Is my 8 a LEMON???
 

I've read 1000's of posts here trying to understand my car a little better and quite frankly, I am very concerned about the over-all integrity of my 8. Has anyone else here had this many issues in such a short time frame?

1. HORRIBLE FUEL ECONOMY (10 to 12 MPG city best and 16 to 19 highway best) Has been this way since day one. Very disappointing. In speaking with numerous other RX-8 owners, both on the web and in person, the worst mileage anyone has reported to me was 16/city driving “hard”. Most are claiming high teens in the city and mid to high 20’s on the highway. Mine is nowhere close to these figures.

2. ROUGH IDLE. Idles @ 800 RPM and vibrates entire car. This started at about 3,000 miles. Never did this prior.

3. ENGINE LIGHT COMES ON. Could this explain the horrible fuel economy and shaky engine at idle??

4. Engine will run at less than full power then suddenly kick in, as though one rotor isn’t firing at times. Especially present when check engine light is on.

5. CATALYTIC CONVERTER. Very strong catalytic converter smells on a regular basis

6. SHIFTING IS ROUGH and sometimes will not go into 1st or reverse (at 0 MPH) but what’s most annoying is any transition to any gear has to be “forced” as though the synchros aren't working...shifting is very "notchy" going into each gear. I hear all these claims about how smooth the shifting is on the RX-8, but mine is not nor has it ever been. This has been an issue since day one and really takes the joy away from driving this car.

7. Transmission makes a lot of gear noise at idle while in neutral. I’ve never heard anything like it in any other car I’ve ever owned including an RX-7…I believe this to be abnormal. I have 2 other vehicles, both w/manual trannys and I have tried my best to hear anything like this with them and...nothing!

Also in regards to the drive-train, there seems to be very excessive back lash...meaning let off the throttle (in traffic) then give it gas...the car "bounces" longitudinally (fore and aft) very badly. This is a new thing and is just wrong.

8. BREAKS STARTED SQUEALING at 2,900 miles. Sounds like front.

9. Emulsified oil foam on dipstick.

10. The car is consuming 1 quart of oil per 1,000 miles. The car just turned 4,000 miles and I just finished off the 4th qt. of oil. Oil I’m using is Castrol 5W-20.

Items 1-4: Sounds like you have a faulty injector...

All rotaries have a certain "stench" if you will..its the nature of the beast...but if it's noticably abnormal then it could be a result of faulty injector/s as well...


I think everyones brakes are squeaking..mine do...they will stop after a hard run and some track practice..but always resume..

Emulsified Oil...several people have noticed this...check to make sure you seat your dipstick fully into the tube, you should feel a slight "snapping" feeling when it bottoms the grommet out at the mouth of the tube..i don't think it's much of a problem but I haven't experienced this so someone else may be able to provide better assistance on this one...

Some people have blown transmissions rather early...i would do a search and PM the folks that had this happen and see if anything you are hearing was a prelude to disaster for them....

I have noticed a little NOISE when idleing from the tranny...but I have extremely smooth shifting...

By extremely smooth shifting, you mean you don't feel any resistance or difficulty making "hard" fast shifts...esp. from 1st to 2nd? I can't shift fast to 2nd without a mis-shift or popping out of gear or grinding...

Will, find a new service dept. It is apparent that something, several things are wrong. A check engine light should not come on very often, if at all.

Mileage, I have not heard of high 20's, a few mid 20's maybe. I get around 15-17 in town and 21 hwy. that is driving very easy, I have never even heard my buzzer yet, need to fix that.

Soone have talked about using lower octane to stop the rough idle, have you tried that yet?

Good luck.

1 quart per 1000 miles is too much! get tehm to check that.

the rough idle and your 10mpg i think are connected. as well as your cell. you are getting some misfires probably because your plugs are fouled and you need this correected and your ecu re-flashed to caorrect any and all tsb's.

I would definetly take to the dealer to check out. How long has this been going on?

Will Barger and others:

I have to think the consumption of this much gas and oil very well could be in the ECU's programming. I guess it's also possible it could be an internal engine defect; try to find a dealer who knows their stuff about the RX8 that won't just give you blanket answers.

I get the impression there are too many service departments and mechanics that just start replacing things on the car without really knowing what is causing the problem. Maybe they just don't feel motivated to do their homework? Dammit, they should really be enthused about the car instead.

My X8 had some prob's
1. Engine light came on the day of pick up.

Took it in the next day, they reset the the engine light. One day later light came on again took it in they ran some teste for one day and called me and said need new CAT and O2 sensor.

2. Moisture in the two headlights and tailights.

Got them to check it out and I told the dealer i waanted new headlights and tailights.

3. Bakes were sweaking

got it checked they said the braeks are new and it will do that for a bit then it will eventually go away.

This all hapened two days after i picked up the car only has 40 km on it F***ED UP.

I have had some of the problems you mention, but I don't think of my car a s a lemon.. more like growing pains that you have to work w/ the dealer. (first year production blues....)
No engine light on yet.4800. miles. //// On the moisture issue, I have posted in the past, both rear ones were changed (lights) and have not had a problem since //// Brakes ARE squeeking. Dealer test drove it for 4 miles said all ok, but I will be taking it back soon.. But.. they are not as loud as my porsche 993, so it is all relative./// My fuel economy is up to 18.5 city/highway/// No oil comsumption problem here.//// Idle is fine.. no problems to report.

why not go to the dealer

I have gone to them, not for all of these problems because some have only been present after the last trip to the dealer. The problem that I am having with my dealer is that I get the old, "...it's normal...it's supposed to be a piece of schitt...why are you bothering me..." attitude. Furthermore, they claim not be fully up to date on the 8 and they claim they don't have the ability to interface the the 8's 'puter or make any changes to anything pertaining to this car. I find this quite disconcerting. There is another dealership, but because I didn't buy from them, what kind of treatment will I get...will they give me a loaner?...and what's worse, is that they are in a bad location geographically for me. It is a long way to go in the most horrible traffic there is in this city.

Does anyone have a direct phone number or e-mail address for a Mazda rep. for the SE US?? I've searched the web without much success.

If your dealer does not have the correct equipment to do his job, he should not be a dealer!! And you should tell him that. What a stupid excuse, you should call Mazda NA and complain.

I will just as soon as I find a number for them! There are numbers on their NA web site, but I didn't see anything pertaining to technical service.

the little quick tips book in your glove box has the info you want. as does the web site. 800 222-5500.

as to the gas mileage. you got some issues if for real.

just did another tank of +20mpg with ac and some full throtlle runs.

beers

...oh...believe me, it's for real! I found myself driving my 19 year-old (1985) VW Westy w/130K miles...thinking how nice it shifted and how smooth the aceleration was...(not that you could have felt the acceleration! ;-) )

Monday will be interesting! There are definitely going to be some phone conversations.

well? what happened with the dealer(s)?

Re: Is my 8 a LEMON???
 

Re: Re: Is my 8 a LEMON???
 

Ack wrong side of quotes :)

I am experiencing all of you issues except 3 and 5. Make sure you continue to call the dealer and Mazda directly. Your issues have to be expressed to the manufacturer before the law is on your side