dean2900

Your post really is bad for Mazda altogether. You have the same attitude as the dealer. I have mentioned over and over that I have the GPS and Satellite radio that both plug in to the 12v outlet in the back. I used the back one so I could hide the wires. I mentioned that I have unplugged them. The pain in the *** with the Satellite Radio is because of the wiring to the atenna which has nothing to do with the receiver.

Also your comment about my constant whining. How would you like it if you had lost over 5 grand to date because you didnt have your car and was waiting for a tow truck, missed client engagements, and had fight tooth and nail to get a loaner?

The fact is that since this is a reoccuring problem, the Mazda dealer has told me over and over including the owner that they dont get paid for looking at the same problem twice so there is no motivation to fix this issue.

Do you think Mazda of North America or the Regional Rep should at least give me a phone call since I followed all procedures?

I bet if your car had a reocurring problem over and over and it wasnt fixed and caused monetary loss that you would be pissed at your Mazda dealer. I am sure you wouldnt like it someone posted "Well I wouldnt fix it if were your dealer."

You make Mazda owners look like total idiots which such posts. I have done everything by the book and the electrical addons through Mazda's 12v outlet has been ruled out. Even my incompetent dealer agrees with me on that.

AdRoCK3217

Here you stated that your GPS is hardwired. Now you are saying that it simply plugs in to the 12v socket. I can't help you if you don't want help.

And no, I wouldn't be in this position. I went out to Radio Shack and bought a $10 multimeter and solved my own electrical power drain on any car I've ever had a problem with. Maybe you should do the same. Self-sufficiency is all the rage these days..

alcimedes

The problem is if the wiring were done improperly you could still be getting a power drain from those hardwire devices even if they weren't plugged into the 12v adapter.

I'd certainly be tempted to grab a multimeter and double check the drain/draw when the car is off just to be sure.

New Yorker

Sorry you're having problems but, in fact, officially your RX-8 is NOT a lemon. Not that facts matter or anything.

I must be incredibly lucky—my 8 has been absolutely trouble-free.

RotoRocket

iTrader: (1)

You can join my ~ZERO PROBLEM CLUB~

I'm not only a member, I'm also the founder.

dean2900

All I meant by hardwired was that I have the wiring hidden and panels had to be taken out However, I have the addon devices plugged into the 12v devices. and the satelitle atenna was wired throgh the middle panel so it is in the back.

I repeat NONE OF THE ELECTRICAL WIRING HAS BEEN TOUCHED AND I HAVE HAD THE GPS/XM REMOVED FOR WEEKS AND THE BATTERY STILL DRAINS.

If my car isnt a Lemon then my dealer and regional rep is a lemon. I am going to call and leave more voicemails.

My local Mazda Dealer just recharged the battery again and claimed it is fixed.

I am pretty sure next year it will be only Bob King Hydnuai and no Mazda because no one will take their 8 there anymore.

dean2900

The local dealer in High Point is now going to get hold of the Regional Rep for me and try to get her to have the car towed there.

To be honest, I hate to have to drive 60 miles each way to a service center by I can never take my car back to this dealer.

Bob King never calls me about surveys. I wish they would.

AdRoCK3217

Ok, so. So it's not actually hard-wired in. Err..

At this point, I would recommend going and seeing your local law enforcement, and see about your local lemon laws. Just because they call it something else doesn't mean it isn't the same issue. We call that "fraud" here, and can be sued for ..

dean2900

The attorney I talked to who handles nothing but automotive law, DUI, speeding tickets, and lemon law has already warned me that while my car might fall under the lemon law, he said the dealers have too much wiggle room in this state. This is someone is a personal friend. He advised me to put up the hassle with going to the other dealer. He also told me some horror stories that other people have run into that are unbelievable. We are talking about cars needing a new engine in the first week and the lemon law not applying on a Bimmer 7 series.

9krpmrx8

iTrader: (46)

Lemon laws are pretty much bullshit in most states. A friend of a friend bought a Passat 4 motion from the local dealer and it had a blown engine within the first 500 miles and two replacement engines after the first year. They finally figured out the computer had something to do with it but by then he wanted out of the car.

He filed under the Lemon Law and they fought him 100% and he lost so he took out an ad in automotive section the local paper for a week at a time until they finally caved. This is the biggest VW dealer in SA so the bad publicity was killing them. He spent small fortune doing this but he is pretty loaded due to a parent passing away so it was a principle issue for him.

dean2900

Almost word for word what my attorney told me. He said that if the establishment has no honor, they will always be able to bypass the lemon law.

I was have thinking of paying the local homeless guys who the newspaper pays a very small rate to stand in the street to sell newspapers to hold up signs across the street saying BOB KING MAZDA DOESN'T HONOR WARRANTIES, etc. Of course I am not going to do that but I have to admit they deserve it.

dean2900

I finally received a call from the Regional Rep. She is waiting to get the records from Bob King Mazda as they simply threw a new battery in (tried to charge me which i refused) and said it was fixed. I am going to take it to the Mazda dealer in High Point and they are going to try and figure out where the power drain is.

I did try to emphasize to her that Bob King has the worst customer service of any dealer I have ever dealt with in my 25 years of driving. She just wanted to get me off the telephone.

fluffysheap

Here are some alternative recommendations...

* These posts sound so much like what happened with RX-7s 10 years ago, except this time it is electronics instead of hoses.
* Take the car to a mechanic that can actually fix it instead of to the dealer. Most major metropolitan areas have one or two that specialize in Mazdas. You might have to pay for it yourself, but if you are going to attorneys and losing out on income the car is costing you more money than you will pay to fix it anyway.
* Do some troubleshooting on your own. Connect an ammeter (not a voltmeter) to the battery and see how much power is being drawn. Some is normal to keep the radio station presets, etc. but not too much. At minimum this will tell you if you have a problem with power draw or if it's something else like the charging system. If you have a draw, pull fuses one at a time until the draw goes down. Now you know where your problem is. Given this information, maybe even the dealer can fix it, or you can install a switch on that circuit as a workaround, or if it's something unnecessary, just leave it unplugged.
* Disconnect the whole battery when the car is not in use. Probably too annoying for long term.
* Get a battery that has a backup circuit. When the battery dies, switch to the backup to get the car started. Or, just keep a whole separate battery in your garage.
* Get a "battery buddy" or similar charge keeper device.
* I wouldn't be surprised at all to find out that it's actually the alternator. If the problem is worse if you leave the car sit for a few days, probably a power draw. If the problem is worse the more you drive it, probably the alternator.

dean2900

Fluffysheep,

Thank you very much for the great list of suggestions.

I do have a battery buddy that can produce up to 400Amps and it cant start the car even though Mazda claims it is the battery.

I have had the electrical system checked by a client of mine. They are not an official Mazda shop but they do know the car well especially since the head mechanic has two RX-7s. He cannot find any drain yet Bob King keeps saying it is the battery.

The other dealer I spoke with in the area says that it thinks it might be alternator based on the info I gave him. He said that doesn't always show up on the diagnostics and he has seen it happen a few times on the 8.

I am waiting for the Regional Rep to call back tomorrow and she agrees that I should take my car to the other Mazda dealer.

I just wish Mazda NA would put great pressure on the Bob King Mazda to quit switching batteries (and try to charge me) and say it is just your battery going dead every few weeks or in a month.

The Service Manager for the other dealer in my area sounded ver straighforward and said he doesnt mind to take a hit on the price of alternator if that doesnt turn out to be the problem. He also mentioned that he has many clients that were disenchanted with Bob King Mazda and are driving 30 extra miles to get the car serviced there. The service manager used to be a mechanic and understands the rotary engine. The service manager at Bob King understands next to nothing about cars. She is always uncertain of any aspect and says let me ask a mechanic. I personally believe the Service Manager should have a background in the field and know cars although maybe not at the same level as the lead mechanics.

Anyways, thanks again for your constructive suggestions.

Dean

Late Edit: A couple of things to keep in mind. The attorney working with me is doing it for free as his firm is a client of mine as well as the automotive shop that did a search for electrical drains.

I really dont want to take the car and pay another shop to fix it on principle. I think Mazda should honor their warranty. However, if the other dealer in my area is unable to fix it then I will take that course of action.

fluffysheap

That's wild. I did not expect you to say you had a battery buddy already. When you encounter the problem, have you checked the battery voltage? It may not be a discharged battery at all.

When you say it can't start, does that mean:
1) It turns over but doesn't fire
2) The starter engages but engine doesn't turn over
3) Nothing happens at all except the dash blinks; maybe some relay noise but the starter doesn't engage

If it's #3, do you have an auto transmission? Here's a theory: the computer might think the car is in gear and won't let the starter engage. When the dealership replaces the battery, the ECU discharges and resets and when it "wakes up" it realizes you're in park and lets you start it. This actually could happen with the clutch switch as well with a manual, but less likely that you wouldn't get it to go eventually.

dean2900

I am out of commission with the flu for the last couple of days so if posts dont make sense tell me.

It is a Straight Drive. And sometimes it doesnt turn over, sometimes it turns very weakly, and other times it turns over very strong like this last time but it made what I described as a clattering sound. After 4 more days at Mazda, 5 phone calls to Mazda of NA, two talks with the Owner, and one talk with the regional rep, they put a new battery in and said that is the only problem. It took a lot of fighting for me to get them to pay for the battery. They will not do anymore because they say they will not get paid for it.

I will add that I have tried the battery buddy, tow truck drivers, and friends try to jump the car off and it has NEVER started when I attempt to jump. I tell Mazda this and they just have blank look in their eyes. I have asked them point blank why does it not jump off. They say because the battery gets too weak. I asked them about this when the battery was only 1 week old and fully charged. I had trickle charged it when I got it back.

I refuse to leave a trickle charger on a daily driver under warranty.

Renesis_8

Hey, sorry for your problems and ***** you have to go through with the dealership. Also try look for common problems with the RX-8s on this forum, while the symtoms might lead to the battery drain. Ask for a compression check, a catalyst check, these are the common problems i can think of that owners have shared on this board. If you dont have compression your engine wont crank over, and after a few cranks, your battery might just die as well.

I really hope you resolve it under warranty
Also dont give up on MNAO, you wont get any help on dealerships, forget calling Bob King, you're right, they wont get paid now, and they just wont help you period.
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Vaporizers info

dean2900

One last note: I was going to try to take the approach of I AM NOT TAKING THE CAR BACK UNTIL IT IS FIXED.

The Regional Rep told me that if I didnt return the loaner car they would start charging me daily for it. My dealer requires a credit card before you get a loaner.

Renesis_8

Also, it seems to me that other than the battery, they have not looked into anything else after this many trips to the dealer. I just have a feeling that the problem is more than just the battery, and you probably feel it as well. You said you did all the recalls right? So i assume the engine recall as well? Also you should seriously look into the clatter noise, there might be something broken in the engine, and there aren't many things you can break in a rotary engine! SEals!!! apex seals!
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Whore4urWish cam

dean2900

I told the dealer about the clatter noise and I even had the tow truck driver go up to the head mechanic and tell him because they dont seem to listen to word I say.

They just tried to get me to pay for another battery and after refusing and fighting with the owner, they put in a new battery and said that was the only problem and they didnt hear the clattering sound.

Bob King Mazda will not do jack. The Service Manager is incompetent as she does not know the first thing about cars. The owner cares even less. He pretty much told me straight out that they are glad to work on a problem the first time but after that, MNAO doesnt pay them so the mechanics and service personnel dont have any interest.

AdRoCK3217

If they apex seals were the thing making the clatter noises, he would notice. The car would start to shake violently, especially at low RPM, and be smoking like a pig in some circumstances. It isn't something that you just "don't notice" after the one time.


The rattling noise..hm..motor mount, perhaps? I would think it would be the pilot or throwout bearing, but those are continuous noises, the whole time the car is on.

otherside

The clatter noise is the noise the starter makes when theres not enough voltage. Did you verify the updated battery was installed? Did you inquire about the updated starter? Did you read my post about the acceptable ma draw being 40-50 ma?

dean2900

I had my wife pick up the car since I am out sick with the flu and taken viccoden. I just hope the car starts when she finishes up at work as she has 30 minutes to get my 2 year old from daycare before they start charging big bucks.

I had to pick the car up with only the new battery because Mazda was going to start charging me for the loaner car.

I contacted my attorney and he suggested that I right a letter to the Mediation team of MNAO and explain your problems, financial losses, and what resolution you want.

I wrote a five page letter documenting the problems, financial losses, and responses from the various people involved.

I stated in the letter that I want out of the last year and a half of my lease due to the fact that Mazda cannot fix my car as promised.

I will keep you guys posted.

Dean

dean2900

Sorry I missed this post but yes I had PURCHASED the bigger battery as Bob King wouldnt give it me regardless of the TSB. They argued that wasnt the problem but I ended up fighting with them and they at least threw in the updated starter for no cost.

fluffysheap

Wow, this really is a stumper.

Have you tried push starting? I'm not suggesting a flooding problem, but push starting sometimes (temporarily) cures other start-related woes...

I'd think that there might be an intermittent short/loose ground that keeps the starter from getting good power some of the time. But I can't fathom what that would be that would then go away when you replace the battery.