Is it just me or is the rx8 orig battery junk. Mine has gone dead three times,once
from the trunk lite,twice from sitting for two to three weeks.

 

got mine replaced last month good since july 2003

 

Odd. XxDevilZeroxX tends to leave his lights running whenever we are at meets, and said he left one of his lights on all night before w/o a hitch. Maybe not all batteries are created equally?

 

Correct. The original battery is marginal at best and unless you drive it regularly to keep it charged and don't leave the trunk lite on--ahem!--you will need to keep a trickle/maintenance charger on it or replace it with a more capable battery like the Interstate MTP-35, which is the replacement battery Mazda is installing in some cars.

If you feel lucky, you can ask your dealer to replace the original battery with the new battery because of the problems you've been having. Don't count on them doing that, though, unless you are very persuasive.

BTW, there are many threads on this forum that discuss this topic in great detail. Do a search and read some of them.

 

THIS IS NOT TRUE - the dealer will replace your battery - there is a known weak battery problem, and Mazda will replace your battery - I had this same issue - 3-7 days without driving and the battery is just about shot. Problem solved and battery was replaced with a new 680CCA 800CA battery without question. dealer said it was about 3x capacity of the original.

This is part of a larger issue that is in the process of being rectified, one part of this solution being a better battery to drive the starter motor efficiently.

 

We shall see. All dealers are not the same and there is no TSB that tells them to replace the original battery. Some will--some may not.

 

There are reasons that not every battery performs the same. If a battery is left flat for entended periods it can cause damage and reduce the life and capacity of the battery. Mine started dropping off at about a year. As a comparison I just replaced the batteries in my truck. They lasted 7 years. Without our knowledge our cars may have been sitting dead on the ship, at the port, and even the dealer. Just about any battery left flat can be compromised and who's to know what our cars went through prior to delivery.

 

Someone in the US posted that their battery box had some room at the front for the cooling air, about 1".

My battery box is CRAMMED with the 'stocker', there is no capacity on the label, but it is very big - you couldn't get even a sheet of paper down inside the box.

If you have a smaller battery than the actual box, maybe that is why they are going dead?

S

 

I have the small battery,which does not fill the box. I will try to get the dealer to replace it.
A mech eng friend said that at a year and a half your battery is at 50% and at three years
you should replace it.

 

mines' pretty tiny..never had any problems with her...and she's been going 30.5k and still going strong:D

 

All I can tell you is what I was told, but that is heresay I know. But why would they say this is part of a new campaign if it is not? What's their advantage to say that? When the dealership owner told me about it, he was surprised I ddin't know already saying "Huh! We finally know something you don't, we thought this would be known on RX8club.com!"

That was fun to hear Time will tell...

 

StealthTL, IIRC you're in Canada, right? Canadian RX-8's come with a larger battery than the US RX-8's.

Also, apparently automatics come with a larger battery than manuals from looking a the owner's manual, page 10-4.

My battery is 7 3/4" long - the battery box appears to be able to hold a 10 1/4" long battery.

 

Not a good idea to install a battery that is much longer than the original. See the TSB at the link below:

http://www.finishlineperformance.com.../01-042-04.htm

 

Thanks - I forgot to mention that, but I think a 9" long battery would be fine - that's what the Interstate MTP-35 length happens to be BTW.

 

No probs with my battery yet, I've had it for about a year now. I did find a cigarette butt in the battery box when I removed the cover to clean it. Wonder if it's from the dealer or from Japan? I'm not removing the cigarette butt as I think it helps the filter the air coming into the battery box...

 

Correct. The idea is to position the longer battery to the rear of the battery box so that the front of it doesn't interfere with the airflow.

 

I don't drive my shinka all that much so I'm real curious about this one. I'd hate to go out to drive it and have the battery be dead. So what can I buy to recharge the battery if it's sitting for a while?

Interestingly they didn't want me to drive the shinka at the lot unless I was sure I was buying it. They made me initially drive a yellow that had a dead battery.

 

I use a Schumacher trickle charger like the one shown on their web site (link below). This particular model has a connector you can permanently install on the battery and then you can just connect the charger whenever you like without removing the battery cover. You can leave the charger attached while the car is stationary to maintain a full charge, or you can disconnect it when it indicates a full charge. These chargers are available at many auto parts stores like Advance Autoparts and the like. Sears sells the very same charger under the Diehard brand.

http://www.batterychargers.com/detai...1562A&catid=18