Engine hesitation around 4000rpm
 

when i'm WOT it's ok but when i'm holding a steady speed, the engine hesitates like if its missing or a valve is to the point of opening. Still have my misfire problem when im pushing the car for 1 minute or more.

my mods :

bhr midpipe, rx7store exhaust
MS CAI
new coils, msd wires, new plugs
running premix

I tought it could be SSV or the coils.

i tried to clean my ess but cant get it out

I had a similar problem with mine. Does the engine only surge when using cruise control? Mine surged around 4,000 rpm and sometimes felt like it had no power from there to the redline. It started throwing the ssv error code. I tested the ssv vavle, ssv switch, ect and found nothing. What I did find to be wrong was the check valve thats on the vaccum line between upper manifold and the ssv solenoid was bad. I could barely blow any air through it at all. I also noticed that when I removed it the hose hissed like it was under vacuum pressure. I removed it and put a piece of brass tubing inlne that I had in the shop and problem solved. This also fixed my rough idle problem.
You may also want to clean your MAF/Air Temp sensor located on the intake pipe. Good luck.

The two problems are probably related.
How many km's on the engine?
You said new coils but still suspect them as a problem?

I'm guessing SSV .... you need to test the SSV actuator to make sure its opening and staying open.

I'm not going to recommend buying any parts .... you need to find out whats wrong first.

Misfires can be caused from many things.

Why can't you remove the ESS pickup?

my engine has around 80km

what's the procedure to test the SSV? and how do i know if its not working well?

I cant remove my ess, its stuck and cant get it out, i posted before somewhere else but with no luck, heres a pic : http://i689.photobucket.com/albums/v...max/IMG206.jpg

i also made a video of the hiccups my car suffer from when holding a steady speed, when at WOT, its ok. its hard to tell on the video but with headphones and loud sound you might hear it

http://i689.photobucket.com/albums/v...h_IMG_0311.jpg

i checked out the coils, some start to do some white spots, i swithed them around (1-4, 2-3, 3-2, 4-1) and it did not changed anything.

i'm also getting misfires when pushing the car for more than a minute. when i discovered this issue, i was on the track, 1st time i let go and went back to the pit, 2nd time i did not cared about it and after a couple laps i lost power so went back to pit immediately.

in the beginning is was not that bad, there was a trouble only when i was pushing the car, now it has hiccups even when i dont push it.

my guess would be one of those 3 things (ESS, SSV, coils) when its hiccuping, it seems to be running rich cuz if i release the throttle i often to back fires.

^^^^ Whoa hold-on

First: Your ESS isn't broken off is it? It's not just hanging there or something, right?
Because if the nut is broken like that and the ESS is just loose in the bracket its going to effect performance ....

Second: White spots on the bottom of the coils don't mean anything

Third: It's hard to tell much from your video but I did notice the studder ...... but DUDE you have a check engine like on? What is the CEL???? You need to get that cel data to us.

the ESS picture is not mine, i used it to show how mine is(red lines) its not broken, its in place and working...but cant get it out to clean it.

white spots on the bottom of the coils dont mean they got hot and could be starting to be bad??

The CEL is caused by my midpipe.

like i said, its hard to tell in the video but its really like hiccups(like if i was letting the accelerator go, maybe once a second) and seems to be running rich, when i let the gaz go for real, i make back fires.

if you hear it correctly, its like baaaaaaaaaa ba ba baaaaaaa baaaaaaaaaaaaaa baaa baaaa baaaa baaaaaaaaaa

SSV Links
https://www.rx8club.com/series-i-do-yourself-forum-73/diy-remove-ssv-beta-teaser-video-184663/

https://www.rx8club.com/series-i-trouble-shooting-95/misfiring-fuel-starvation-video-sound-attached-204603/

https://www.rx8club.com/series-i-do-yourself-forum-73/diy-test-solenoid-190364/

I strongly recommend .... you do some more diagnosis before you start buying stuff random to fix this problem

Ya that ESS pic was posted by SayNoPistons in my P0335 thread
https://www.rx8club.com/series-i-trouble-shooting-95/p0335-eccentric-shaft-position-sensor-circuit-problem-car-will-not-idle-194505/

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After reading your story about pushing your car around the track when it was misfiring ..... I would be inclined to get a compression test ... they are cheap ... and answer an important question.

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No the white spots don't mean zip ..... where did you read that?

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If the ESS screw head is broken off your ESS maybe rattling around at speed .... If it was me ... that is where I would start ... Fix that

ill try to do a compression test before i store it

my ess is fine, i just cant get it out.

my engine is pulling strong when i step on it, i doubt it a compression issue but more a ignition issue but still, just to be sure, ill make the test

did a compression test today, it made 100psi on the rear rotor and 105 on the front one.

the spark plugs were light brown, meaning i'm running lean. so my guess now is the fuel pump. ordered a walbro pump so will change it when ill get it. hope it will fix my troubles.

Light brown is a typical color ... of which I would say is normal.

I would recommend installing a Fuel pressure gauge first ... easier and cheaper, if you must buy something.

You should have received more numbers than a front and rear value.
There are 3 chambers per rotor and a pressure differential between the two along with a cranks rpm and a correction factor

Like this
https://www.rx8club.com/series-i-tech-garage-22/got-my-compression-test-done-72k-miles-223703/

Those numbers might be a bit low ... sorry to say

Here is a PSI to KPA convertor
http://www.tvr-webmart.co.uk/tvr_info_psi.asp

KPA to PSI convertor
http://www.csgnetwork.com/presskpapsicvt.html

checked with my local mecanic, the rear rotor had around 100 psi on the 3 faces for the front and 105 rear. the test was not done with a rotary engine compression tester but with a regular compression tester so i dont know RPM, the test was not done by mazda but by my local rotary nut just to give an idea of how my engine is.

i agree its not new but still average wich i'm happy with. anyway my engine is still under warranty so if theres a trouble ill change it under warranty.

My last plugs were alot darker(2 are mostly black and 2 are brown) than the ones i have right now that are light brown, almost white.

i'll instal a fuel pressure guage and will also change the pump for a walbro since it's still the main suspect for now.

i'll give some feedback when the pump will be installed, hoping it will fix my problems. otherwise, i will even be more in doubt about the troubles i have.

my mecanic told me it wont be my ess, if it would, the car would be hard to start(no the case) would not idle and die(not the case, but idle is not stable, as any rx8 i know)

he also told me he dont think its the coils or the SSV.

pics of my actual plugs : http://i689.photobucket.com/albums/v...x/a9bf938a.jpg

pic of rear rotor compression : http://i689.photobucket.com/albums/v...x/867f5a19.jpg

pic of front rotor compression : http://i689.photobucket.com/albums/v...x/a1650d1b.jpg

i'm starting to doubt about my local rotary nut, theres another guy that seems more qualified and has more knowledge than the one i saw last time.

the 1st one recommended me to change my fuel pump cuz he told me the car was running lean, wich i doubt after some other inputs. i did not received the pump yet but i cleaned the sock filter and it's running better since, alot less hiccups.

will give some more infos after i instal the fuel pump

any updates? I'm curious if the fuel pump fixed your issues.

i finally installed my walbro unit after some issues with my local rotary nut. intalation was a breeze, the only thing that pissed me off is when i melted the top part of the siphon, the stupid cap flyed off and i was dumb enough to do that next to my lawn, searching for the small cap in grass was a PITA, thank god the spring just fell on the ground and did not flyed like the cap, when i tryed again to melt the top part, i was holding everything in place and my friend was heating with a small torch and molding the plastic with a flat screwdriver

anyway, tryed my car after that, its still doing some hiccups but alot less than before and in a more narrow rpm band. maybe my pressure regulator is fucked or its something else. still misfiring when pushing it for more than a minute.

car is stored now, buying a AP and some bhr coil this winter, ill see if it will help next year.

Thanks for the update.
Sorry about your luck with the pump

edit:
I don't believe the RX8 has a fuel pressure regulator.

How does he know it's not the SSV?

Could be a bad fuel injector.

When you get the AP installed you'll be able to post some data logs ... that should help considerably.

could be a injector, but i cleaned them with some redline fuel system cleaner...guess it sucked, was not doing it before. my local rotary nut told me to do it because of my misfiring issue...I had a hard time with him so ill get my part and ill do most if not all the work on my car myself for now on. there another place that opened near my place and they seem to do better work but are hard to talk to and ever harder to scedule some work with them.

getting a AP is most probably the best thing ill do to my car, i dont know why i did not do it before.

i hope its not the SSV, i checked out the video and it looks pretty hard to get to it.

next year, ill also try a steam clean to help my compression a bit and clean the seals.

i dont know what it could be other than that, hope ill be able to track my car next year.

so next year :

AP
BHR coils
Steam clean
spark plugs
check injectors
try to see if ssv opens ok
maybe fuel pressure guage
i aslo won some dyno runs, maybe ill be able to find whats wrong there.

there's one in the fuel pump assembly : http://www.mazdamaniac.com/images/rx...ain_filter.jpg

but the more i think about it, the more it could be injectors since the secondary injectors open about at that RPM

The bypass on the pump assembly is the fuel regulator.

Dumping injector cleaner in the tank will only clean the primary injectors unless you run the engine hard enough to also fire the secondary and P2 injectors for long periods of time, which pretty much requires a race track to accomplish

maybe this would help? http://kgparts.com/index.php?page=rx8modinject or getting new ones...where is the best deal for new ones?

anyway ill try to diagnostic better why its doing that instead of changing stuff

those modified injectors are for either a supercharger, turbo, or alcohol fuel application

stop assuming, you don't know if it is either too rich or too lean without a proper AFR reading

for starters, those are not the correct sparkplugs for a Renesis engine

Mazda changed the front cover in 2006, which enclosed the ESS per your marked up photo. You can spray the ESS down with a penetrating lube and see if it will slide out after a day or two. Otherwise, if the ESS is stuck you will need to drive it out with a hammer and a drift tool, but have a replacement in hand before you do. I have seen these get stuck before, might want to put a thin coating of grease on the side body and in the cover hole before installing the new one. Be sure to wipe off the excess after you install it this way.

If my injectors are bad, ill get new ones. ill have to get a better diagnostic first and anyway, my car is stored for winter. Ill get my AP soon, but wont be using it until next year.

my plugs are 9eix, i use em all over(trailing and leading), i change em every 10k km

i tried many times to remove my ESS, never been able to take it out, i letted sit some wd40 for a day and its still stuck in there. anyway i dont think its the problem, and also, its face is clean so i really doubt its the problem. it's pretty hard to reach too so make the job harder.

You are on diagnosis hunt and you need to eliminate all the variables before you can find the problem.

Without actually having OEM plugs and without having a properly installed ESS everything else is guess work.

Team is one guy who hates (HATES!) to throw money and parts blindly at a problem that has not been properly diagnosed.

So start with fixing the ESS, its a cheap enough part but will be hard to fix and install OEM plugs which are not that expensive either.
Get that AP installed to help diagnose the situation.

Then go from there...

NOTE:
It can be easier to reach the ESS from the top once you remove the Air Box and Intake tube.

your problem is obvious, good luck