Great news!

 

I've got 83,000. and just got a greddy kit installed.

Never premixed, first engine. I always used Castrol GTX 5W-20 but now I switched to 10W-30.

Just changed my plugs and coils, to the BHR kit. Car runs strong. Minus the shitty tune I got.

 

First and only Engine in the Car? (Yes or no): Yes

-Please only answer the rest of these questions if Yes.

Buy New or Used?: Used (bought Nov 2006 w/ 15075miles)

Year: 2004

AT or MT: MT

How often do you Redline? (Less often, Often, Very Often): prob once a week (I don't go above 8k much tho)

Do you Premix? (Ex. Lucas UCL, Marvel MO, Idemitsu, Amsoil Saber, etc): No

Oil Change Interval (Ex. 2500 miles, 3000 miles, etc): 3000 to 5000

Brand & Viscosity of Oil used (Ex. Mobil Clean 5000 5W30, etc): Castrol GTX 5w-30

Parts that you have replaced since owning the car (maintenance related or not):
-Ran a K&N drop in for about 100k then switched to the AEM
-2 Sets of OEM Coils then switched to the BHR coils
-had to replace the clutch around 130k
-Replaced the exhaust (engine back) at 144k (gutted cat at 130k)
-Springs at 60k, Shocks at 105k, 1" coil spacers in rear 144k
-Plugs changed every ~30k
-Starter upgraded at 130k
-Tranny and diff changed every 50k
-OEM Belt, Water Pump, Thermostat at 146k
-A/C serviced at 80k
-Battery replaced twice
-5 Gas Caps
-SSV needed cleaning at 130k (yes when I pulled apart for the clutch I did a lot)
-Drivers Window needed to be re-attached at 50k, needs tightening again
-Will be replacing the fuel pump in the coming weeks
-Secondary Air Pump delete after it failed at 125k
-Coolant flush every 50k
-Currently have the raw assembly code from reverse engineering the cars firmware
-Seafoamed engine at 147k
-Had to have clutch bracket rebuilt at 115k

Problems that you may have had:
-Stuck SSV
-Consistently failing coils
-slow starter
-stuck thermostat
-dying fuel pump
-leaky gas caps
-sagging rear springs
-Failed Air Pump
-damaged cat (partial cracked open due to a raised man whole cover)
-snapped off PPF bolt from same man whole cover in rear diff
-burnt out clutch

While still on a stock calibration I see MAF readings of 32.30lbs/min (244.18g/s) in real world conditions (as in on the hwy on my way to work lol). Highway cruise maintaining speeds of 75mph or less I see 20.5mpg, and about 19mpg in the city. My exhaust temps tend to stay below 1800*F. All other readings are typical of the N3Z2EU calibration for the 04.

Any other questions?

 

Ladies & Gentlemen: 152k and no premix. Draw your own conclusions.

-I just started premixing myself fyi.

 

Over 150,000 miles, never used premix, only conventional 5w20 oil.

 

This is getting real good. Mind filling out the survey? Thanks.

First and only Engine in the Car? (Yes or no):
-Please only answer the rest of these questions if Yes.

Current Mileage:

Buy New or Used?:

Year:

AT or MT:

How often do you Redline? (Less often, Often, Very Often):

What type of driving typically would you say you expose your rx8 to in city/highway ratio? (Ex. 50/50, 50 city/50 highway; 30/70; etc.):

Do you Premix? (Ex. Lucas UCL, Marvel MO, Idemitsu, Amsoil Saber, etc):

Oil Change Interval (Ex. 2500 miles, 3000 miles, etc):

Brand & Viscosity of Oil used (Ex. Mobil Clean 5000 5W30, etc):

Parts that you have replaced since owning the car (maintenance related or not):

Have you ever done a compression test?

If yes, what was the result?

Problems that you may have had:

Thanks for answering!

BTW I added some lines to the questionnaire, if anyone was curious.

 

Mr Squidgard, Could you add more info about not changing the oil from 50k-130k miles, just adding any 5w20. I know this is theorectically possible in all the alternate universes, but I think I like to run cleaner oil. I get a mental boost when I change my oil (cheaper than meds). The oil in your RX8 should be analysed so the RX8club can know their limits.

 

Hehe call it laziness... Actually I felt very confident doing this, given my understanding of the engine.

You are certainly welcome to check out my oil... Don't expect it to look the same as a regularly changed car, but functionally it does the job. I think oil pressure is more important than the oil brand, however having the right oil density is imperative... Aside from those thing, the functional difference between a $6 quart of oil and a $2 one is nil. Personally, I don't believe the marketing crap, nor should anyone.

Another aspect of my maintenance is the use of fuel injection cleaner, not just any, but Berryman b12 chemtool, which is the best at dissolving engine deposits. Seafoam is supposed to do the same job, but costs twice as much...

Of course non of my statements have been scientifically verified, but I trust my instincts, observations and experience on this topic. I don't ask folks to do what I do, but to follow their manuals if they're unsure about how to maintain their rotary engine.

Rotary engines are phenomenal in terms of maintainability, durability, and power/weight potential.. My only gripe is they don't sound very pleasant when supercharged to the max... See the the Bergenholtz Racing 700rwhp RX-8.

 

I do premix on my RX-7 with 240k on it, but that's because it's MOP is purely mechanical and I feel as though I can't be sure if it's always working unlike in the RX-8 where if the MOP dies you get a code.

 

Mr Squidgard, Wow! I'm a retired Exxon fuel distributer, and Exxon once recommended a 50,000. mile oil change on over the road diesel trucks with periodic filter change and sampling on XD-3 Extra 15w40. Also, I've heard of some natural gas compressor engines, and the occasional junker car drinking oil so never changing. However, your example takes the cake! I appears you discovered that there can't be much blowby on a rotary compared to a piston, so way less chance for oil acids and sludge. I suspected that the add pack for piston and diesel engine oil becomes way overkill on a rotary. I mean even high temp rotary air compressors use turbine oil or nondetergent anti-wear oil, not car MO. So I bet my Mobil 1 0w40 could definitely do it, but It'll be a long time before I try since we got the 100,000 warranty which I want for the seal problems, not the wear problems. I notice that you're pretty easy on the car because of the SPT's 40k-50k mile use; I get 20k on my SPT's with some track days. Ok, so what has your oil use per mile been from 50k to 130k, and how many miles on that itty bitty filter?, and what temps, traffic, and dust conditions?

 

First and only Engine in the Car? (Yes or no): Yes
-Please only answer the rest of these questions if Yes.

Current Mileage: 151,000 mi

Buy New or Used?: New

Year: 2004 bought in late 2003

AT or MT: MT

How often do you Redline? (Less often, Often, Very Often): Redline a handful of times every time out on the road BUT only after easy driving for at least 20 min.

What type of driving typically would you say you expose your rx8 to in city/highway ratio? (Ex. 50/50, 50 city/50 highway; 30/70; etc.): 70 fwy, 30 city

Do you Premix? (Ex. Lucas UCL, Marvel MO, Idemitsu, Amsoil Saber, etc): Never

Oil Change Interval (Ex. 2500 miles, 3000 miles, etc): 5500 to 6500 miles

Brand & Viscosity of Oil used (Ex. Mobil Clean 5000 5W30, etc): 5w20 conventional, whatever the dealerships use, top off with Castrol GTX or Supertech conventional oil

Parts that you have replaced since owning the car (maintenance related or not): water pump at 60,000 mi, coils at 100,000 mi, spark plugs at 100,000 mi, did my own trans (Redline) and differential (Royal Purple) oil at 30,000 mi

Have you ever done a compression test? No

If yes, what was the result?

Problems that you may have had: Cat is causing cel probably because flooded car 3 times.

 

Haven't really calculated the numbers.... Just check my oil every month and top off the oil with about 1/2 to 2/3rds a quart. As for the oil filter it hasn't been changed since 2007 (~80k). Not what I would recommend for normal piston engines . Personally, I don't think a new oil filter matters much when the rotary engine regularly gets a fresh quart of oil, not that it wouldn't help make your oil look better when you check it.

Just as an FYI, I own a 1998 Honda civic which also has 130k miles also. For that, I stick to the normal 3-month/3000 mile oil change. And I use berryman b12 chemtool at around every oil change.

 

This is a joke... right?

 

Wow I didn't think it would shock so many people... Let me say definitively that I'm not pulling anyone's chain. I'm only sharing this info to explain my use and maintenance on a first year model RX-8.

There have been a stigma with rotary engines when I bought the car, around concerns of maintainability, reliability, etc... I wanted to share with everyone how much BETTER RX-8's are than its regular piston engined counterparts...

 

I believe Squidward. I remember him way back in 2003 and 2004 on this forum. Then he was gone for a long time.

 

I believe him but what does less than a handful of cars making it over 100k on a single engine prove?

 

Many people on this thread went beyond simply "100k." Many went as far as 150k+, that itself deserves additional scrutiny. By having people who have 100k+ on original engines show they usage, ownership, driving, maintenance habits, there is much to learn. For example, I just learned that many who have reach 150K did not even premix! That a startling idea. Am I going to stop? Probably not. There may be other trends to. For example I am starting to notice that those who have mainly highway miles may see higher mileage to their engines. I got my 8 at 104k and its very healthy, but I know that the last owner did an crapload of highway miles. Anyway, I don't know if it answers your question but I also know you were one of the unfortunate people had to replace 3 engines so this thread may seem like a "pipe dream" to you.

-Chris

 

I was told that you would get a code, except my concern would be that by the time it throws a code, you may already been driving on little to no oil for awhile.

 

You keep saying many, who are the many? How many? I don't see many. Not to mention that "many" could be full of ****. I only know of one documented that went to 130k and died soon after, 80 miles a day all highway, regular maintenance.

I guess I'm skeptical because I meticulously maintain my car and I know many personally who have done the same and still had engine failures. It's faulted from a design standpoint, there is no arguing that.

Either way I still lover her Show me the compression results of a motor with over 130K and then I'll be impressed.

 

Really? I'd assume there would be design improvements since 2003 when the car came out.. Mine has fortunately been incredibly reliable. The only downfall is the shitty gas mileage, which I got 13-15mph during the first 3 years.. It has steadily improved over the past 4 years. Now I get 18-19mph..

 

I've been thinking of getting a buddy over here and doing a simple compression test on my 8 just to see how it stands. I'm not too worried just because of the high flow values I see and the fact that a 12A with 210k could still hold 108psi in a chamber. But I have a thing against my local mazda shop here in Manchester after I took the car to them after it wouldn't start one morning and they had it for a week and couldn't figure out the issue. I ended up just having the car brought back to my apartment after having it out with them and soon as it got here I had it back running in about 30mins. Was a broken ground plainly visible in the middle of the engine bay, but I digress.

 

I've got 113k, 6m.

 

130,500 miles on my 2004 MT. Everything but the fuel pump (normal maintenance) and starter (recall) , and coils (fried) is original, even the cat.

I ran a Canzoomer like a lot of others for a few years, but it is off now as it never really did that much anyway. I do go catless and un-plumb the coolant line to the throttle body in the hottest part of the summer, but everything is back to bone stock for 3/4 of the year. I have been running Idemitsu pre-mix for the last 50,000 miles. You can literally hear the difference. Much smoother.

 

I am glad to hear about engines that don't blow up. I have a 2004 GT 6m with 21, 000 miles single owner. After being on this forum I premix, had all reflashes, change oil 3,000 miles and I sometimes feel like I'm driving a time bomb. Engines going to blow, clutch pedals going to snap. I love this car and I have had no problems. Lately I find myself looking for a new car for no other reason than mine is come up on 6 years and the warranty is going to be up soon and she's surely gonna blow! Maybe not ?

 

Yeah, take a dep breath and enjoy your car. The '04s suffered from VERY poor dealer knowledge and multiple reflashes, some of which actually caused poor oiling and overheating. The '04 automatics were the worst. Even then the problem was way over hyped.

With the reflashes all figured out and some tender loving care a stock 2004 will last a long time. Mine has. 130k and still zoomin'.