Sato, glad you out that figured out. I hope you have a backup car in case the Rx8 is ever out of commission. So how do you like the Sake Bomb kit, I wanted to upgrade to that, but thought maybe not needed on my car since it is 100 OEM/Stock. Would love your review of that kit.

 

OLD Re-post from Jan 2013:

Great found a dealer in Baltimore. I can get a 12 case of 3.5oz for $30. Im going to start small. Premix 4oz for next 2 fills, then try 5oz and 6oz.

I am going to give the dealers info to my wife so she knows where to get my birthday and Christmas gifts. Good call.

So I was able to meet an Amsoil dealer in the DC/Baltimore area.
Call him at: Doug (202)439-3122

I picked up 12 3.5oz bottles. They look like this:
I put the key-card next to it so you get a senses of how small they are.

 

I have enjoyed reading your thread Agye. Your detail is great. Keep up the good work.

I am going to look into this Neutral Switch you talked about. this could solve my problem.

Thank you!

 

Finally P0420 came as I expected my Cat Converter was going. Since there is no DIY, I put this together.

Mileage: 113989.0


*image borrowed from https://www.rx8club.com/series-i-tec...et-cat-251241/*

**JACK UP YOUR Rx8 ON SAFE JACKS***
1. Spray with PB Blaster marked in YELLOW arrows
2. Remove 12 mm bolts and brackets marked in RED arrows.
3. Remove hanger hinge marked in GREEN, use a large Flathead screw driver to slowly lever left and right side.
4. Remove O2 sensor and plug marked in BLUE arrows, and store in safe place. OPTIONALLY: Clean it by spraying it down with some break cleaner.
5. Remove all 14 mm bolts marked in YELLOW last.

Old vs New Cat - Part #:N3Y3-20-55XA but lable on the car said N3M2-20-55XB when i got it. Maybe for the automatic transmission but fit like a glove.






Old Cat - Completely empty, not a sign of the honey comb.


NEW Cat



UPDATE: Feb 11th, 2016, after erasing the code and driving 180 miles, the 8 drives well, no noticable power gain or loss. DEFINITELY smiles a lot cleaner, no more cabin smelling of exhaust fumes. Hopefully no more P0420.

 

Wow how clean is that! And I bet your wife drives this car daily too.

What are your plans to solve the CAT failure. I knocked the insides of my CAT out as it had fell apart inside. Doing this allows the 8 to throw the odd flame out the exhaust. It also increases the exhaust tone. I doubt your wife will want this tho.

Are you replacing the full mid-section with an OEM replacement?

 

VIPER666, I got an OEM cat and replaced it today actually, hope it clears the code. My wife loves her Rx8, and I intend to keep it up for her for as long as possible. Happy wife happy life.

 

Update after the CAT replacement:

Exhaust smell is completely gone, no change in preformance, still wishing for more power as always, about 200 miles in got a CEL P2096 - Post Catalyst Fuel Trim System Too Lean Bank 1.

For now just reset ECU, going to see if it comes back.

 

Recently changed my failed passenger side window regulator. It stopped working over 6 months ago, and i was too busy to change it, plus wife didnt care as long as the window stayed up.

Well after some research found a great deal on ebay.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/371531762857?_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT
After you have the inner door panel off on the passenger side, just remove the 3 bolts in red, and the 1 clip in green.

 

Good work man. So you bought a cat from the dealer? I bet that was pricey.

 

Actually found one on Ebay...and yes it was still pricey($980) [Mazmart had it for under $1100], but this is my wife's car and that is what she wanted after i presented her all the options.

 

Good video:
At: 114,727 miles

from Amazon (Blue = Lead, Black = Trailing), replaced them one at a time, as the NGK length is very very close the the OEM wire length, so you can figure out which one is which if you do them one at a time.





Also ordered plugs from Amazon:
2
2
from Amazon. Pretty straight forward, 2 screens attach it to the air box channel.


Attempted to fix Front Lead plug thread issues, with this cool tool, but it was a fail. I will order a new one and try again. For some reason the tool doesn't open up evenly.


from Amazon

 

Update at: 115,033 miles



Finally got around to upgrading rotors and brakes on the RX8, boy was it time and boy is the upgrade HIGHLY recommended to any and ALL RX8 owners. If you love your 8, don't waste time just invest in these brakes and call it a day...I believe you can track these brakes to a certain limit as well. As far as daily driving these rotors and brakes, it is so much better than OEM, in fact they are so great it allows me to drive the 8 the way it should be driven. HARD.

- $301.97

These arrived with everything I needed (Rotors front and rear, brakes front and rear, shims, and caliper mount boots(didnt use the boots).

 

So this has been a long time coming. My wife and I had our first kid (Boy), and the question came up can we travel in style with him in the Rx8...and the resounding answer is YES YES YES.

Our friend gave us an old car seat he was no longer using, and I used 2 2x4 to help level it out in the rear bucket seat...dont forget the leather seat protector.

 

So I realized recently that it has been awhile since I replaed the coils, and since I have already replaced the CAT and the O2 sensor less than 2 months ago, I figured I do so ASAP...

The Rx8 is at 116,560 miles...still going strong


So the last time I changed the coil packs was 3/5/2014 at 85,238 miles. So exactly 31,322 miles later and a little over 2 years later. So I would say based on the health of the coils removed today, the recommended change ever 30,000 miles is correct.

Note to all:
OEM coils cost me $250 shipped from Mazmart
This aftermarket coils cost me $77 from Amazon (I will update everyone on how they hold up)

As we can see here signs of arcing as usual


I purchased these coils from Amazon, even if it last me only 10k miles I say it is worth it. Will keep you all posted.


To combat arcing I placed some dielectric grease on the back of the new coil packs. Dont judge me, I am trying to figure this out.


I always recommend replacing one coil pack at a time, so you dont have to remember where anything goes.


The tips of one of the new coils was broken...I will reach out to the supplier, but for now it still works.




My old beat up OEM coil packs

 

I also recently changed the O2 sensor. I am only writing about it because I oped for a super cheap after market one and would like to share with everyone if they run well for a long time. It has been over 1 month and so far so good.

Cheap O2 sensor from Amazon - $29

This O2 is no good...




------------------------
UPDATE: 6/14/2016

So this O2 sensor is not the rear O2, or the front O2...DON'T BUY IT. Its the wrong size, and not sure if its even for Rx8, because it doesn't look like the front O2 or the rear O2. Also I got some weird CELs which pointed me in the direction to pull it back out and check. So before going crazy I'm going to replace it with the right part and see if the CELs come back.

I will purchase the correct part and replace.

------------------------
UPDATE: 6/17/2016
116,721 miles

So I ordered different O2 for the rear and then ordered the front O2 as well. I replaced both and I am almost doing 20 MPG...wow. I drove over 190 miles after installing these and I think these are good.

Front O2 Sensor


Rear O2 Sensor



TIP on removing front O2:
Use long-reach needle nose pliers to grab the O2 side of the clip, then use your finger to press the clip, then push the pliers until the O2 clip is free. THIS WAS VERY TRICKY AND TOOK TIME. BE PATIENT





Use this to removed the actual front O2 from the exhaust port


Use this to remove the front O2 clip