Remanufactured Mazda Motor, Good Idea?
 

I have a 2004 Mazda RX8. Recently I had my car checked, and it has low compression. I was told a rebuilt motor is $2001. Also when talking to Mazda they told me that on a re-manufactured motor that Mazda only fixes what was broken and sells it. There is a lot of stuff involved in the repair to keep it from happening again.


Also, they told me that it had a 1 year warranty. I mentioned this info to Mazda and asked if they re-surfaced the faces of the rotors, they said probably not, probably the seals just put on, and put back together. This seems like poor work. Question is: Should I try a rebuild, or are these rebuilt motors any good?

I'd rather get a properly remanufactured motor even if it costs more than a Mazda reman, unless you don't plan on keeping the car for a longer run.

There are certainly better rebuilders available. Just look around and find one that you can work with.

One of them is about 5 hours away from where you live, so you could even drive the car there.
Of course there other options too. BHR, Mazmart, Pineapple Racing... you'll probably have to ship the engine or the whole car though.

I'd go with a reputable rebuilder than a Mazda reman but I'd rather have a new motor than both if I wanted stock porting. There is something to be said about brand new internals everywhere.

It's a russian roulette with remanufactured motors. You may end up with a great engine or with a half assed job.
Buying from a reputable rebuilder is a better insurance overall, the price for a rebuild won't be near what mazda quoted though.

Try contacting Mazmart, they may take your core back.

$2000 for a mazda reman and $4000-$5000 for remanufactured motors from some where else. Both same warranty too.................

I assume you went to MedCenter. They replaced my engine at 87k miles. I thought if you paid out of pocket for a new reman it came with a 3yr/36k mile warranty from Mazda. How long are you planning on keeping your 8 and how many miles do you put on it in a year?

I have had two Mazda remans, one lasted 75,000 (loss of compression) and one lasted almost 30,000 (failed coolant seal). Many like pdxhak, alneilson, stealthtl (or was it all or zoom44?) barely made it out the door when their remans failed and a few even received remans that were dead on arrival. When my last reman motor was torn down (I did not rebuild it, I had a 2008 motor with 5,000 miles on it rebuilt) it was discovered the housings were crap (cracks, flaking, etc.) and should have never been reused.

Mazda remans have been well known to be mediocre at best because they are only meant to get you back on the road until you reach 100k or are past the 8 year mark. That said, almost any rebuild is a crap shoot because it is totally dependent on who is doing the rebuild and what parts they determined to reuse or to replace. Trust me, call around and you will find many different philosophies on this and it is a bit scary to me what some builders think it is okay to reuse.

The Mazda reman warranty is 12,000 miles or 12 months and it is only applicable if a dealer installs it, so if anyone else installs it there is no warranty. Plus, Mazda requires a core so if you do not give them your old motor (which could be worth $1,0000 even with low compression) you will pay the core charge.

A couple of the reputable builders replace what needs to be replaced and yes you will pay for that but they also have a real warranty, even if you install the motor yourself.

Pay now or pay later. Mazda remans are junk for the most part and that goes back to even when the RX-7's had problems and were getting remans.

^you are right. It all depends if you want to spend 2000 for 2 years or 4k for 5-6 years. I think the money is in the better built engines.

The problem is that it's not $2,000.00. If you want the warranty then it has to be installed by a dealer which means you will be charged at least $1500-$2000 in labor. Not to mention all the other misc parts that get broke, need replacing, etc.

A lot of people forget that everything on the old block needs to go back on the new block. Any builder or the dealer (would not trust) will charge you to clean the LIM, UIM, APV's, SSV, VDI, oil injectors, replace old vacuum lines, repair and clean the wiring harness, etc., etc. Personally I think it's dumb to go through the trouble of getting a "new" engine and then put all that old crap back on the motor. Then you have stuff like the clutch and flywheel that is easy to be replaced while you are doing this so you might as well save on that.

A lot of people don't think this stuff through when deciding to go down this road. That is why I had my motor rebuilt by a true professional and then did everything myself to insure it was done to my liking.

I would have loved for this thread to have started about a month ago! I took my blown core to a local shop for a rebuild. They initially quoted me $2000 to replace the apex seals and side seals. After they got further into it, they found a big gash inside one of the housings and immediately recommended going with a Mazda reman to save money.

I'm in the process of installing it and I find this big rubber band looking thing hanging between the flywheel and the rear iron (pictures attached). I assume I should just remove it, but I have no idea what it is or why it's there, or if it's a sign of things to come. Could be a sign of Mazda's poor workmanship. I just hope this thing lasts.

good luck
 

Im looking to buy a rx8 with a blown engine and I have 2 builders that are close to me and Ill be putting engine in cars with parts so if I dont like someting i replace I know whats going in and how.

Im hoping by next month I stop Working on my 2 projects sell one and work on a rx8 soon, cant wait .. since I BEEN looking for 6 months and now is finally getting close.

resurface the rotor? LOL

I have a Mazda Reman engine and hmm with maybe 15-17K miles on it so far ... I got the compression tester for so long but it's just too cold outside to do anything ... once spring comes Im gonna run some compression test on it ... note I premix from day 1 on this engine, so it shouldn't be that bad ... never stalls ... :)


I was thinking to buy a Mazda Reman (probably this summer), open it up just to see what's "inside". I mean every Reman is different so one might be better than the others. but to get proper compression they should at the very least use new seals and new rotor housings ... which is more than 1/2 the engine already.

I have a feeling the engines are actually all ok (like using a lot of new parts), at least I'm 99% sure Apex seals would be new. but problem is every builder is different so some Might treat that just a "job" and will throw whatever crap into the engine and send it off. While some other builders might treat it as a hobby and want the person who receives the engine to have that smile on his/her face. not pissed off.

hope I'm not too late ...

dude, take that flywheel out and look at it.

it looks like they did not installed the rear oil seal properly ?

if it's not and the moment you turn the engine on (oil starts flowing) you will have a massive mess.

Is thr any places in the Texas area that know how to rebuild our rotory motors?

I bet they re-use housings in many of those engines.

Isn't that what 9rpm found in one of his Mazda reman engines?