glad my car broke down
 

I just walked back from the dealer, and could not be happier under the circumstances that my rx8 broke down.

Having just exited the freeway, I made a right turn into a 35 mph zone. Once I got into 2nd gear, something was wrong. Engine bogged, sort of like being in 6th gear, and I could not go above 25 mph. CEL was blinking.

The stoplight ahead turned orange, and I slowed down. The engine died and I couldn't start it back up. I rolled over to the curb side in neutral.

But luckily:

1. had roadside assistance on my policy, and they were sending a flatbed
2. the Mazda dealer was across the intersection, a few hundred feet away
3. i was 2 blocks from home
4. the contractors working on my home, returning from lunch met me in a few minutes. I gave them the heavier items from Home Depot, they pushed my car out of the red tow zone, and they were back to work while I waited for the tow.

39,168 miles driven, 5 years old. Crossed the country a few times, so I really only drive 5000 miles a year. Always knew I could trust this particular rx8 with my life. It gave me 100% until I was safe off the freeway.

Of all people I never thought I'd be stuck with an inoperable rx8. Still, the best vehicle on the planet, because it doesn't feel like a vehicle. More like riding on a passenger airliner. Except more reliable and on time.

Please give us the history on your car. The service it's had parts replaced. Did you do all four coils , wires and plugs? Type of driving it gets(long commutes, short trip), fuel used(reg or prem), ever flooded. Just any thing that you can add. Have you cleaned your MAF sensor? Done any decarbon cleaning?

i though I read a similiar thread and it turned out to be bad compression. Just going off my memory but could definitley be wrong.

Could be anything like dead battery or limp mode.

Lets see what the dealer says......

I was told to get my service history records ready, because I might need a new engine.

I did 4 coils, have never done plugs unless they automatically did it back with the MSP16 flash. Trips are 9-15 miles, fuel is 91 or the highest they have. Never flooded, never did decarb. Hopefully it is some combination of plugs, limp mode, catalytic converter, carb, etc.

Anyway, if I buy a $5k engine every year, that's still less than my monthly car payment. It will be paid off next year, marking the end after 6 long years of car loan.

I asked the dealer about the conditon of my coils, plugs, etc. They said once they put a new engine in there, they'll be able to test those things. This makes sense to me, unless anyone out there thinks it is dealer laziness. What can they really diagnose without a running engine?

They can test the compression.

I think the dealer is being careful with your wallet. There are posts here about dealers who insist on doing a lot of stuff, at the owner's expense, before replacing an engine under warranty.

With just under 40,000 miles your original plugs are slightly overdue for replacement, but not enough to be a big deal. They would not have been replaced with MSP16. Leading plugs would have been replaced with 4206f.

How'd you come to change coils but not plugs?

Ken

On the procedure for the spark plugs, I wanted to be real careful to not catch the apex seal by overtorqing. Unfortunately, the other issue was having the right tools. I never found a gap tool with the exact gap needed, it was usually increments too large or too small for the correct gap. Lastly I was always hesitant to pull the trigger on the torque wrench and 3 sets of extensions. Never figured out how long those 3 extensions are to be. 12 inches each? 24 inches?

I'll bring my receipts to the dealer tomorrow and begin the wait to hear back.

I grabbed receipts from my glove compartment, and saw the printouts they had on the passenger's seat. A long heartbeat-type printout, and then some paperwork that reported: rotor 1: bad/bad/bad, rotor 2: bad/bad/bad

They wanted the last 3 oil changes. I gave them the last 3 oil filter receipts, but did not have any oil receipts from the store. I also printed MyMazda service record, which they did not know what it was. They will see what they can do.

The Enterprise economy-class rental I'm paying for is a Chevy Aveo Lt. Surprisingly the quality of entry-level cars made these days is very, very good. However it still makes me feel like dogshit when I miss the power and acceleration speed of my rx8.

Surprise, 3 hours after I dropped off my receipts and maintenance log, the warranty work was approved.

I did not have recent oil change receipts, just my maintenance history from MyMazda up to about 30,000 miles. And the last 3 oil filters I purchased, to cover 30,000 to 39,651.

Great! Give them good press...they saved your ...

Is the MyMazda service history supposed to be updated automatically when the dealer services your car? I just checked mine and there is no history even though I've had all my oil changes done at the dealership where I purchased.

no, it does not automatically update.

the dealership has to update the records manually.

Received fixed car yesterday. They replaced the engine and performed the clutch recall. The clutch pedal feels harder and is very difficult to find the catch point, in fact I don't think I can feel one at all. But it has been over a month so maybe I'm just not used to the rx8 clutch anymore:

umm, what?? you mean yellow :)


i think you're 8 was just mad at you for making it carry a bunch of heavy construction stuff!!



That's what she said :naughty:

thanks for the update though...