RX8 Auto - my story, new engine
 

Appreciate this information on this board. My rx8 auto is currently waiting for a new engine. I know there are other threads on this but thought I should start a new one anyway to tell my story (it is long). Hopefully it can help someone.

My rx8 is a 04 auto, has 52K miles, has all it maintenance, up to date on all recalls and flashes.

* * * *

About 6 weeks ago, I was stopped at a red light and my car stalled. I got it started again after 2 cranks and I feathered the accelerator at the other lights the rest of the way home. Because this had never happened before I took it to a Mazda Dealership #1 (that I have my regular maintenance done at) the next day. It was a 20 minute drive without any issues.

They took it through their $94 diagnostics and reported detecting no issues with the car.

* * * *

I drove it for another 4-5 weeks without a reoccurance before it stalled again at a red light. Restarted and promptly died at another light. This time, it took a couple minutes (seemed like eternity with cars driving around you) to restart.

I then heard the 'marbles in a can' sound a couple times when I accelerated on my way home.

(Let me say, I have heard some not-normal sounds before during acceleration, infrequently enough that when I hear those sounds, I think its a non-issue. But those sounds were not like these new sounds after restarting at the light ... and I did not know how to describe them until I read the threads and the 'marbles in a can' analogy).

I eventually got home by feathering the accelerator at the other lights.

So I took it back to my Mazda Dealership #1 the next morning (again without any issues) and left it with them for a couple days so they could take it through their diagnostics and test drive it.

The service lady asked if I had noticed a loss of power and I there was no noticeable loss of power. She asked if the CEL came on, and it had not.

Mazda Dealership #1 called me back and said they could not find anything wrong with the rx8 and their test drive did not replicate any of the noise/stalling I had reported to them.

I knew this was not right and could not accept their pronogsis that there was not an identifiable problem.

* * * *

So I called Mazda Dealership #2, an additional 20 minutes away and closer to town. The service person asked me to bring in the car for their $94 diagnostic.

I went to pick up the car mid afternoon from Mazda Dealership #1 and took it to Mazda Dealership #2. My wife and kids were in the other car following me.

While driving, I decided to try duplicate the sound so I could tell Mazda Dealership #2. I found I could do it at will. Crusing 50-55mph, all I had to do was punch the accelerator and the 'marbles in a can' could be heard. Did this 5-6 times on my drive.

In the 20 minute drive with medium traffic, it stalled while waiting to get of an exit ramp, it stalled on me just as I was about to turn into the dealership and it stalled on me in the dealership lot as I was driving to the service area. This last stall and restart had a noticeable loss of power ... the rx8 literally limped to the service parking.

(I do not know if my 'marbles in a can' test aggravated the stalling problem).

I reported to them my problems and told them how to duplicate the sound. Left the rx8 with them and waited for their call.

* * * *

Mazda Dealership #2 calls me back the next day and said their $94 diagnostic did not identify a problem but they wanted to replace the power coils and battery (plus tires, plus oil change etc). I was okay with the power coils based on what I had read on this forum but should have pushed back on the battery (easy $100 bucks for them).

Mazda Dealership #2 calls me back in another day and tells me that they

Replace the coils/battery
Test drove the car and everything was cool
They let the car sit
They test drove it again and it stalled on them 5 times

They then contacted Mazda and Mazda was shipping them a new engine.

* * * *

Sorry for the length but let me summarize.

1. My symptoms were stalling at red lights, 'marble in a can' sounds and power loss.
2. The $94 diagnostic test will not find this problem. There is no CEL to warn of this problem.
3. Its symptoms are sporadic and hard to duplicate. Neither dealership was able to reproduce the symptoms at will, Dealership #2 lucked into it after deciding to test drive it a second time.
4. Power coils may have been part of the problem (ex. the noise) but not the stalling/power loss (ex. hopefully new engine will fix).
5. Dealership #2 said he has seen about 10 rx8 autos with this problem.

My rx8 has been fun to drive even with all the recalls, mileage issue and the damn brake squealing noise (thank god that was fixed). This has been the most serious of the issues and it concerns me that neither Mazda dealership had a 'test' to identify this problem. Hope the new engine solves this problem.

As a side note, most of my driving is highway (80%) and I average approx 20-21mpg. I have noticed during the colder months that I tend to average 16-18mpg.

Sorry to hear. Another curse of the 04 AT.

I think the major issue you have encountered is that Mazda mechanics are not, in fact, mechanics!!

They are technicians that run diagnostic software, and then follow the on-screen instructions for repair.

Sad, but true.

Dealership #2 lucked out and instead of fixing the actual problem, some program told them you need a new engine.

Either way, I do wish you luck, and hopefully a new engine does in fact solve your problems.

Cheers,

Ed

God hates you for buying an AT RX-8.

A lot of this board derides you for buying an AT.

i still love you........................

Yeah, that sounds like the 04 AT alright.

poor oh 04



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Man, that is harsh.

I hope the new engine solves the problem. Good luck.

Yea, the Rotary just isn't advanced enough to handle being in a AT car, everyone should know that. :Eyecrazy:

I'm taking mine in today. I had a flashing cel sunday and smoke coming out of my exhaust. I hope it isn't serious. and they better not charge me anything either. I have 3k miles of warranty left and I plan on using it!

Except mine is a MT. But of course I have none of the symptoms you have. Just what I mentioned.
________
Web Shows

Now you can dump the car and buy a MT.

I have an 05 AT. I'm curious, did you do a lot of revving with the engine in the time you had it? I drive mine in manumatic mode most of the time and try to make sure to redline it at least once a day. Generally around town i don't get out of 3rd gear, keeping the revs up close to 3000 for cruising.

I'm just wondering because mine is pretty low mileage at this point (12000) and i'm trying to avoid the problems associated with driving at too low of an rpm most of the time.

oh shit...i have an 04 A/T... great!

Did you get the recall done?

Hopefully they'll both return your $94.00 fees, why should you pay when they can't diagnose the problem.

Thanks for sharing. Hopefully it's behind you.

I live north of Atlanta and had driven regularly into Atlanta with a manual Accord. I couldn't handle a stick and the traffic anymore.

I did. Co-workers joke about carbon buildup being the cause, but I love flooring the accelerator as I am getting on the interstate (well, as best as I can with an auto anyway).

Sorry. Watch for the symptoms. It started with the stalls.

That was my first question with Mazda Dealership #1 as they do my maintenance. They said that I was current ... I did not independently verify this.

my friend had the exact same problem, he got so pissed off that he payed some people to come destroy the car, tell them to salvage it, got the money from insurance and bought an STI, he gave me his turbo kit first though, which apparently is why his car had problems, so not gonna touch it, anyhow

my car got the "clank clank clank" sound everytime it hits about 6-7k rpm, I took it to the mazda dealer and after their test, the sound disappeared, note that I am on my 3rd engine replacement now and my car is only 6000miles old, so I think transmissions on the ATs are seriously messed up or something, but, my car never died on me

and I miss it very much, the pontiac g6 sucks ass

Hey rx8auto! My car is in the shop potentially waiting on a new engine also.

Bought it used about 9 months ago. No issues until yesterday. CEL came on and then strange grinding noise when accelerating and a loss of power. Took it into the dealer and they gave me a rental car and have been looking at it all day.

Service Advisor is going to have them do all these compression tests that Mazda uses to check for the 04 RX-8 engine issues. He said they haven't finished all their tests but they will probably be giving me a new engine because the CEL is throwing all sorts of weird codes and he has been through the 04 engine replacement issue before and said my issue is similar.

Funny, i got a CEL on mine just yesterday. I think it was bad gas though, because i stopped to fill it up and the CEL went away shortly thereafter.

We used to have a grand am that was sensitive to bad gas - a bottle of fuel injector cleaner would always make the CEL go away in that one. Might be a stupid question, but is it safe to use that stuff in a rotary?

04 AT=kiss of death

Hopefully, it won't be happening to replaced engines or newer models. We'll see.

I tried these before

STP Injector Cleaner - Dont see any diffs.
STP complete system cleaner - dont see any diffs
Prestone Complete system cleaner - It seems to be a bit better
Redline S1 Fuel system cleaner - VEry VERY good stuff.

and my engine is still alive.

So I guess yes its ok to use it.

You do realize what you just told the world right?

A story........................

working the system? lawl

Check that guy, make sure he's got his head on tight. And it didn't go up his ass.:spank:

FD3 autos had the same problem ...

I have some very similar issues with my 04AT.
As much as I love this car I am starting to love to hate it.
It would soo.. much rather have an MT or a newer At right now.
See me post https://www.rx8club.com/series-i-tech-garage-22/necessary-4speed-6speed-engine-117179/

04 AT=kiss of death

Got my rx8 back with the replaced/rebuilt engine.

The $0 invoice had this description:

"Roaded tested vehicle. Inspected vehicle for CMDTC's. P2070 SSV stuck open. P0302 engine misfire detected. Peformed engine compression test. Found premature engine failure. Found intake manifold SSV valve stuck open. Heavy carbon build-up inside intake manifold.

Replace engine and intake manifold. Road tested vehicle."


When I paid for the other stuff, I asked the lady how much the replacing the engine would have cost, she said an amount in the $4K range. Also, 12 months or 12K mile warranty on the new engine.

Spoke to the technician that replaced the engine. He said he had only 1 repeat customer after an engine was replaced and it was not due to the engine itself. He said the new engine with the new flash should prevent the problem from occuring again. Suggested I use the paddles more frequently.

Did you buy it new? What kind of gas did you run, type of driveing, aggressive, stop and go commute, any thing you can think of that might have contributed? Did you get all the $$ back from last dealer visits? Here is how it reads on the 60K warranty.

What if you have paid for a repair that is covered by this new warranty?
If you have paid for a repair out of warranty which would have been covered by this extended warranty, you may be eligible for reimbursement of reasonable repair expenses based on Mazda’s repair standards.
Please complete the enclosed “Reimbursement Application Form,” including the necessary documentation, and mail it to us in the pre-addressed envelope provided, allowing 6-8 weeks for processing.

Problem with engine carbon build up is that symptom is very very hard to recognize and gradual powerloss is very hard to notice. So when the rotary is already messed up and it starts to stall on you due to loss of compression in the engine, it is already too late to do anything about it. I am on a new engine too (replaced around low 30k miles and now I have about 50k) and I think new engine is doing fine. But I would never know if same thing is already happening to my new engine until one day it stalls like your story...

Yes, cursed 04 auto owners we are...

Our russian mazda dealership nothing know about rotary engines...And we hadn`t met any case of changing engine by warranty...In our forum we have 3 types of RX-8...
1.Exported from Europe or bought in Russia
2.Exported from USA
3.Exported from Japan(rightside steering)
And in special rotary service(Russia and Japan just 2 countries who produce the rotary engines) told statistic. Noone car from Japan had a recall or repair of engine before 100000 km... 1 European on 70000 and 3 cars that exported from states....The main reason,that lots of people don`t push a pedal ofaccelerator to 4000 rpm before the engine off...And timeline before services are longer than european and japan...And third reason is fuel...Fuel in Japan and Germany better than american and russian...

What? The 04 AT has problems that are pretty well known around here.

Didn't have to look in my ass for that one.

Just wanted to formally sign-off from the board. Traded in my rx8 auto this past Thu. Although the most problematic car I have ever owned, it was the best handling.

Sincere thanks, this board has been courteous and full of information.

Goodluck on your next purchase!:)

***I was just at the dealership getting a recall performed and asked the service advisior about this enging issue. The advisior told me to wait and went back to get the tech who worked mostly on 8's. They were laughing and talking to me and said that they can spot people who will have problems. They replace engines on both MT & AT vehicles. The advisior told me the large group of AT engine replacments were from ladies and older people who just putted around town never reving their engines and carbon built up is a big problem. He stated "You have to drive it like you stole it!"


Thought about it for awhile(Our 8 is like a 2 stroke)... The dirt bike guys will understand this. When your bike has been riden solw trails, whatever and starts missing, smoking, knocking what do you do? Take it to the dealer? Feather it? NO! You clear it out, REv the shit out of it.

Maybe the dealer was just blowing smoke up my ass, but just figure I let you know what happen. :)

Sorry to hear about the problems you're having, but hey, new engine! Can't complain about that right? :banghead:

Mine has stalled one time before, but It's never done it since...I know there is something wrong with my car, but the only way I can think of to reproduce it is for the weather to be above 85-90 degree's, and to just drive it around town for 20 minutes and then it starts doing all kinds of crazy stuff.

I actually took my cell phone and captured some audio of the noise my car would make at idle, if I ever have the problem again I'm going to take it in and show them.

I have a feeling I'm headed down the "New Engine" road aswell, but my cars been pretty good :spank: to me lately so I don't know yet.

Don't you have the 07? Shouldn't be any problems there..