What wheels are those? They look good.

Never mind, I read your reply. 😄

 

Got sick of the brake noises, so I took my brake pads out to take a look.

There was so much gunk in the gaps of the pads(which is the cause of the noises according to some old threads). Whoever did these brakes was an idiot and used way too much grease, which mixed with the dust from the pads and formed the gunk.

I cleaned out the gaps with a flathead screwdriver and reapplied some brake grease. The squealing noise is gone now. Hopefully, the noise will be gone for good. Fingers crossed.

BTW, are these OEM pads or are they aftermarket?

 

Those are OE pads. Our cars use a Sumitomo brake system.

I took mine to the dealership for its 6,000 mile oil change this morning. They REALLY hate those $24.99 coupons.

Also asked about the airbag recall. The service writer said they have the parts for the final repair in stock now, the work takes about 1.5 hours, and they don't have to remove the dash (just the glove box) to replace the inflator. I wonder if that is true?

 

Don't know for sure but I suspect it IS true. They did mine a few weeks ago and there's no evidence of dash removal (i.e. scratches), nor did it take very long.

 

Took it to the one and only Steve Kan to get it tuned and finished. He is still working his magic on it, will update my thread when it's done.

 

Wow, finally. Let’s see the results!

 

Yes, it just attaches by threaded fasteners.

 

​​​​​​Still working on it. Had some bugs to work out. 😱

 

Bugs huh ?...there's always bugs

 

Cool. Thanks for the info. I have the FSM, but it does not have airbag information in it for some reason. I'll go ahead and let them do it (6,000 miles from now).

I recently paid to have my Miata's Megasquirt tuned. After it was all said and done, I realized I might as well have set that money on fire. I had to redo 80% of it. I realize it takes a while to learn, but it isn't rocket surgery. Anyone can safely tune their own ECU, as long as a few simple guidelines are followed.

 

Shame BrettSpeed doesn't have a US office, Id love to get your two cents

 

I plan to take mine to SK for the initial tune, biggest issue is having the safe place to do it. A loud rotary engine revving out tends to attract attention of people far and wide even out in the boonies, especially curious law enforcement officers. Decals and such don’t help.

 

You should be just fine. We had boost spike issues, ignition breakup issues (not enough dwell for IGN coils) and SSV issues. The turbo and the APV actuator are fighting for the same space, so I don't have control of the aux ports. When the secondaries come on, everything comes on.

Steve is nice, personable and very knowledgeable. His shop is also rotary heaven. They were testing a big turbo 20b on the lift adjacent to the dyno. Also had an FB and several FC's waiting to be picked up. Hardest part is finding the place (it's next to a kid laser tag arena)

 

Thanks for confirming.

Is it me or are these OEM brake pads really dusty?

Still no airbag recall in Canada.

Even with my mostly stock engine, my car is loud when I step on it.

And yeah, it gets too much attention at times when all I wanted to do is keep the engine healthy...

 

Those sort of issues you mentioned are all too common . People don't realise how much there is to getting a turbo 8 running properly

 

They are semi-metallic, so yes, really dusty. Fortunately, the dust is not corrosive.

Mazda and/or Sumitomo changed the brake pad formulation several times over the years. Some OE replacement pads are even ceramic.

 

Thanks! When I have to replace the pads, I might look into the ceramic ones.

 

Ummmm What?? I've had driver and passenger airbags replaced under recall free of charge. It takes them about 0.5 hrs to complete.

 

That is scary info Brett................... once the weather gets above freezing (March) I am looking to pick up an 8 in good condition and really considering installing a turbo. Rotary Machine has informed me that once I rip around in his turbo 8, I won't be able to get it installed fast enough.

 

That's what everyone who rides in my car says too . The reality is : you open yourself up to a world of pain . If you don't have time patience and mechanical know how it could well be the worst decision you could make .

 

Brett, what you say is true, at least from all the reading I have done in the last 6 months here anyway. Mechanical ability and experience I have, and usually patience with mechanical work, the tuning side of things would be new though. Looking for a fun to drive on weekends type of car and do not need as a daily driver, cannot explain why the 8 has stuck in my mind as the car to get but it has been there for a while now. It has taken some time to learn what to look for and avoid so now it is a wait until winter is done or a great car shows up at the right price. Funny part is the turbo kits cost more than most of the local 8s are priced at. If a turbo is going to be installed there will be lots of questions asked about recommended turbo sizes and tuning just to reduce the problems that will arise.

I also want to thank all the people in this club for the information that is available here, it takes a lot of time to read it but it's a great help.

 

A while back a fella from your part of the world said something along the lines of "we do do it because it's hard" . Wonder if he had a premonition about turbo rx8s ?

 

Ditto, there is definitely an active recall on those in Canada.

 

For S1, there is a recall on airbags.

For S2, not yet in Canada.

 

Changed the oil Idemitsu Rotary Engine oil

Then decided to finished something I bought parts for a while ago

Installed amber “driving” (not fog) lamps

Wanted something with more impact than small reflector lamps

So far so good






Changing oil Ramps make it a breeze