Based on the teardown pictures posted on these boards, you might as well break this new one in with 5w20 then switch to pure synthetic. The teardown pics I saw of one guy who ran RP for 47000 miles with a turbo showed no wear whatsoever!

 

Yeah the reputation cost is high because although I like the new RX-8 I'm not sure I would want to mess with one again when there are other vehicles to choose from. Of course each person has had their own experience but the problems with tail lights, visors, engines, fuel tank, heater, starters, alternators, coils, fuel pumps, etc. is just too much at times for a $30,000 car. I am a car guy and I didn't expect a perfect relationship with a rotary equipped car and this car is 85% perfect but the common problems are just a bit much for me at times.

Plus I bought a brand new MPV mini van here at work a couple years ago and it has not held up well (rides rough, interior bits falling apart already, tranny problems) considering the Toyota Sienna we own has had almost 300,000 trouble free miles and is 9 years old. I think Mazda is great in a lot of areas, they just need to fine tune some others in terms of parts suppliers and quality. My MS Protege was a great reliable car and so have my dads Miata's. But, we will see how the Renesis II's fair, maybe Mazda finally got it right.

 

Not to say that there isn't something wrong, but how long does the car warm up before the redline session? My GTI came with an oil cooler and oil temp gauge stock and it was quite surprising how long much longer it took for the oil temp to come up than the water temp.

 

You are concerned about Mazda's reputation?

That is why you have an 8 year warranty.

Go and buy a Porsche and see what happens when the engine expires at 30,000.
Or a 09 Subaru with engines have not lasted 150 miles!. Or a Nissan that drinks more oil then any rotary ever would.

ALL makes have engine issues....

 

Too be honest I always warm my car up before heading out but I only go by water temp and honestly I'm not far from the freeway and I always run through the gears to get up to merge speed due to the short on ramp. I usually let the water temp get to 150 at least before pulling away from my driveway and I never shut my car off cold.

i will have to research to find out what the best options are for getting an oil temp guage.

 

Strictly speaking, this is not true.
Mazda's "compression test" consists of hooking up a vacuum gauge to a running motor.
Incomplete combustion could cause a failure of this test.
A proper compression test - where they actually measure the pressure in each chamber - is no longer recommended or carried out by Mazda stealerships.

 

Wow, really? Good info.

 

Why?

 

Could you explain? I would figure, no matter how poorly you were combusting, if you were at a particular RPM with a VE that was rather constrained (as it is at a relative low RPM) that you would have a specific flow through the tb and hence a specific speed through the tb to act on the venturi.


That is not to say that I havent noticed that at a particular rpm, when the car runs rich with a light bog, that the vac falls. I just dont understand why this would be?

(My vac at idle is running in the high 14"Hg-low 15"Hg when hot. I am wondering if it is a heat sensitive vac leak at the injectors (rpms race slightly with carb cleaner when blasted on top of the injectors and there is a reed like sound isolated to this area.) I have had to stop tuning 'til I figure it out. I haven't checked the compression yet, despite the fact I have my brand new tester sitting in the garage. )

 

The amount of air drawn in is directly affected by combustion.
Bigger boom, bigger suck.
Mish-mosh of reasons - carry-over charge, lower temp differential, wash-down, etc. - but the net result is lower vacuum.
Mazda recognizes this and its the reason they swap coils before resorting to an engine replacement.

 

what I meant is --- when you test compression numbers, you dont need coils. (proper way)

I know about that part (the incomplete combustion would cause a failure --)

dunno why Mazda not doing it anymore tho, maybe people can't read for ****, doing it wrong(the test) all the time and send good motors to rebuild ?

 

I am convinced many engines were changed in the early days that did not require them to be.....because Dealers and Distributors were not recognizing failed ignition coils.
Poor starting or no firing in any rotary is a sign of bad compressions/blow-by/seal leakage/coolant entry.

Having said that both types of condition testing whether it be by Vacuum or a PSI Tester will highlight some failure with "seals".

Which is the "better" type of test???, perhaps Vacuum is the easiest as RPM can influence a PSI test if it is not calculated correctly...ie. Human error.

EDIT: And not many dealers have the expensive mechanical PSI Testers, the vacuum one is the simplest and cheapest to perform.
Years ago here Dealers would borrow the Mazda Tester from the Distributor to test an RX-7 engine.

 

It takes too many billable hours and a more expensive piece of equipment with too many variables to do a proper compression check.
The current check can be done on a hot motor with a cheap sensor in 1/2 hour, requires no interpolating and doesn't depend on starter speed. The plugs stay in, the car stays off a lift that could otherwise be making money and Mazda doesn't care if the motor is making power. They only care that it isn't gonna die and become a liability.

 

Good explanation, all they wanna know is if the engine needs to be replaced.

 

yeah ... I got that vacuum tool too, it is a much easier tool to use ...

its just that I never know what's the value for passed/failed.

do ya know ?

 

Actually called "Engine Vacuum Voltage Test", I guess you have seen the TSB "nycgps"?,
I cant see any reference values, perhaps Kevin may tell?

http://www.finishlineperformance.com...4-08-1924g.pdf


Engine Vacuum Voltage Tester #N3M1-18-791

 

exactly. The reputation cost is the biggest cost Mazda has to pay. This cost may be so large sometimes that may enforce the shutdown of a production line.

 

As I wrote before reputation cost may be responsible for lowering the rotary cars sales. This in future may be a problem of continuing the rotary production. Mazda could reduce the reputation cost by swapping renesis I to renesis II.

And in Greece we have only 3 years warranty or 62000 Km. And the dealers will not replace your engine under warranty if you have installed an aftermarket exhaust.

 

What do you want Mazda to go broke?
As I said go buy a Porsche..they walk away from their customers with no help.

...."enforce the shutdown of a production line" HUH?.

The RX-8 is only made at Mazda in Hiroshima on a line where the MX-5, Mazda 2, CX-7, CX-9, MPV and 8 come off, 8 production is so small it has little effect of their "production line"...on average about 30 a day.

In Australia we only have a 3 year warranty also.

LUCKY U.S.A ..

 

^ ok you have a point. I do not actually mean to shut down the entire production line. Just to stop producing RXs.

I wish I had the money to buy a carrera 911 and stay totally unsupported from dealer

 

Yep, thats the tool I got

and when I play it with my multi-meter, I see some value, but I have no idea what is good or not ...

 

Don't feel left out, the dealership doesn't what the values mean either.

 

I have been looking at FSM and the TSBs ... nothing.

Maybe Kevin knows ?

 

We could guestimate what is good and what is not, but Mazda does not release the number.
The mech calls it in to the Tech Line and gets a go or no go. They do no publish a number.

Its just a vacuum gauge and its output is known (its the exact same sensor that is used as your BARO sensor).
It would be easier to just put a mechanical gauge on.

The test is fairly involved and requires control over the OMP to run correctly. Anyone with an AccessPORT could do the test correctly.

 

You should be able to purchase AMSOIL Saber Pro locally.