New member & proud new owner of a '04 GT MT w/24k miles
 

Hey guys (and girls) I just wanted to take a sec to introduce myself and say thanks to all the great posts I've been browsing this past few weeks while deciding on the right car. I'm brand new to the RX-8 world (other then drooling over them at the dealership with buds when they first came out) and these posts answered any questions or concerns I've had. I'll be honest I'm still a bit nervous about some of the issues these cars have but I'm hoping I got a good egg. Here's the story on the purchase.

The car is a GT model in Nordic Green with the black & brown interior. This is the color combination I was looking for and of course it is a stick. I passed god knows how many AT 8s while looking. The amazing part is, it only has 24k on the odo! Even more amazing is the price, I only paid $10,500 for it. I know your first reaction would be what's wrong, me too, but that answer is nothing (almost). It runs like new and looks like new inside and out (smells new as well). The only thing wrong are some scratches and a dent on the left front fender and a broken center console latch. The guy selling it only put 3k on the car after he bought it from his boss who tried to trade it in but was pissed at the lowball trade-in offer. He sold it to my guy for the same price. It has been sitting in a garage for years only being driven on nice summer days. The guy had amazing roads near his house in the Ohio countryside, I would have stayed and played on those roads all night if the wife wasn't with me.

Anyway, to the questions. These things may be normal or may be from sitting around so much but let me know what you think. I noticed that the oil temp never quite reaches the middle and the oil pressure is a few ticks past the middle, is this within normal range or does it mean something should be adjusted? Also the airbag light comes on intermittently staying solid sometimes or flashing others but most of the time it's off from start to stop. I have read a lot of threads about proper care and issues. I will be getting it to the dealership in the near future for a full inspection but I was wondering if these are things that would warrant quicker attention. Also, I am not the most skilled mechanic nor do I have proper tools but I will be getting some come christmas so hold off on those kind of recommendations.

Thanks for reading this long post, and I will be getting pics up in a bit.
Lane

congrats on the purchase!
If you haven't done so, read these
FAQ’s https://www.rx8club.com/new-member-forum-197/rx-8-faq-please-read-before-posting-959/
New and Potential Owner’s, Start Here https://www.rx8club.com/new-member-forum-197/new-potential-owners-start-here-202454/
Congratulations, you got an 8 https://www.rx8club.com/new-member-forum-197/congratulations-you-got-8-a-202548/
New Owner FAQ’s https://www.rx8club.com/showthread.p...&highlight=FAQ

Also, make sure you read the “stickies” in each sub-forum

To answer your Q's about the gauges- they're dummy gauges. Don't trust them.

Welcome to the addiction ;)

Welcome to the club.

The gauges are dummy gauges, that's how it is. Most ppl do care about their 8 would add aftermarket sender and gauges to get more accurate reading.

A 04 also means your motor warranty expires next year, fyi.

This is a really active forum with numerous useful/useless information. I've done tons of DIY from researching on this forum and getting flamed from time to time. lol. But it's all about learning your 8.

Cheers~

Here are some pics
 

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I've read most if not all of those threads and they were full of great information.

What do you guys mean by dummy gauges? Are they just not accurate or are they literally useless?

What about the airbag light, I've read threads about bad wiring and am guessing that's what it may be but I also wonder about electrical issues from sitting around so much. I know he put a new battery it before he sold it to me. My days of working as a lot boy at the dealership taught me the lesson of running the cars as often as possible because of weird issues that pop up if you don't. Just a guess.

And yes I know the warranty will expire soon (fingers crossed).

Dummy gauges meaning they dont give accurate readings and are there for nothing lol. Ex. If you had an overheating problem you'd probably smell it before the temp gauge would even touch the H. To be honest i could be wrong but i don't even remember if its programmed to read H due to the natural heat the rotary puts out because if it was the gauge would always read your car ison overheating

Welcome and nice pics. Nordic green is a great color.

Obviously, the speedometer and tachometer are fully functional gauges. Duh. But the gauges for Engine Coolant Temperature and Oil Pressure are not. Allow me to explain:

Once upon a time, many years ago, all the gauges in cars were fully functional. Including the gauges for Engine Coolant Temperature and Oil Pressure. The needle in the Engine Coolant Temperature gauge would point to the actual coolant temperature. If the temperature rose 10º, the needle would move up to indicate that. If you started the car with a cold engine, the needle would point to 'C', and you could watch it slowly move towards the normal "middle" range of the dial as the coolant temperature increased. If you were stuck in traffic on a hot day, you could monitor coolant temperature, as you watched the needle rise above normal. You could accurately monitor an overheated engine situation as it developed.

The Oil Pressure gauge indicated actual oil pressure. When you started a cold engine, oil pressure would read high, as the oil started out thicker. (In winter, it would start really high.) You could then watch oil pressure drop to normal as the oil warmed up. If oil pressure started to drop below normal, you could monitor an oil problem as it unfolded.

Unfortunately, there were two problems with real gauges: 1) many drivers were idiots, and never looked at them and 2) from the manufacturer's point of view, gauges were expensive.

To address the first problem, cars started to come with not just gauges, but also "idiot lights". If a driver never glanced at his oil pressure gauge – and didn't notice his oil pressure suddenly dropping – no problem; a bright red "idiot light" marked "OIL" would light up, alerting all but the most oblivious driver to the problem. (Some drivers are so stupid, they don't notice idiot lights either.)

Then, to save money, car makers gradually eliminated the oil pressure, coolant temperature and battery charge (ammeter) gauges altogether, figuring idiot lights served the main purpose of gauges — to alert the driver to an engine/electrical problem — by themselves, rendering gauges unnecessary.

Sports cars, however, have always been driven primarily by automobile enthusiasts, who tend to be very involved with their machines. Needless to say, they prefer gauges. In fact, to a real enthusiast, idiot lights were unnecessary: "This is an insult! Why would I need those when I have perfectly good gauges?!"

Many sports cars still feature functional gauges, as well as idiot lights, which all cars have. The original Miata had functional gauges. Then, around 1994 or so, Mazda, in an effort to save pennies, replaced two functional gauges with "dummy gauges". The Oil Pressure gauge looked like a real gauge but, like an "idiot light," where the light can only be ON (no oil pressure) or OFF (oil pressure normal), the dummy gauge can only point towards center (oil pressure normal) or not move at all (no oil pressure). In other words, the gauge was doing the exact same thing the oil idiot light does, only in "gauge" form. Since the car had an idiot light for oil pressure, the gauge was, in fact, useless and unnecessary. The only reason it was there is because people expect a sports car to have cool-looking gauges. So it was put there to fool the unsuspecting buyer into thinking this Miata (or, in our case, this RX-8) has an Oil Pressure gauge when, in fact, it didn't.

(There's another reason why Mazda replaced the functional Oil Pressure gauge with a dummy one: naive new owners, not used to having a real gauge, would find the needle, continually moving depending on conditions, unnerving! They would wonder if something "is wrong with my engine" and complain to their dealers: "…yesterday it was pointing here, and today it's pointing here! What's wrong with this gauge, or with my car?!?" Rather than simply add a paragraph to the Owner's Manual stating "NOTE: Oil pressure changes as you warm up the engine, accelerate and deaccelerate. As you drive, the needle in your Oil Pressure Gauge will continually fluctuate to reflect slight changes in oil pressure. As long as oil pressure remains within normal range, THIS IS NORMAL", they yanked the gauge altogether and replaced it with the dummy gauge we have now! No more owner complaints. (Except from us enthusiasats, and we are vastly outnumbered by the un-enthusiasts.)

Our Engine Coolant Temperature gauge is also a dummy gauge, although it's a little bit functional. Whereas a real coolant gauge indicates actual coolant temperature, ours merely shows "L" when cold and then moves to just right of center when normal. (What keeps it from being a total idiot gauge is the fact that it will move towards 'H' when the engine overheats. Still not as a good as a real gauge.)

The cynicism of "dummy gauges" aside, another thing that bothers me is that — since they're not real and since we have idiot lights — they "train us," over months and years, to ignore car gauges in general. I suspect many of us, were we to drive a car with real gauges might, out of habit, ignore them since we've been "taught" there's no point in paying them any attention.

Now you know.

Excellent description, NY!

As for your airbag light, lane... You have an intermittent problem with the Supplemental Restraint System. That's probably not something you are going to want to try and fix on your own. You'll want to take it to a mechanic with SRS experience. May even have to be a Mazda dealer, I'm not sure if independent shops will have the tools to tap into (and diagnose) the SRS.

New Yorker great write up!!!!!

OP whats your mods list?

Thanks New Yorker for that great in depth explanation. I am embarrassed to say I've never heard this about modern gauges. I knew they tended to stay put for in the middle far too much to be truly accurate but I didn't realize they where this inaccurate. My only question is why in the 8 do they rest off center and not dead straight like every other car I've owned? The airbag light hasn't come on today but I think I will wait for my first dealer trip to get it looked at. I am a believer in having a car looked at be someone trained on that car every once in a while and especially after buying one. I'd be interested in hearing what you guys think I should be on the outlook for with a car that spent so much time in the garage. Anything prone to failure from sitting? And I do have to say this car is intoxicating to drive!

Count the pattern and # of flashes on your airbag light. That will tell you what sensor is faulty/unplugged/etc. somewhere on this forum is the table for that.

I'd make sure that all new fresh fluids were put in.
Do everything in the "congrats you got an 8" thread, and you should be pretty well good to go.

Inspect the tires, as well. They may have become brittle while sitting there for so long.

Make sure the routine maintenance items (plugs/coils) are in good order. Also, see if the battery leads have any corrosion, and replace, if necessary.

Now, how bout them pics??? ;)

HOLY HUGE POSTS BATMAN...@_@'

good write up NY.





i just came to post how surprised i am that there's an 04' out there that has less than 25k on the first motor.

0_0!

I've only seen it flash once, it's been solid or off most of the time.
As far as a mods list nothing yet, bone stock. First thing I need is an iPhone adapter (really missing that) and then I'd love to save up for some R3 wheels. Winter tires first though. I'm a fan of stock look mods. I have some interesting ideas for LED taillights along the lines of the new BMW tails. I'd love any other ideas!

I had that identical car minus the spoiler when I got my RX8, love the color its so unique