So, I've been extremely happy with my '05 MT since I got it, a little less than 30 months ago. Quick, fun, practical (apart from the low MPG) and not a single issue or problem in my first 29K miles.

On Wednesday last week I got up and got ready to head to work. I went out to my car and popped the trunk to put my laptop bag in and noticed that both taillights were full of condensation.

Crap.

Fortunately I had read the TSB on this a while back and knew it was a quick fix. I called the dealership when I got to work and arranged to bring it in, and get the 30K maintenance while I was at it.

Thursday arrives and I drop the car off, get my loaner and head to work. I pick it up that evening with new shiny taillights installed and go on my merry way.

Friday afternoon I leave work, hop in the car and proceed to do my leaving-work ritual - a hard acceleration through the first three gears on the frontage road that my parking lot empties on to.

At 4K RPM in 1st gear the car stops accelerating, bucks like crazy and begins slowing. CRAP! I upshift to 2nd and the same thing happens at 4K. I upshift to 3rd, same thing at 4K.

Now I'm really worried - the car's simply not safe to drive like this, and this is a serious malfunction. I manage to limp to the dealership before they close and I am not a happy customer. They take it and give me back the same loaner.

So, some background info and context. A couple of times over the last 6 months the car has done something similar at 7-8K RPM. In fact, the last time I took it in (for 25K service) I mentioned it to the tech and he said he'd check a couple of things that could be issues. Both times it only happened once (although it was repeatable that entire driving session) and seemed to 'fix itself' once I parked the car at my destination and came back out to it.

Yesterday was the warmest day of the year so far by a wide margin - it was 98 degrees in the parking lot when I got in the car. So maybe the issue was being masked by the cool weather over the last 6 months?

I read through some old threads and it sounds like it could be a few different things: ignition coils, a fuel management problem, or (gulp) loss of compression.

The good news:
1) it's under warranty
2) it happened now, rather than at the end of the month when I have an auto-x rookie school in Houston to attend
3) my loaner is a V6 Mazda6 and not a craptastic base model Tribute (which is what I got stuck with when I had my car in for the recall checks last spring)

So, cross your fingers for me. My only real worry is that this turns out to be a weird gremlin that takes multiple visits to get fixed.

 

Let us know the outcome. We are watching!

 

Coils, plugs, ECU problem?

 

Hope everything works out.

 

CAT..
MEOW!

Only way to check a cat is to pull it and look inside. No cell for a dead CAT!

 

Bad idea to do that with a cold engine

 

The ECU limits max engine RPM with a cold engine so your "leaving-work ritual" sounds normal - and you shouldn't be doing it.

 

My 04 did that on Christmas day. New cat and coils, which lead to the engine failing compression testing. Hopefully it won't be as bad for you.

 

I dont know if the rotary engine has a air flow sensor, if It does that is just the way my truck acted I found that the air flow sensor had dropped down so that it was no longer in the air flow.I pushed it up where it belonged problem fixed.look in the plastic or rubber intake hose for it.there will be a wire attached to it. good luck

 

where is your central Texas? i would pop it over to some quality rotary performance shop and get some compression test done if it's not the coil or what not. 1 in austin, 1 in garland, and 1 in fort worth that i know of

 

Mine (now at 47000 km) behaved like a rev limiter just kicked in at 4500rpm when it was cold. When the engine has reached its operating temp, it doesn't do it. And, I second the opinion that revving it hard when it is cold is a very bad idea. I only did it that once and I was in serious hurry.

Before you allow them to take the engine apart, check if it has even does this at normal operating temperatures.

 

I'm in Austin/Round Rock...

As to the issue at hand, yes - it continued to stop revving at ~4K RPMs even once at normal operating temperatures.

Perhaps I gave the wrong impression - I'm not running the car to redline at full throttle when I first get in it - more like ~50% throttle to ~6K RPM or so. Going to redline in 3rd would have me way over the speed limit for that section of road; not to mention that the traction there is spotty at best.

The other two times it did this in the ~8K RPM range the car was fully warmed up from 5-10 minutes of city driving before I got on the throttle.

So, if it is the engine temp rev limiter causing the problem there's still something with it.

snipersgo - given that it's under warranty I'm going to see what the dealer service techs do first. It's good to know there's a speciality place in town, though.

 

Ditto.
Ouch, revving through the gears with a cold engine every day.....ouch.

 

NEVER go beyond 3k rpm on a cold engine.

NEVER. NUNCA. JAMAIS. NIEMALS. ΠΟΤΕ. MAI. 決して.

get the point? always let the engine warm up first before you do anything.

 

good to know.

D

 

Well, I suppose that's good to know. Never realized it was an issue.

At any rate, heard back from the shop late this afternoon.

Bad ignition coils were apparently the proximate cause. Replaced under warranty.

Additionally, the fuel pump tested below spec on pressure so it was replaced. They also reflashed the ECU, although I'm going to ask them tomorrow for the details on that (seeing as how it was in for 30K maintenance the day before, I'm unsure why they didn't reflash it then)

So, we'll see how it runs when I get it back tomorrow. And no more quick exits from the parking lot at work, sadly.

 

Yeah...I was going to mention this. I always waited about 15 minutes of driving around before screwing around with my rx8.

 

I hope the flash works. I understand there are ways to bypass rev limiters through flashing (like when they install anti-theft which works by lowering rev limiter to kick in below 1000rpm) so if the rev limiter starts acting up at normal temps, then flashing should hopefully do the job.

Gud luck

 

Not abusing your machine when it is cold is good to know??? Common Sense!!!!

Anyway, glad it all went well for you.

Now - change your leave work ritual!

 

Not sure where the 'shift by 3k cold' idea is from. The general impression I get from this site is don't pass 6k when cold.

The reflash is based on a new TSB from a week ago (per Rosenthal Mazda's site - thanks again for that!) So you may have just missed the info for the latest flash.

finishlineperformance.com has them listed.


Good luck w/your 8!

 

i understand not revving it up like crazy when its not warmed up but it doesnt matter if you drive while its not warmed up.. 3K rpm I take it above 3K but no higher than 4K I stay in between there.. but the car warms up quickly.
Maybe your cat is going or the coild.. my neighbor had the same issue. his cat was toast. and ignition coils hes gone through 2 sets at 60 K miles
I live in austin to.

just make sure you turn it on and give it time for the oil to get flowing before you go =D

Ive yet to have any issues with my car except for changng out the spark plugs.

43K miles and goign harder than EVER!

 

they didnt have the flash the day before.

 

They were probably covering all the basis to prevent you from coming back with the same problem. The flash could relate to the issue at had but I would definitely change your ritual to waiting for the car to fully warm up(easy driving or warming it up before you take off) and then play around with it. Did they change they spark plugs with the 30k? They should have looked at the coal then as well since it isn't too far away... It's great to see your car is fixed though! I would get some gauges and monitor the car more from daily temperature changes...I think gauges are a must for a rotary.

 

Same thing has happened to me . . my RX-8 2004 w/35k . . . dealer said . . . uh-oh, you need a new intake gasket and intake work . . . gonna have to pull the engine, takes about 2 days. Good thing it's under warranty. Look at your oil . . is it frothy? Mine is . . . going in for the service on Monday. CRAP. Rocketman

 

"U" flash... damn... I remember getting the "M" flash, and being all excited about it. Jeeeeez.