Car Died On Highway! Now Im Offically a Pissed RX-8 Owner
 

So Im moving 2500km away and Im stuck in Calgary now at a buddies house.

All along I have been an RX-8 Supporter because I always follow everything to the tee and believed if you take care of your car, she'll take care of you.

She died driving on the highway and now its sitting in a mazda dealership.

56,000km on it. So around 30,000miles.

Tried to restart her, and she sounds like a sparkplug fell out. I got her running again but had to keep gas on it or shed die. But she wasnt running normally, was missing its firing or something.

Now I gotta figure out if its an electrical or powertrain issue.

Lets pray for a Mazda Dealership that is good to its customers.

This is my first Mazda Dealership experience since buying, and I have a feeling from what I've seen on here, that its not going to be good.

Wish me luck!

Sad Owner
Absolutely shocked it happened to me...

And you believed this? After all the engine failures it shoudn't be a surprise to you....Sooner or later, it will happen.....

But don't get upset... Maybe you need new coils or plugs....
The worst it could be is that you need a new engine....

You re still under factory warranty so hopefully everything should be covered at no charge.

Remember, faults happen to ALL vehicles somewhere along the line. I'm sorry to hear that this happened to you but don t let this discourage you from keeping/driving your mazda.

PROUD 8 owner.

~Chad

Keep us updated on what happened and what they had to fix/replace.

hopefully its something small, and ull get it fix quick

Are you serious? There have been dozens of TSBs issued and 2 recalls. You should have visited your local dealership for those issues alone. Unless you've done 50km since November or you're heavily modded there's no reason not to have gotten an occasional checkup from your local dealership.

What year is your 8? Also what maint. have you done? 50km is around where you should be seeing traditional failings if you haven't done periodic maint. like replacing the spark plugs, tranny fluid, differential, etc. even if it's just a daily driver.

Regardless of why this happened hope you get lucky with the dealership and they treat you well and that it's just a small thing. You might want to make a quick shout out in the regional forum of where you are to see if anyone has feedback on the dealership you're at. Lots of dealerships end up having people with 8s so chances are they'll have found this place.

What year? Auto of stick? All TSB's done?

that's why you change your plugs and coils every like 10k or something

Don't let the trash talk about dealers panic you. Yeah, there are some losers out there, and the sales side of almost any dealership does not give a warm fuzzy feeling, but the service deparment has techs who are trained and do this stuff every day.

Does the Canadian warranty give you a free loaner car the way the USA one does? Kind of a mess if you wind up 2500 miles from your car, but it beats walking. And the money they're shelling out for the loaner gives them some incentive to move the repair along.

Ken

Was there an elevation change?

Your description sounds similar to when my buddy blew his seals, but he had a turbo. Did you?

PS. don't go to the dealership.

it could be a lose spark plug wire and they charge you for a bunch of parts they just wipe with a rag to make them look new. or they charge you $500 to tell you what the problem is.

could be a seal... could be anything really..

where are you moving from? is calgary the starting place or just where you ended up thus far... good thing everyone in canada knows a friend in calgary :)

my car is a 2004 standard

When i wrote my first time with the dealership I meant, "First Problem" with going to dealership. I have had the car in for its regular maintenance etc.

My biggest worry is this is a NEW DEALERSHIP like I never been there before, it was closest to where my car died.

I started in Fort Mac (8hr drive) made it to Airdrie and it cut out.
I had my buddy pick it up and we put it on the flatbed trailer he bought the day before (Lucky for me) and we dropped it off at a dealership.

Im going to stay in calgary a week anyways before going to Vancouver, but now im without wheels. I did not get a rental or anything I just dont want to deal with all this stuff, I just want my car back.

I've been driving this car as a worried owner from the first day I bought it, but she always went well so I think I stopped worrying so much. Now I'm thinking... Oh Man!

Im the second owner but I know the orig owner well, and babied it. Hence why I bought it.
I've put on 10 thousand KM on it all highway between calgary and fort mac.

Wish me luck

I bought my 2004 GT with 100k on it and purchased an extended warranty for any problems... but it turns out the warranty is worthless.... needless to say in the year i've had it.. i've driven it hard daily and no major problems.

i wish i had my 2 grand back from the warranty i bought... cuz i could buy a "new" engine for that price and just drop the sucker in. (if i ever needed to)

if it sounds rough and wont stay running unless you push the gas.. probably a seal on the rotor is gone.

and the previous owner babying the rx8 is probably why it broke when you had it... if the owner drive it correctly at first, he would have encounterd the problem many many moons ago

Previous Owner Babied it YES
And I dont think they did drive it the way it should have been driven.
But believe me, I drove it enough during that time to keep it going good.

I know the previous owner and used the car all the time, and it was awesome! Thats why I bought it!

it's not like its "BAD" it was babied... but if he drove it hard, the engine fault would have been found a lot sooner... saving you the headache.

rotaries are a drivers car.

Update!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 

Dealer called me.

Engine Mounts = Shot (Changed under warrenty) even though not the cause of the break down

Cat Converter = Completely Plugged, was orange and oxygen sensor was welded to it

They can get it started a bit with the cat off, but there looking to find out the cause, why she is running rich or how it got plugged.

Had emmision check 4 months ago, everything perfect.
Never noticed lack of power, didnt think it was running rich or anything etc.
So not sure why.

There checking sparkplugs and everything now, will get back to me. So far, everythng under warrenty

Lets keep hoping

Have them check the ignition coils as well. Chances are these are gone which may be why it's running rich.

the rx8 runs rich from the factory, you need an aftermarket system (like the cobb accessport) to lean it out a bit.

the cat should be under warranty to.

this is all warranty work from the looks of it. ask for a loaner car.

yeah everyting seems to b under warranty at this point lets hope your not one of the new engine club...

Actually.........so far so good. Definitely have them look at the coils as well.
Work them for the loaner car when you can.