Deacon_Blue

How much life can I expect from my rotary engine? I bought an '04 about 2 years ago - it had 66,000 miles on it at the time and had the engine replaced at 60,000. Can I realistically expect it to last another 60,000? (assuming responsible and regular maintenance)

RX8Soldier

iTrader: (24)

There is no "life expectancy". There is no miracle drug to maintain it to last forever. Just stay on top of maintenance and hope for the best.

Mr_Pieper

The life expectancy varies. These are engines that are all hand-built. If you caught the guy hung over then some tolerances may have been off. If you pay close attention to the maintenance then it could last a long time. Mine is closing in on 100k on the original engine and still doing very well. Enjoy your car and take care of it and it should be nice in return.

jamesf

iTrader: (1)

^+1 to the answer above by pieper, good answer.



Heres a REALLY stupid question:

I am getting winter tires from my mechanic (mounted/balanced and I will put them on). He recommended I get steel wheels because they are the cheapest so I can crap them up during the winter and put my nice OEM ones back on in the summer.

He mentioned hubcaps. These are the outside plastic parts to the wheels. I see a lot of people drive steel wheels without hubcaps I think. Are they required or something? If so, are they pretty universal to "all" 17'' wheels?

Just wondered because that is something I will have to look into purchasing as well.

RIWWP

iTrader: (2)

Yeah James, I think that qualifies

Steelies are just fine for winter, with the only complaints being the ugliness of them. Hence the hub caps that clip onto the steelies to make them look prettier. Glance at the commuter car's wheels next to you when you are at a light, and you can see the steelies in the gaps of the hub cap. It's just a plastic clip on thing. Sometimes metal, or the older higher quality ones are metal. Still just a coverup for the steelies.

Mr_Pieper

You can get hubcaps with plastic spinners. Everyone around you wins in that situation.

jamesf

iTrader: (1)

gothca, thanks. Hey dont make fun. I know a lot of this is common sense, but I wanna get my facts straight before I do stuff. I never had much experience doing anything under the hood or to my car in general until I got my 8. I'd rather ask so I can acquire good common sense, rather than just be a bumbling idiot the rest of my life.

jamesf

iTrader: (1)

The bottom is the n3r3 starter from a 2009 R3 i got. Do you see on the right side how it has no housing for the spinning part? Does that mean that this is not compatible? Or is it just how the newer ones were made? Mazmart rep said it was. I can always just try plug and play and see what happens. I mean literally everything else about it looks exactly the same, like the wiring layout and what not.

Wolfe

iTrader: (1)

So i did search for this first and I could not decipher a clear answer, so here I am. . . Im getting my car inspected on october 1st so I am able to put a Mazsport mid pipe on for the year (first time having one). I was at my mechanic getting the rest of the car checked out and I told him my plans, he said that it could create problems with back pressure. something about engines being calibrated for certain back pressures.
SO my question is, Has anyone had a bad time with their mid pipe? Do/should I re flash with a COBB first? Am I able to just throw the mid pipe on and have the car function without issue? (I know CEL comes on etc.)
I currently have a Greddy SE exhaust on the car, the mid pipe is the dual resonated one. any insight/experiences would be much appreciated. Thanks.

RIWWP

iTrader: (2)

Yes, the nose is just to shield the gear from any debris from the clutch disc. You are fine.

Your mechanic would be correct if this is a 4-stroke piston engine with specifically tuned exhaust to use exhaust pressure to help pull new exhaust out of the cylinders during overlap.

However, you are driving a rotary which is more like a 2-stroke, AND has zero overlap. There is zero backpressure calibration or tuning for our engines, so his concern point doesn't apply for us.

You can use the midpipe without getting a tune first.

Wolfe

iTrader: (1)

excellent. thanks a bunch.

jamesf

iTrader: (1)

Just to offer some feedback; I put it in this morning, and my car now starts faster than any car in my family. It's instant hot or cold. I will DEFF be buying this same exact one when this 1 bites the bucket. This has 40k miles on it and I'm sure it will last me the winter. Wooo

Chapsy

OK, looking to get some clarification on this whole "Premix" jazz. I've heard it being thrown around and heard (and read in some of the FAQ's) that it can be pretty benificial, but adding Oil to the Gas Tank just sound so bizarre to me. I even asked the Mazda dealer I bought mine from about it and they said it is NOT a good idea and is NOT recommended by Mazda to add any sort of additives to the Fuel. Maybe they misunderstood me and thought I was talking about stuff like Fuel System Cleaners? I know two-cycle engine oil is made to be burned...but I'm just really thrown off by this whole Premix thing.

Is it really THAT important? Or is it more of a "helpful" addition to maintaining the innards of a Rotary engine? Outside of some extra lubrication for the seals are there any other benefits?

RIWWP

iTrader: (2)

The exact level of importance is hard to determine, but the lubrication is a benefit since we have difficulties there anyway.

Going into more detail will require quoting the entire premix thread, so reading that thread may be beneficial.

JCrane82

iTrader: (3)

Anyone know if there is a cumlative compression results thread? I swear I have seen one before, but I can't seem to find it.

Junkman 6394226

I think it goes like: If your OMP is in perfect operating condition, your engine is at stock power levels, and you don't race your car for long periods of time... Then you'll be ok. However, on the "slim" chance your OMP isn't at 100% operating efficiency, then it starts to help. It's a preventative, helpful, insurance type thing for the protection of your engine.

Chapsy

That's the idea I was getting from the Premix thread. I think to be on the safe side I'll stick with regular maintenance for now.

Thanks guys.

Chrishoky

iTrader: (9)

I run idemitsu premix and have been since my engine was replaced last year and the car runs great. For me, I really have no idea if its truly doing anything, but it doesnt seem to hurt at all. Its more for my peace of mind than anything else, plus its relatively cheap.

Now to add my own stupid question to this thread. I am trying to remove my trunk lid, I believe I just need to removed the two bolts that this picture is pointing to on each side. Is this correct?

JCrane82

iTrader: (3)

Bueller.....Bueller....?

RIWWP

iTrader: (2)

Chrishoky,

I believe that is correct, just those bolts.


JCrane,

I haven't found one. Lots of other cumulative threads, but not one for compression. If you are just wondering about the scores though, that's relatively easy to answer anywhere.

JCrane82

iTrader: (3)

OK, might as well post them here then.....

Attached are the compression results of my 2004 6MT with 37k miles. Factory engine core warranty ends March 2013, so I had no issue with paying for a compression test to just get an update on my engine's health. I will plan on getting another compression test next spring before warranty is up.

Obviously these numbers are good and pass with flying colors. My main question is if I should be concerned with the delta between faces? Rotor 2 has a 1.0 kgf/cm2 difference between faces. The service tech told me this would have to be 1.5 kgf/cm2 or greater to warrant a replacement.

Thoughts?

RIWWP

iTrader: (2)

No attachment?

Typically, if the delta between faces is 2 low faces to 1 high face, then it indicates an apex seal wearing excessively/damaged/broken, 1 low face to 2 high faces indicate a side seal instead. Just a general guessing guideline though, since you could have all 3 apex seals wearing excessively and not see a delta, or 2 side seals wearing excessively, etc...

About the only thing you can do for side seals is increase the OMP rate, premix and decarb for apex seals. All 3 options are just to try to stop or slow down the wearing. Otherwise not really anything much that you can do about it.

JCrane82

iTrader: (3)

Had to resize the attachment. Original post is good now.

RIWWP

iTrader: (2)

It isn't opening as a picture, but prompting for a download. I don't download anything I am unsure of. Open the original in MS Paint (Assuming you have Windows) and Save As and change the file type to .jpg then re-attach.

JCrane82

iTrader: (3)

Sorry about that.....fixed.