Ok, As much searching as one can do on this site, there are still issues without any good diy even though the ess is such a commonly suggested thing.
I looked at everything I could find, and decided to clean the ess to try and solve my 8's issues.
Harness off, check
10mm bolt off, check
Wont come out, just spins in place. After spinning it and lubing it up and letting it soak for an hour, still couldnt get it out.
Tried to tap it lightly from the top a couple of times (very lightly), felt like it was coming out and it broke in half on me.

Now my issue is I have half of a broken ESS stuck in its mount with no way to get it out. I have been prying and banging at this stupid thing for the past three hours now and I can not make any headway what so ever. I need to get this thing out!

I have a part lined up for tomorrow from another generous forum member, but its no good to me if I cant get the old one out!

Of note is that the ESS mount is not of the "U" shaped variety, its the slide in type.

 

Likely taking off the front pulley will give you better access to give it a smack.

Make sure you use a grease pencil to mark the position of the pulleys...it will make them easier to get back onto the flange


Give the pulley bolts a good dosing of rust buster as well...looks like you have a fair bit of corrosion down there

 

I am gonna have to get back at it out there tomorrow morning and see what I can do. I fear I have gotten myself in a bit over my head; never taken a pulley off before.
I dont have a grease pencil or any whiteout to mark the pulleys, but I might have a sharpie.

I agree with you about the corrosion, its a bit surprising actually. Its only a 2007!
I was looking at the photo and it stands out on there quite a bit! This car is an Ontario car, but its now in BC. Under the car it looks very clean, but the bolts are a bit corroded, as well as a tiny bit on the frame crossmember.

 

Pulley comes off if you undo the four 10mm bolts, you don't need to undo the 19mm shaft bolt.

Should be lots of room with it out of the way.

 

After you loosen the belts, of course.

 

Huge shout out to StealthTL! Way to come to the rescue!
He served up a replacement part and wouldnt even let me pay him for it! He even came 2 hours to help me get the old one out! (what a nightmare, things are hard to get out!

So grateful for the help. Speaks loudly for the Rx-8 community when people step up like this!

 

seems like you are having a rough go. I hope everything is starting to work out better for you. We should all get together for a run to long beach or something in the summer.

 

yeah I hope so too. I will know better after I go through a few more drive cycles.
Long beach would be fun, but even better, the Gold River highway is a real gem if you havent been there. no traffic and much better road.

StealthTL is in parksville. should get a few people together!

 

Good to hear he helped you out. I have never heard of a problem like this.

 

How was the ESS mounted? What method did you use to get it out?
I know that the 04-05 engines have the sensor easily accessible. I haven't cleaned the ESS for my 07 yet.

 

If you look at the pictures above, you will see the remainder of the ESS inside the block's sleeve. Unlike the earlier models, the 07? and later have a completely shrouded ESS.
The sensor itself is identical, and I was able to take off the bolt, lube it up, and spin it fairly freely. Unfortunately I was not able to slide it out of the sleeve. I wriggled (with no leverage) for an hour and a half and couldnt get it to budge. I found and angle I could tap almost directly down from the top, onto the harness clip. Two or three very light taps made it feel like it was sliding out, but inside the bottom half simply broke off. I had to take off all of the pulleys and belts just to have access to knock it out of the hole.
This also failed as all I ended up doing was punching right through it and mushrooming the housing inside of the sleeve (YAY NIGHTMARE!).

About 30 feet of copper thread, piles of plastic bits and a few neodymium magnets later, StealthTL and I were able to gouge the sleeve out.

be careful removing this thing. If yours gets stuck inside and you can get it to spin, just take care not to pinch your fingers; just spin it endlessly and load it up with wd40 and keep working it loose. The ess is excessively fragile and can not take any kind of prodding from a tool of any kind!
Also, make sure to give it some anti seize when putting it back in!