I fight the good fight against carbon build up every morning on my commute to work ... who can guess how I do it .... in 6th gear:)


PS -- cake -- the distance always plays after 130 mph. dont knwo why really ... maybee its just in my head ... ahh ... the swaet sound of a rotary :) yum yum.

Ill record some samples and post mp3 files for all those that want to wake up int he morning tot hat sound :) muhuahuahaha!

nice.. yeah, last week i ran it hard every day to work, redlining at least once to try and start the carbon breakdown process.. I love 4th gear.. Anybody know if it is bad on an engine to stay in a lower gear while driving? (say 4th at 5K RPM for 30 minutes of driving)

I am subscribing to this. I was going to say I think, but I am almost certain I have the same problem as you. On a blistering day If I jump on the gas it sounds like I sucked a dead animal up in it and it hardly moves. It sounds like it is going to blow up and I am doomed. Since it hasn't stopped raining here I haven't had the opportunity here to take it in and let them take a look at it and experience the same situation as what I get on the highway. Anyways post what happens. I have gone in for the engine recall but that was last summer I believe. Can I still go in again and complain about the same thing?

wow, yep, thats exactly what mine does.. and sucking a dead animal up into the tail pipe is what I heard when I jumped on it and it didn't go anywhere..

IF you went in for the recall, what happened? Why didn't they run tests?

Well they said it passed with flying colors, i believe that is how it was worded to me... Of course that was when I drove further to work and in my personal opinion drove the snot out of it. Then it dawned on me that I would like to keep it longer along with my life... I still drive it, just not like a retard that I once believe I did for quite some time. I remember reading a while ago that this whole engine thing originated from hot humid weather anyways didn't it or is my memory wrong? The most recent was the engine mounts. Then it was really hot here (before the rain) and I got that crazy V8 thing going again under the hood... however it lacked V8 and the power... it was more like a vespa on 4 wheels instantly. (just an analogy)

just to make a more logical point here instead of posting my frustrations.

I can drive for a while then the symptoms start to come to life. The temps outside is in the 90's. The engine starts to get that burrrr/rumble sound. Like it is all clogged up. I have Mobil 1 only recently have I moved from this from Castrol, don't think this has anything to do with it but I will inform. Don't have any modifications except my Voodoo knob... So, back to point with the A/C on it is terrible just as stated by mateo, you have to give it a little gas due to the fear of stalling. Which I am not sure what happen or not just the fear of it. Now all this happens though on hot days to best of my knowledge.

It has only been raining it seems like forever so I hardly drive anywhere because I will just float down the street with our wonderful drainage system here.

So I am curious to know when it does finally return to "summer" conditions and I take it in and see what they have to say. My dealer has never done me wrong in my opinion so we will see. Next Monday for sure I have the time so I will be taking it in, but I am not sure how effective that is going to be.

JPTalky.............Year? Mileage? Excuse me if I missed it!

Mine is, like previously mentioned, along the same lines... Until it gets hot and the A/C is going at the same time, I can run it hard and not have an issue. Soon as those conditions are met, here comes the burrrrr sound and no throttle response.. If its cool/rain conditions I'll never have an issue... :spank: mazda

Hey guys, I am having the same exact problem. I think mine might be a little more sever. I can leave for work in the morning and 5 min. of being on the freeway it will loose power. The car keeps its momentum but will not accelarate. I have noticed if I hold the gas pedal to the floor for about 10-15 seconds it will start to accelarate again, but as soon as I go back to a constant speed it will fall back into this no power mode. It is a lot worse when it is hot but will do it even when it's not so hot as well. This has been a long term problem(about 4or5 months) with my car that has gottin worse and worse over time. I have also recently replaced my ignition coils, plugs, and wires.

I have read something on here about the PCM going into a lean mode after you just cruise at a constant low throttle. Could this be a problem with the PCM flash?
My car is a 2004 6sp with 64,000 miles.

mazda denied service to my car, I am gonna have to buy a new transmission/engine ... which is simply ridiculous, a brand new renesis 6 pot and 6spd trans cost way too much...

so I have ordered a 20B rew with a 5spd and a complete harness+ecm

will have the car in my shop to gut it soon, meanwhile I have purchased a 1998 trans am ws6... had to take a huge loan against my shop... hopefuly I can pay 60k in 2 years so come one come all and buy mufflers and ricer junk from me!! I think I need a website too

update:

20b and trans arrived last week

as of yesterday installation is complete, renesis engine is out and 20b in, apparently motor mounts are gonna be a problem and may need to make a new one ... but no matter, I am planning to take the renesis engine to the woods and detonate it for fun, (bought some dynamite sticks) I do plan to be far enough that no shrapnel gets me...

if it wasn't because of my credit concerns, I would have gone for another car, as it is, with a credit score of 620 and owing money on this car, I need to keep it, but in no way I was gonna spend 4500 bucks on a piece of shit renesis without real power, now the project goes into what I feared, wiring and electrical, hope I can figure it out, wonder if alamo rotary may have some diagrams they can let me look at hmmm?

so yeah i have been having the same problem here in jacksonville fl. its hot as hell and my car hates the weather. its completley stock and i have no waranty, a 20b sounds great or for that matter a v8 instead. i hope it dosent come to that but from all the people havin the same problem all i can see happening is either one or two things. a class action lawsuit agains mazda by all these people(wich would be pretty sweet for people in my position. or give us detailed instruction on how to wedge a power plant of some sort in the car.

good job.

beers :beer:

Well, everybody, I got my stock cat back on my car and I'm going to call Mazda and explain again whats going on..

My Ammunition:


1.) The Fact that this is a problem I've reported already and its the second time... proof that is not a one time thing.

2.) Rough idle

3.) loss of power after long drives with A/C on and temps. above 90 F

4.) Burr Rumbling sound..

5.) oil leak (haha just put that one in there..) :rant:

6.) The FACT THAT I HAVE A RECALL NOTICE



so, we'll see how this goes... I'm going to have them do a vacuum test..

well after alot of brain picking and askin way to many questions i heard from many people that massive carbon build up could be a cause of the problem i am having. i read a thread on here about a fuel system flush of some sort by adding some sort of cleaner to the fuel. so i went to the store and got some slick 50 fuel system cleaner( i have never sued anything like this before it almost felt corny) and dumped it in. the entire bottle is supposed to treat up to 18 gallons of fuel or a full tank on most cars, i added it to about 3 gallons of 93. after reving the mortal hell out of it and driving like the cops were chasing me till i was on empty i noticed a bit of a differance. now 2 days later i have not had this issue again, i work at a caddilac dealership were they do carbon flushing of the throttle body, intake and valves. im going to see if that might finish were the slick 50 left off, i hoping so. i will keep you posted, in the mean time any thoughts?

Any updates yet?

All:

Well, I took my car in yesterday and went through the whole speel about the issues with the power and I'm hoping its going to screw up on them just like it has on me so many times..

I did not hear from them all day yesterday and haven't heard from them yet if they have even started working on my car, but I'll keep things updated..

I did get a CX7 rental and that's not bad.. driving it around like its an RX8 HAHA.. I wish!

mazda did the same thing with me when i took my 04 rx8 in took them like 3 days for them to call me and say hey u need a new engine, so i got a new cat and new engine now , kinda cool and i didnt have to pay a single dime. I just hope it doesnt screw up like last time

Wow, I am having the exact same problem with my car. It's an 04 6spd with 30,000 miles. I have the rb intake, rb exhaust, and rp high flow cat. What would happen is that whenever the cel comes on, the car would run like crap. Especially on hot days, no acceleration what so ever. It would stay on for about 4-7 days, then the cel would go out all of a sudden. With the cel out, the car runs perfectly fine. That's whats confusing me. I got it read by a OBDII sensor and it stated that the Rear 02 sensor was bad. Having no time, money, or a place to work on my car, I decided to wait a couple of days before taking on the task. I have to admit that I do shift below 4,000rpm most of the time to try to save some gas. Maybe I also have a carbon build up problem. Time to do some hard driving see if that might fix the problem.

or you could get the rear o2 sensor repaced.. it is under warranty..

btw, for fun drive the crap out of it..:)

beers :beer:

^^
Yeah I'm gonna test it out tomorrow by doing some hard driving. Hope it fixes the problem. A new rear 02 sensor isn't cheap, plus I'm not even 100% sure if that's the actually problem. The OBII sensor only gives out suggestions. I will have to test the O2 sensor to verify the problem. My worst fear is having to order a new engine but I don't think that's the case cause the care runs fine whenever the CEL goes out. I will report my results tomorrow.

Plus did anyone else who has similar problems receive the CEL light???

the cel is a cel.. they rarely get better.. why would you not have it replaced under warranty????

the ob2 gives out codes... are you going to guess or fix the problem at hand? am i missing something.. this is a warranty issue.


beers :beer:

I would take it in for warranty, the problem is, I use to have the greddy turbo with interceptor-x. So I have some holes here and there that, if the technician knew what to look for, would know that the car has previously been f/I. I'm not worried about the intake, high flow cat, or exhaust. If I do take it in, I can easily just take out high flow cat.

But you know what, your right, I should just try taking it in. I mean it doesn't hurt to give it a try. Now I just need a location to work on my car and turn it back to stock.

ah,

that helps..

beers :beer:

Well everybody.. I got the 8' back and what do you know.. "COULD NOT DUPLICATE THE PROBLEM"!!!!!!


The tech said they called mazda went through all the tech steps and everything went ok. On my report it DID SAY that I had carbon buildup and the technician cleaned the carbon buildup out.. But no new engine..

I called MNAO and tried to raise up a storm but no matter what I said, she always refered back to,

"Well, sir, we have to be able to recreate the problem.."


The KICKER

See the kicker is, i'm at 45K miles and the main warranty is out at 50K.. The Service guy said that if I could bring it in and show a problem before 50K, then I may be able to get it replaced under warranty, no questions asked.. BUT, once i go past 50K, it will be up to the service manager on how to proceed.


I have been contemplating going to MAZDA and trading in my RX8 for a 07' or '08 RX8 and that way I get the new adds since 04' and new interior i want..


WHAT SHOULD I DO?

I called MNAO and complained, it was a 5min phone call they lookd up my vin and service records, 2 weeks later they put a new engine in, i just got the car back friday. They were NOT able to duplicate the issue either. It depends on who you rep for the area is and if the dealer is on your side of the story or not.

Well, I DID have CARBON BUILDUP in the engine so I wonder if I could call back and end up talking to a new person ??

I dont know, to be honest I called Mazda north America; the 1800 number off their website and just simply explained to them the problem i was having, literally 3 days later I got a call from the SE rep and the dealership saying to bring the car in for service. They had the car for a week and were completely unable to duplicate the issues I was having. I got a call from the service manager and she said they decided to replace the engine anyways based on my story, the amount of time put into the car and the number of works orders that vehicle had in its history.

Mateo,

Your powertrain warranty is good for 60K miles. Here is the documentation showing the extension. I would go back to the dealer and take the service tech out for a drive and see if you can re-recreate the problem together.

http://www.finishlineperformance.com.../pdf/ad-18.pdf

I hear ya.. Yeah, Now all i need is hot weather here in OK! hehe Next hot spell there is I'm going to drive the crap out of the 8 and try to get it to have an issue.. I'll then immediatley take it in if I can get it to do it..

I had the same problem which is why I believe the dealer was unable to duplicate my issues. When i was having problems it was between 105-111 F outside and we were unable to get the weather to cooperate with out test drives so they gave me the benefit of the doubt.

Yeah, I think i'm pretty much screwed cause its already Sept. and I doubt there will be much more hot weather here....

so is this being narrowed down to a messed up factory tune or a mechanical problem. the reason i ask is my engine is not having the problem so much now that its not 110 everyday but the car feel alot slower than it was.

mine would do it in 65deg weather. you just have to get the sequence of steps right..

beers :beer:

Hmm.. Interesting.. Well, I'm going to try it... I'll probably take a long trip in it and drive it fast to see if I can duplicate it.. its going to be tough though... There was carbon buildup in there and the tech cleaned it which makes me want to call Mazda again and tell them I got proof hehe.. Not sure that would convince em'...

Mateo,
How did the dealership remove the carbon?

Also, you have 6yr/50K on the engine, plus you've identified the issue before the warranty expired.

Mike

I don't know how they did it exactly, it just said that the technician found carbon buildup and that it was cleaned and removed.. What do you think guys, bs??

Yeah, I have the extended warranty as well..

well i have to drive the from jacksonville to pensicola this weekend so i will see if i have any problems.

drive car for ~ 45 min, pref stop and go..

stop for lunch... let car heat soak for about 30 to 45 min...

now get on the interstate and set the cc on 70 to 74 mph.. it takes about 35 to 45 min.. must be a constant light cruise.

bam, worked for me every time..

beers :beer:

5 yr / 60k. after the recall.

beers :beer:

Nice... ok.. I'm trying this.. Going to try and time it so I have the option to get it to the dealer as soon as the problem starts...

well its been a while since i last posted, the car is still doin the same damn thing. im about to replace all the coils wires and etc. maybe that will do somting, i have no warranty so hopefully that does somthing. it does it now pretty much anytime i drive the car for more than 15 minutes...no cel by the way

I know this thread has been dead a while but I am having the same problem with my 8. I just bought it about 3 weeks ago. I bought a 2006 RX8, 65k miles, MT, the carfax shows maintenance was done every 2-3 months since its original purchase. I have been keeping up with the redline a day and only fill the car with 91 octane.

The problem happens when driving for about 40+ min on I-10 at 76 MPH and cruise control and A/C on. When I get off the highway and try to accelerate the car feels like it is towing a semi behind it and takes forever to get above 5k rpm. After about 20 min of pushing the car a little more than normal it starts to gain the power back. I dont know if the power loss is due to heat but each time it happens its around 102-106 degrees outside. Another thing I notice is around 77-79 mph there is a strange rattle in the engine compartment that only happens in that speed range.

All that being said I took the 8 into the dealership today to see if they can duplicate the problem and run whatever tests need to be run on it. I would like to see if anyone else has more info about this problem and the outcome from tests that have been done.


Side note..I purchased an added 24m/30k warranty bumper to bumper warranty when I bought the car so repairs should be covered.

Make sure they do an engine compression test.

try downshifting... it usually makes my car go faster.

The power loss is from a dead stop all the way up to 70. It takes about 8-10 seconds to hit 7500 rpm in 1st gear, where as, normal operation it takes half that time. The acceleration goes on like that thru all gears but gets longer to gain rpms thru the taller gears. The dealership said they are goin to do a compression test and the vacuum test along with whatever other tests they can do. It will be a couple days before I hear back from them since I originally had it scheduled to have part of the bumper repainted as part of the purchase agreement.

Clogged CAT

Im having the exact same problem... Its really pissing me off

Driving 10 mins at 4k rpm in 6th gear then boom no power whatsoever. I hit the gas and i hear the engine sucking air with 0 power.

Its funny cause I thought it was the CAT before so I removed it and put in the AP midpipe and it still does it. Now when im in stop and go traffic my idle needle goes up and down every 10-15 secs looking like the engine wants to stall.

i have an 04 MT plugs, coils, wires 8k old. AP midpipe, drop in K&N filter, oil every 3000km, redline once a day minimum and 91000km

So the answer the dealership gave me was the comp needed reprogramming. All the items are covered under the 8year/100k warranty. I will be picking it up tomorrow so I will let you guys know if that fixed the problem in a few days hopefully.

limp mode getting tripped from lean driving conditions? Do you have to drive up steep hills or long moderate grade ones?

Very interested in this as well!