excessive eccentric shaft play
 

Hey guys this is my first post, I just bought an 04 automatic grey rx8 for my girl friend. We have had the car for about 2 weeks now. She has absolutely fell in love with the car. until the other day... The bolt that holds the tension on the idler pulley for the ac belt broke so I went to the local hardware store and got a bolt to fix it. After examining the car I found that the crank pulley was wobbling pretty bad, So i figured that it had a balancer in it (very new to the rotary) I took everything out so that I could get to it when I did I found the I could grab the pulley and move the e-shaft a good 1/4 inch, so...... the car has been sitting in the garage for a few days now. I have been waiting on a few dealers to see if they could get it in for warranty but the car is 3 months out and no one wants to pull a few strings for me. Has anyone ever seen this? I can't really find any info on it. Someone please point me in some kind of general direction. Im guessing it is just a thrust bearing or washer??? Is it just going to be something that can be replaced by only taking off the front cover or is the entire engine going to need to be disassembled. I'm running on a tight budget so if I could get some help I would like to do it myself or if anyone knows someone located in the central KY area I've got about a 500 budget to try and get this thing going. I would greatly appreciate any type of information on this. Thanks in advance.

Not good.....any way you look at that it is new engine time.. :(

it runs perfect though, it actually has no sort of knock what so ever... no chance of just replacing a thrust bearing or....???????

there are thrust bearings, but like what dan said you may want to look in rebuilding the engine and see what cause the bearings to go out.

any idea of where i could get it worked on near central ky anyone???

Search for Rodney Jones on craigslist. He is in Louisville. Good mechanic, gets it done quick.

and he will come to you if you need him to.

You can crack open the front cover while it sits in the engine.

I would advise taking off the oil pan and removing the front cover some say you can leave the oil pan on.

Once the front cover is removed you will need to work on removing the front stack, there isn't much work involved but it is easy to fuck up.

If you have a space to work on the car and have done significant work on a car before it shouldn't be hard to do. If all you have done is change spark plugs and the oil I'd recommend getting a mechanic that knows how to wrench on a rotary.

I have quite a bit of experience, I have a built h22 that I put together and turboed but no experience on the rotary, I'm gonna take a stab at it when I can get some time off. Just stay up to date on here for me if you guys don't mind and I'll post pics with any queastions. and pray for me that it is something that can just be taken care of in the front cover.

Excellent you should be good to go then.

happy hunting sir.

Well the car has been setting for a month because I've been so busy with work and school. I finally took a day off and got into it. I've got what seems to be all the bolts out and the oil pan off but I can't get the front "plate" or whatever its called off. I figured a few good tugs from each side would bring it off but it's not... should I have to beat it with a mallet or is there any bolts that are hard to see?

Attachment 229396

The front cover will not come off until you remove the front pulley boss. you will need to lock the flywheel in place, you can do that by placing it in 1st gear. that front bolt has about 450 ft lbs of torque on the bolt and requires some muscle to get off. Also you should order a new front main seal that bitch is leaking hardcore.

I already have the hub loose, there is plenty room for the plate to come off. I was just leaving it there to catch the plate when it broke loose.

and I will definitely take care of the oil leak

excellent if the hub is loose whats holding you up is the oil pan, that silicone seal is a bitch and half to remove.

There's a corner that has a depression in it enough to fit a small tool it. I used a stiff Spackle knife to break the seal.

I already have the oil pan off as well.

Doesn't the AC Compressor have to be off too? I'll have to go look.

FYI, here's a link to the factory service manual: M A Z D A

the compressor has one bolt going from the side.. its off

Thank you very much for the manual hiflite, i've been trying to find one for a while now

Remove all the bolts and pulley boss and everything, double check that you have every bolt out some are hidden.

Once you confirm all that give it a little love tap with a mallet.

well guys the thrust bearing is good, I'm guessing that maybe it somehow has the wrong spacer that bolts on next to the thrust bearing. Is this possible?? Here are some pics of the e shaft pushed in and then pulled out.. showing how much play it hasAttachment 229354
Attachment 229355

Ouch. Time to pull that baby.

I've heard of people talking about spacers, is that the part that bolts in with 3 bolts right next to where the thrust bearing is.

HOLY SHIT...

Dude I dunno what happened there but those spacers only change by thousands of an inch not a 1/4 inch.

Something is incredibly fubar in that thing.

I was thinking earlier and I don't think it had a thrust washer... how big is the washer on these things??

holy F ! something is seriously wrong with that ! PULL IT !

there should be 2 torrington bearing, thrust plate between the 2 bearing, a Big plate to cover it, and a spacer right at the center.

but either way ! it shouldn't have THAT MUCH free play ! wtf ? I can't imagine ...

The front stack consists of 2 needle bearings, thrust plate, the spacer/collar, and another washer type deal. but even it you stacked together it wouldnt equal that much play.

I'm thinking of some really cool things that could cause it but none of them really make much sense. Like the e shaft snapping in half, the flywheel bolt breaking off.

Even if you replaced every component in that stack you still could be looking at engine issues. Plus you wouldn't solve the underlying issue.

That thing is fucked.

yea its wild and the craziest thing is that it ran perfect, no noise at all... I'll get it all pulled apart and get some pics, thanks for the not so great sounding comments guys lol

LOL no worries! Keep us updated this is very interesting.

I just wanted to post a thank you for putting up the manual. Im prepping to do a full motor rebuild and a turbo install and i couldn't find this damn manual to save a chickens life. Anyway. Thanks a bunch. i'll be watchin this thread as it plays out. Their is nothing in my head that is making sense for his issue aside from mabye a spacer is missing?

Um, once you removed the front bolt, the shaft is free to move and that play is normal. You need to read the manual to figure out how to reassemble the front stack properly. and tighten the bolt to measure endplay. Endplay should be around 1.5-3 thou. Make sure you understand how the front stack works before doing anything or you might damage the needle bearings. Rebuilding the motor has nothing to do with the front stack.

thewird