Spacejunky

Well in Tucson now and my car is at the local dealership.

On my drive here from Alamogordo NM, I had a few things happen.

Check Engine light came on and so we pulled over. The light went out almost immediatly once we pulled over. Everything was fine as I had it running at 90mph for about 10 straight minutes. Then I took it up to 95 and that is when the light came on.

Once the light went off, my wife and I agreed to keep going, but if it came on again, we would head home or get the car towed home and drive our truck.

So we were driving again and I kept it at 90 for a while. After passing through Las Cruses and filling up (gas milage will be posted once I do the calculations after I get back home) I took the car back up to 95mph for a while. This is when the oil light came on. I took my speed down to 85 and the light went off after a little while. I had just checked the oil level when I filled up so I was pretty sure I had plenty of oil.

This was about when I hit 2000 miles on the car. After that, the car ran beautifully. I took it up to 115 and it just felt like it wanted to go faster.

I took the car this morning to the dealer just to make sure everything was ok with the car. This is what I found out.

The noise being made when I was in neutral with the clutch out IS NOT normal. I have see both posts where people say it is and is not normal, but the dealer here is saying it is not. So they are replacing the Clutch Release Bearing as that is what they are saying is making the noise.

This is new to what I have seen:

There is a Technical Service Bulliten somewhere - to modify the oil pan assembly. This is what they said is causing the check engine and oil lights to come on. This is sent out as a modified product to the dealerships, and not something they can modify themselves.

Has anyone else heard of this, and is there anything I need to make sure of from the dealer before I drive the 300 miles back home?

Thank you all for any help.

WHealy

Spacejunky,

Try here for some additional info on the oil pan. I beleive it's a known issue.

Genom

This is a known issue with the car. The tech area has some sticky's with all the current notices. The new oil pan can be done by any dealer.

RX-GR8

what about the noise he has in neutral? i have that same noise.

Spacejunky

Thank you guys. Guess I was looking for something bigger about it. The dealer will get the parts in on Friday, and since we planned to head home on Friday, I am hoping everything goes well with both the clutch bearing and the oil pan replacement. I will be sure to keep an eye on my oil level the first part of the trip.

KKMmaniac

Spacejunky:

I hope the dealership takes care of your issues, and does a good job with the repairs too! (it's difficult to hide my lack of enthusiasm for "The Dealership Service Department")

However, I'm still skeptical the noise you're hearing is the clutch release bearing. Does the noise get quieter when you are pushing the clutch pedal in? I'd think a release bearing under load would get noisier.

I would agree with those who say the transmission input bearing makes the "normal" whirring noise; it was common with RX7's, and my RX8 makes the noise also.

Let us know how things go; I may have to admit I'm wrong again! (I've lost count of how often I've had to admit I'm wrong this year already!)

Momentum

What dealership are you at. I live in Tucson, if there is a problem with the cluch i want to know where u took it, so that i can get mine fixed also. Let us know, enjoy yourself in Tucson, just watch out for all the elderly people on the roads.

RX-GR8

if what you say is true this is truely scary. it's like getting unnecessary invasive surgery. well maybe not that bad.

idle0ne

so is the only way to test this is to get the car over 90mph? if so i will do that on my next test drive before i but the car i am going to buy... The closing on my house is happening thursday so it should only be a few more weeks till i have my 8 in the driveway...

RX-GR8

if you're talking about the oil light going on there is a TSB with a range of VINS affected.

KKMmaniac

The input bearing noise may actually be normal! It seems the 2nd gen. RX7 tranny did have a weak input bearing however. Or you could say a strong engine, as the gearbox strength apparently was not increased, as the HP went from ~101 to ~146.

The input bearing of my first gen. is fairly noisy, but not like the 2nd gen. I had, before it made a horrible SLAM, and ceased to allow the car to go forward quietly any more while I was driving around the block.

I'm not worried about the transmission on my RX8, but I don't know how loud the noise is on yours.

RX-GR8

i know thats why i gave the analogy above.

KKMmaniac

Hmmm, reinforced Miata gearbox...ahh, things will be just fine.

doccable

Here's the link to the TSB's:
http://www.finishlineperformance.com/rx8/docs/
The CEL came on on my 8 several times at 6k RPM, would stay on until I dropped down to 4k RPM. Didn't matter what gear I was in, and it was intermittent. When I had the ECU flashed, this peoblem went away. Check your VIN to see if it falls into the span needing either the oil pan, or just the ECU flash. Either way, when reporting it to a service department, be sure to say that the light is intermittent, and just as an added precaution, print out or save copies of the TSB's on your laptop, and be ready to pull them out.:D
-Doccable

KKMmaniac

Good advice doccable. So far, no CELs for me, but I'll keep this in mind. (my WRX liked to illuminate the CEL quite often)

payam

I have never had my CEL or oil light yet, but since my VIN was in the range for the ECU flash I took it to the dealership but they refused to flash my ECU under warranty since my CEL had never come on.

idle0ne

thanks for the info i will keep these handy

Spacejunky

The dealership I am dealing with is Jim Click in Tucson.

The parts were suppose to be in on Friday but didn't arrive in thier shipment that day. Of course I had to call and ask instead of them calling when the shipment came in to notify me. They have truly pissed me off. I am in the military and now have to take extra leave so that these people can get the parts in to do the fix. It is a 5 hour drive from here to home and they offered to meet us halfway with the car. When I asked if they were going to load it on a truck to bring it out, they said no and the service rep said she would drive it out to me. HELL NO. As long as my bosses are cool with it, I will wait and hope the parts come in on Monday. Either way, I am sitting down with the Service Manager and going to tell them off plus submit our problems to the dealership and corprate offices.

Thanks for the info on the oil pan notification. I will check it out to see what I find.