Pinhy

Well, I've had one minor(?) issue over the last 2 years - loss of power at 4k+ rpm. engine gets VERY loud, accelerator vibrates hard, and just no "giddy-up" like it used to have.

I've had it to the dealer (Ferman and Wesley Chapel here in Tampa) a few times about it and they never seem to be able to find anything. Mario (service manager at Wesley chapel) drove it once and heard/felt it, but the day i brought it to him a week later, it wouldnt do it. also had a couple stalls at lights in the last month or so.

Last week on vacation, my fuel pump and fuel guages went out so i now have new ones.

mods: corksport exhaust, Revi (i think? the one i got from Betsey) ram air, underdrive pulley, K&N filter.

i used to run regular 87 octane the first 40k miles but have used 93 since.

so...all that said:
1. any insight to the power loss?
2. is Protek-R a good idea at this point? (totally unrelated to the rest of this post, but a friend mentioned it to me today and got me researching it)


thanks in advance

Jedi54

iTrader: (7)

how many miles on car?
what year?
how old is the ignition?
OEM cat is still installed I assume since it's not on your mod list?
have you checked ignition?
have you checked the cat?

since you've ruled out fuel pump, those two seem to be the likely culprits.
oh, and what the heck is a Protek-R?

Pinhy

2004 64000 miles
original ignition i believe
OEM cat still there with Corksport exhaust

Protek-r is pettite racing fuel additive lubricant

adamwzl

iTrader: (3)

try replacing the ignition coils on the car. They normal start to wear out around 30k so far you were able to double that. Also replace your spark plugs and wires at the same time. You should then notice your pep back.

If its still feels slow, like Jedi said pull the cat and inspect it. There is a possibly it clogged up. The cat is covered under warranty for 8y/80k miles.

Pinhy

well, since my last post here, the car has been back and forth to Ferman Mazda a few times. they ran compression tests and checked the cat, both checked out fine.

They did find the tops of the plastic housing on the coils a little "melted" so they replaced all 4 coils and plugs (plugs under warranty since they had been recently replaced, paid for the coils - not cheap!) This was my 2nd set of new coils, they were done under warranty at 38k. So adam was correct there, 38k and 27k later.

Still had problems with power and noise. The mechanic and I went for a ride and he heard the noise coming from the engine, it sounded like there was a chunk of metal inside the engine. He did a "soak" with a decarbonizer or some such. That didnt help either.

So they took it back in the next day and called to tell me I was getting a "new" (refurb) motor. So 2 weeks later I am picking the car up this evening!

Any advice on beaking it in? The mechanic told me sicne it was a refurb, it wouldnt be a big deal and I could run it like I usually do (rush hour traffic mostly, but I run it hard when I get the chance a couple times a week).

RX8Soldier

iTrader: (24)

https://www.rx8club.com/rx-8-discussion-3/breaking-my-new-engine-questions-69711/

Congrats on the new engine!

PS You probably know already that it would be easier if you did the search yourself... right?

Jedi54

iTrader: (7)

congrats on the engine replacement.
follow standard break-in procedures found in your owner's manual or on racing beat's website.

Pinhy

Soldier: nah, easier to let someone else post it ;-)

Actually wasnt even thinking about that when I started that post, it was SUPPOSED to just be a "got a new engine" post. wound up getting a little long winded

ran great last night and this morning. nice to have the old giddy-up ive been missing for a while. Dealer told me not to worry about keeping it under 4k rpm...but not to red line it for a while and not run it too hard till its warmed up.