Got my baby back today!
 

Just picked up my '04 winning blue after it's engine replacement. Damn...it feels like a whole new car. The power is back and the throttle response is a ton better than it was. They told me the apex seals were shot on the old one, thus the failed compression test. They also told me there was an insane amount of carbon buildup, so they cleaned all that out too. There are are hardly any RX-8s around here and they told me all 6 '04s they service at my dealer have had the engine replaced. I was the last one.

Congrats! How did you drive it in the past and how are you going to drive it in the future? Just curious.

Engine replacement
 

Just curious as to why they would clean up carbon deposits if they were replacing the entire engine. Was it just a partial replacement? BTW, congrats on getting your 8 back!

I was wondering the same thing...

With a huge carbon build up, I would assume he was babying it

Yes please give us all the info you can, miles, how often did you change oil, what kind of oil, M/T or A/T, what kind of driver are you, agressive, never reved it up much, what problems have you had...etc...any thing you have for us.

I agree--would be interested in all that info as well.

I too am interested in your thoughts on those items.

Thanks!
Edgardo

I have a 2004 manual, 44,000 miles. Changed the oil every 3,000 miles, occasionally having to add some in between. I think driving the car during the winter probably took its toll. I wasn't nearly as agressive with it as I probably should have been. Just more or less drove it to work and back 25 miles round trip. Rarely redlined it. I was thinking about getting a beater fo the winter and garaging the 8, but I decided against it. But now it's getting warmer, so it will be more back to normal. At least one redline per day, windows down, moonroof open and some twisty back roads.

Thanks for the info. I wonder how hard that short drive everyday was on it?

MJD--thanks for the info.

Did u use synthetic or dino oil?

Sounds like you probably needed to redline it at least once every time you drove it.

I would almost guarantee that's what caused the carbon buildup. You have to rev this thing.

At what RPMs do you typically shift at? Just curious.

Well it appears the OP stuck to a 3K regular oil change and that didn't save his engine. Seems like revving regularly is one of the keys to engine health. Note to self--rev baby rev.

I have a feeling that the short drive with rich mixture is what killed it. This is when it might help to mix in 3-5ozs of oil in every fill-up and some carbon build up cleaner of your choice. This engine never really got exercised after it warmed.

12.5 miles each way isn't exactly a short drive, but maybe it never went about 30MPH or some low RPM speed and it was cold.

I use FP60 in every gallon. I hope that is protecting my fuel system and stopping the buildup.

Hmmm my commute changed from 50 miles a round trip to 15 miles a round trip roughly a year ago. I do however take it for long drives on the weekends. Should I be concerned?

no, keep redlining your car once a day and you'll be perfectly fine. :)

Actually, only about 2 miles is city, and the rest highway. What would you recommend for the carbon build up cleaner? Is it safe to use? If you don't mind my asking, what will mixing in 3-5 oz of oil do?

Revving it up to 9k ^_^ (After a proper warmup)

Depends on what is in front of you when you do.

Revving at least once during each drive to 8500+ RPM.

I use FP60 which is a fuel system cleaner and seems to reduce buildup in a lot of engines.

Many people on here use premix but it seems a bit too much work to do for myself.

Another cleaner, people use is Schaeffer Neutra 131, but I have no experience with that.

Check out the Bob is the Oil Guy forums. Very interesting!

Im going to have to find some open area to Redline mine more often. I do mostly city driving , so I only Redline once a week. If I Redline on city I"ll end up rear ending quite a few folks. HAHA .

I usually do my redline twice a day now. I get on an on ramp once to work and once home so it's usually second gear all the way to redline.

You can redline it in neutral with your foot on the brake. It's not as fun as feeling the acceleration though.