Poorly RX8
 

So I took the beast out today and it really must have liked XMAS shopping less than me.

Anyway, I drove it into Brum and it was fine running as normal and parked it up as normal. When I came to start her it was hard to start and when it started it felt like it had a massive lack of power I had to really rev her up and use the clutch to get moving, after a brief period the enginer management light was flashing.

I got her out of the car park and was driving it slowly not far around the corner and we could see alot of smoke coming out of the back, we pulled over when we could and the entire engine bay was flooded with smoke like it was on fire and bailed incase it was. As it turned out it was massive amounts of oil smoke filling up the engine bay that was pouring from the right hand side even after stopping the engine.

Now I've just had it serviced a couple of weeks ago by Kwikfit, when I got it back I checked the oil and they had put a little bit too much in, was a little over the maximum mark but I figured it wasnt too much. The other thing they did was replace the oil filter and put in new spark plugs, I was always dubious about the spark plugs as they arnt cheap for the RX8 and the fact it was included in the service made me think.

So I eventually got the AA man and he ran a quick diagnostic, there were detected random misfires and cylinder 1 misfiring errors. Misfiring on one spark plug would explain the massive lack of power, it seems its harder to realise a misfiring spark plug on a rotary engine? Saying that it did drive like a diesel without a turbo and also sounded like one.

Anyone know what the problem is going to be here? I am thinking one of the spark plugs is not firing or maybe the gasket has gone. If it was just a spark plug not firing for whatever reason what would cause the oil seapage? And excuse my lack of knowledge for rotarys but if it was the gasket it wouldnt just effect one cylinder as you might call it as they dont quite exist in this way huh?

you really shouldnt have let them change the spark plugs. take them out and check if they are the correct part number.

that would be my first step.

there are 2 plugs per chamber. a leading and a trailing plug. they are different. if these were installed backwards, or altogether wrong, i.e. two leading, then there would be a misfire problem and lack of power. make sure the plugs are correct

I was thinking of having Mazda check there work and tell me whats wrong with it/make sure it wasnt Kwifit doing something wrong.


How hard and expensive is a new head gasket?

Yeah, though that would be noticable right away huh? When I first got it back from Kwikfit it ran like a dream actually, seemed to hunt a little less and was nicely responsive.

I've done about 300 miles since the service and like I say it was fine driving it into Birmingham today but after leaving it in the car park and trying to start again (I guess after the enginer has cooled down) it was like a bag of dog poo.

Head Gasket :lol: You're kidding right??

Pick up Mazda plugs and put them in yourself, pay attention to which is leading and trailing. Its not that bad but its a start, oil overfilled with cause you have have a hunting idle....eventually oil will make its way into your intake if it is over the max line. keep us up to date!

Haha, well I understand theres no head as theres no cam/valves/etc above a block of pistons but I guess theres some kind of gasket seal around the rim of where the main engine connects to the gearbox/etc right?

Yah, I guess theres no harm in changing the plugs again myself at least I know there correct, or like I say I may just take it to Mazda dealer and tell them everything that was done so they can check the spark plugs to be correct/etc.

I think I need to get it compression tested to know if compression is being lost (i.e. through a gasket), does this kind of test apply the same way to a rotary engine? Next test would be to see that the spark plugs are all firing (is it okay to crank the engine with spark plugs hanging out one by one to visually see a spark? ).

Problem with spark plugs and and all is it could explain loss in power but like I say above whats the deal with the massive amounts of oil smoke being injected into the engine bay from what appears to be somewhere around the side of the engine?

Surely only something like a gasket would explain all the symptons, loss of power and oil getting into the engine which if the gasket is leaking would allow the smoke created to come back out with plenty of pressure that explains the smoke being bellowed out even after the engine is turned off.

Noteably there isnt a great amount of smoke coming from the exhaust, more flames and backfiring pops ;p

You could possible have a clogged converter, tow it to Mazda and see what you can get done from warantee first if your still in. If not try the simple cheep fixes first and see where you get.

when was the last time you changed the coils?

white smoke = coolant..

simple.

beers :beer:

Dunno mate, not had it for long to be honest though the AA man did hint at this though, worth me changing? Easy to do? Expensive?


Would the coils result in thick black smoke in the engine bay?

haha, seriously, Ive seen enough smoke from cars to know the difference between oil burning and water steaming ;p



If your unable to tell by look alone the smell of punjant burning rubber filling the car is a distinct give away.

Neil, next time you run the car see if the cat is glowing red, we've had lots of cat failures in the UK, if it is the cat don't go buying the MAZDA one, it'll cost you around £1600!!!, you can get replacement cats for around £300-£400 (cats direct or ebay are good places to start), coils packs from your local stealer will set you back £160 ish each!! i'd order from one of the vendors on here, far cheaper at around $30 each:) have you checked you coolant level to see if it's dropped?

dave

Interesting because I've not had the car long but I did notice the centre console/footwell was always getting quite hot and I didnt know if it was maybe the transmission to the back wheels or the heating, this is exactly where the front manifold/cat would run down and if its getting ridiculously hot i would probalby feel it inside the car.

I'll get it checked out, I was going to look for getting the water system pressure tested as well as a compression test on the engine but I think the coolant is always fine. Oil pressure and temperature are always running nice.

A little status update, dunno if these symptons aid a little.

Just fired her up, it is now taking about 30-40 cranks to get her started, cranks getting slowly faster and faster until the engine is spinning.

When its started it sounds like a bag of shit, rev it up a little and it back fires and she does sound like shes blowing from the manifold area. At first it was pumping thick black smoke which made a complete fog on my drive, this is obvious signs of burning off oil in the engine right?



Why the hell does it have to be christmas day and I need to get the baby some serious attention?

The car might have been flooded in the past, that would cause the cat to fail, so would a constant misfire from an ignition problem, how many miles has the car done? any history with it and how old? you say you've not had the car long, have you had any other problems? has the check engine light come on at all?

dave

Its done 37,000 miles and its a 2004 model. It has been flooded before the owner told me about the flooding problems and not to push the gas when turning it over, it had an outstanding recall on it to fix the flooding issue when I got it which I had done.

No real problems with it and ive done about a 1,000 miles myself. Was all sweet one minute but after parking it up in a car park for a couple of hours after an hours previous trip it was instantly recognisable as being toasted, minutes after driving it off again I had to pull over with all the oil smoke filling the engine bay.

It does sound like its blowing from the manafold area so maybe the cat has been a problem for a while (hence the really hot footwells) and now there might be a hole in the down pipe or something? I kind of hope it is just the cat, even though its expensive its nice to know the gasket/etc hasnt broken down which might suggest overheating of the engine at some point.

So do we think that a combination of over filled oil and dodgy cat and possible losing compressoin through the manifold area could cover all the symptons ive experienced? It's driving me mad trying to guess what it might be I just wanna get it into a garage but no where is open for ages :(



[edit]
The check engine light has never been on before, but now whilst the engine is running it starts to flash which I'm told the engine is simply operating irregularly
[/edit]

black smoke is carbon.

you really need to put the right spark plugs in there.

sorry about that. i somehow read white smoke in your original post. i must have had to many tabs open..

good luck.

beers :beer:

Neil, if your anywhere near a TW WHITE

Neil, if your anywhere near a TW WHITE and SONS i'd get it booked in there,from the input on the uk site they seem very clued up with RX's.
If the past owner has flooded the car a few times, it's a good bet the cat is toast.Any idea what MAZDA did regarding the flooding problem?


dave

possible the ignition wires are backwards?(ie. the trailing wire attached to the leading plug)

How about we stop guessing whats wrong and get what the owner has tried?......Were all jumping the gun in helping out lol.