zoom44

hehe i have one. see my sig? i have the rb intake and HAD the RB flash until recently. I never have had any trouble to speak of after it arrived- until the last two months. i had trouble starting it and actually had to jump start it a week or so ago. next day two mondays ago, i called the dealer at like 8 am. told them it was time for my next service and that i had had to jump the car. oh and i could hear a vibration at exactly 1krpm that sounded like a loose exhaust shield.

he said "bring it in this mornign we have time". so i got there at 11. hung out in the sales department for a while (actually filled out an application for a sales job- im currently a stay at home dad) then took my son on the light rail nearby down a stop or two (they gave me the light rail tickets no charge) to where
i used to work. saw some freinds had some lunch walked around etc.

went back up the light rail at about 3:30 and the car was done- changed oil rotated tires got the new battery and starter and plugs(even tho plugs had been change about 6months ago) plus had managed to find the noise(was a bolt missing in a heatshield back by the DIff) and fix that plus had flashed the car to S(i hadnt told them not to because i wanted to be up to date knowing the recall was coming) and he apologised for it taking so long

otherside

Stay at home dad? How did you work that out?

altiain

iTrader: (3)

There seem to be a whole lot of misconceptions over what a "remanufactured" engine really is.

Sound the word out in your head, and apply those 4th grade English skills:
Re - again : anew <retell>
Manufactured - to make from raw materials by hand or by machinery

Put the two together, and what do you have? Something made anew (made like new again, for you "Hooked on Phonics" graduates) from raw materials by hand or by machinery!

The only difference between a remanufactured engine and a "new" engine is the age of the non-wear items, like the block casting. A new engine will have a new block casting (or rotor housings, in this case), and a remanufactured engine will have a used block casting (or rotor housings, in this case) refinished to original factory tolerances. All wear items will be replaced with new components, so there is no functional difference between a new and a reman engine. It looks like a new one, it's built to the same tolerances as a new one, and it will perform exactly like a new one. From a wear, performance, or longevity point of view, there is no difference whatsoever between new and remanufactured.

You people freaking out about getting "high mileage" remanufactured engines should take the time to understand what the term remanufactured really means. Hopefully this will help you to understand it a little better.

New Yorker

That's most reassuring. And the fact that the Renesis—compared to ordinary engines—has so few moving parts makes me feel even more comfortable—seems like the fewer the parts, the less likelihood of a part being installed wrong.

jcharm

Vocab 101.

How many cars are AFFECTED?
What was the EFFECT of the recall?

Learn it, Love it, Live it.

Raptor75

I would not agree with this in the least. You may get a remanufactured engine that was just with in the ware tolerance of the engine. As the engine ages you could go beyond those limits and possible experience problems. You would also not have the option of a rebuilt at that time because you are now out of tolerance. Additionally the re manufacture can have stress fractures that occur over time and would become a problem until later.

A engine has X life in it, a re manufactured engine has X live minus use. They are not the same thing. Also it appears that the people who are assembling them are less skilled then the original engine manufactures.

Red Devil

What a fantastic way to contribute to this thread, professor.


As for remanufactured vs. manufactured...I would be curious to see what tolerances Mazda allows on the remanufactured engines. I did have a remanufactured engine in my 87 TII. It ran very well and I never had any issues in the 30K I put on it. That said, I really never knew how old those housings were and the reality is that worn housings will not last as long as brand new. I went with remanufactured only because I was still in high school and couldn't afford to purchase all new parts. Paul Yaw had a very good article about this on his website a while ago.

FastRX8

I haven't had any engine/performance problems w/ my car. I've been very fortunate, and happy. If I get a letter for this recall, I'll definitely take it in for testing, but I would sure hate to have to replace the engine. Mine just turned 50K, and I'd be willing to bet it runs better than the day I bought it new.

I tend to agree w/ altiain.
If I get a remanufactured engine, I'm not going to worry that it will have problems.
Seems like Mazda would want to avoid doing a recall for engines, only to use remanufactured engines that cause other problems.

As far as this comment.
Sounds funny, considering the "original engine manufactures" work, is what is being recalled.

zoned

" Also it appears that the people who are assembling them are less skilled then the original engine manufactures"

That makes no sense.

dmc27

um, didn't Mazda just start building the Renesis for the 8? So none of the rotor housings for this particular model of car are actually older than the model they started building them for, no? I'm not sure when the first one was build, but since they rolled out the first 8's in 03, the engine housings could only be about 3 years old.

DRKSYDE

iTrader: (1)

I believe these rotor housings are the same as all the old Rotaries. Biggest changes in the engine were in the amount of air the intake accepts and the honeycomb rotors for strength and weight reduction. The blocks themselves are the same.

At least thats what I heard.

loco4rx8

Thanks zoom! The starter and battery really make a difference. I just got mine done about a month ago.

Glad to hear you got a good one. Especially since I see it's silver - guess you avoided the "curse"! I'm happy with my '04 as well.

Tamas

iTrader: (1)

They can not be the same for the simple reason that the ports are located on the side vs. the older peripheral ports.

Clavius

Hm I havent added anything lately I'm bored might as well add something now.

Ok the recent lil "what is remanufactured" sub topic is interesting. Thing is I'm sure Mazda has thought of this. I would atleast like to think that Mazda is going to have the Tech's fill out a decent amount of paper work for each engine they pull out. I mean Mileage, possible oil used, any mods used, what year, what color, and what state it came from. From that I'm sure they are going to possibly have a mileage cut off point. Last thing I'm sure they want is the people who get remanufactured engines claiming "I got a 75k mile old remade engine when my old engine had 15k miles.". Just my thoughts though.. someone have fun tearing it apart lol

Aseras

I could care less about the remanufactured engine. I'm sure it is fine. what I would care about is the monkeys the dealers employ that will be installing the engine. there's a LOT of stuff on there for them to fuckup, and if they can't manage a oil change, or a tail light replacement I sure as hell don't want them installing another engine in my car.

altiain

iTrader: (3)

As a powertrain design engineer, my professional opinion would be to disagree with you. Here’s why:

A remanufactured engine is rebuilt to factory tolerances. Could it fall near the limit of those tolerances due to wear? Sure it could. But guess what? Your brand new engine could be just as close to the tolerance limit due to manufacturing variances. That’s why we have manufacturing tolerances. There are tolerance ranges on every dimension and every feature of every cast, forged, machined or fabricated part on your engine (or your motorcycle, or your toaster, or anything else you own that was manufactured, for that matter). When you get down to the scale of thousandths or ten-thousandths of an inch, no two parts will ever be exactly alike, even if they were built to the exact same specs. That’s what tolerances are all about, and that’s why an engine remanufactured to factory tolerances is functionally identical to a new engine built to the exact same tolerances.

So say it with me: a remanufactured engine is built to the exact same tolerances as a brand new engine. There are no differences. Same specs, same tolerances.

As for stress fractures – there are hundreds of thousands of microscopic stress fractures present in your engine right now. All cast/forged/machined/welded parts have ‘em – that’s just basic material science.

Thankfully, typical non-wear items in an engine assembly have a near infinite lifespan. Unlike rod bearings or apex seals, rotor housings and engine block castings don’t fail from use – they fail from damage done by catastrophic failures of other parts. Thankfully, those types of failures (like a broken connecting rod punching a hole through the side of a block) are usually pretty easy to spot. Most competent engine remanufacturers will use magnaflux or dye penetrant or some other non-destructive testing method to examine housings for the type of damage that you’re concerned about. Parts that don’t meet factory specifications won’t be reused. It’s that simple.

Occasionally, you’ll get a block or some other non-wear part that fails because the casting was bad, or the heat-treating wasn’t done properly, or the wrong alloy content was used originally… but you’ve got just as great a risk of that happening on a new engine as you do on a remanufactured one.

You can feed your paranoia all you want, but the stone cold reality is that a properly remanufactured engine will have the exact same expected lifespan as a properly assembled new engine. End of story.

zoom44

its not that kind of leak. even if it is a leak of any kind at all

zoom44

you shoudlnt have to do that at all since one part of doing the recall is that they use a combination of their own and state DMV records to make the contact list.

zoom44

oh and they changed the temp **** since mine was broken and was falling off

dmc27

I was thinking the side ports. I also copied this off the FAQ page:

" Compared to the twin-turbo 13B in the third-generation RX-7s, the new RENESIS engine has a large number of improvements. One of the largest changes, besides the lack of turbo-chargers, is a new port layout with larger exhaust ports on the side housing instead of the peripheral housing. "

So larger, side ports mean only Renesis housings can be used, no?

zoom44

yes

bascho

Well put.

otherside

From my contacts at techline, there are no internal changes. The damage is caused by intense heat, long idling times and lack of MOP lubrication at low RPM. I.E.. sitting in your car with the AC blasting on the Vegas strip in stop and go traffic. You drove 10 blocks and the car never got above 3K RPM at cruising speed. The rest of the time you were stopped. The flash will change the MOP calibration which will fix the issue. I drive 70 miles round trip to work and rarely go below 80mph.

otherside

Yes, one of the MORE qualified dealers judging from what you all say about other dealers...

Marietta 8

Orrrrrrrr.........Everyone can quit speculating on what they are going or not going to get and just wait till the official notice come out. How do any of you do what you are being paid to do when all you do is freak out all day about your car that may not even be or have a problem? Cheez and crackers, give it a rest!!!!!!