Help! recently bought rx-8 and had nothign but problems :*(
 

Hi im new here so bare with me, I live in the uk and over the last two weeks have been using this site and its great ::)
Ill start from the begining, i bought the 192bhp 2004 rx-8 with 48,000 miles two weeks ago and didnt no a thing about rotarys (very silly i no and understand now :*( ).

First off the car was fine then next day when it warmed up it had very very bad idle and heavly shaking at idle.I thought a good service was in need.So ordered new coils,leads,plugs,oil,filter,oil filter and had the work done,car ran slightly better but was still very very rough on idle , i then cleaned the maf and throttle body with electrical contact cleaner and carb cleaner and reset the ecu and the car still ran terrible on idle so i figured id changed the enigine mounts and DADAAAAAA it worked bad shaking went away.since all this i have had a real heavy smell of burnt fuel/oil (i think) and the exhaust sounded almost like a lawnmower :O so took it in the shop that took the exhaust off and found the cat was knackered (was emtied by last owner) and he thinks this is the cause of the bad fumes and lawnmower noise (im not convinced) also shaking at idle has came back :( but no were near as bad as before.
i have just oredered and waiting to turn up the following:

grounding kit
redline gear box and diff oil
castrol magnatec a1 5w-30 engine oil
seafoam in side engine cleaner and fuel cleaner
cat converter

i plan on cleaning the e-shaft sensor , seafoaming , changing oil and then putting on the new cat,fitting grounding kit. will my plugs go bad after seafoaming?

do u think the cause of the smell and exhaust noise is the cat?

do u think all the above cood be why i have vibrations at idle?

please any help would be great . thanks

i really do not no the history of this car what so ever. it seems to have been looked after and the engine sounds fine and seems to pull ok (not a 100% as never drove a rx8)

im not good at writing :P so if my post dosent make sense then please ask me :D

Sorry about your issues. Have you done a compression test?
That's the first thing I'd do before I spend any more money on the car.

Hi and thanks for the quick reply.
No i havent had a compression test done yet.I was thinking about doing one after i have fitted the stuff i have ordered or doing somthing som one on here mentions :P
would low compression make this "lawnmower" noise. or could that be the bad cat (as i said above i no 100% the cat is bad)
Do u think compression is my issue ? :*(

My bro spends alot of time with me and my car and he is convicned all these probs are in my head :P

BUT im sure there not , im quite perticular and little things just get on my nervs as i no they will eventually esculate into somthing bigger (hopfully not compression issues)

i have NIGHTMARES about compression LOL

+1 on the compression test. rotaries sound like (very loud) lawnmowers when not muffled properly - it could be the catalytic converter being punched that is causing the sound. Good luck...

"catalytic converter being punched"

sorry but i am noob :P what does the above mean?

oh i assume thats the cat having its guts ripped out? OHHH man i hope so , should get the new cat tomorow, can u give me any advice on the order i should seafoam and fit my new parts / new oil , do i need new plugs (mine are 1 week old but could seafoam ruin em) ie: seafoam after cat in stall / b4 cat install , will i need new engine oil?

The catalytic converter is a honeycomb web of ceramic coated with metals that do their thing. Punching out is breaking up that ceramic until it falls out and nothing is left.

ok thanks for the reply, well i no 100% my cat is emty, would this casue the bad fumes i am expericing? also would the cat being like that ruin the o2 sensor?
again sorry for all the questions but i am very thankfull

Unfortunately, being in the U.K., I don't think you are afforded the warranty protection that the US and Canada have on their catalytic converter. The question of whether you can get away with punching-out the converter would best be asked in our regional European forum or at http://www.rotaryheaven.net/.

No, no bad effect to the rear sensor with no cat.

The fumes are just that - fumes. The engine is programmed to run rich to keep heat in the cat, just the way the government wants it. Stupid and wasteful, but I don't write the rules.

Don't stress over small stuff, just enjoy the ride.

S

Yes, it could be the source of the bad fumes. No, it won't hurt and O2 sensor.
If the cat is burned out, It likely has a hole burned through at some point and it isn't completely empty yet. It would still be a benefit to take it down and removing the remaining material.

My m8 that works in a garage took the cat off and said that the person that had the car before me had taken all the insides of the cat out already (he said it was completly emty :O )
i ahve ordered the new cat , should be here tomorow :)
so u think the cat could be the casue of my probs ? :D
will seafoam have any negative affects?

If you don't want to do a compression test now (you should really), at least get a code read for any stored or pending codes.

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The "bad fumes" are likely caused by the empty cat.
Rotary engines sound like weedwackers if exhaust isn't muffled in some way.

I thought this was funny:

a member in mazda6club: I called the sea foam company in regards to check engine lights and if it could damage anything, the guy responded with:
"Kid, there are only two ways sea foam can be misused, not using enough and drinking it."

reference: http://forum.mazda6club.com/mazdaspe...eafoam-11.html

Hi all thnx for replys again, yeh ur right i am to scared to get a compression test done for fear of her dying :*(
i had the computer read and there were no stored codes or pending :O
what are the symtons of ssv failing or stuck open?

Oh man - I hate to think about how much money you just wasted on a new cat. Are you related to TeamRX8 by chance ?

Like the others said - get a compression test and that will ease your fears or confirm the worst - one of the two .

"wasted" :O u dont reckon new cat will help me then ? :*(

gona do the few things that i have already ordered and clean then few senors i mentioned,i will keep u all posted, keep fingers crossed for me :D
in the mean time if u feel that there is somthing i should do that i havent please let me no in here thanks.

any advice on the whole seafoam and order i should do things would be great as well

thnx guys

Like what others already said...get a compression test first and see what comes up. That might be the only way to find out the problems with your 8.

Seafoam help:
http://tinyurl.com/3z2hma5

From my understanding, idle/drivability issues are usually caused by a clogged cat, not a free-flowing cat like yours.

hi people, well update , added new grounding kit to day and added seafoam fuel cleaner and seafoamed the engine and cleaned the e shaft sensor, car seems alot lot better, seems to pull ten times better, hit 140mph to day :D still a very slgiht shake at idle there,like every 5-10 seconds or somink
So my plans now are put new cat on (arrived today) change oil , clean plugs and go from there. hopfully the exhaust noise wll go :) if this fails then compression test here i come :*(

just to be clear, the idle sits pretty perfect now,just exhaust noise (lawnmower sound) and a very slight shake every 5-10 seconds at idle but no movent in needle ... maybe purge vavle?

I might be off but doesn't the knock sensor tend to randomly retard the timing a bit, that might be the slight shake every 5 to 10 seconds considering it's not constant. I could be way off but just throwing that out there.

Sounds good. After all of that, if you did not have the battery out, I suggest an ECU reset. I think all you do is turn the key on (not start), pump the brake pedal 20 times fast, then look for the oil pressure gauge to move (might not work on early 04's or specific ECU flashes, if it does not work, search for alternatives. This will help the computer re-learn the face that there is a whole engine there again.

I'm a little surprised that nobody has mentioned the A/C. When the a/c kicks in the shifter does vibrate to varying degrees. It will only do it for a little while at a time while the compressor is running. Try pushing the "A/C" button so it's off and see if the car still vibrates at idle in that on/off fashion.

Also, a gutted CAT will not make your car shake. With a gutted CAT/midpipe the exhaust will be substantially louder than with a CAT. You also free up some horsepower by deleting the insides of the CAT.