Loki

iTrader: (1)

Why do you believe you have coolant in your oil and is it froth on the dipstick? If so I have good news: froth on the dipstick is normal. Especially in cold weather.

gwilliams6

Originally Posted by kjclutch1
Hi I don't know if anyone uses this anymore, but I recently bought an RX8 this summer and didn't know much about it when I did. I just found the car liked it's color and thought it would be fun to have a sports car. It's a 2004 renesis and the precious owner took extremely good care of it everything was great and taken care of it even had a couple of aftermarket parts. It was at 100,500 miles and still running great, but as the rotary engine does after going for so many miles it gave out and I think I have coolant leaking into my oil. Now I have to get a new engine and was thought this would be a great place to get information and answers to my questions. 1. If I was going to engine swap it what engine would be the cheapest most reliable with a bit more power if possible. 2. I would like to keep the rotary, so If i was to put another renesis in it does the renesis do well with turbo?

I would greatly appreciate any information, Thank You.


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 and any original cat are really suspect and failure prone. They represents the biggest threat to your engine. Replace.



Starting the Engine

• Starter
• Battery
• Engine Compression
• Grounding Wires
• Ignition Coils
• Spark Plugs
• Spark Plug Wires
• Fuel Pump
• Fuel Injectors

Generating Power at Full Throttle

• Ignition Coils
• Spark Plugs
• Spark Plug Wires
• Engine Compression
• E-Shaft Sensor (ESS)
• Air Filter
• Intake Valving
• Throttle Body
• Mass Air Flow Sensor (MAF)
• Fuel Pump
• Fuel Injectors
• Catalytic Converter (Cat)

Keeping the Engine at a Cruise

• Ignition Coils
• Spark Plugs
• Spark Plug Wires
• Engine Compression
• E-Shaft Sensor (ESS)
• Intake Valving
• Throttle Body
• Mass Air Flow Sensor (MAF)
• Fuel Pump
• Fuel Injectors
• Front O2 sensor
• Catalytic Converter (Cat)

Keeping the Engine at an Idle

• Ignition Coils
• Spark Plugs
• Spark Plug Wires
• Engine Compression
• E-Shaft Sensor (ESS)
• Mass Air Flow Sensor (MAF)
• Front O2 sensor
• Catalytic Converter (Cat)
• Intake Vaccum

Managing Engine Heat

• Radiator
• Thermostat
• Radiator fans
• Water Pump
• Coolant Lines
• Coolant Temp Sensor (ECT)
• Oil Coolers
• Oil Cooler Lines

Managing Exhaust Emissions

• Catalytic Converter
• Air Injection Pump
• Front O2 sensor
• Rear O2 sensor
• Coolant Temp Sensor (ECT)

Changing Gears

• Clutch Pedal Assembly
• Clutch Master Cylinder
• Clutch Slave Cylinder
• Clutch Fork
• Release Bearing (Throwout Bearing, Release Collar)
• Clutch Pressure Plate
• Clutch Disc
• Flywheel
• Pilot Bearing
• Transmission Shifter
• Transmission Syncros

Bringing the Car to a Stop

• Brake Pedal Assembly
• Brake Master Cylinder
• Brake Power Booster
• ABS Junction Block
• Brake Lines
• Brake Fluid
• Brake Calipers
• Brake Pads
• Brake Rotors

Providing Electrical Power

• Battery
• Alternator
• Grounding Cables

__________________

Engine Power Loss

• chokes as revs increase
  • O2 sensor failure (too rich)
  • MAF failure
  • MAF disconnected
  • e-shaft sensor fouled
  • accessory belt fraying
• high end power loss (hard fuel cut)
  • Rev limit reached
• high end power loss (jerky and stumbling)
  • Ignition failure
  • fuel pressure loss
  • e-shaft sensor fouled
• high end power loss (smooth)
  • Catalytic converter clog
  • air filter clog
• low end power loss (smooth)
  • Engine compression loss
• low end power loss (stumbles)
  • Ignition failure
  • front O2 sensor failure
• revs slowly but smoothly
  • O2 sensor failure (too lean)
  • catalytic converter clog
  • air filter clog
• sudden power drop at a specific rpm
  • Intake valving actuation problem
• trouble getting to redline
  • Ignition failure
  • front O2 sensor failure
  • catalytic converter clog
  • air filter clog
  • e-shaft sensor fouled
  • fuel pressure loss
  • MAF failure

Cheers

F2264

So I’ve had my 05 A.T rx8 for a year and a half now and recently it’s been getting really difficult to get it to start when it’s hot. I have replaced plugs, plug wires, and all the ignition coils because I had a cel for a misfire. I thought these would also fix my hot start but it only fixed my cel. I was told that the starters for 05 rx8s are not ideal for the car and was wondering what starter I could buy for my A.T. Since most of the 2.kw starters only work for manual transmission.
Thanks for the help

Loki

iTrader: (1)

Hot starts issues are usually compression loss, a better starter will only mask it for so long. Think about your long-term plans for the car and whether it's worth continuing to invest. You could get a compression test to be certain.

BigCajun

iTrader: (1)

+1^

You're on borrowed time.
I suggest you start planning to get another 8, or invest heavily in this one.

Running AT 8s can be had for less than you're going to have to invest in this one, unless you buy a salvage yard engine and can DIY.

ATs are more underpowered than MTs, so they're far less desirable.

Unless you absolutely love this particular car and are prepared to spend in excess of $4 or $5K to keep it running, then nevermind.

Keep in mind, misfires kill cats, bad cats kill engines.
You had misfires, if you have a cat, you can safely assume it's bad from unburned fuel igniting in the cat, clogging, melting or breaking it up.
Bad coils are the usual suspects.

Go to a local parts store to get your OBD scanned for trouble codes.
If one of them is PO420, it's probably shot, along with your compression.

So, IF you need to psss emissions for inspection, you'll need another one of those.
A new cat that can withstand rotary heat will cost you over $1500.

If not, you can buy a catless midpipe or gut it and save some money, but the fumes can get pretty bad.
A cheap cat for about $300 can be swapped out every inspection period, but that's a huge PITA.

In the meantime you can do some little things that can help you prolong the inevitable besides a starter.

You can clean the ESS & MAF sensor and do the '20 brake stomp' to reset the NVRAM.
Those will only cost you a can of MAF sensor cleaner.

Good luck.

Nisaja

Hi guys! I have a 2004 with the Bose sound system.

My amp got burnt, so I replaced it with another amp. It worked fine the first day, but on the second day it didn’t. it would work randomly, and then would stop working.

Weirdly, pressing and holding the CD eject button makes it work!?! No sound if I let go of the button!

Any idea what this is?

Killawatts

Loose face plate? Is it just the CD eject button or pressing on the face plate itself makes it work?

F2264

i currently own a obd scanner and ever since my misfire I haven’t had any codes. Although my check oil light came on the other day and I pulled over and checked the oil and yeah it was pretty low. I topped it off with some new oil I had in my trunk from my previous change. It started fine after this. So later I did a full oil service on it and the hot start issues have gotten better, I only need to crank it for 2 cycles on hot start now which was way better than before. Could this have any correlation? And I’m planning to take it to Mazda to get it compression tested and to see if they can clean the injectors.

Loki

iTrader: (1)

Oil doesn't affect starting behavior.

Nisaja

its just the eject button. I tried pressing on the faceplate, tapping the head unit, even took it out and checked the connectors. Sometimes it would work on its own, but would stop after about a minute. I’d get sound as long as I keep the eject button pressed.

mazdafan1892

Hey guys, it’s been a while and I need your help again. My 05 Rx-8 automatic, the heated seat on the drivers side isn’t working. Once every blue moon the switch lights up but the heated seat doesn’t work. The other electronics work, moving the seat back and forth, the tilt feature, the lumbar feature. Do you guys know if each seat(the heated seating part) is specifically tide to the positive or negative battery terminals? Like if the positive battery terminal isn’t in the best shape, but is kinda functioning. Is that related to the driver’s heated seats side?

Loki

iTrader: (1)

The heating wires in the seat can break with use, which prevents it from working. There are 2 circuits as I recall, one in the seat, one in the seat back, so you could see if one of those is heating, at least. If the switch is lighting up intermittently, could see if the connector to it is loose. Everything is tied to both battery terminals in some way, you could check the fuse in the driver's footwell though.

Is it that neither seat works, or just one?

mazdafan1892

Thank you so much for the reply. It’s just the drivers side that doesn’t work at the moment.

Also do you have any thoughts on improving the radio reception? I noticed mine can be pretty staticyy.

MBlade

What port is my AT shinka, it’s 2006 and couldn’t find a straight answe, it’s a 6 speed auto

Loki

iTrader: (1)

6 port.
I'm not sure Shinkas came in auto? What colour is it?

MBlade

It was Copper mica but it has the shinka badges on the doors

MBlade

It was Copper mica but it has the shinka badges on the doors

Crb2004rx8

Hey guy! First: does anyone still use this forum? I recently bought a 2004 rx8 4 speed automatic ( I know...but not particularly for racing, especially since I'm a 61 yr young female using it as a daily driver and some fun). But since I've never had a rotary engine, I'm trying to learn as much as my old brain will allow because I plan on learning to work on her myself .
Second: I know nothing about the previous maintenance but know i need to get her new plugs. Are oem or ngk still the preferred plugs? Third: will plug quality b better if I order them online at someplace like mazda versus local auto parts stores?
I've been reading other articles on this forum but decided since you were looking for dumb questions, it wouldn't hurt to ask these questions here.
Any constructive advice is greatly appreciated but no smart *** advice just yet please. Thanks

Loki

iTrader: (1)

NGK is oem, there are very few options for rotary spark plugs anyway. You can get them through any parta store.
Rx8help.com is the site you want for a quick summary for new owners.

Ignition coils are even morw important than spark plugs.

10KRPM

Welcome to rotary ownership! The help section and step by step items to do as a new owner on this site are the best place to start. it seems like a lot when first reading, but if you just take it step by step it's a great way to get the more important items out of the way so you aren't doing anything to shorten the life of your 8. Plugs and coils are a must, don't wait on those, plug wires too if they appear worn. Oil change, and care to fill to full line and then monitor level so you know oil injectors are working. Coolant, and on from there, like I said look at the new owner post and it will guide you. Have fun with the new ride!

BigCajun

iTrader: (1)

Welcome.
I like that you want to DIY.
Ignition health and a good catalytic converter or cat delete are 2 of the most important factors.
Bad ignition components, usually coils, are a leading cause of engine failure.

Misfires kill cats.
Bad cats kill engines.

First thing, go to a parts store and get your engine OBD scanned for any stored or pending codes.

Get someone to drop and inspect your cat if you are unable.

Get a HEI tester to check your ignition health.
If you're unsure about the age of your coils and can afford it, change them along with your plugs & cables.




You can get everything from your local parts store.
Advance Auto parts has lifetime warranty coils.
They exchange them no questions asked.

*Edit
Be sure to get the correct NGK Iridium plugs with 2 'T' & two 'L' plugs for Trailing and Leading.
Do each coil, wire and plug at a time, or be sure to mark them correctly.
It's EXTREMELY important to get it right and not cross your wires.
Like blown engine important.

You never have to buy another coil, which makes recomended 30,000 mile tune-ups much cheaper.

Get a can of MAF cleaner and clean your MAF sensor.
Be careful to not strip the little screw holes in the plastic intake tube.
It's very easy to do.

A stock intake is usually the best option to avoid problems.

Clean your ESS also.
Anytime you do this, reset the NVRAM by doing the '20 brake pedal stomp'
(Google search- RX8Club- 20 brake pedal stomp)

That's all pretty easy stuff that all S1 RX8 owners should know.

Good luck!

REDRX3RX8

Wait! there's a NGK T and NGK L? 2 different plugs? I thought it's same plug in both places? Mine were put in 10+ years and 6 k miles ago, and seem to run perfect.

BigCajun

iTrader: (1)

You can use 4 of one type, but not the other, iIrc.

https://www.rx8club.com/series-i-tec...ugswtf-137701/

Loki

iTrader: (1)

But you really should have the correct plugs. They're sold as a kit of 2+2.

REDRX3RX8

Ok, yeah, I remember that now.
I got 4 from BHR, and their Yukon coils.
Can't take chance on wimpy coils.
07 6sp auto still drives like a dream.