Well after a long unexpected 4 days in the hospital, I was wanting nothing more than to go drive the 8 around a little before the snow and ice came. I went and started her up, it had been about 5 days since she was fired up. But that's when all hell broke loose. The engine light started flashing and I could feel an obvious hick up with the engine. I let it warm up hoping it was just missing a little due to the old plugs and coils and t being 25 degrees outside. Nope! She died and it took me bout 10 mins to get it fired back up but that's when I knew...no compression! Sounded like an old Honda lawnmower.

Mind you this engine only has 15k on it and it was replaced under the 8yr/100k warranty back in March. Nothing but highway/city miles and hadn't even had the chance to get this engine out on the track. This was engine number 3 to pop. I had the first replaced at 36k and the 2nd was replaced at 87k and now this one. The first engine was **** from when I bought it used. The second had tons of track time, highway and city miles. It only got 50wt Redline in the summer months and 5w40 Syntec the rest of the time. And it was premixed from the day it came out of the shop. This last engine had 5w40 Syntec straight from the dealer and premixed most of the time.

Can't believe I have to go through this hassle all over again. The dealership is trying to put the blame on me and ofcourse they already mentioned I'm out of warranty anyways. I told them they have to have jacked something up during the install in the first place. I know for a fact they did not flush the oil system before the install began and I think some metal fragments may have worked their way into the engine. Seen it happen on a couple engines when I worked with Roar in the Grand-Am.

So now I'm looking for engine #4 with no money and no time to work on it and myself and pink flea are expecting our little girl in March. Lots of fun for me. So if anybody has a spare engine lying around, maybe one that has already been ported. lol Send it my way...

 

did you tried to replace the basic stuff like coils and plugs?
when you replaced it in March, what was replaced apart from the engine?

 

If I'm reading this correctly, you're saying that you've ported your last engine, and you were wanting them to replace it under warranty??

Either way, that's shitty news. I know that there are a few engines in the parting out section that are going for pretty cheap...
Good luck!

 

Good luck, Nick.

 

damn, thats some **** luck u got there.

well,time to give Mazmart a call, Im sure Paul will be able to hook you up with something that works, have proper clearance(which most reman even new engine from Japan failed at) @ good price.

 

What the f*ck! Really sorry to hear this. (Of course, you realize you were using the wrong grade of oil, plus you were putting an additive into the fuel tank. Probably just a coincidence. Yeah… I'm sure it's a coincidence. Mazda engineers… what do they know!)

 

Jason I left the old plugs and ls2 coils on since they had 10k miles on them.

Ray thanks man!

Yeah it's a good thing I have mazmart on speed dial. lol I think I may just build me an engine myself. Might as well bridge it while I'm at it. I do know where there is a race built engine just waiting to be installed at. It's got a small street port and ceramic seals already installed as well...hmmm all I need now is a nice turbo to compliment it.

 

for a street car? bridge it? errr I dunno if thats a good idea

anyway, good luck man.

 

you do know Mazda actually asked a lot of "aftermarket" companies for help right ?

not to mention, some of the "current" renesis stuff is actually developed by aftermarket companies. and guess what these companies recommended ?

 

Wrong grade oil? lol Apparently the fools who rebuilt the engine don't know much let alone the morons who installed it in the first place. I had to go to the dealership myself during the install cuz they initially forgot to install two of the grounds and couldn't figure out how to reinstall the intake and ls2 coil assembly.

 

ny, not really gonna do it just thought it would be fun for a bit. lol I just wanted a decent engine back in the car. I'm not gonna lie the second engine probably would have lasted the life if the car but I did trash the hell out of it at the track and at the autoX events.

 

^ Good luck, dude.

 

lol

if thats the case (track & stuff) I strongly suggest you to go with a custom build with ceramic seals. it will last a lot longer than stock Mazda's seals, both to itself & to the rotor housing's chrome surface.

plus do a full engine balance with the flywheel of your choice. cuz u be surprised how "unbalance" stock engines are at higher rpm.

 

Damn--Nick---hate to hear that Dude.
But hey congrats on a little one coming!! Thats special and you dont need unexpected wrench time at a time like this. Just ask your wife--she will tell you.

The more i work on this engine and the more I hear from others (some major builders) about it, i have come to the basic conclusion that the S1 engine is junk.
Only so many bandaids can be used.
The S2 engine verdic is still out there. I do hope it will fair better.
Another Ga club member needs an engine also--- only has 22K on the oridginal motor. Good maintence too. All the right stuff done.
????????

 

it think it has a lot to do with the rebuild process @ the reman plant here. I mean even Mazda Japan can't build perfect engines. lots of spec are wayyyy off.

S2 updated a lot of ****, Knight Sports Japan said this is the perfect Rx-8 for a reason. + the R&D funds for the S2 RX-8 cost about the same as S1. go figure.

 

Yeah thanks Denny. Been awhile since I've been on here...good to hear from you! I just don't know what to do at this point. The dealership wants me to bring it in so they can look at it but I know the engine toast. Been through this too many times to not know plus being in the race circuit has given me a little more experience in the matter. I want to keep the car but I just want to find something that can last. Me having these problems makes me look back at all my buddies with FD's...I use to talk **** to them about their car always being down and now look.
So, I guess now I need to find a beater to drive back and forth to work. Also I want to find an engine already torn apart to play with. I still want to do a small street port and maybe throw in some 2mm ceramic seals. I dunno???? Damn if I could get my car to VA things would be a little easier...a good friend of mine from Roar has a shop in Martinsville and there are some pretty decent parts still in storage from our old race cars. Including an engine or two...guess I'll see if the dealership will absorb the cost but not gonna hold my breath on that one.

 

There's a guy on here selling a not yet assembled ported engine.
I'm on my 4th engine. It came from the reman plant and it's the best one yet. Even better than the first 2 that came from Japan.

 

al, mine was from the reman plant. It felt the strongest out of the 3. The engine before that came from a Mazda reman shop here in NC, that one was the most reliable it lasted 57k miles. I dunno what happened to this one, willing to bet the rear rotor went. It had a small knock from the day it was installed, the tech said it sounded like it was coming from the throwout bearing. I called BS but they insisted it was probably nothing.
Thanks for giving me the heads up on the engine, I'll take a look.

 

https://www.rx8club.com/rx-8-parts-sale-wanted-44/ported-renesis-shortblock-210050/

^he still has them ...

Ported: https://www.rx8club.com/showthread.php?t=210050

rotoryfan1991 should still have one too...


Good Luck!

 

Finally got around to getting the compression ck done...9's on all faces...hmmm. Did find a broken power lead to the #2 leading coil and the trailing coil is weak. I repaired the power lead and almost all is well. I still need to get some plugs and another set of LS2 coils. But atleast I don't need a new engine...right now atleast.

 

well damn! You certainly dont have my luck and I am glad.
Ignition on this engine is critical and the ls2's are great, but the supporting wiring in the harness and leads are as critical as the coils! I have had a spark jump using the yukon coils and it sounded like someone hit the engine with a hammer. Glad it was my leading plug!
Little one about here yet?
Glad you let us know the good news Nick

 

Hey Denny! I'm glad it's running again but I have noticed a small knock coming from the rear housing...I'm thinking it has something to do with that weak coil, hopefully that's all it is.

As for the little one, we are getting close, bout 4 weeks to go! I'm getting excited! But really anytime she could be born. Also pink flea has giving me the go ahead to attend DGRR! It may just be me heading up there unless we can find a reliable baby sitter for that weekend. Or I may just bring the kids fir their first trip on the Dragon! They've each got Recaro carseats. lol