hey guys, thanks for the help in advance..

I've had my 04 rx8 since may and honestly its been giving me trouble since june .

As of right now, there are a few problems, I'm planning on calling it into the shop tommorrow, but I'd love to hear your input on what the problem(s) could be.

I'm at about 66k for miles.

My first problem is, when I redline the car, the engine shuts off on me! Granted this is not every time I redline it, but when I redline it on occasion, the engine will shutoff and stall out till it goes down to 30mph or less when it finally kicks back in. Awful when your on the highway with cars behind you. (obviously)

My 2nd problem is, when i hit the magical number of 100mph (yeah once in a while i do it) the ABS light comes on, the (!) light comes on, and the slippery traction (the car swirving) light comes on.

the 3rd problem, im getting 150miles on a tank.. driving 50 of those miles on the highway.. (something like 8 city, 12-14 highway) please tell me this is not normal.

I love the way the car looks, I truly fell in love with it and have wanted one since it came out, but now that I have it and I'm getting all these problems, it just saddens me..
any advice as to what any of the problems could be?

thanks a lot

 

1 --- Your coils/plugs or both are giving out. Change them. if it does not solve the problem, your engine is giving out. sounds like you got your car used, check warranty status by calling MNAO. Your engine might need replacement. You should have 100K miles engine warranty (if the previous owner did not void it for whatever reason)

2 --- There is something wrong with your Braking system. probably a loose connector or malfunctioning sensors. Get it checked out ASAP. you dont want it to fail on you when you need it fast. also you might want to MAKE SURE that the car has NEVER been thru an accident before. cuz sometimes even the title saids "clean", it might have gone thru some sort of accident, the previous owner just picked the cheapest shop to repair it and sell it off. bad repairs can cause problems down the road.

3 --- Sounds like engine is going bad. but this car's "normal" MPG aint that great anyway.

 

Thanks for the response..
The coils/plugs crossed my mind, as back in june I brought in with a "weak power" type problem, and they had some sort of recall that they fixed.. however it seems to be a little bit weak on power again. I did get the car used, and I bought an extended warranty of 3year 36k miles.. which takes me around the 100k mile level, which is of course a good thing

The car HAS been through an accident before, good call on that one. It was only a front bumper problem where that was replaced and what not, But a "bad repair" is definitely a possibility.

I appreciate the help a lot, i'll call today and get it in asap.. and tell you what the problem ended up being when I find out

 

if your extended warranty really covers everything, get them replace the coils and plugs and spark plug wires.

and for the accident/bumper part. depends on how bad it is some of the wheel sensors wires route thru near the fender. make sure the connectors are all making good contacts (if it hasnt been damaged)

cuz it happened to me before, I took my bumper off to fix something, then I forgot to plug the connects back in, when I start my car everything stays on I was like wtf. connect it back everything is cool again.

 

get your compression checked as long as you're in warranty...

 

It ended up needing 4 new sparkplugs, and a coil.. after driving it for a week, It drives much better, however, My gas mileage has not improved the slightest bit, in fact it has probably decreased. I filled up at 156miles with the emergency light on. 12.9 gallons..

I know people hate to talk about RX8 gas mileage problems on this forum and tell everyone to "search".. Well I've tried that, but I just cant believe the mileage I'm getting.

I drive about 1/3 of those 156 on the highway, so I'm guessing its something like 8-9 city, 13highway.. does anyone get this type of mileage on their 04 rx8? what can I do? I do not drive crazy, so that is not a reason for poor mileage... I just don't know what to do at this point

 

how often are you redlining the car?
using 91 octane fuel?
ever used any kind of fuel injector cleaner?

with fresh plugs, and a new coil, you should be getting better fuel mileage. Odds are your fuel trims were reset, the mpg should improve over the next few tanks.
I'm curious as to why only A coil was replaced. Often times only one or two fail but I typically just change out all 4 to be safe. (it's like on older cars when one headlight goes out, might as well change both...)

 

thanks for the quick response..

I never redline the car, I used to do it and then the engine would shut down, the response to that from mazda was that due to the cars high mileage ( 66k, i guess thats high these days :/ ), that the engine might not be able to handle it all the time.

I've never used any less then 91 octane fuel... I couldve sworn I even put 93 in the other day, but maybe I'm losing my mind.

I've never used any kind of fuel injector cleaner.. Is something like that easy to use? and would you say its a good idea?

I was also hoping that my mpg would improve over the next few tanks, as i've heard that from other people also... and as for your question on the coil, they only said one needed to be replaced and also said that most of the time people will replace two, although it was not necessary according to them.

 

wtf that isnt high, your dealership is full of ****, i shift passed the redline all the damn time

i think you shouldve changed out all 4 coils...

is the car still stalling when you redline?

 

I haven't tried since I got it back, hate to sound like a wimp but I'm a little nervous haha... nothing worse then being in the left lane redlining it and your engine shuts off, and the speedometer starts dropping fast.. haha.. I will give it a try the next time out though

 

are you running an aftermarket intake?

 

let the car warm up fully (drive it around for 10 minutes) and then find a lonely little street and try to do redline. Let us know what happens.

 

Really poor MPG on the 8 is generally in the 13-15 range, anything lower and something has been proven to be wrong, from past history. A healthy engine and ignition system should be in the 18-22 range as officially stated, with 24 possible, and as low as 9 romping it non-stop on the track. If you are getting that low without constant wankle-spanking, then something is indeed wrong with either the engine compression or the ignition system (or both).

And yes, failing coils can still be measured as "within spec", and all 4 should be replaced at the same time. This could be your continuing problem. Wires can degrade over time as well. Even 1 poorly performing component in the whole line of the ignition parts makes a hell of a difference. Lowest common denominator.

Carbon build up from lack of redlining might also be an issue.

When you give it a good redlining, pay attention to what happens when (RPM and approximate load). Like if it stalls, studders, etc..., what RPM and about what throttle load does it happen at? Does it clear out? Is it only in 1 gear or in multiple gears?

Let us know.

 

change the other 3 coils and take that thing out and blow the carbon out of it....that dealership is crazy I have 54k miles and still redline mine once a day...and weekends usually go run some twisties runnning above 6k rpm for several minutes...

 

wow, thanks alot guys for all the responses, I really appreciate it..

-No aftermarket intake that I know of, just got the car in may.

jedi- I will give that a shot tommorrow, and let you know how it goes..

RIWWP-thanks alot for the good info, if what you say on the MPG is true, then god I'm not doing too well over here for MPG.

-04rx8man I guess thats really what I should do, I brought it to a Mazda dealership in stamford, CT, so you would think they know what they're talking about... who knows... running over 6k rpm for several minutes, jeez man, i wish I could do it for a few seconds.. the usual redline for 3 seconds stalls out my car...

however I will try it tommorrow for sure, and update you guys

 

Fresh plugs on my 36K engine netted me 22MPG going about 70. City would probably get me about 16-18. I think that mileage is way too low. I have seen some posters with really bad mileage, but yours is definitely at the way low end for regular driving.

 

well def get it fixed before you try to do any long high rpm runs....

trust me the ppl here on this forum have seen all the problems and I have seen that we've found easier/cheaper fixes for problems with this car...

Just ask Jedi u can usually see him sneaking in an answer before i have a change to read the problem haha J/K....

anyway goodluck....

 

Are you just hitting the limiter? after 9000 RPM the CPU will limit the fuel to the engine to keep you from hurting it. Even though they tested it up to 12ooo rpm. Anyway I have had mine cut fuel by the "Limiter" on the Track many times. Its amazing how easy it is to get up to 9000 rpm and not really know it

 

hey guys, last 2 days I pushed it.. No problems.. It drives as good as new..

still the MPG problem, planning on calling into mazda to get those other 3 coils changed, since thats what most of you guys agree on.

thanks for the answers

 

I would highly recommend not paying the dealer to do it. It is a very simple and easy swap you can do with simple tools. Actually just 1 10mm socket and a socket wrench if I remember correctly. Dealers will over charge you like crazy for it. And don't just blindly buy the coils from the dealer, they have been charging $50-80 each lately, and you can get them from forum vendors here for $28-40 each, depending on deals at the time.