Yes I found your thread shortly after! Thanks! So I guess I can't directly wire the headunit to the speakers like the non Bose stereo? They need an amp?

 

Guys another really dumb question. I just installed a K&N Typhoon intake. Literally drove it home from the shop (about 5 miles) and the car went into storage for about a month as I was busy. This morning, popped the hood to check if everything is ok before starting it, and found a the little tray that sits under the intake box wet! Turns out it's oil! I've never had this problem before. The car has been perfect! What could it be?

Car started and idled fine.

 

Yes. They need an amp.

Sigh. The Typhoon intake is probably the SINGLE WORST intake you can put on an RX-8. There might be worse junk eBay intakes, but probably not. The Typhoon raises the junk bar pretty high. It robs power, screws with your idle, and makes noise. The noise thing may be beneficial, depending on your perspective, but still not worth the problems it causes.

The factory airbox IS a cold air intake, and it is capable of flowing more than an N/A Renesis can consume. There is no reason to change it, unless you want the extra space around the radiator. In that case, the only good option is the AEM intake. Rip that thing out, and put the factory airbox back in.

As for the oil, there are several possibilities. The simplest explanation could be the oil is overfilled, or was filled with a short funnel, which allowed oil to leak into the vacuum lines near the top of the filler neck.

It could be other serious or not serious things. Here is some additional light reading:

https://www.google.com/search?client...+oil+in+intake

 

Thanks Steve. I know it doesn't give me extra power. I did it for the noise! I've seen a few "oil in intake" threads before but never really cared because it never happened to me. The oil level was low. Between the lower dot and the dot above that. Thing is this has never happened before. I usually make a bit of a mess while filling the car with oil :D it spills a bit. But my stock filter has always been clean. This time the tray at the bottom of the intake housing was wet. It was a lot of oil!

 

In the 5 miles you drove it, did you wind it out to high rpm? Typically the oil upchuck happens at high rpm. However all bets are off with the Typhoon thing. Maybe its a crankcase oil intake.
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Yes I did. Wanted to hear it. Sounded great. Regretting it now though

 

Search this site for every part you are considering putting on your car. There are problems with that intake reported all over RX-8 Club, and there are very good reasons we only recommend AEM and Racing Beat intakes.

https://www.google.com/search?client...typhoon+intake

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FYI if you find a Mazdaspeed Cold Air Intake, it is the exact same part as the AEM Cold Air Intake.

 

Around July of this year I replaced my starter (second time since 2014) because it had bad connections. The car wouldn't even start. I got a N3Z1 starter from a scrapyard and when I installed it the engine would fire the first time it turned over. Now it's back to what it was doing before where it turns over 4-5 times before it starts. It starts which is great, but I'm confused why it would start quick when it was freshly installed and now it won't.

Why would getting a new starter temporarily make it start better, and then go back to normal only a few months later?

 

I'd check your compression, what you are describing is common if you have low compression and install a better starter. Will help with getting the car started yes, but it eventually catches back up as it gets worse.

Also check your coils, wires, and plugs. Make sure your battery is strong and the terminals are both tight and free of corrosion.

 

That makes sense, I just didn't expect it to catch up in a matter of a few months. I'll definitely get it checked.

I changed coils, wires, and plugs 2015 shortly after getting the car. I don't put a lot of miles on the car, but considering the time they're probably due for another change. Battery is okay, load tested it recently and terminals are clean.

 

It is quite possibly/probably coincidence that the used starter seemed to crank the engine faster. Still check the connections for tightness and corrosion. Also check the battery terminals for tightness / corrosion.

Declining compression causes slow cold and especially hot starts. You can mask the problem with an S2 starter, which has higher cranking RPM, but you will eventually have to address the underlying problem. It is probably worth having your compression checked.

Coils, plugs, and wires are typically ~20K mile parts. Physical age does not factor in here. Test the coils and check the plugs to be sure they are good, but I would not replace them just because they are few years old.

 

Gentleman, another stupid question. I need to remove the wheels on an S1 base to get them painted. I have a set of 15 inch Mazda 3 rims lying around. Will they fit? The car has the smaller front brakes since it's a base model.

 

I'm pretty sure no

 

Looking for a tuner near clearwater/tampa in florida.
I have an 06 shinka that has a walker hi flow cat that has been punched out to be a mid pipe.
Its running REALLY rich and I need to find someone that can adjust it and also kill the CEL for the O2 sensors.
Not looking for anything crazy. The exhaust fumes are killing me in the car.
I tried calling and emailing rx8 performance (they are practically in my back yard) but no answers. Are they still in business?
Do they happen to be a member on here?

Any one else people would recommend? I can find tuners, but I want someone who knows about rotaries..

Bryan

 

They are....It is Christmas though

 

my car is having a rough start up and once it does start up it jumps to about 2 and then drops to below 1 at its idle. eventually the car warms up enough and it dies either when im idled or when the car is at a stop. i was having issues earlier in the week with the car dying at stops or if i came to a red light. im not too sure on what to fix as ive searched everywhere. the only ideas i have is maybe sparks or maybe fuel filter ???

any suggestions?

 

Not the fuel filter. The typical culprits are poor ignition coils (and spark plugs) and poor engine compression. Engine compression requires testing, and you may want to start there before investing in any other parts. Mazda can do the test for you, most mechanics aren't equipped to do this on a rotary. If it it's too low, it's new engine time. If it passes, ignition coils would be my next step.

 

O2 sensorS? As in, you removed both of them? You need the upstream one whether you have a cat or not...

 

A rotary without a cat will do that. There isn't much to adjust. Any mechanic can confirm via OBD whether it's actually running rich and if your fuel trims are normal. If they are, not much you can do. This is also the extent that most rotary tuners will go to given this problem, ECU tuning isn't commonplace, perhaps because there is nothing to be gained from it on a stock car. If it is indeed rich, you need to diagnose and fix the problem that's causing that.

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The sheer size of the stock cat should tell you all you need to know about what to expect if you delete it. There's only one reason it's that big, and that's because it has a lot of work to do. Uncatalyzed rotary exhaust (really any exhaust but especially from rotaries) is nasty stuff -- way nastier than even the smell and the burning eyes/nose, as carbon monoxide is odorless but incredibly toxic.

 

Nice to see you still here my friend. Gerald

 

Hey guys. So I had to disconnect the battery on my car for a bit. After that, the car didn't idle properly. It kept dying at idle. It got a bit better, but 5 days later, it still occasionally dies at idle. Never happened before disconnecting the battery. I figured it's learning the fuel trims, but shouldn't it be done with that by now?

Car is a 2012 Spirit R with 6000 miles.

 

there's a diagram / bulletin / whatever somewhere around here that outlines what it takes for the ECU to consider it has reached a normal drive state. This typically applies to ODB readiness tests.

I believe fuel learning is an ongoing thing. If it is starting right up and you have plenty of power I wouldn't worry too much. Drive it like you stole / rented it

 

Thanks. I started it this morning and let it idle for 20 mins. Didn't stall again guess it's fixed.

One more thing. I have a gutted CAT from a 2007 lying around. I was thinking of installing that and selling my working CAT. Do S1 CATs fit on S2s?