Your mechanic might be right. Have your coolant system pressure tested and if you really want clarification, have your oil tested for the presence of coolant.

There is that echo again :) . 9k, did we actually agree on something ?

Head Gasket?

'rotary equivalent of a head gasket'

Housing to irons 'O' rings melt, usually from overheating.

From Rotary Resurrection's page (the link I posted):

Coolant seals in a rotary function much the same as a head gasket in a piston engine, but this failure in a rotary requires full teardown. This can allow coolant to enter the combustion chamber, and compression pressure to enter the coolant system and cause excess pressure and overheating.

These are your symptoms, and now you have a hard start issue. Notice the part that says "requires a complete teardown". rebuild minimum, new motor likely.

i got a rx8 04 and is overheating i already change the thermostat, water pump and i don't know whats else can be wrong with my car,,can somebody help me out with this????

Yes, search and learn about your cars cooling system. There are many threads on this subject. Start with the new owners thread.

I am my self heading out to the mechanic tomorrow to get my cooling system checked as well, due to a leak I notice friday that is coming from the hose that connects in to the water pump, before I start having this issues some of you guys are having, I havent felt any loss of power tho, will keep you post it.

any news from the OP?

Got the leak fix, it was the lower radiator hose that was about to explode,did a check of all my other hoses and they look good still, however with the car reaching 80k and being 8 years old I will be replacing them within the next 6 months.

Well guys, after starting this thread and doing further research I slowly started to realized I was screwed. Was in denial for a little bit, but meh, what can I do? So I buckled down, worked 6 days a week, sold some stuff I had laying around thinking I could rebuild the car. I get the car towed to the shop and after about a week with no response I called, and they said oh yea the 8 it's fixed. Huh really!? I know for sure the engine over-heated so the 1st thought that came to my mind was these guys won't be able to rebuild my car or they are trying to rip me off! Was my initial thoughts anyway. Still thinkin about it while I drove down there in my '90 F250 (only 109k miles) and after a lot of walking around and thinking I finally traded the 8 and the F250 in for a '11 Nissan Altima coupe 6spd :)

Ya I know, it's not an 8 and I will miss the hell out of that car. I really loved it..my friends here thought it was weird the amount of attention I gave to that car. I still wish I was paying more attention to the temp gauge, but by the time I saw it hot, it was well over the halfway point. I recommend anyone who owns an 8 to get an aftermarket temp gauge of some kind, hopefully with some kind of alarm or sound lol BEFORE the breaking point.

Dunno if I'm allowed to do this here, but I do have a lot of parts for sale for the car if anyone is interested. Everyone here on the forums were very supportive and have helped me out in the past when I needed it. If anyone is interested in any of these parts, feel free to send me a PM.

All these parts are brand new still wrapped in original packaging, all unopened

Coolant Reservoir w/sensor - $130
Agency Power sway bar front - $180
Agency Power sway bar rear - $160
Agency Power links front - $160
Agency Power links rear - $140
D2 Racing Coilovers - $1000
BHR Midpipe - $495

If anyone is interested in any of this pls send me a pm and I'll give you my # and we can talk. I will pay for shipping for any item up to $50 bucks. If your 8 is Titanium Gray, and you get any one of these parts, let me know and I'll throw in touch up paint and some decals.

Engine coolant spilling
 

Hi I am new hear and I recently bought and rx8, yesterday actually. I bought the car in Florida off Craigslist and planned on driving across the us to Wisconsin. I had a really Somali problem to yours. I was driving after staying one night in Georgia, and about 9-10hrs into my trip I noticed the car started loosing power at really high rpms. I drive a 2005. Around 4-5k the car started to loose power and so I decided to drive nicely from then on. (The day before this wasn't happening and I could give it gas and it would keep going). I made it to Tennessee and I started driving it a lot fast around turns cause I was bored and I liked how it handled. Then all of sudden the coolant light came flashed then came on. I rerouted my destination to pull off to an auto zone and get coolant and when I got there and turned off my car it was steaming in the front when I opened the hood the coolant resevour was steaming, I took the cap off, looked on the ground and there was a huge puddle, like all the coolant leaked out onto the ground. I left it there and now I'm staying in a hotel waiting until tomorrow and will get it towed to a Mazda mechanic cause I don't have any other options and auto zone won't lend pressed checkers. I know a decent amount about cars and rottery engines. I haven't experience much or any loss of power besides that and still ran good up until I parked it and turned it off. The heat temp gauge barely moved past its usual a little less then half way mark and I drive it 15 mins at high way speeds 75-80mph it's the light on. What could be the problem? Leaky radiator? Hoses? It was getting dark so I could see much. But I noticed a puddle on the left side under the resevour and the over flow hose is on the right side but may have just spilled over to the other side. Also, the under plastic of my car in the front that protects it is starting to wear off and there is a arm or two gap in it (I have it tied up rn) but that could have caused a rock to hit something?

Rotary Resureection is in TN - give them a shout over email.

Hours of Operation:

MON - FRI:
1pm-8pm EST

SATURDAY:
1pm-4pm EST

SUNDAY:
CLOSED

Location:
Rotary Resurrection is located in Morristown, TN, 1 hour east of Knoxville.

Visitors:
I work from home in a residential area so storage and parking space is very limited. Sometimes my work schedule varies and I may be in and out during the day running errands etc. For these and other reasons, all visits and repairs are done on an appointment only basis. Please contact me via email to set this up, and I will forward address and directions information to you after an appointment is set.


Email Address:
kevin@rotaryresurrection.com

Rotary Resurrection home of the budget rebuild.