Got another Rx-8
 

Hi Guys! Happy New Year!

So the rust on my 2004 RX-8 drove me crazy. I bought another RX-8 in October 2015, just haven't posted much about it. But I thought I would introduce her. First a quick refresher on how bad the rust was:

https://www.rx8club.com/series-i-tec...d-rust-259581/

The "new" car is a 2005 Titanium Gray Metallic 6 speed. One owner, 31,000 miles (when I bought it) no accidents. The car was a summer driver, no rust. I paid $7200. I know it might sound OCD, but I've removed the front bumper, fenders, battery, battery box, air box, ECU, and fuse box. I cleaned all of it. I think the previous owner drove it through a sand storm because I cleaned a lot of that off. I cleaned the wheel arches and couldn't find any rust :cool: hosed down the carpeted wheel liners, then tossed them into my washing machine. I use a little paint brush to clean the rear arch shelf (STUPID design btw) after every couple days. I coated the sub frame with CRC Heavy Duty Corrosion Inhibitor and then Amsoil Heavy Duty Metal Protector. Those things dry to a waxy water resistant coating. I also coated the front fender shelf insides with it. I really hate how poorly Mazda designed the rear wheel arches. Thankfully they have moved away from that design.

Also not sure why Mazda put a long strip of rubber under the rocker panels. Sure it might protect against some stone chipping, but seems like a great way for crap and water to be trapped in.

I've also replaced the air filter, removed and cleaned throttle body cleaned MAF, cleaned air box, accordion tube, removed and cleaned upper intake manifold, and installed the modified oil neck (updated PCV system to prevent milky substance on oil dipstick) that I bought from Rotary Resurrection on eBay. I've replaced the spark plugs, wires, and replaced coils with the revision C from MAZMART. I changed the differential fluid with RedLine 75W-90 and the transmission with Ford Motorcraft XT-M5-QS. I used MT-90 on the black 2004 tranny. Works okay, but still notchy shift into 2nd gear when cold. 2nd gear was notchy when cold on the new RX-8, but the Motorcraft took care of that.

More photos to come!

Here's what a wheel arch looks like. You can see the inner wheel arch and quarter panel meet and are folded over. Adhesive and spot welds hold it together. Where the panels meet, there is a gap (in the worst place possible). The gap is suppose to be sealed to prevent moisture and other debris. Mine is sealed, but not fully. I will be sealing it the rest of the way soon. Mazda's service manual recommends the following seam sealers.

Henkel Treason Terostat 9120
WUERTH saBesto BOND+SEAL ALL-IN-ONE
Clinched Flange Sealer DD10-FS-001

Not sure where to obtain any of these.. I'll have to contact a Mazda dealer. Perhaps a body shop would be a better alternative.

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I also changed the brakes on the black RX. A caliper slide pin seized in the caliper bracket, so it wore down to the backing plate.

I installed Hawk HPS pads (blue box kind) to replace the Sumitomo pads. I thought they were originally some crappy worse than OEM pads, but it appears that Sumitomo is an OEM brake pad. The 2005 has the same Sumitomo pads, and they are original. I like the stopping power and initial bite of the Sumitomo pads better. Turns out that since the rear brakes do not have a drum set up for the parking brake, and instead use the rear service brakes as parking brakes, handbrake turns are not possible. Not that I would do that.

Nice I will be buying another RX-8 as soon as I pay off this EVO X

Bloody hell man, you're kicking ass!! Nice!

That's really good info on the wheel arches, I'll have to examine mine. Thanks man!

I have always wondered about rust on an RX-8. Mine never sees snow, salt, or even water as I don't drive it after a rain so hopefully I won't see any rust.

Congrats man... Damn! you are on fire :-)

I also put my 04 titanium grey rx8 to rest with 283k ..
Ended up buying an 06 Velocity Red GT, with freshly rebuilt and ported motor from a friend in the summer. She is a work in progress for now.

Car looks great and a heck of a deal! Do you drive the car year round or are you putting it away for the winter?

I drive the car year round. When the roads have actual slush or are really damp/wet, I'll borrow my dad's black RX-8, or he drops me off. Kinda want to buy a beater car, but I have to pay this off first.

Found the photos of changing the PCV system (Changing the oil filler neck assembly)

You can see where the oil and water form the frothy foam milkshake. Although this looks similar to the cheese in a home made mac & cheese I recently ate... In Mazda TSB, they claim that this burns off when at normal operating temperature. Well driving the black RX (doesn't have this updated oil filler neck) I drove it 70 miles, had coolant temp at 203F, drove it hard (redline and all) in 20F weather. Milky substance still on dip stick.

I understand paying the car off first. However I'd save up 5-700 dollars and go buy a well used Mazda, Honda or Toyota economy car. Anything really just to keep the salt off the 8. Even if you can't do it this year, maybe next.

Beautiful color!

No wonder the wheel wells tend to rust - cannot California test cars for the US market and expect them to be reliable.

While the car is beautiful, the engine might not be. Having classic hot starting issues. I'll make a video, but it starts up on the first crank when cold. When hot, it takes what feels like forever (8 seconds when I timed it. And I kept the starter engaged since it almost started but then sputtered out and then finally back up)

Couldn't I use a regular piston compression tester with the schrader valve removed (needle would bounce quickly, so use a camera recording at 120fps to play in slow motion) and an OBD II scan tool to read the starter RPM (under engine speed)?

Yes you can. Your slow motion camera will work just fine.

EDIT - Congrats on the new car man. Looking good! :ylsuper:

Here's the video showing my problem. Pretty sure it's compression. Haven't had it tested yet. But who wants to be told the bad news any way?

Refresh the ignition before you jump to conclusions about compression. I have seen this many times.

I watched the video. I'd love to know more about this phenomenon. I've seen hot start issues. When trying to start right after the engine has been turned off, the engine is hot, so the housing is too far away from the apex seals to create a good seal, so it doesn't have enough compression to start. Makes sense.

But what the heck is this????

He left it for 1 hour. Enough time for the engine to cool down. I saw the coolant temps when he was starting it. It was 145F! So what's going on? :confused: We have a car here having the same issues, and it has new plugs, coils and wires. So what is this? :dunno:

New ignition components including the revision C coils from Mazmart, plugs, and wires.

You're correct referencing engine expansion, but don't get fixated on compression issues.

I would start with this. At least verify the components. And check to see if you're experiencing flooding. Could be because of this issue. Or could be leaking fuel injectors or an issue with fuel delivery.


Verify components, then report back.

Ignition components (plugs, wires, revision C coils from Mazmart) were replaced less than 1000 miles ago since the originals had 32,000 miles on them. Can't recall if I had any starting issues before I replaced them, but new ignition components made cold starts very fast as you can see in the video.

Are you experiencing hot start issues every time you drive the car or only sometimes?

"New" doesn't mean "work like a charm". You need to verify the components. It's not unheard of that coils are bad from the factory.
https://www.rx8club.com/series-i-do-...-wires-222641/

How new is your starter? Are you noticing any stronger fuel smell? Have you checked your fuel pump/ filter?

I won't say that it's NOT compression. But there are ways to troubleshooting that will help you determine probable causes...

Starter is as old as the car (Car has a June 2005 build date) As seen in the video, cold starts are as quick as they can be. No strange fuel smell or odors. I still have the original coils. Guess I'll throw them back in and see if there is a difference.

Anything else besides ignition and compression that can cause hot starting issues?

I would also verify the wire harnesses are connected to the correct ignition coil and that the ignition wires are going to the correct spark plug.