wcs

iTrader: (2)

Your LTFT is plus 17 at idle?
If it's plus it means it's adding 17% fuel to maintain stoich ... I would say your car is running lean if you took the 17% away.
You might have a vacuum leak.

hocknscary87

i am having all these same problems, will the warranty cover it now or does it need to die first? i can't afford a rebuild or a new engine. ****

wcs

iTrader: (2)

Where do you live?
How old exactly is the car?
How many miles on the car?
Do you have receipts of your oil changes? (Sometimes not required but is very helpful to have, depends on dealer it appears)

Have you purchased any Rotary Karma lately?

hocknscary87

I have no idea what rotary karma is. the car is an 04. 76k miles on it almost, just started doing this maybe a month ago, changed the coils and plugs maybe two months ago. i did buy some aftermarket coils could that be the problem? i don't want to spend 130 on new ones just to realize it didn't fix anything. i have no receipts for oil changes but i don't believe that should matter considering the year and the consistency of this problem.

hocknscary87

i have noticed a decent loss in power recently tho so i'm suspecting i took too long to be concerned i may have low compression now which is just great. however it doesn't have too hard of a time starting, it started mostly after the people inspecting the car for state inspection flooded it out. mostly it just takes a few seconds but there were a few times where i had to try like 3 times to start it. i just got back from vacation in las vegas and spent money so now i'm stressing a bit haha

wcs

iTrader: (2)

Rotary Karma was a joke, sorry. You know what "Karma" is right? I think at some point every rotary owner wishes they could buy some good "Rotary Karma" ... anyway ... a fail on my part.

Then warranty varies on your location. If you are in the UK you are screwed.
If you live in Canada you might squeeze in.

The Canadian warranty is 96 months or 160,000 kilometers.
I "think" the US warranty is the same except 100,000 miles.

Aftermarket coils will not give you low compression numbers, but could make your car run poorly.

LOL you don't believe that oil receipts should matter. Dude I agree 100% but I've seen many a compliant and plea for oil receipts on this forum.

The following is quoted directly from the Canadian Rotary Engine Core Limited Warranty Information Card

4. Your Responsibilities:
Maintenance:
You are responsible for properly operating and maintaining your Mazda Vehicle in accordance with the instruction described in your Owners' Manual.

Maintenance Records:
You must retain maintenance records to show that required maintenance has been performed.
The "Scheduled Maintenance Record" on your Warranty Information booklet should be filled in when scheduled maintenance is performed. Keep all receipts and make them available in case question about maintenance arise.

Good luck dude.
Keep us posted.

hocknscary87

well i do change it every 3k-4k miles so i should be able to scribble that down in it a little bit. and i was just wondering if the aftermarket coils could of failed out that fast, i've only had them in for about 3k miles now and they are BSD coils. Apparently my rotary karma is fucked at the moment since my 2nd gear synchro is junk also haha. and thank god i live in Pa.

hocknscary87

or could having my CEL on due to my cat not existing cause this? cuz it seems these are the same symptoms for many different things. I'm checking my coils after work so i'm kind of hoping its that

hocknscary87

alright so i hopped in it today and had no issues with hot start. although i have noticed a trend. A guy i work with at the body shop said he noticed a lot of carbon build up on my exhaust tips and to check to see if its missing since it was flooded and then i told him it was doing it a little before that and that its hardest to start when the gas is close to E, and since i was close to it today i filled up and after that on my lunch break it was actually a little more difficult to start, and i know this all happened first when i literally just about ran out of gas trying to get the one kid i work with home before his house arrest time kicked on. everytime im close to E it starts hard on the first try or it takes 3. So I'm gonna change the fuel filter this weekend and check my plugs and coils since they shouldnt take long to get to and I'm pricing a compression test, even tho i squeeked the tires dropping from 4th to third today, which i am going to admit wasn't a good idea but i wanted to see what it was doing after i filled up but i shoulda just hammerd it in 4th cuz dropping to third it went up to 7 and although its not too close to redline, still makes me a little uneasy. But i feel the low compression would be more consistent and would not of lasted this long.

think these are some good steps to take before hitting the last resort?

Mr.Rx8alex

The rx8s has the fuel filter built in the fuel pump assembly so if you want your filter changed you'll have to buy a whole new one my car is hard to start up when hot too I'm wondering if its either vapor locked or a valve bleeding fuel before it reaches injectors

stinksause

iTrader: (5)

9/ 10 times ... hot starts are a sign your engine is going ... loss in compression. Go get compression tested.

In the meantime, I recommend you start premixing ... it will help with compression somewhat.

fuztupnz

iTrader: (4)

This isn't aimed at anyone in particular, but why doesn't anyone read the stickies and hundreds of threads on this subject. On top of that people love to go and start replacing parts and spending money instead of getting a compression test.

For the love of god, go get a compression test and see where your engine stands before dumping $300 or more on coils, plugs, wires, starters, etc. A reputable dealer should be in the $100-$150 range for the test. Seems like a no brainer to me. I dont' know why people are afraid to do it. The worse case scenario is that it fails. If you're under warranty still and have a paper trail for maintenance, you get a new engine. Doesn't seem like that bad of an investment. If it passes, you can now rule it out and spend the money needed for tune-up parts. So you're out and extra $100 bucks, but now you have the piece of mind that your ticking time bomb of an engine has some extended time on it. Worth it to me.

/Rant

PeteInLongBeach

There is no such thing as classic "vapor lock" on modern fuel injected cars. The mythical "valve bleeding fuel" *could be* a fuel pressure regulator, but this would be a very rare problem.

As previously mentioned, the most likely culprit is compression, then plugs/coils/wires, or weak starter.

04blue beauty

How many miles? Auto or 6speed? Do you run it to redline 1x/tank full, rotaries love the 'abuse' Could be cat.converter clogged? Do NOT use any synthetic fluids in this car! Temp sensor could be bad. I drive an 04w/<62k, have no issues except hard cold starts due to age

Tamas

iTrader: (1)

Don't listen to this advice.

Due to age?
That has nothing to do with hard cold starts.

maskedferret

iTrader: (1)

My oil supply was inherited from a generous stranger.
I make my own oil.
I found this huge stash of oil in my garage left from the previous owner.
... etc.

All theoretical but some more believable / plausible than others; how do you provide a receipt then? What is the established bare minimum burden of proof? I know it's beating a dead horse, but it's always nagged me at how warranty claims get hung up on "receipts". The requirement to maintain a log is quite vague. Receipts in the traditional sense are very fragile things that fade over time (oops!). Fortunately Mazda has (recently?) provided a means for logging oil changes online @ mymazda.com .

hocknscary87

Well all things considering I was gonna pull the fuel pump out but it turns out you need a special tool to pop out the white O ring so i feel its staying in, at least thats what i saw when i looked it up on google. so i am gonna try to de carb it, maybe that will do something. I am considering the compression test its only 110 here, but its not ever consistent. You would think it would happen everytime you the car warms up. but its not even every other time its like every 4 or 5 starts.

wcs

iTrader: (2)

Dude .. if you are going to do the Seafoam thing ...
Do the ATF thing as well

Both are hail Mary's but what the hell why not.
https://www.rx8club.com/series-i-tech-garage-22/another-how-fix-compressions-any-rotary-engine-atf-170689/

It didn't help my compression but I will swear the car ran better

hocknscary87

i mean i'm not doing it to help my compression, I'm doing it to try and clean up the injectors and the seals a little bit. I run a few ounces of seafoam in my bike every now and then so i already have it.

stinksause

iTrader: (5)

people are afraid of compression test just like people are afraid of AIDS test

hocknscary87

not afraid of it, just would rather spend 100 dollars on something else. I saw that fuels pumps aren't real reliable, 76k miles on the clock you think its time to check it? i saw on here that that could be a problem. that or the sock on the pump is filthy because it only has a real hard time when i'm low on gas.

stocky8

egg

Cliffjumper126

If you're having starting issues and you aren't past the warranty yet, then get a compression test!!!

jscott1985

Same here 04 with 104k I bought the car off a B LOT should have had a compression should test done before i bought the car but i didn't and I regret it because I went to start the car today after its been driven about 5 or 6 miles and it would crank but not start. after I got off work I went to start a car when it was cold and the car fired right up when I got home (10miles) turned the car off and when I tried to restart it it just cranks worse case scenario the engine is shot is it hard to re build your own motor ive worked on many cars in the past but never a rotory and I have about 3k as a budget.

Cliffjumper126

I couldn't tell you how hard it is because I've never done it, but there are some threads on this site that show you how to do it. Take a look and see if you can do it. There are also other options besides doing it yourself, e.g. places like Mazmart in Atlanta and Rotary Resurrection in east Tennessee that do high quality rebuilds. You can also get a "reman" engine from Mazda, but they are know to have quality control issues. Personally, I wouldn't buy one. Why spend at least $3k (if dealer puts it in too, it'll be $5-6k with labor) on an engine that may fail in 30k (could last longer) when you could spend $4-5k on an engine that will most likely last a long long time. Mazda only offers a 12m/12k warranty on their reman engines, so obviously they don't trust it either. Since you've rebuilt engines, I'm guessing you can remove and install the motor yourself and save yourself some serious dough. I have a reman with 48k and it already had entered low compression range at 30-35k, and is steadily getting worse. I'm not having starting issues yet, but my hot starts are getting longer and it's starting to shake more and more at idle. I'll be going to mazmart or RR next time for sure. You could also buy a low mileage used engine, but, again, it may not last long. No telling how long any engine will last, it's just a matter of probability :/
Some are just more likely to last longer than others

I would get a compression test before doing anything, though. It could just be a slow starter that's failing and/or a bad battery (04s had slower starters, mine did). Ignition system (coils, plugs, wires) could need replacing as well. Is the CEL on?