So if they provide 100% braking capacity right until they fail, then my brakes are fine for now? If the brakes are capable enough to lock up the wheels (ABS kicking in) that means the brakes work as intended and they're not weak right? Because when I break hard it sets off the ABS. I hear the ABS clicking/grinding sound when braking real hard.

No it wasn't a continuous screech. Just a loud chirp at the beginning and then small squeaks here and there until the car came to a stop.

Edit - I haven't heard any worn brake pad alarms either.

The best way to tell is to actually look at pad thickness. Anything else will be error prone. The "pad alarm" is just a metal tab that will start causing a squeal if the pads wear to danger levels, but not all pads have them, so it is unreliable and not worth using as a failsafe. Just look at them and see how much thickness is on them.

Just because they work right now doesn't really mean anything if you have no idea how much life is left on them. You might have another 80,000 miles left, you might have 2 miles left. And trust me, you DON'T want to find out that your pads are gone by hitting the brakes and nothing much happens.

ABS means Anti-locking Brake System.
If your wheels are "locking up", your ABS system isn't working correctly.
That's it's purpose, to maintain traction by preventing wheel lockup while braking.
If the ABS light cones on, there's a problem with the system.

I should note that a few weeks ago I did a 100mph to 0mph as hard as possible on rather violent track pads.

There was tire chirping, just momentary squeaking, but not even on every pulse. That sounds like exactly what you are describing with:
"No it wasn't a continuous screech. Just a loud chirp at the beginning and then small squeaks here and there until the car came to a stop."

So i think your ABS is working fine, just separate from how much pad life you have left.

This^
"Locking up the wheels" is what I'm talking about.

And this^
"tires screech"?

Oh the joys of describing noises, smells, or vibrations in pure text over the internet :lol:

Hey! Isn't that sarcasm in this no-sarcasm thread? :SHOCKED: Oops, I just used sarcasm! :scared: Wait, that was sarcasm too. :crying: Oh gods where does it end!

Anywho, the porn industry is hard at work on innovations to bring noise, vibrations, and smells to you through the Internet... :smoker:

Hey Nisaja, add your general location to your profile. There may be RX-8 fans near you willing to help you with checking and maybe changing your brakes. I change my brake pads before and after every track weekend, many times a year. it's not hard. :)

Well, tires screeching and wheels locking taken literally would be anathema to an ABS.

Agreed :)

I have the same problem when someone says that their "rear wheels locked up" from too fast a downshift from too low an RPM.

No, they were moving, just rotating slower than needed for the speed, so they slide as they rolled.

Semantics: The true refuge of all internet egos.

Haha alright guys let me clear this up. I know that ABS kicks in when the wheels try to lock up. That's why I mentioned it. And my tires do screech here and there under hard breaking, even when the ABS is doing it's thing, but not on every pulse. I mentioned the tire screech because when I braked hard that day, it screeched for about half a second, then the ABS kicked in, and then there were only chirps here and there. That screech at the beginning got me worried. That was the longest screech I had ever heard haha.

The ABS light does not come on.

Wankelbolt, my car has 2800km so I don't think I need new pads just yet bro.

I just wanted to know if the brakes are working as intended if they are capable of setting off the ABS. Oh and I didn't know that brake pads work 100% right until they fail :D

Thanks for clarifying.

Anytime man. Apologies for the stupid questions haha. My bad.

Fans stay on even when coolant temp is low and AC off :/
 

This is crazy. I just came back from a drive and noticed an odd issue. My fans are on high speed all the time. I know the AC forces the fans on high, this happened even with the AC off. Coolant was around 190F, yet the fans were on full speed and they would stay on for 5 seconds after shutting off the car. Whenever I turn the key to the ON position, they would come on within 2 seconds.

This has never happened before. This only happened when I tried to start it when the coolant was over 213.8F. When driving, the fans would go into high speed if, again, the coolant gets over 213.8 or when the AC compressor turns on. Never when it's at 190F.

Help guys! :(

Found out that the system will force both fans on high speed if there's an issue with the ECT sensor, as a fail safe. Checked for CEL codes. Got nothing. Checked coolant level and for anything obvious under the hood. Nothing unusual :(

So I finally got around to buying a SOHN adapter and am looking for potential oil tank install points. I was thinking of putting it where the airpump was but....

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...52c51eaaf2.jpg

...this thing is in my way. I got my 8 with no airpump installed, so I'm a complete noob in regards to what all it used as far as electrical. Is it safe to remove this? If not, can it be easily relocated?

Andrew, that's the fuel pump low speed resistor. It cannot be removed. It could be relocated but I think you want to provide some vibration isolation. What you see is half the air pump bracket left over after removing the air pump. There are rubber isolators on those two bolts to the right of the resistor.

Good to know. I'll see what is doable. Thanks for the quick answer! :cool:

When coasting to a stop, the engine will idle at 1000-1100 rpm until I come to a stop. Only when stopped will it come down below 1000 rpms to the normal idle RPM (825 rpm). I can coast in neutral for as long as I want and the RPMs will not drop below 1000 until I come to a complete stop. 1 mph and it's still above 1000 rpm. Is there some connection between engine idle RPM and vehicle speed that I'm not aware of?

Yes :) It's deliberately done to provide sufficient brake booster vacuum. Even my aftermarket ecu on my miata has it. Tuning it is troublesome though, like all aftermarket ecu idle tuning.

question about coils,

I was having misfires a while back and took it to my mechanic and he replaced one coil. all good the car ran perfect.

The car has 60k miles, 04 MT. I believe this was the first time any coils were changed. Should I replace the other 3 now or wait for signs like power loss / misfires? The car seems great now, smooth all the way up to redline.

Jefferson, I think you are past the recommended mileage for changing the coils in the maintenance schedule. Check the owner's manual (available online). There may be other maintenance things you've missed too. :)

Short answer is yes. They are maintenance items. If they haven't all gone bad already, you're not driving it hard enough! :D:

It's recommended here to change plugs, coils, and wires every 30k miles.

ok thank you

about plugs and wires, 4 plugs are about 1k old, one wire was changed with the one coil. Should I be okay changing 3 coils and 3 wires and leave the plugs?

Yup, that would be fine.

That should work, if the plug corresponding to the bad coil is not fouled.
Athough I don't think I've heard of changing one wire at a time.
That seems strange.

Yes, I highly doubt the mechanic tested or even looked at the other 3 coils. He replaced the front one, which seems to be the only one that can be changed without removing intake components

thanks for the info

You know, it's really not very hard to do that if you have some mechanical aptitude.
I know some people don't have a place to do it though.

Okay, SOHN installed...finally (damn that gasket). However, in my rush (and frustration), I didn't prime the adapter or the supply line :wallbash: In my searching, I did find that the first few tanks of gas after the install should be premix, which I've already added in to the current tank (I haven't driven the car since completing the install, but I did run it until it was up to temp).

Assuming I did everything right (followed the DIY perfectly aside from priming), will the air in the system work itself? I found a few threads stating to drive as normal for the rotary while running premix (planning to nail some curvy roads that equal high RPM fun tomorrow if I get positive feedback) but I wanted to confirm this won't be an issue.

EDIT: Disregard...took it for a 50 mile drive and it is pumping properly (thank Jeebus!) :beer05:

So...just asked my mechanic about maintenance and changing my transmission and differential oil. He said, if you change that you're gonna have major problems. And he said you need a piece of equipment worth thousands to do it. I was like wth? The manual says at 60,000mi one is suppose to do it. Then again he did tell me a while ago people expect you to know all car models. Any thoughts guys?

Mazdafan1892,

RX8 Club’s recommended maintenance schedule, more comprehensive and proactive than Mazda’s schedule.
30,000 miles:
- Replace Ignition coils
- Replace Plug wires
- Replace Spark plugs
- Clean MAF (mass air flow sensor)
- Clean ESS (e-shaft sensor)
- Reset ESS profile
- Clean power steering connections
- Clean battery terminals and clamps
- Replace transmission fluid
- Replace coolant (Mazda FL-22 is highly recommended)
- Replace air filter
- Replace brake fluid (fluid in the brake lines AND the clutch line)
~$300 USD in parts if you shop smartly.


every 60,000:
...all 30,000, plus...
- Clean all chassis electrical grounding points
- Replace accessory belts
- Clean OMP lines
- Replace rear differential fluid
- Replace thermostat
- Clean / Straighten AC condenser fins
- Clean / Straighten oil cooler fins
- Inspect catalytic converter
- Clean / Inspect intake valving
- Consider / inspect all points in 90,000+ as well, many items fail early
~$130 USD in parts if you shop smartly.

90,000:
...all 30,000, plus any 60,000 not yet done, plus...
- Replace coolant bottle
- Replace radiator hoses
- Replace radiator
- Replace front O2 sensor
- Replace motor mounts
- Inspect clutch pedal assembly for flex / weld breaks
~$900 USD in parts if you shop smartly.
At 100k, anything original in the cooling system is really suspect and failure prone. It represents the biggest threat to your engine.
__________________

New owner... is this normal during idle?
 

2009, 53K miles.

At idle, especially after driving a bit, I hear a single tick or click noise, followed by a slightly different sounding one about 5 seconds later, from what seems like the engine. Seems like something ticking on, then off. These two repeat every 10-15 seconds or so. It almost feels like there's a very slight change in idle strength between the two. Very subtle, but it's there.

Also at idle, I get something else that's very hard to describe. The closest thing I can come up with is like bass vibrations that seem to come at random and it feels like it's coming from under the car in a specific spot, not across the whole body. It's also kinda subtle and there's no noise associated, just feels like that part of the car someone grabbed onto and shook it a bit.

Other than that the car runs like a dream, no problems accelerating, no other strange noises or symptoms. Maybe it's just new owner paranoia, I just thought maybe this might be a known thing that's normal for the car.

If anyone knows what these could be put my mind at ease please!

The clicking noise you hear could be the a/c compressor cycling on and off. That is perfectly normal. The compressor adds strain to the engine, which changes the idle speed, which is the vibration you feel. Try turning off the a/c, does the noise go away?

I would get a new mechanic after that crap... its pretty much the easiest job alive.

That seems to be it, thank you!

Auto or manual?

The differential procedure is the same on both models, and it is dead simple. The manual transmission procedure is much the same. With a few simple tools, you can do both.

He might have a minor point on the auto transmission. The reason I say that is a machine is required to do it right, and some generic machines do not have the exact procedure for every make and model. My former mechanic ruined the transmission in my 2005 Acura TSX by using a generic machine--even though he used the genuine Honda fluid I supplied. Something similar happened to my mother's 2001 Honda Civic. My brother had the fluid in his 2008 Toyota Tacoma replaced by a local shop, and it did not shift right afterward. He took it back for a 2nd round, and it still shifted hard and slipped. He took it to a Toyota dealer for replacement, and it has been normal since then.

Because of those experiences, I always take my auto trans cars to the dealership for trans fluid replacement. I do a lot of my own maintenance, use a local shop or two for things I don't want to do myself, but use the dealership exclusively for trans fluid. The cost difference is cheap insurance.

Thanks for the info. I will consider the dealership. I just learned finding a mechanic online isnt the best idea. Its word of mouth thats best. Thats how I got my current mechanic. Also on a different topic. I checked out my battery, its filthy with some rust. Its at least 2yrs old. So gonna get it checked but I feel I need a new one. Now I looked online at most of the batteries and they all have mixed reviews of 50-50 bad/good. Any info when choosing the battery?

Hello, MazdaFan1892.

You can check the regional subforums here on the club, you might find a mechanic in your city that has rotary experience.

I have an Optima Red Top that I bought on Amazon. It is a beast, the car starts immediately, every time. Hot, cold, whatever. Its not cheap, but I like the car so I splurged.

This is going to sound strange, but make sure you check the Cold Crank Amps on the battery. You want at least 640. Some of the cars originally shipped with a smaller battery, if I recall correctly, it was the Miata battery. Later on, Mazda realized they had a problem starting, so they installed higher rate starters and replaced the smaller batteries. I have a 2005, and it was running the smaller size battery. I had replaced it a few times (at Walmart), but they kept using the wrong size. Eventually I tracked down the TSB, and put in my Optima.

Does anybody know the paint code for the gunmetal Spirit R edition wheels?

im looking into doing my plugs wires and coils...from what I've read advanced auto parts is the place to go (heeding the risks of non OEM parts). before I order the parts I want to make sure that these parts will work well and want to know if anyone has some insight on these exact parts (if you have purchased them or not, why etc.) if not these parts can anyone please suggest parts to get for this job??

THANKS

2: NGK Laser Iridium Spark Plug (RE7C-L)

Part No: 6700


2: NGK Laser Iridium Spark Plug (RE9B-T)

Part No: 6701


1: NGK Ignition Wire Set

Part No: 4858

4: CARQUEST by Intermotor Ignition Coil

Part No: E1001

Does anyone know the color for the 2005 Shinka? I got the "black cherry" 28w mazda touchup paint, but as you can see, the color is way too red and bright compared to the car. Thanks.
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...e8bdc27769.jpg


https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...9575df2407.jpg

Glenn09

You have a number of options for coils:
- The Cheapest option: BWD/Intermotor coils from auto parts stores like Advance Auto. 4 coils, 4 plugs, and 4 wires can be had for around $190-220 total based on whatever promotion is running at the time, shipped to your door for free. They are considered to be the first coil revision and you should expect to need to replace them around 20,000 miles, 30,000 miles max. They often come with a "lifetime warranty" by the auto parts store, which could potentially be leveraged for perpetually new coils.

- The Best Upgrade: The BHR ignition coil upgrade can be had for around $500, which eliminates the need to continue replacing coils periodically, as well as deliverying a significantly stronger spark for minor mileage and power gains. It is a proven kit with top notch customer service supporting it. It includes the wires, you still need to add plugs ($80)

- The For-Sure OEM: Mazmart sells all 4 coils of the latest OEM coil revision (C) for around $250, (just the coils, you still need to add plugs and wires) Supported by top notch customer service. They will likely last longer than 30,000 miles, but we don't have much solid data on how long the latest coil revision will last.

- The Most Expensive option: Buying from a dealer will run you around $300+ for the coils, $500+ for coils, wires and plugs, and if you have them do the install, expect to get a bill for anywhere from $700 to $1,800. You may not get the latest coil revision. Yes, you are getting shafted if you take this option, so bring lube.

- The Highest Risk option: Ebay coils continue to pop up as counterfeit, mislabeled, dead on arrival, and have zero post-purchase support largely. They are the "cheapest" listed price, but when you add that $92 or whatever to the price of anything in the list above from having to do it over again, you can see that they are no longer the cheapest option. Do it right the first time. "Motor King" coils are popping up at an attractive price on Ebay, but are being proven as ineffective, to the point of being unable to get the engine fired. "Mazda" branded coils on ebay are almost always counterfeit. Check the seller's name though, since some of our vendors sell legitimate coils there. The price will be $200+ though. Anything sold as "Mazda OEM" under ~$26 per coil should really be considered as suspect and probably counterfeit.

Be wary of "LSx D585 coil upgrades", as not all D585 coils are created the same, and the standard generic D585 coil is not properly designed internally for the RX-8's ignition needs. They generally "work", but there are anomalies and performance issues that have to be solved, if they can be solved. Definitely NOT a plug and play option, even if it is advertised as "plug and play"

Thanks a lot for the detailed answer Williams. I'm at work now. I'll go over your response when I get home

What gwilliams said plus this option

https://www.rx8club.com/group-buy-ce...il-kit-258847/

cranks but no spark
 

please help!

Engine cranks over but has no spark.

Ive replaced coils, leads, plugs & crank sensor with working parts from a working RX8 so I can rule out those parts, but im still not getting any spark. ive check all fuses in the engine bay/passenger foot-well.. are there others I dont know of?

what else can i test??

How are u testing for no spark?

If I recall correctly only the Lead plugs fire during cranking so if you are using the trailing plugs grounded against the frame you're not going to see a spark.

Do you have a check engine light on/checked for any MILs?

What year?
Mileage?
Manual or Auto?

The crank sensor (ESS) are "not" normally known for failing .. make sure it is connected/plugged in, if this is not connected you will not get a spark.
Re-check the plugs leads are connected correctly in the correct order.

And finally compression.

Could it also be his fuel injectors? or the thermometer?

Well I doubt highly that it's the injectors or Thermometer causing a "no spark" situation.

<shrug> but it's a crazy mixed up world we live in

How many Infractions to get banned?
I'm thinking about it