davefzr

Well.. I replaced the pulley back to stock and the light my CEL came on and I still have that chirping noise. My idle is better because of the new belt but it didnt fix the other noise.

I tried calling SEMA, but the representative was not there who handles the warranty issues. They are based in D.C. I'll try calling back tomorrow and hopefully will speak with someone this time.

My next step is to replace the cat back to stock. Hopefully I can get in touch with him soon too haha..

Hey.. if you see this TR1GGER.. call me

Aseras

call up one of those nice greedy perosnal injury attorneys and see what they think.

dwynne

What was the code associated with the CEL? I don't think I understand - why not buy a cheap code reader and go by the codes to "fix" the problem? You are doing a lot of work un-doing your mods hoping the CEL light will not light back up. The code may show a plug or plug wire fault or any number of other things that have nothing to do with your mods.

The CEL is just an idiot light - but the codes can tell you more about what is wrong. To not make use of this is just foolish.

Get a cheap reader, but make sure it can do CAN and see what is really wrong with your car.

Dennis

RX8_Buckeye

I'm sorry that this happened to you davefzr. It's a very unfortunate situation, and I can understand why you'd be upset. The dealer should have been up front with you about the aftermarket parts from the very beginning--maybe that way you could have complied and kept your warranty intact. I don't believe Mazda NA and the dealer have acted properly in this respect.

That being said, I think some of you need to look at this whole issue from the automaker's perspective. Manufactures spend hundreds of millions of dollars proving out their designs to ensure that a quality product is delivered to the customer. It is simply not possible for them to make vehicles robust to the infinite number of aftermarket parts and other modifications. Anything you do to the vehicle, down to the wheels and tires, changes the inputs that the car sees during everyday driving. For example, bigger wheels are usually combined with lower profile tires which have stiffer sidewalls than the OEM equipment. This significantly increases suspension loads. The vehicle was designed to handle suspension loads with the OEM tires, so once you put bigger wheels/tires on the car, the manufacturer is not responsible for any failures in the chassis/suspension/mounting system, and with the proper reasoning you could argue that it goes well beyond those systems.

If you plan to modify your car, you need to be aware of the risks. If your warranty is important to you, I suggest waiting until your factory warranty has expired, or at least check with your local dealer before proceeding. Also, keep in my mind that the many people on this forum who have installed aftermarket parts on their vehicles without being hassled by their service departments simply may not have run into problems yet. If something arises that requires extensive warranty work, the dealer can easily back out of their verbal acceptance of the modifications. The dealers get paid by Mazda NA to perform warranty work, so if they are worried in the least bit that Mazda may not reimburse them for the work, they're not going to proceed.

SilverEIGHT

If you ran a Mazda dealership and someone brought in a car with third party parts, would you actually approve them? I don't think so. If you mod your car under warranty then you should expect to void your warranty. If you want to maintain your warranty then don't mod your car! Wait till the warranty is up then play. I don't think the fact that you were driving 86 had anything to do with it.

dwynne

I think someone else here posted that they had similar mods, but they paid their Mazda dealer with their "Mazda certified mechanics" to install them. Seems like a more expensive way to go, but it would take some nerve for the installing dealer to bust you and void your warranty.

Dennis

davefzr

The only reason why I am reinstalling the OEM parts is because I have gone down every road. I have a CANScan. The code is a random misfire in the first port. They have replaced the spark plug wires, spark plugs, coils and also my PCM and I still have the light. This is why my warranty was voided. If you have been through what I have, then this is the only logical next step to prove it's not my aftermarket parts that is causing this CEL, but something they did after my 30k service. This all started after that when I could hardly stand to even be in my own car because the gas smell was that bad.

I am tired of this CEL and am willing to put my car basically back to stock to improve my case if I decide to take them to court. It's bull crap in my mind and I am just frustrated with the whole situation. So we'll see what happens next.

RX8_Buckeye

I understand what you're trying to do and I'd probably do the same thing. Unfortunately, the dealer/Mazda NA could argue that your mods caused the problem, and that simply returning everything to stock may not be enough to reverse whatever is causing the CEL. I don't think they would have to explicity prove that this is the case, but simply present a hypothetical scenario in which your mods could have caused abnormal functioning of the engine, and some type of irreversible damage was caused. If it goes to court, I'm sure they'll get some engineers involved. I think you're fighting a losing battle, but I'm no lawyer so I'd definitely suggest consulting one before you take any action.

dwynne

I understand now, I didn't realize they had replaced parts and you knew what the code was.

A friend went through something similar with Kawasaki over a motorcycle. She had lots of problems with non-start and was stranded several times. The dealers couldn't or wouldn't fix it so she tried to get the Kaw HQ to fix it and finally tried the Lemon Law approach. In the end, Kaw did fly a top tech in look at it and he blamed the mods she had purchased (and installed by a dealer) like higher flowing filter and a re-jet. They put the bike to stock and she ended up selling it (cheap) with a disclosure, since the lemon court ruled against her.

Good luck getting yours right!

Dennis

davefzr

Well the law actually states that they have to prove that my aftermarket modification directly caused the problem or else it's still under warranty. To this day they still have yet to tell me exactly what caused the issue. Thats why I feel I have a strong case. I asked my service manager if he could find out why they voided my warranty and he basically told me that he couldnt obtain the reason from Mazda and if I tried myself, I would probably end up in an endless loop because nobody could give me the answer I was looking for.

What great customer service huh?

jacka$$

Nubo

I'd think they'd have to be able to offer some reasonable proof of how/why your parts would cause permanent damage. Doesn't sound like they can do that at this point since they haven't even accurately diagnosed the problem. Above that, voiding the ENTIRE warranty is just silly. And there are at least 2 items in their list which I am certain they wouldn't want to become public

1 - A sportscar with a top speed of 148 mph will have its warranty voided if the owner drives 86 mph

2 - Despite their much-advertized 9000 redline, your warranty is voided at 6700 rpm.

Yeah, great PR. That's a pretty big stick for your lawyer to beat them over the head with.

expo1

Well one thing you can do to get some attention is make up a sign or write all over your car things like

“ MAZDA DOESN’T SUPPORT THEIR CARS”
“ DON’T DEAL WITH XYZ DEALERSHIP”
“ MAZDA’S DON’T COME WITH WARRANTIES’

You get the idea, and drive around the dealership a lot.

davefzr

Hey guys.. If anyone has a stock cat that is sitting around, I would be interested in borrowing it..

Details here..

https://www.rx8club.com/showthread.php?t=57564

Nemesis8

iTrader: (3)

You can have mine, it has the hanger torched off of it though....

davefzr

I think I am going to buy one from Mazmart.. They are cheaper than I expected... ($400.00).. Sold mine for around 300.00.. so that makes it a little better...

If anyone is closer or wants to beat it.. you have a day whoever you are