Cat replaced, not happy.
 

I'm going to try to keep this short.

Took my 2005 rx8 to Mazda as it was feeling strange, getting extremely hot inside, made a rattle noise when I pressed gas, had an eggy smell, car shook a lot especially when ac was turned on, it stalled on me whenever I was at a red light or stop sign, idled very low, seat bracket on passenger side got so got you could only touch it for a second or else you'd get burnt.

They diagnosed my car and here's what they replaced...motor mounts as they were broken and leaking, replaced catalytic converter, said car was over heating, replaced all 4 ignition coils, performed a decarbonization service, performed a compression test and that came out ok. All of those things replaced were covered under my warranty.

They suggested these things be fixed/replaced but I have not done so yet as these are not covered under my warranty...drain rear, need new cabin air filter, and need plugs and wires. I just got my car back today excited it was finally fixed.

I head home and she seems fine. I get home and put her in park. She is emitting loads of head from both sides of car, lifted hood and it was extremely hot under there, had a burning smell coming from sides of car and from under hood, and seat brackets were STILL extremely hot.

There's a brand new catalytic converter on her. Should I give it time since its new? I heard the oil that's on the outside of it when it comes brand new is probably what's causing the strong burning smell. What about all the crazy heat I'm experiencing, is that just because it's brand new? Please help it would be very much appreciated!!

Replace your plugs and wires ASAP. Wires are ~$60 for all 4, plugs are $20 each, $80 for all 4. If you order online, you can usually find deals that knock even more off the price. Replacing is 10-20 minutes and easy.

The most likely scenario is that your new cat is still glowing because the ignition is still failing (replacing 1/3rd of the pieces doesn't solve anything if the others are still failing, and they usually fail somewhat together, by 30,000 miles), and this means you have unburnt fuel and air getting dumped into the exhaust, and it's igniting there and blow torching your cat.

I really don't recommend driving your 8 with it doing that. Car fires from a glowing cat have happened before, not to mention it's cooking your O2 sensors ($150ish for the rear and $250ish for the front) and could start to damage your engine. Yes, ignition health is that important, and it can cascade into further failures REALLY quickly.

If you MUST drive it, then keep the RPMs low, as light on the throttle as you can, and when you feel the heat look under the car next to the driver's door. Your cat is probably still glowing.

Thank you so much! Dealership said plugs and wires will be almost $300, that's why I didn't have them replace those, didn't have the money. What about the burning smell?

Ok ... I'm saying this very nicely and not as a flame. Do realize how hard it is to read this!EDIT: MOD FIX I added some spacing-zoom44
Just add some hard returns to space stuff out.
And ... TL;DR (too long Didn't Read) because of the spacing.
:Freak_ani:SHOCKED::Wconfused:scratchhe

Burning smell is likely the plastic and rubber under the car that is melting from the heat. Common with overheating cats.

Thanks again for all your input. Any suggestions where exactly I can get good priced plugs and wires?

When you say burning, is it like oily burning, or like a rotten egg smell? If it's rotten egg, do NOT drive the car (actually don't drive it in any case), that's the smell of the catalytic converter dying.

If it's oily, could just be leaked oil from your motor mounts cooking slowly. Of course could also be an oil leak. Try to localize the source of the smell, but not if it means running the engine in this condition any more than you have to.

Like the man said, spark plugs and wires.

Not rotten egg. I'm not sure how to explain it. Just smells like something is burning. Heard since I have a new cat the oil on the outside of it from being new is burning off it?

Plugs and wires are available just about everywhere for the same price. Advance Auto (usually a 10-15% off + free shipping), Amazon (prices vary), BHR (forum vendor), Mazmart (forum vendor), etc...

You need 2 leading plugs and 2 trailing plugs. Don't get 4 of the same ones :)

got my spark plugs coils and wires from Mazmart.

i think it only took 3 days to arrive.

You will need to remove your driver side wheel to replace the spark plugs and you will need a 13/16 spark plug socket to remove the spark plugs.

All the wires are the same (thanks riwwp for confirming) but are different lengths. Best thing you can do is take one wire out at a time and wrap a piece of tape around it and mark where it came from.

Thanks to Jedi and riwwp for sourcing this pic for me when i had some trouble.

Attachment 230531

read the guides in the DIY section of the forum for more info.

What I don't get is why the drawing shows a bolt mounting the coil. In mine there is a stud on the mounting bracket and then a nut holds the coil on. Apparently they never updated the drawing or maybe this is an S2 drawing, who knows.

I had a 2004 displaying the same problems yours is. After so many trips to the dealer, I took mazda to court and had my 2004 replaced with a 2007. No problems since then!

She is doing the right thing by coming here. Going to court doesn't solve anything for anyone. Something was wrong with your 2004 and we probably could have told you exactly what it was, saving you and the dealer lots of time, you and the corporation lots of money.

Thanks for saying; I was about to mention the same thing.

Thank you guys so much, especially riwwp. I bought the spark plugs and wires from car quest and my boyfriend is going to put them on. Hopefully he doesn't mess anything up 😳

As long as he does one piece at a time, there isn't too much to "mess" up.

Ignore the "Sequence" labeled in the pic, since that is for coil removal.

The two things for him to keep in mind is that 1) The picture shows the proper routing of which coil goes to which plug and 2) that the two plugs labeled "T" (little blue print) go on the Top, and the two plugs labeled "L" are the Lower ones.

Worse that could happen if he does?

he will be looking for a new gf. jk you would know right away if its wrong

It depends on what order they are if they are messed up. It's technically possible to have engine damage in the worse case scenario. I don't want to scare you though. You would be able to immediately tell that something isn't right when you started up the engine at idle, WELL before you have a chance to damage the engine. It would take exactly the wrong wire order AND you driving it hard to get there.

Just make sure he follows the picture for the plug wire order and it can't go wrong :)

And this picture might be a bit clearer, as Mazurfer took the time to color the lines :)

https://www.rx8club.com/attachments/...rder-coils-jpg

ha!

Much better thank you 😊

Sorry ill keep that in mind next time I decide to write a 10 page story, oops 😝

it is a nut holding the coil, thats how it is for all of them IIRC.

tiny ridiculous sized nut, that is very easy to lose.. especially when your hand was slammed into a car door by accident the night before.

removing the over tightened spark plugs with that same hand was not fun either.

anyway, just follow the wires in the diagram.

The boyfriend changed the plugs and wires today and did a damn good job. Only one problem...drove it around after he changed plugs/wires and car cut off...AGAIN...while sitting at a stoplight. Also, seat bracket is still extremely hot to the touch and car is still hot.

I am fed up with this car and I haven't been this frustrated in quite some time.

What do I do? Any more advice?

Shutting off a the stoplight would usually be one of the issues that has already been addressed (compression, ignition). O2 sensor, MAF sensor dirty, or a vacuum leak are the only items left. Of those, I'd be more inclined to suspect the front O2 sensor, as they can get cooked to death by a failing cat.

The really hot floor bits is usually still your cat, but with new ignition and a new cat, it shouldn't be overheating like that.


Did driving it feel any different at all? (other than still stalled) How quickly does it start up when cold? Any slower when it's hot?



Almost sounding like you are going to need some more hands-on diagnosis from a local member, to help you avoid constant expensive dealer repair trips, and they usually don't know what they are doing anyway. Where are you located?

Ha, forgot to mention check engine light came on. Checked the code and it was o2 sensor. Dealership did a compression test, but only a cold one, and they said it passed. They didn't do a hot one for some reason.

When it's cold it starts great. Also runs great for maybe 5 minutes. When it warms up that's when she starts acting up.

I live in Manassas, VA. Have been taking my car to the Mazda in Fairfax as the next closest one to me (Chantilly), I do not care for.

If it's the rear O2 sensor, then this isn't your stalling problem. If it's the front O2 sensor, then this could totally be your stalling problem. If you have a chance to swing by an Advance Auto or Autozone and get the code read, we will be able to tell from the code number which O2 sensor it is. Free service from them.




Trying to think of solidly knowledgeable members near you, but struggling a bit. Rotr8 is in Baltimore I think. I will actually be in Columbia this monday, but largely busy all day, and my wife has all my ODB2 tools in MA for the weekend with my 8 anyway...

...um, coming up dry at the moment. Glancing through lists of people that respond to DC metro area threads, nearly all of the top people aren't owners or members any more.

check if the wire is fully seated on the coil. Push it down real hard. That would cause the shutting off i believe. This happened to me.

you have an oem intake correct? One of my screens in my aem intake was turned sideways and also gave me a problem..not sure if there are screens in the oem intake.

check the gasket on the MAF, mine broke there as well and was causing my leaning out issue, cant hurt to check.

IIRC cold, our engines have higher compression.. How did they do a cold compression test? did you drop the car off and they checked it the next day or a few hours later?

Thank you for all your help, I appreciate it. I will stop by advanced and see if it's front o2 sensor or back. It's extremely frustrating running back and forth from the dealership. I'm ready to go rip the guy who sold it to me a new one.

I don't know what to do anymore. Hopefully I get a new motor. I have a warranty so it'll be covered. Also hoping that solves all the problems.

Thank you I will check that as well. The car had been dropped off a day or so before they did the cold compressions test.

Yeah, most of the common issues with the 8 cascade from one failure to the next in rapid order, so things get out of hand and expensive quite quickly. At least you have that warranty. Plenty of new owners come on here looking for help and have no options at all.

Almost 1 every week or two that buys the car without any research to know they need a compression test first, and then within a few days to a few months finds out that the engine is below spec.

The code for the o2 sensor is P0300.

That code isn't 02 sensor, that's random misfire. Are you sure everything was plugged in in order?
Your cat could be damaged from the driving that was done on bad coils. Can you pull it off and see if inside is a nice clean honeycomb or ... well. not?

Ok, that isn't an O2 sensor code. That is: P0300 Random misfire detected Flash/ON 1 or 2 Misfire ´

Was that the only code?


If you are misfiring, then there is a bit of a different direction to take. Usually, misfires are from ignition failure, but they can be caused by airflow problems and dirty sensors as well.

The short easy steps to try is to clean the MAF sensor and the E-shaft sensor. Lots of good info at the beginning of this thread for steps to solve a misfire problem: https://www.rx8club.com/tech-garage-...t-here-222280/

You already did the ignition, and step 2 is the MAF.

The DIY link is to a place that has a link that is dead, so instead of using that DIY, use this: (I'll address the MAF DIY thread problem)


For the MAF: (MAF cleaner is $5 or so at any auto-parts store)

I suggest having someone with a Scanner or the like graph test the front O2 sensor. That could be flat-lined and not throw a specific O2 sensor code, however give misfire problems. Ive seen it before on several cars. The front O2 sensor is often overlooked simply based on the absence of a code.

And while in there for the same diagnostic fee they should be able to test the MAF as well. I don't know off hand what the PPM specs are supposed to read for this car, but the mechanic should be able to look it up on the Scanner while doing the test.

It's a brand new cat

the wires and plugs however were not. its possible the old wires and plugs cooked it, or that when they swapped cats out they didnt notice that the o2 sensor was cooked, or didnt bother to care when they put it in the new cat.

The plugs and wires code was cleared because those were replaced. Now that's the only code popping up. I am dropping my car off at Mazda Mon night so first thing tues morning they are going to check it out.

Should I leave them any specific notes? Makes me wonder if they know what they're doing as this will be the second time my car has been there.

Unfortunately, no, there isn't a solid reason to suspect them of knowing what they are doing. Especially if it's a dealership where there is another brand attached other than Mazda. The techs tend to be generically trained, and not really knowledgeable about the RX-8 in particular, except what they run into personally and what the factory sends them. And the factory doesn't send them much that is actually useful.

Usually, dropping it off at the dealer is the wrong choice simply because the dealer just keeps throwing parts at it, usually all wrong. However, since you have the warranty coverage and it doesn't seem that you have the tools or someone you know that can more directly assist you, then it's probably the right call.

have u did the 20 brake pump reset?

it sounds like e-shaft profile is wrong, and throwing misfire CEL.

Very glad I got the warranty. I'm beginning to wonder if it'll ever get fixed. Thank you again for all your advice. My email is cab8414@gmail.com. Send me your address and I'll send you a check. You've helped me out immensely.

Oh one more thing. If the motor gets replaced and it still stalls and gets hot, what could be the problem(s)?

Thank you

Really? That quickly? I got the cat put on and afterwards drove her no more than an hour altogether.

Never heard of it

:lol:

Sorry, no, I don't charge for my advice :)

I mean, what if I'm wrong? :dunno:

It's happened before!

Technically, yes, it's possibly. It's unlikely that your cat is already fried, so I'd recommend investigating elsewhere first. When ignition fails, it dumps the unburnt fuel and unconsumed air into the exhaust, and it burns there, basically blowtorching your cat, so they can fail remarkably fast under these conditions. An hour of driving is not likely to get it to that point though.

In the thread I linked a bit earlier today of misfire assistance, the 3rd step has the procedure, although you can do the same thing by disconnecting your negative battery cable for a minute or so.

HOWEVER, regardless of which way you reset, you should be aware that you will probably idle roughly and possibly stall due to not having any fuel trim information. Rough idle and/or stalling that is due to a ECU reset clears up within a couple drive cycles as the computer re-learns things quickly. However, since this is the same description as your problem, it might be disconcerting and/or masking the problem, or the problem is masking whether or not it's cleared up.

So it's just something to be aware of.

Thank you again. I'm sure I'll be back on here again soon. Dropping my car off tomorrow night so wish me luck.

It's approximately 5:44 PM and Mazda still has not begun to work on my car. They are also saying the spark plugs and the wires are wrong that my boyfriend put on the car. They say they charge almost $300 for them. I am beyond pissed off and frustrated.