catchb52

Thanks RIWWP. That will help. I have not gotten to where I can read the coils to see if they are OEM. Car was very well maintained but I don't know if the PO changed these. Probably best, if not just for peace of mind.

Looks to be fairly straight forward to change out the coils from what I have read. Other than using anti sieze on the coil bolts and the plugs, any other tips on doing this myself?

RIWWP

iTrader: (2)

Not really.

This pic https://www.rx8club.com/attachments/...rder-coils-jpg is really useful for ensuring you have the wires connected up right. Once you do it a few times, you will be surprised on how fast you can change everything.

Ameer Mather

i need some help with tyres please: i have been running on bridgestone potenza s001 tyres for the past year and honestly can say i have never driven on a better tyre ever BUT i cant afford to replace them as they are super expensive.i would appreciate some suggestions of tyres suited to summer climates that have been used on our vehicles and can handle high milage high speed and also not suck in the rain.obviously price is a factor!thank you in advance

Tweaked Tay

Mornin folks,
Just wondering. I have a tail light out, not a brake light, but the lights to the furthest outside of the taillight assemble (sidemarkers perhaps?) and I'm wondering is these would be suitable to replace.

Matrx8

iTrader: (2)

One thing I've struggled with and I don't fully understand, How do you lower your car without ruining your tires or fender wells? My car isn't crazy low but it is lowered a little and already I'm at the point that if I lower it any more the front fenders will either cut the tires, or the tires will wear the fender well plastic away. It already happened once when it wasn't securely fastened, I got them replaced and it's still happening in some places. I used the wheel, tire, and spacers suggested on this site and I don't know how people lower their cars far lower than mine without damaging something.

18" wheels, 245/45/18 tires, 25mm spacers

RIWWP

iTrader: (2)

Take a look at the Yokohama S.Drives. Supurb wet pavement and heavy rain performance, good dry performance, cheaper than lots of other options. It's my preference for a daily driver tire.

That's a fitment question, but people play with camber (to bring the top of the tire inward), offset (moves the wheel inward and outward on the hub), tire width, and wheel width. Those spacers are part of your problem. Head over to the Will it Fit thread for advice on that.

Kirill Morozov

Had no issues with car before starts cold and hot almost identical time... And suddenly just once when I tried to start the car on hot I stopped cranking the starter in the middle of engine start and it's flooded itself (had no issues with flooding before and had installed DENSO spark plugs with D585 coils), so on next day I deflooded it using another car and took it for a long drive, then I had about 3 times stopping-starting procedures and after I went from shopping and put in trunk all products (actually the first time flooding happened the trunk was loaded too) tried to start it and after it started it straight away lost power and flooded again, so the next thing I done is asked my friend to help with deflooding again, and it started with no problems, worked well without issues RPMed till 10k straight away, but when I shut it down after 1h of hard driving and tried to start it again it was flooded again... so I thought it might be related to spark plugs and ordered a new set but cold OEM NGK and when I started to change the spark plugs I noticed that spark wire wasn't sitting well at all on bottom left plug and I realized that this was the problem of all my issues (I think so, haven't checked it yet), but the main questions are...
- Might it be the problem?
- Why I had no issues with reving the engine or misfires?
- And what problems the unplugged wire might cause?

Also at first I was thinking that the problem was with the fuel pump as I was using Pettit Racing premix before, so ordered a new one to replace my old to be sure that the filter is clean, so is it worth to change it and might the dirty filter also be a problem of my floodings?

RIWWP

iTrader: (2)

Yes, flooding is a direct cause of being unable to get the injected fuel to ignite.

This is essentially because either the ignition isn't able to ignite the air/fuel mixture, or the engine isn't developing enough compression. If it isn't developing enough compression, it could be because of engine failure or the starter isn't spinning it fast enough. IF it's not spinning fast enough, it could be starter failure or just a weak or dying battery.

In your case, it certainly looks like the problem is that you had a plug wire coming loose, which certainly will cause ignition problems.

"Bottom Left Plug" to me suggests that it was the Leading plug for the front rotor. When you are cranking, only the leading plug fires. So when cranking, you were trying to get the engine started entirely on the rear rotor, which usually doesn't work too well. Once you are running, the trailing plug on the front rotor would have picked up enough of the ignition needs to keep you from noticing much of a problem.

Go ahead and replace the plugs anyway, secure the plug wires to the plugs properly, and you should be fine.

Kirill Morozov

Thanks! Great and handy answer as always!

djgiron

I second the SDrives, I had a set on my old Maxima, they are quiet and drive very well, and in the occasional chance you get a bit of snow, they will fine there too.

nanwagner

I did something incredibly stupid. I let my RX8 sit in the subzero garage all winter and didn't go out to start it. When it finally stpped snowing and the 7-foot drifts melted away, I thought it would be a good time to get it going. It turned over, ran for two seconds, then died. After that, the battery was drained. I will be picking the battery up from the shop where i had it recharged tonite and we will get it reinstalled in the car. Is there anything I should do differently, or just try to start the car as usual since it's been parked without running for so long? Winter stinks.

RIWWP

iTrader: (2)

Do at least a short deflood, holding the gas pedal to the floor and crank it for 5-10 seconds, 5 times. Then try starting as normal. If you can, hook up another running car to it with jumper cables to help soak the load the starter places on the battery.

Rx8 Dave

Tweaked, the bulbs should work if you don't have other LEDs on the same circuit, otherwise you may have to add a load resistor (wirewound 10W resistor (or 2 watt 150 Ohm) from Radio Shack). I've used diodedynamics on my interior, but got a set for the stop lights and they weren't real bright so went back to regular bulbs. Might be worth $5 to see if the smaller bulbs are brighter(?). Also, LED Lights, Bulbs & LED Lighting Accessories - SUPER BRIGHT LEDS may sell them, but don't know if they are any brighter for your application. They may last longer, but I just use bright incandescent bulbs from 194 Bulbs 168 W5W 2825 Map Led Parking Signal Side Marker, but that's just me.

BadgerBear72

I own an R3 and until recently would occasionally redline before the car warmed up properly. Due to the redline being lower before the car warmed up all the way I obviously wasn't able to take it up to 9k but would still bounce of the 5k limiter. But after reading into rotaries and mechanics in general I realized how stupid I was being. Now I didn't do this every week but enough to make me concerned about my long term reliability. The car runs strong and I have only put 10k miles on it total, but did I do any long term damage or shorten the life of my engine? I'm pissed at myself for doing but am thankful mazda put in those tach restrictors before it warmed up all the way

DoubleBlack8

how can you know if your rx8 had a motor recall before you owned it. how can i tell if the previous owner had the new engine installed

ken-x8

It's not a recall. It's an extended warranty.

Contact Mazda and give them your VIN. They can tell you all of the warranty work that has been done. including whether the engine has been replaced by them.

Ken

Rx8 Dave

Yea, Badger, the rotary likes a warm up to get the different parts expanded to where they need to be before upping the REVs. 5K isn't too bad, but better to let it warm up before upping the REVs. If it starts fine, you don't notice any change in startup times between cold and warm starts, no big change in oil usage, no crap in your oil, no crap in the coolant, and the R3 otherwise runs fine, you're probably OK. You could always get a compression test if you're worried. If you had a Series I you could get a SOHN adapter (click/tap:Oil inject. Pump Adpt) to separately pump 2 stroke oil for lubrication of the rotors, but in your case you could at least use premix (two-stroke oil put in your gas tank) if you're red lining it all the time.

RIWWP

iTrader: (2)

^ The SOHN isn't compatible with the Series2 unfortunately.

Chrishoky

iTrader: (9)

Im running premix now, is there a big advantage to having a SOHN? I would prefer to continue premixing since its relatively cheap and easy. No parts to buy, no time to install etc...

RIWWP

iTrader: (2)

Yes, there is a big advantage with the SOHN. It basically allows you to stop injecting dirty oil into the engine that wasn't designed to be burnt. This meants that your OMP lines can't clog up and burn out the engine, you can pick your 4-stroke oil for the high stress high sheer conditions of the e-shaft bearings, the 2-stroke arguably does a better job at carbon reduction and lubrication (though same job on cooling, which is the main purpose of the oil injection), plus as a perk, checking the 2-stroke container level is easier than pulling the dipstick.

Rx8 Dave

Hi, all -

Anybody slightly adjusted the stop screw on the OMP to allow a bit more oil into the engine; if not, any ideas?

Would just a slight adjustment of the stop screw set off the CEL? If so, would the brake pedal pump method reset the PCM?

See attachment.

Thanks!

nanwagner

Thanks for the advice on starting my winter-killed Shinka...we took your advice, hooked it up to another car and after about 15 minutes of following the direction I received here, it spewed out a huge cloud of exhaust and ran great. I took it for a long ride, and all seems fine. The tracking (DSC?) was off, but as I recall I need to turn the wheels completely to the right and left before I turn the key...right? This is another stupid question, haha. I truly appreciate the knowledgeable people on this forum - I am definitely NOT a gearhead, but I sure do love my car!

marvin_rock

My 2004 Rx8 only has one key left. I just called the dealership and they are telling me $60 for just the key, $165 to get a keyfob, and $80 to program it.

I see tons of blanks keys on ebay for like $10 - is there ANYWAY to program these keys only having the single key. I *might* have a valet key somewhere, but I've got no clue where it ran off to.

I mean, logic tells me, if they can charge me $80 to do it, it's obviously *possible* but how?

All the threads I could find about it state that I need two keys to program. I'd love to save the change and also avoid having to call a locksmith when I inevitably lock myself out of the car, or lose the key entirely.

1.3_LittersOfFurry

iTrader: (4)

The MOP has a position sensor. Messing with the stop screw will more than likely put you in limp mode. The Ecu checks the mop position when you start the car. The only accurate way to increase the MOP rate is still with a coppAP.

You can increase the mop to a extent, by restricting the oil nozzles vent tube, but it's inaccurate and it won't add oil where/when you need it.

There are threads about it, just have to do some digging.

RIWWP

iTrader: (2)

Yes, turn the wheel completely one way, then completely the other. Doesn't matter which order, the sensor just needs to see the limits of the steering wheel.

With only 1 key, it is impossible to code a 2nd key to your car yourself. You HAVE to have dealer-level software. The dealer's prices are obviously absurd however. The cheapest method is to buy a key blank and a transmitter of the right FCC code from ebay (will run you around $20-30), then call around to locksmiths to see who has the Mazda key programming hardware/software. Most locksmiths only have 1 or 2 makes, but they all know each other, and usually the first one you call will direct you to the locksmith that has it. When I had a key added this way, it cost me another $20 at the locksmith, just under $50 total. It took him about 2 minutes total. Quite a bargain compared to the dealer price and completely reasonable.