Ok, now on to the slippery oil leak…
- on further inspection the oil leak seemed to be emanating from the sensor mount.
- so ordered a new oil level sensor o-ring.
- removed oil pan again, cleaned sealant again
- installed oil level sensor o-ring w/ a tiny bead of Permatex ultra grey for good measure (see pic, post o-ring repair. Nice and clean.)
- re-installed the pan again
- after allowing sealant to cure refilled her w/oil
- started her again
- leak resolved!! :bluesuit:



https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...3aed2ddf13.jpg

Looks great so far! I'm excited to see how this kit works for your car as I may consider it in the future. Up until this post I've been stressing the though of a modified Greddy kit or a full-on 13B-REW swap.

Thanks, Furansu! Yeah, I plan to keep the forum updated w/ my results and impressions throughout tuning...

I still need to work proper IC, rad, & oil cooler ducting & sealing. Current running temps are:
- coolant temp ~ 195-200F
- oil temp ~ 180F

She needs new beefier sneakers :ylsuper:

- Purring in the garage after fresh oil, filter, and tank of gas w/ premix…

Sealing the rad will help with this but IC being so low and blocking flow to the rad will be something you will be fighting .

They are set at 196F (91C) . No point setting them any lower than that .

That is great looking work and a wonderful job of explaining all the bumps along the path. Do you have an idea of the number of hours invested into the project? The testing and rework should also be included because there is always rework. Are you using Mazda Edit for the tuning? Did you happen to do some Dyno runs before starting this project and are you planning to do some runs after the tuning is finished? Pretty sure everyone would be interested in the results.

Northzone,
Thanks...appreciate that.

- Really good question. One I'd not considered b/c I actually enjoy the journey, as much as I know I'll enjoy the car. I initially estimated ~100+ hrs working evenings & weekends. On more thought it was probably closer to 150 hrs physical work: car & component/assembly prep and install. MANY more hours when considering kit & aux. component research & selection, sourcing, and installation sequence planning w/this being my first install.

- Yes, I'm using M/E for tuning.

- No, I had no interest in dynoing pre FI, but I'm sure I will once the kit is sufficiently tuned.

Note: Simply tuning w/ a 1.5# spring she feels like her old self...w/ OCD. :)

I am using the mazdaspeed front bumper as it gives me more room to duct air to the radiator

• Tires (this week)
• Mazdaspeed body kit w/ proper ducting
• coil overs

Wasn't going to pull the trigger for add'l spend until heart surgery was confirmed to successful. :)

Update: Tuning is going well... More to come soon.

Looks like the dynosheet was removed but from what I saw, at 5PSI, that thing is making good power. Talk about a sweet powerband with that table-top flat torque curve.

Yeah...I'm pretty pleased w/ the progress to date. :) :) :) Compared to stock...sheeesh...she's a new car...a beast!!

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...4f193c39e6.png

EDIT: Later identified that I had a boost leak at this time between the manifold and block resulting in delayed spool, HP, and torque. However, it accentuates the significantly increased flow when APVs open.

...another... :) :) :)
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...78d06cc02c.png

Congrats! Your horsepower really takes off at 7k... Is that some type of valve or extra boost or what? Most rx8 dyno are usually flatter up top.... Also what boost level?

SC95gt, Thanks!

Brett noticed the same and indicated that the below that he generated was likely more accurate. Same M/E data but "managed" differently. I don't doubt him as he's very experienced w/ M/E, and I am not. Obviously, M/E is doing some data "smoothing" and the resultant dyno is dependent on your start / stop points of the data generated from the pull. It appears to be an "art", not a science that I'm still learning :dunno:

Edit: Regarding boost: I saw peak of 10.0. So, these were liklely somewhere in the 9.5-10 range.

Regardless, she is a blast to drive. So smooth, and power on tap. :)


https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...49ff0f20fe.png

Well even in paradise... the rain will fall. Using an older laptop, one of my sons, which is slow, gets hung, or crashes...I've managed to render my ECU into an unresponsive state. For the record when attempting to flash it M/E returns the message: "You should use firmware as base file for this ECU." I've come to understand that this is the result essentially if the flash transfer is interrupted, e.g. dongle comes out, laptop crashes, battery dies, you try to start engine, etc. So, as I have committed to share the good, bad, and ugly in my build experience... this obviously is a downer... :sad:

So, she is unresponsive at the moment. But as we know... this is a big boys game. If you get in it...things WILL happen.

At some point, everything's gonna go south on you... everything's going to go … you can either accept that, or you can get to work. That's all it is. You just begin. You do the math. You solve one problem... and you solve the next one... and then the next. And If you solve enough problems, you get to come home. All right, questions?” - Mark Watney, “The Martian”

So, off to Mazda tomorrow to find out what m/b done to get her back up...

Thankful. Contacted Epifan (M/E) who advised (and this is a cut & paste, :yelrotflm) - "Just flash it again! This message appears when you read information about ECU."
Though I had multiple times ...so I thought..., nevertheless somewhat doubtful...I rebooted the laptop again, and initiated the flash making sure to allow the laptop plenty of time to complete each action. It walked me through the flash as normal, ...success, and she's purring again. :)

Lesson learned from this little episode:

1. Be very deliberate when flashing as there are potential dangers.
2. Attach dongle w/ care tonot bend any OBDII pins
3. Ensure dongle is securely attached & undisturbed throughout the process
4. Use a reliable a laptop w/ sufficient battery charge
5. Allow sufficient time for each action to fully complete
6. Never rush, interrupt, or perform w/ a suspect battery. :nono:

Power looks pretty damn good to me for a 2nd gear log .Those other logs are likely showing that odd shape due to a rise in revs as you step on the clutch at the end of the run. A 3rd gear log at same boost will show more power ..especially around 4000 , as spoolup is much better in 3rd .

Good results. A few Qs:
Is your target boost 10psi, or will you go higher in the long term?
What RPM are you hitting target boost (need to use 3rd gear or higher for this)?
Have you dialed in the boost controller for best spool yet? I find it interesting how the various EBC settings can change the boost curve.

Jimmy,
Thanks ...appreciate that!

• As reliability is one of my primary objectives... I'll likely run 7 & 9 psi short-term. Long-term I'm investigating / planning to run E30 to both increase safety margin and power a bit. At that time I'll likely run 9 & 12 psi.
• I've only been doing 2nd gear pulls, and primarily focusing on correlating my EBC SET and GAIN % to peak psi achieved at this point. So, I can't say at what RPM peak is achieved. At some point not in the too distant future I plan to do some 3rd gear pulls which will provide more data.
• No, I plan to focus on optimizing spool next. I believe there m/b some gains here.

Yeah, I'm still learning & experimenting w/ how the various settings combine to affect power, trq curves, and drivability.