The two biggest problems with carbon fiber hoods for the RX-8 is that most of them have poor fitment and most of them are heavier than the OEM hood (which is already thin aluminum).

 

2004 6sp manual w/ 81k miles...this light came on a few times...not sure what it is
quick research came up with "low on radiator fluid"

 

Coolant light. Either low on fluid or bad sensor.

 

Bad float/sensor is more likely than low coolant, although I did have mine come on once because of low coolant.

There's a really long thread "Coolant bottle's greatest secrets" (or something like that) on this. Fixes range from replacing the bottle (and possibly the radiator if you break that while changing the bottle) through leaving it on and considering the picture to be a merry-go-round, thus indicating you should do a few laps around a traffic circle.

Ken

 

I have a 04 6 spd as well and after revving to about 6rpm on it's way down would flash my coolant light. I needed a flush and took it to the dealer for that as i was feeling lazy. afterward, the light wouldn't go off and i knew i had coolant in the car. You can replace the reservoir or just unplug the sensor. I was also wondering if that coolant light applied to the oil coolers as well since a couple weeks after that service i blew my oil line connection to my driver side oil cooler and that possibly could have been a warning for that.

 

The light is strictly for the coolant level.

FWIW, I'm an unplugger. You can unlatch the connector and pull it up so it loses contact, but still lives in the socket so it doesn't dangle. Sometimes I plug it back in and look for traffic circles.

Ken

 

so, stopped for gas, checked the oil level, as i typically do...i noticed coolant outside the coolant cap/container....my guess is that the cap might have been not the entire way closed, or the coolant was filled too high, and under pressure, it popped off the coolant cap.... the car had plenty of coolant in it...

can this light indicate you have too much coolant in your cooling system?

thanks for the help/advice...the merry-go-round comment made me giggle

 

Either the cap was loose or defective, or you overheated. As far as the too full idea goes, what was the coolant level? And, if too high, how did you get too much in there?

Take a careful look and see of you can figure out just where the coolant came from. Overheating one of these cars is serious.

The light is strictly a sensor on whether the float is above or below some minimum. When it works, it will just indicate if you have enough.

Ken

 

How accurate are laser alignment machines? I was told my one of the people doing my alignment that you could put a car on a rack several times and never come up with the same numbers without changing any settings.

The reason I ask is that I got an alignment 3 weeks ago and was told the caster was 7.5/7.0 and I went back in without touching anything and it gets measured as 8.1/7.3. My toe was also pretty different as well but I understand those measurements are much finer. Is this a pretty common thing for the measurements to be that different?

 

Can you guys (and gals) give me some advice? I have a 2004 RX 8, 80,000 miles. I;m not a motorhead, strictly a dilettante, but love to drive it. I was just told by my local Mazda dealer that the compression is low and that, not to put too fine a point on it, I need a new engine. Cost: $6,000. The car blue books for —guess what?— $6,000. Standard economics tells you that its not worth spending $6,000 on a car worth...$6,000. But, I'd have to spend $25K to get something comparable (e.g., Scion FRS). Does use-value trump conventional economic wisdom? If I spent the $6K, I'd have a new engine, but I'd still have a car worth $6K, and how much else could go wrong in the near future, necessitating getting rid of it and buying something else? If I buy a new car, it'll be, well, new, have all the current navigational stuff, updated tech, new parts, etc. Can anyone here give me some advice —pros, cons, unorthodox points of view, etc.? I'm in a conundrum.

Thanks.

 

Your getting ripped off by a couple grand but id sell it if I were you as it is now

 

I can replace the engine in between 16-20 hours from start to finish, that includes thoroughly cleaning engine bay. So 20 hours x $100/hr = $2000 for labor. I can get a Mazda reman for $1800 after taxes. So $2000 + $1800= $3800. So it could be perceived that you are getting ripped off. I don't know how much per hour they are charging you either, I just took an educated guess. It was worth $1800 for me to replace my engine, the good news is the remanufactured engine comes with flywheel, water pump, and thermostat. So as far as running, your all set, minus the battery alternator and starter.

 

The dealer remans aren't list price of $2,001 any more, but $3,300 and change. But yes, $6,000 for the engine at a dealer is overpaying by quite a bit.

Alternatively, you could sell it for $2,000-$3,000 with a known blown engine, depending on the condition of the rest of the car.

 

Dumb question. Do all Series 1 RX-8s have the same color headliner and sun visors? Thinking of getting a spare driver side visor if I spot a good deal on ebay.

Ken

 

every one I've ever seen is the same, and that's at least 30-40 different RX8s

 

Yeah, I can't recall anything but a tan headliner.

 

Dumb question: just what the heck does RIWWP mean anyway?

 

Rhode Island - Winning White Pearl

BTW, he no longer lives in RI.

 

Whitewater pearl*

 

 

Oh well

 

Nor does he still own his WWP RX-8.

Fortunately, he retained all of his memories of that 8 (and of everyone else's 8) and shares them with us.

Ken

 

I'm looking for a new place to move to so I can get out from under my current parking restriction. Then I'm getting another one

It will be likely be Aurora Blue in color though ... unless I find a really tempting WWP or CWP option.

 

Has the subscribed threads been acting weird for anyone lately? I used to get any of the daily subscriptions about 02:00 but now I get them randomly throughout the day. I'm not sure If I'm getting them all either.

Also is there someway here to mark the forums that have been read? when I go under quick links and select it I can not see anything different.

 

Besides what the dealer told you, has it been showing any symptoms of bad compression? Also, what did the dealer say was the compression on all faces? I'm not saying the dealer was dishonest, but they may have messed up the test or their opinion of low compression may be subject to debate. Get a second opinion. If you need a new engine and you're in an area with a choice of facilities, check around. I've had work done at a non-dealer mechanic who also did work on all sorts of modified cars and the cost was significantly lower and expertise as good or probably better. Dealers don't see Rx8s everyday and might just do work after reading the shop manual. If all fails, see if you can find a mechanic to buy it at a reasonable price considering he could work on it himself. I had a BMW I got tired of that had a cracked head and sold it for a good price to my mechanic. If it was my Rx8 I'd explore all alternatives before I dumped it. My 2004 has over 100,000 miles and its fine. I'm not mechanically inclined but the cars are relatively easy to work on and I can change the plugs, coils, de-carbon it, flush the cooling system, etc. without a problem. Good luck!