I have an 05 and the last couple of weeks when i start it up it lets out a short squeal. I;ve played around with it and i noticed it was only when the a/c turned on. Again, this is only at startup. Today the squeal went on a little longer so im getting a little worried. what should i do? what is wrong? or what can i look for? This is my first mazda (graduated from hondas) haha I dont know a ton about the 8 yet so any help would be greatly appreciated.

thankyou

 

Your belt is loose. There is no tensioner on the belt to keep it at a preset tension. So the belt streches comes loose and when the a/c clutch kicks in it sqeaks. Just tighten the belt and all will be well.

 

so it didnt do it this morning and its cool outside for once. This leads me to believe its only when its hot out. Does this make a difference in the loose belt conclusion? Is there a good manual i can buy to be able to do this myself? Mazda wants to charge me 45 just to look at it..then he says 100-200 more to fix if its not anything bad. I dont like them.

 

Isn't your car still under warranty? This should be covered.

 

This could fall under normal wear though since the belt can stretch.

It is a simple fix and shouldn't cost much to adjust for those that aren't comfortable wrenching under the hood.

Who knows a service writer might cover it.

 

I've owned several cars with belts that don't have tensioners, and I've never once had a belt start squeaking under normal wear, even after 50,000 miles. Properly designed belts do not stretch as they wear, they just start to crack eventually. I would have the belt replaced.

 

The belt streched. Properly designed belts do stretch. U can adjust the tension as I did, Or replace it. Up to u. Cheaper to replace if the belt isnt worn out.

 

mine started doing this recently! It's quick chirp / squeal upon startup.

 

it was a short chirp but now its a long one when i hit the gas. its got 37000 miles and they told me its not covered if its a belt. I also have the extended warranty and it doesnt cover it either..of course.

I'm just going to take it in this morning to be on the safe side until i learn a little more about it. Thanks guys

 

Its slipping. Take her in if its under warrenty if not order the belt and go to auto zone rent the tool, ask the guy at your dealer to point out where the bolt is and how tight it should be, slap the tool on and release the belt replace the belt, start her up and leter rip! lol 1hr job tops.
-Gil

 

anyone have a part # for the belt? Mine' still under warranty but I've got a GREAT rotary shop near me that I'd rather PAY then waste a day at the dealership...

 

There is no tensioner, just an old school jack bolt set up, you can loosen the altenator and tighten the belt back to spec. Its not hard.

 

Ahh well there you go^^

 

it was apparently the drive belt.. we will see tomorrow when i start it up. They didn't charge anything. Thanks for all yalls help

 

Sounds good. Dont let that go for to long you can mess some things up that way. Its just not ment to do that. I had to chang 2 belts on that last 2 cars I had. Not a fun job but oh well.

 

I've had this exact problem for awhile now and have just been living with it. But now that I have some time to kill, I want to cure this problem.

How can I tighten each belt? Does anyone have any pics?

EDIT: Just finished tightening both belts. Figured I post up a little text walk-through for those with the same issue.

First, you're going to need to ATLEAST unseat the entire air box (possibly remove altogether depending on your tools/arm size). Use this thread to help you
https://www.rx8club.com/showthread.p...hlight=air+box

Next, follow this link to the RX8 service manual.
http://smrmicro.com/rx8servicemanual/

Click on Engine Specifications and then scroll to page 5.

 

Its not hard to adjust the belt, but you do have to remove the intake if you want a clear path to work with.

Look in the service manual, it tells ya how to do it and how *tight* it should be.