My new 05 GT
 

I decided it was time to rescue another RX-8. I was on the hunt for a Nordic Green GT when I came across this Titanium Grey Metallic 05 GT with the two tone leather interior and nav. The previous owner claimed it had 24k miles on a Mazda reman and that it would run for 15 minutes and then stall ant not want to restart. I made the two hour trek to get the car last and I brought the car home. I need to unload it from the trailer this morning and run a compression test, check the plugs and filters and such and of course take some more pics to post. Then plan is a restoration and make it a driver to just enjoy. I'm really looking forward to this project! Here are a few pics from the trip last night:

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Looking forward to seeing what you do with this one! :)

Cool. Have fun!

Got the car offloaded on Sunday morning and got to work right away playing with the car. I out a good battery in the car and took it out for a drive. It drive well for the quarter mile I drove it. When I pulled in the driveway the engine stalled and wouldn't restart. It tried with all its might but just could't get it...so I pushed it...and my driveway is long and winding...but I made it. Started testing things in the car and found that the cd player was bad. No big deal, I have another in stock. Checked the brakes and tires and the fluids.

Then I pulled the plugs and they were nasty. I had a good spare set luckily, but while they were out, I decided to run a cold compression test with a piston compression tested. The front rotor jumped to 120psi and the rear to 90psi. Not terrible numbers. Better than the numbers in my 04, which gives me zero running or hot start issues. So I feel the engine is decently healthy.

I decided to check for DTC's and found none. The headlight level adjust light is on so I'l; have to sort that out.

Tonight, I decided to replace the crank sensor. I've seen faulty crank sensors cause no start issues when warm so I decided to toss my spare crank sensor in...and I thought it would be a quick job..more on that in a minute.

Here are a few pics of the car in my garage:

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The crank position sensor was of course seized in the front cover...which led me to destroying it...and of course, I had to pull some things apart to drive it out:

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With some persistence, it did come out:

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I did confirm that it is in fact a Mazda reman engine:

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I also decided to replace the coils with a known good set that I had. I also decided to start cleaning some stuff up while I was in there. Going to do some sanding and painting to get rid of some of the rust. Also found some oil on the air filter, so that's next to replace as well.

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Getting the car back together after replacing the crank position sensor. Getting rid of the rusty hardware and replacing the nuts and bolts that are pretty rusty with all new hardware. Greased the threads slightly to make future removal easy. I have to get a new air filter. I'll grab it tonight. I also cleaned the throttle body and the mass airflow sensor. I'm going to go through the grounds tonight and clean each one just to be on the safe side. Here are a couple more pics of where the car sits currently:

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I did get the new air filter which was a plus. I've been replacing the rusty hardware but haven't had a chance to work on it lately. I'm of today and I plan to spend the majority of the day getting the car up and running again. I pulled the air pump and the injector driver pack. Replacing both of those due to corrosion. I'm also replacing the air box as well due to heavy corrosion.

I found mouse urine in the mass airflow sensor. I've since cleaned it and have a spare on stand by. I'm also going to change the oil today and hopefully wash the car once I back it out of the garage. I will be updating and adding more pics today!

I can only imagine how satisfied you'll feel when you get it all fixed, up and running. Very inspiring.
:beer05:

Snapped a pic of the car last night before I went in. I hope to clean it today and post more pics:

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Yeeesss! Save the Tigrey! Tigrey for life!

Here's a video of the engine running and knocking so everyone knows what I'm up against:

Finally got the car out of the garage today and went up the road and snapped some pics of the car to share:

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Nice that it has a spare tire. First one I've owned with a spare:

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I'm not a huge fan of Chapparal leather, but it's a nice looking car otherwise.

I called the dealer yesterday reference the engine and its warranty, seeing as its a reman engine. The dealer had stated that the engine in this vehicle has been replaced three times. Once in 2005 when it was new, once in 2007, and once in 2013, which is now the current engine. The dealer said I was out of luck as far as an engine warranty goes. I got on the horn with Mazda U.S.A. and spoke with a customer service rep there and asked for assistance with the engine and asked if Mazda would cover a replacement engine seeing as this engine is only three years old. I was told that the car needed to be diagnosed by the dealer and their findings would determine whether Mazda would assist me or not. I made an appointment for November 8th and will know more about the engine replacement after the dealer condemns the engine..which they certainly will. I'm really praying that they cover a full engine replacement.

I don't see how they will cover it, the car is 11 years old. The warranty goes based on vehicle age, not engine age. Nothing ventured, nothing gained I guess! Good luck!

Its funny how it seems to be a love/hate interior. Personally it's my favorite and was thrilled that the car I found to buy happened to have it, lol.

That's not entirely true. Mazda stated that the reman engine has a warranty of 12 months or 12k miles. They will go above and beyond in some cases and I'm going to risk the $100 on their diagnosis. I already know the engine is bad. It'll be up to Mazda to determine if they will extend their warranty to cover the engine.

I've always like it a lot. hen I was looking at the 8's when they were new, I wanted a Velocity Red GT with the red/black interior color combo. I also liked the chaparral/black color as well and honestly the interior kinda sold me on this 8. Everyone that sees it really likes it.

I trailered the 8 to the dealer last night after I installed the original converter equipped mid section. I didn't want the dealer to say the engine failed because of the mid pipe that was installed. Really hoping Mazda will cover the engine replacement. They are going to start it and immediately condemn the engine so I should have an answer pretty quickly.

They did honor my $4200 replacement of my 2010 GT's air bag sensor under the drivers seat under the safety warranty earlier this year. No troubles from delaer - even provided a rental car for 1.5 weeks while the part was assembled and shipped from Mazda Japan.

Fingers crossed for ya! :)

Thank you guys! Fingers are crossed on my side as well. No news from the dealer yesterday. But that's ok. I know the engine is wasted anyways. I'm just going through the motions to get Mazda to warranty the engine.

I like the 2-tone leather, too. The 8 has relatively small windows and I find an all-black interior rather bleak in this car.

I stopped at the dealer yesterday after work yesterday to check on the 8. I talked to the service manager and he was still unsure if Mazda would warranty the engine, though he seemed hopeful as Mazda had the dealer put a price list together of everything needed to do the job. They said they should have an answer by tomorrow or Friday at the latest. Even the guys at the dealer were hopeful that Mazda would warranty the engine. The service manage said that he feared that they would need some special tools for the job and I told him that none were needed other than a pilot bearing remover and that if Mazda warrantied the engine, I would bring my Mazda special service tool up for them to use. While I was there I also obtained a printout of the car's warranty and recall history. Seems this poor car has seen some rough times:

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