low idling is recognized by mazda as a symptom of a bad engine.

I dropped the car off at the deal this morning. They quoted me $150 for a diagnostic test. Plus $30 for a rental car.

I said that the follow to the service wrtiter:

The car cranks for a while when it's warm.
Lack of sub 5k power after about 20 minutes of driving.
CEL came on then went off.
Rough idle sometimes.

What do you guys consider low idle? Sitting with the AC on, I can sit there and it will drop to about 650rpm then go up to 800 again.

According to the latest TSB regarding low power. Anything under 700rpm idle is not normal.

My compression tested low so the dealer is going replace my motor and pay for the rental.

new engine for Rodger! sucks your engine tested low BUT nice to know they're taking care of it and this 'new' engine should be better then the original. (you'd be shocked to hear all the subtle changes they've made over the years)

Keep us posted

Sorry that you are without your car for the moment, but at least they are giving you a new motor :) (paid for by warranty) and free rental!! Did they say anything about the LEDs and such? Just curious.

Good luck with the new motor too!

Yeah mine only dips for a second then goes back to normal.

congrats for the new engine! get your power back!

I'm dropping my car off friday at the mazda dealership for a rough idle sometimes and lack of power. Wonder if I will get a new engine too...? Could just need to be decarbed or a coil problem tho...I would be ok with a new engine tho. :lol2:

--Jonathan

Zoom Zoom a new engine!

The dealer called at 6pm at told me that they mistakenly told me that mazda will cover the rental. They wanted me to return it before 7am to avoid be charged for two days.

There is no way I can get there in time. I have work tomorrow. After complaining to the service manager they agreed to pay for tomorrow if I pay for today. I have friday off so returning it then is not an issue.

Other than that, so far so good. Btw, I'm at Galpin Mazda and my service writer is pretty. lol

my dealer says mazda is covering the rental under terms simliar to new car warranty. have them carefully check the terms.

Perhaps I'll call Mazda myself tomorrow. Does anyone know the number for MNAO? I'm sure someone has it one speed dial.... lol

I contacted MNAO and they said they weren't sure. lol

The guy I spoke with was very nice, he's going to find out and call me back.

MNAO said that a loaner car is only provided for the first 4 years or 50,000 miles

I know exactly what you are talking about. I have the same problem since last summer. Then when fall came everything seem to get better. Mine would really perform differently based on the outside temperature.

So... this summer as it got hotter real loss of power and I took it to the dealer, and they have a great tech working there now and he said right off the bat, BAD engine. First they went through the process of tune up, and throttle body cleaning, brought the car back next day cause it wouldn't even idle.

Long story short, Mazda replace the engine under warranty, bad compression in the engine.

Went to pick it up tonight, but it is not ready.

Good news, RB dual exhaust, cold air intake and ram air will be installed by Monday with everything all buttoned up and running strong.
I’ll post again Friday after the 20HP upgrade!!!


Make sure to take it to the dealer before 100K miles!!!!!!!!!

They got my motor yesterday and said the car would be done monday.

hey since you can't drive your 8 why don't you spend your time making a set of led tails for me? pretty please? seriously i have been through 2 sets of tails for various reasons and the led clears you made for me are amazing.....good luck with the new engine...

Yay for searching!

I've giving this thread a bump.

One of my friends RX-8 is going through the same problem Rotary Rasp went through. His problem though is that he just went over 100,000 miles on his engine.

Mine ended up being the coils. After I told them to check them about 5 times, they did.....AFTER they replaced the engine and it still ran like shit. lol Dumb asses.

Just an update... the problem wasn't my engine. After they replaced the motor, it still ran like shit. It turned out to be bad coils. The car ran great after the new coils were installed.

Same thing happened to me. I think the tech working on my car knew what the problem was but went along with Mazda's Lack of Power TSB so he could make a few more hours that week. Either that or he is a complete idiot.