RollinsX

Hey all,

Sorry if this has been posted before, a quick glance returned a bunch of stuff that didn't seem relevant and I have my own twist to add to things.

I went to my closest Mazda dealership after a few particularly hard starts. He suggested replacing the starter, coils and wiring (plugs were replaced recently). He also said that it would be much cheaper for me to order my parts rather than have him do it and that he would do the install (I'm not much of a mechanic).

The reason this might sound out of the ordinary is because I am a soldier currently stationed in Germany and car part prices here are ridiculous and on top of that the Euro is killing the dollar right now.

All that being said, I need suggestions on a starter, coils and wires that I can order online that will ship to an APO address. Germany gets pretty cold during the winter time and I don't want to have any more issues, so if something is more heavy duty than something else, I would err on the side of more power or more reliable. I'm not trying to break the bank, but if something really is a lot better, more reliable, etc... I'll pony up the cash for it. It beats getting stuck somewhere.

Thanks for reading this and for any help you can give me.

-RollinsX

Mazurfer

Don't know about shipping to APO, but here's a few places to check.

Mazmart: Your wise choice for Mazda parts. In business since 1980.
Online Mazda Parts
Rosenthal Arlington Mazda Parts Store

Those will get you started.
I have a bunch more, but could sit here and link sites for awhile.


Maybe even............... http://rx7.com/store/rx8/index.html

McKennaR

iTrader: (1)

Autozone ships free to APO/FPO.

You can get coils, wires, plugs and even a starter from them, just make SURE the starter is the 2kw variant because they sell both.

Autozone's site only returns the 2kw starter in the search results if you change your year to 2006 - 2008. P/N 19473. "Duralast Import Starter" for the manual transmission equipped cars.

Your info says K-town... if you're looking to score some good deals on used parts, head to Baumholder and check out the junk yard ("Strip Lot") on post just up the hill from the Auto Skills shop. Last time I was there (early 2008) I saw a yellow RX8 that had been t-boned on the passenger side. Not sure what they have now though, so just give them a call.

Additionally: Soldier has a capitalized "S" when you're referring to a member of the United States Army. Not trying to break your *****. I appreciate your service.

-Ryan

RollinsX

I appreciate the help so far, I forgot to mention its an '05 manual transmission and I know that that can make a difference.

Its the internet and I'm not too worried about capitalization, plus I'm not a great Soldier and the army pisses me off a lot. Too much stupidity. But thanks.

Is the duralast brand better than OEM? Is there any real difference between starters?

TeamRX8

iTrader: (25)

if you can get a used starter from a 2009-2011 Manual trans car it is better than the earlier model, but they appear to only be available from Mazda otherwise. Buying one from Mazda is very expensive and I haven't seen any parts store sell a replacement for these particular model years yet other than to source it from Mazda.

McKennaR

iTrader: (1)

What Team said. If you can find a starter from a later car 2009+ they are the best you can get for these cars.

At autozone you're buying a reman of either a N3Z1 or N3H1-A if you opt for the one i mentioned in the post above. I haven't heard of any issues with the duralast remans. The N3Z1 and N3H1-A are 2kw 13 tooth pinion versions of the 1.2kw 11 tooth N3H1 starter the 2004-2005 cars came with.

The Army pisses me off a lot too (hit my 11 year mark this year), but don't think that once you get out you're going to find anything better right away. Not too many employers on the civilian side pay entry level folks for your housing, education, cost of living, moving, food, travel and health care while also paying you a salary... And unless you are Bill Gates there is no way in hell you are retiring with a decent pension after working just 20 years. Yes there's BS and yes, a lot of stupid people but I keep in touch with my Soldiers who ETS and even my high speed commo guys are having trouble making equivalent bank on the civilian side.

Just enjoy it while you can, because you'll miss it when you're gone.

Ryan

RollinsX

Went with the duralast starter and coils...the site was apparently sold out of the wiring kits. I'll bite the bullet and just have Mazda order them. It can't be that bad for just the wires here.

So the new news is that my car audio guy diagnosed why my speakers cut out once in a while...apparently my alternator doesn't regulate electricity very well and was spiking to 16+ This is not a good thing. So now I've either got to get that fixed or replaced and I'm leaning towards replaced with something more heavy duty b/c I have a feeling I'm not done upgrading my sound system. lol