one Razz!
Warranty on the Catalytic Converter is mandated by the US goverment for 8 yrs/80,000 mi. :Freak_ani

They have to prove that your aftermarket part caused the failure. Either way, they will probably raise a bit of a stink, anyway.

He probably pulled a Ferris Bueller. :rofl:

So he drove it out of the garage into the woods? :lol2:

Not a well documented or controlled process then, nothing like serialized units and "keeping parts together" and keeping logs to "discern patterns". How then, are they able to learn, and then create improved components to address recurring problems? I can only figure that they are not interested in that, and that knocking out rebuilds has become a rather fast, cheap, and easy process. Basically going through the motions until the last warranty is expired. No wonder I read people reporting that they are on their 3rd engine.

I don't know the total number of members on this site who ended up needing to get their 3rd and 4th engines, but the service advisors I spoke to at a couple dealerships down here have told me that out of all the 8s they've had to replace the engines on, maybe a small handful of those owners ended up needing a third engine while the rest haven't had any major issues with their replacements. But again, if the typical engine doesn't show signs of compression loss till around 60k+ miles, then for all we know all of these remanufactured engines will go bad in a few more years anyway. At least Mazda guaranteed every owner a working engine for 100k miles of ownership. Don't recall too many other car manufacturers offering a deal like that on their sports cars (even though majority of the piston engines out there easily make it well past 100k anyway)

I'm currently rebuilding an 86-88 rx7 block. It was a recent mazda reman bought about 5-6 years ago. The coolant seals started to fail on it and the owner traded it to me for some powdercoating work plus cash, after he obtained a used replacement.

I'm cleaning and inspecting the parts. Mazda used one SHITTY rotor that has some seal slot damage and is WAY out of clearance. IT also has some minor scratches and damage on the faces. This rotor came from an engine that had previously broken at least one apex seal but had less than normal damage. Still nothing I would have ever used in an engine.

The other rotor is better but it also has some scratches and damage on the faces from broken apex seal fragments. I don't really have a problem with this one because the damage doesn't affect the seal slots or working areas of the rotor.

Both rotors have JUNK bearings in them, and also both main bearings were JUNK. The e-shaft was also out of spec. Now, perhaps this wear occurred between mazda building it and me disassembling it, but if I had to bet, I'd say that it was built that way.

I've taken apart probably 40+ mazda reman blocks over the years. Some are in great shape and others make you scratch your head as to what they were thinking. The worst one came from a stock FD a few years back. IT blew the front rotor apex seals which was unusual, usually you blow the rear rotor seals. Also the car was pretty much bone stock so we couldn't understand why such a low mileage engine would blow to begin with.

I took it apart and found out exactly why. The stock rotors for that engine are 9.0:1 compression ratio. Mazda had used an 89-91 non turbo 9.7:1 CR rotor in the front and an 89-95 9.0:1 CR rotor in the back.

You also can easily spot a mazda reman because it has tons of gray sealant on the oilpan and oozing out from the "legs" of the rotor housings and irons. Often they put so much of this crap on that it clogs up the oil pickup tube in the oilpan and causes engine failure. They also like to dab a lot of sealant on the front e-shaft stack, a place where there is ZERO need for sealant to be.

Mazda remans are further identified by red paint on the bolt heads on the front and back of the block and across the flywheel nut. And a metal blue tag on the front cover of the engine. Also if you see the front cover and rotor housings looking abnormally silver and shiny and not dull bare aluminum, but then you look closer and see that it's just paint and it's beginning to flake off in areas, well that's definitely a mazda reman. They also paint the irons with this dull gray/brownish paint so they also look brighter than the bare metal irons that were stock.

Also if the rotor housings are painted then you know they were reused originals. IF they put new housings in the reman they don't seem to paint those.

You are 100% right about the sealant between the housings oozing out. You can see where it dripped on the regulator and it had dripped into different parts of the pan as well. Very sloppy.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/9krpmrx8/4453405582/http://www.flickr.com/photos/9krpmrx8/4453405582/ by http://www.flickr.com/people/9krpmrx8/, on Flickr

WTF, there's not even a reason to have any sealant in those areas, much less that large amount!

Only the outer "legs" under the sparkplug holes and exhaust ports need any sealant...just enough to keep oil from the oilpan from seeping out through the cracks. You have coolant seals on the inner diameter so you don't need any sealant there.

F'ing mazda.

http://www.rotaryresurrection.com/kl...rum/picard.jpg

So far the engine has 20 k on it and all seems good but I don't have a ton of faith in the rebuild process since this is my second reman and I am OCD about maintenance and care. Hopefully the increased oil pressure, SOHN, and premixing will get this one to 100k.

How do i know if my engine is going bad? now i'm worried about it, my 07 has 88 on it, almost 89. I just bought it and i love it but all these post's freak me out.

A compression test is the only reliable way to know (assuming it's done correctly).
Mazda dealers and some rotary specialists are the only ones with the equipment to do it.
It may be worth the investment, around $160 from what I've read, to find out while your engine is still under warranty.

we used to spin em over and look in the exhaust ports at the dealership, and the 90's engines that were built in florida sucked. usually they just spray painted over the grease and slapped some junk parts together (with the new parts going out the back door, its florida).

then in the early 2000's AC delco took over and they put all the counter weights in one bin, :facepalm:

so then Mazda moved to the current facility, which seems to use a TON of new parts and a ton of sealant which is a huge improvement!

SEALANT FTMFW !!!! SPRAY IT ALL OVA ! YAAaAAAaa !