Haven't had time to keep up with the list lately, but here is my news.
My 8 has sometimes taken a little longer than I thought it should to fire up so I asked my tech about it. He said he could check it out now or at the next oil change. I decided to wait. Last Friday my car flooded on me here in the 100+ degree TX furnace. After 15 minutes of trying the deflood procedure I finally got her cranked. I called my tech and he said to bring it in.
He couldn't duplicate the flood but agreed sometimes it took a little longer than it should to start. So I go to pick it up and am floored when he tells me Mazda has agreed to replace the motor. He says he has changed motors out on three AT's but this will be his first on a 6 speed. I have just 15,200 miles (I ride my Harley quite a bit) on an 2004 I bought on Halloween in 2003.
I must give props to Herb Easley Mazda for the great service their rotary guru Ron always provides.

 

Ron sounds like a good guy but it all comes down to Mazda to decide whether to replace the engine or not. I think when they hear about these symptoms they like to pull the engine and find out more about what causes these problems.

 

Did they say what made them decide to replace the engine?

 

This scares me.

 

No, he did not know what is causing the problem. They just believe me when I tell them about a problem because, thanks to Rosenthal Mazda's TSB listing, any other little problem I have had has been legit and I take my 8 in with the TSB printed out in hand. Amazing how much more dealers seem to listen when you have some knowledge and come prepared with documentation. It's a little scary getting a new engine when they don't really know exactly what's wrong with the old one, but I tend to agree with RX-GR8 that they get to open it up and try to find out what is going on inside.
Ron the tech has been working on rotary's forever and seems to really be trying to get a handle on the new 8's.
This is the first major problem I have had. Guess I'll now have a 2005 engine in a 2004.

 

I have the same problem at my dealership a little over 16000 miles there reaplcing my engine because all the other parts they replaced havent done anything.

My tech also said that they are having problems with a lot of the automatics and a coinsidence or not...there all red, when I went to go check on my car there was 4 red 8's all experencing the same problem. Mine had been there the longest and I am still waiting for the dealer to receive my new engine.

I've been driving a Mazda 6 rental for almost a month now.

 

JD32 what did your Tech think the problem is or what was his diagnosis? what tests did he run?

red its not just red at cars thats silly. there are about a hundred ats in tx AZ and Nevada (mainly couple inCA and FL etc) that are having engines replaced. color is not one of the symptoms

 

Sounds like a coolant leak, Charlie......

 

I am curious about your starting problems. At first the dealer thought that I was an idiot because the car wouldn't start. They thought I was flooding it...but the problem was that it wouldn't start after I had been driving it and the engine was warm. I would shut the car off and It wouldn't start again for about 45mins.

Turns out the engine lost compression...when it was cold there was enough to get it going...when it was hot, forget it. This happen 11 months ago. At the time they flew a guy out from down east to look at it and take some oil samples. I never did hear exactly what the problem was.

When you get your new engine, I will be interested to hear your impressions. The character of my replacement engine was so different from the original. It was smoother, has a different sound and from day one got better mpg. For the record I drive a manual car.

 

I know car color isnt a symtom but I thought it was kinda weird that I walk into the service area with 4 red 8's all up on lifts. Just something you dont see everyday.

I'm looking forward to seeing if I can tell a difference between engines.