jstieber

ok i'm posting this because it has happened to me three times now.

i'm not real good with engines (i'd like to be but its hard to learn it all). i was driving one day and my car is bogged down a lot, i have no power and even with the pedal to the floor in sixth gear around 60 mph i can just barely accelerate. next i have to slow down so i push in the clutch and the rpms drop...all the way to zero. my car stalled. i pulled over and tried starting it again. it wouldn't start so i waited a few minutes and tried again and it started. i drove for a while (bogged down the whole way). i get the idea that maybe my catilytic converter is clogged (i had an old rx7 that this happened to and all the power was gone and it wouldn't run). so i pulled over and revved it a lot and that seemed the clear up my problem.

now i was driving home tonight and its doing fine and all of a sudden its bogging down again. it never stalled though. once i got home i was turning around and it stalled(i know it wasn't my fault with the mt). i rolled the windows down cuz i could hear rattle. i revved it and between 1 and 2 grand the rattle gets really loud but in the high 2's and above the rattle is gone. so now i'm thinking something is wrong with the exhaust system and the bac pressure is screwed up...

any help would be greatly appreciated since i don't have any garages in my town that even know what a rotary engine is let alone how to work on one....

Mazurfer

Is it throwing a CEL?

Most likely you have a clogged cat. After you drive it awhile, look under there and see if it's glowing.

What year is your car?
How many miles?
How long have you had it...............in miles.
How long since the plugs and coils were changed?


Oh....and your problem isn't that strange, you should do some searching. You'll find lots of information!

Easy_E1

iTrader: (2)

Yep sounds like it's time to take the cat to the yet and have her put down.

This should be under warranty still.

jstieber

Very good call on that one easy e1. if its the cat that is for sure what i'm going to do.

Thanks for both responses, i'll get on later and let put up more information: miles, etc.

shazy

Ok well, when it stalls again check under the car, it should be glowing. If you are under 80k miles you should be fine, just take it to the dealer and they'll replace it for you.

jstieber

thanks again for responses...

no cel.
it is a 2004 with 54,700 miles on it.
i've owned it since it had 52,000 miles.
i have no idea when the last time plugs and coils were changed. i guess i really should take it in.

i bought it from a used car dealer so i have no idea what the warranty is like or if i even have one...what is a good way to find out?

and i drove home tonight but the car didn't give me any trouble the whole way (approx. 17 miles) but when i got home i checked the cat anyway and it was glowing. thats the sign for me that its the cat. damn those things, nothing but trouble.

G3tR3DDY2GR3DDY

iTrader: (8)

if you dont have warranty i have a stock cat with very low miles

good luck

jstieber

i dont think i have one. how much money and what is low miles?

kersh4w

iTrader: (3)

warranty for the cat is 80,000 miles.

jstieber

I haven't owned my car for very long but i'm discovering i am missing my warranty book. I've seen stuff saying the warranty was upped to 10 year/100,000 mile. And i've also heard about the federal emissions control warranty but i need the book i'm missing. Anyone have a good link to where i can find this information so i will know what i'm talking about when i call mazda monday morning?

DeViLbOi

iTrader: (1)

Sticky in this forum category...

https://www.rx8club.com/rx-8-discussion-3/8-years-100-000-mi-extended-warranty-147287/

scottp1800

I've been a lurker on the forum for awhile, but had to respond to this. I experienced the same symptoms with my '05 last Thursday. I had noticed an occasional loss of power recently and was a little concerned in light of all the issues with these engines ( mine just turned 30,000 mi.) Any who, I had just come home from work, went in and changed cloths to meet my wife for dinner, got in the car, cranked it up, backed out of drive... no power, engine went dead. Cranked her up again... same thing and would not recrank. Waited an hour, went out and cranked right up, drove like a sewing machine. I called the dealer the next a.m. drove it up to the dealer (about 45 min. drive) with no problems. They did a compression test and came out and informed me I needed a new engine. It was covered under the 10 yr. 100,000 mi. warrenty and even got a free loaner to drive while they ordered and installed the new engine. Yours should be in the same boat. Good luck!

Old Rotor

Nice to hear Mazda took care of you well. Please give us some history on your car, M/T or A/T, did you buy new, gas used, oil consumption, type of oil used and weight, change interval, type of driving you do, red lined much, ever flooded? Just any thing you can think of that might be interesting.

jstieber

here is everything i can thnk of that would be relavent to my car.

1. year-2004
2. miles-54,8XX
3. i am owner number 4 and i've owned the car since 52,000 which is about 2 months ago.
4. manual transmission
5. absolutely no performance mods
6. never flooded since i've had it.
7. only redline occasionally in first or second gear. (thats typical maintenance on this car
8. my cat glowed red one time. it hasn't done it since but i've still had the problem.

ok well here is how things go. I'll be driving to town or home (my commute is about 17 miles) with the cruise control set at 60. i'll always leave my house without a problem with the car. it will run and have power and start up normally in both freezing and non freezing temperatures. its always when i get to town (or home from town) that when i push in the clutch to take the cruise off and slow down the rpms drop from about 3 grand to zero. i noticed today that when the tach was still dropping (right about 500 rpms) my battery dummy light came on first. the other(s) came on less than a second later. is this a hint that something more might be wrong than just my cat being plugged? like i believe scott said that he needed to have his engine replaced?

i do have the warranty still and am aware of the federal emissions control warranty..

scottp1800

OK, Here's the story: My wife bought this car used in January with 28,200 miles. Car was originally purchased here in Chattanooga and driven by a female. All service was performed by the dealer, regular oil changes etc. Dealer service records showed she brought it in twice for deflooding. No other issues. I took it to the dealer at 30,000 miles for oil change, transmission flush (it is an automatic by the way) etc. and also to forge a relationship with the service manager, just in case. It retrospect it seems like that was a pretty good move. Don't know how I would have been treated if I walked in out of the cold with the problem the car had. So far I've been treated well by the dealer, but I'm wondering if we should keep the car once we get it back or get out while the getting is good. It is a shame I don't trust the car since it is a blast to drive even though it is an automatic. I spoke with the mechanic and he told me the new engine will be the same as the one in the 2009 model which is different. Doesn't jive with what I've been reading on this forum. I understand they are just remanufactured. anybody know what the real story is? Will the engine really be a new engine and have the issues with the earlier versions been resolved?
Regards
Scott

DeViLbOi

iTrader: (1)

Odds are it will be a remanufactured engine and not a new engine. I would verify with the VIN on the engine when you get it though. If it is a remanufactured engine it will have been taken apart by a forum member who's name escapes me and rebuilt from scratch. Any other issues like with starter or plugs won't necessarily be addressed unless specificed in your receipt.

jstieber

I was driving home tonight and my cel came on. I pulled over to check my cat. it was glowing red but my car hadn't really been bogging down at all. I figured the only thing i could do was just to get it home. A few minutes later the car was bogging down terribly. I mean i couldn't even get it to accelerate in sixth gear. with the pedal on the floor it would stay at the same speed. I am worried that I may have a bigger problem and if I do it leads me to the problem of the nearest mazda dealer to me being over 200 miles away.

Please post any thoughts on it at all, i like to hear what everyone has to say (knowledgeable or not)

I suppose i'll have to call a dealer to see if they think it will be alright for the car to make the drive or if i'm going to have to trailer it.

DeViLbOi

iTrader: (1)

Your cat is cooked. Tow it in.

Mazurfer

^..............yep, it's cooked!

jstieber

thanks guys.

Just wanted everyone who posted on here to know that i appreciate the help.

Mazurfer

Good luck. If by chance it turns out to be something else......please keep us in mind and update us!

Uncivilizedracer

Mine had the same issue 2 of the coils were dead and the other two were going out.

here is me trying to get home doing 40mph sorry the vid is upside down my boy just so happen to have the camera

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EiY59NeYUng

Texak

^^ Ouch! I feel bad for your car! You get her fixed up? It sounds bad, but looks even worse.

jstieber

uncivilizedracer-very sorry to hear your car like that. Good Luck.


My car is being towed to my nearest dealer today, the truck should be here in about fifteen minutes. So far the service (talking to the dealer and with roadside assistance) has been great. We'll see how things go. I'll keep you all posted with what it turns out to be.

Uncivilizedracer

Yeah i got it fixed changed out the coils and it cranked up fine but getting the exhaust system off still has not happened yet i was already driving for 20 miles before i got any actual loss of power . The whole exhaust system welded itself together , so im trying to have fun getting that off other than that the cat is pretty much non existant now.