Here's the story...my RX8 wasn't starting last week, it was trying to turn but wasn't catching. I had it towed this Saturday to a AAA service center in San Francisco (mistake #1). At that point, I hadn't figured out that I had probably flooded the engine. So they call me Monday morning and tell me that they have diagnosed a Code 1260 error (something to do with anti-theft) and they want to charge me another $250 on top of the $70 I already spent on the diagnostic to investigate further. It didn't sound right to me so I called a local Mazda service center who told me that 99% of the time an RX8 doesn't start, it's a flooded engine.

At that point, I decided to have it towed to Royal Mazda in SF to have them take a look. The diagnostic there was $180. So I talk to the guy today and he tells me that the engine flooded and the spark plugs, battery, and starter all need to be replaced. It will cost $1500 for parts and labor...I couldn't believe the cost. I am skeptical that the battery needs to be replaced because I replaced it less than a year ago. I'm also skeptical about the starter...I did try cranking quite a few times to start it up last week when it wouldn't start, but definitely not enough to burn up a starter. Can anyone give me any advice or suggestions on what to do?
Thanks

 

Ok...so, plugs, starter, and battery are $1500.00...

The brand new parts would be about $500. And labor another 1.5-2 hours - at most. I changed my starter about 3 weeks ago and it takes 30 minutes.

So in other words, they're clearly trying to rip you off.

 

depends on what AAA did to the car, they probably ruined it while "diagnosing" it

 

Um, check the TSB's. What's the mileage and are you under warranty? There's one about weak battery and starter. Plugs are $80, battery another $80 (I think), starter is about $350 for parts. I figure around 3 hours labor total so it should be no where near $1500 for what they quoted you. Mine is just out of the 4 year warranty and they still replaced the battery and starter under warranty even though I wasn't having problems other than what I figured was due to other issues (coils, plug, rough idle, power loss etc.). 1st mistake was right, should've towed it to the dealer straight.

 

Pick up the car...tow start it....drive it around for a bit to clear it out...check the battery and see if it's OK. If the starter works...It's OK...if it's really slow you might want to rewind it or replace it

New Plugs would be good...buy them at sparkplugs.com for $80.

 

IF the starter is no good anymore, i got one ill sell for 150 plus shipping. that cuts your costs down to about 300 plus you can swap it all out yourself.

 

Here are the "TSB's" (look at first three)you want to read and print out and bring to dealer. Mazda extended the warranty on '04 and '05 for 5 years or 60K miles(which ever comes first) on engine and drive train. How many miles on yours and when was it first purchased?

http://www.finishlineperformance.com....php?pageid=11

 

New starter is like 300 something, a VERY GOOD battery cost like 100 something close to 2. Plugs 80 for all 4.

You're in SF, or else I can do it for you for 50 bux EVERYTHING installed.

 

Everyone, thanks for all the really great advice. I bought the car in September 2004 so my 4 year warranty just came up last September. Would starter, etc be covered by that anyways? I will look into all the TSB's and the 5 year extension of the warranty. I have 40,000 miles on the car.

 

Old Rotor, you directed me to the TSB's which basically address the exact problem I'm having. The question is, does this mean that Mazda covers this?
Thanks again...you've been incredibly helpful.

 

The warranty has been extended to 60,000 miles so you should be good.

 

^^ the powertrain warranty has been extended... not sure if that includes the starter, plugs, whatnot. I would say probably not.

The TSB are just "guides" for the technicians to understand common problems with the car. It does not mean its always covered under warranty it just means they will know how to fix the problem correctly. If you still under warranty then remind them of this specific TSB so they are not confused :D

 

I talked to the dealer and brought up the TSB's and the extended warranty. He told me that neither of those would actually cover me as far as needing to replace the starter, battery and spark plugs. But he was able to talk to a Mazda rep anyways and they ended up covering the entire thing! So I got a new starter, battery and spark plugs all thanks to Mazda. Thanks again everyone for all the great advice...you saved me a fortune.

 

Those parts should not be covered under powertrain warranties.

but hey, u got it, so its good, right ?

Now go z00m z00m more !

 

Great to hear everything went good, your wellcome.