Well I have a myriad of small annoyances that don't affect the overal enjoyment of the car. I bought it in January and haven't had a chance to get it looked at.

1.) The air conditioning makes a rapid clicking when turned on. It sounds like someone stuck a playing card in their bicycle spokes like we used to do when we were little, except it is very rapid. Also the air has to be turned on max setting to get any decent air flow. The "wind noise" sounds like it is pumping out tons of air, but that is not the case. Not sure this is normal, but I did read that the AC system isn't very good on these cars.

2.) My horn quit working after a long period of my car alarm going off. Checked the fuses and nothing seems to be amiss. Not sure if I need a new horn of what it takes to bring it back to life.

3.) My windshield sprayer does not work. Checked the lines as best I could and did not find any leaks. Still have to check to see if I can hear the motors when I try to use it.

4.) My steering wheel controls (radio & cruise) do not work. The steering wheel also is crooked. Tried the steering wheel fix but doesn't work. Again no fuses seem to be blown. It was suggested that the air bag was deployed at some point and the steering wheel was put back on incorrectly. I checked the carfax and it seems the car was in a fender bender at 5 miles

5.) My TCS and traction control are always off. Very occupationally the lights will not be on the dashboard for a trip. Then they come back on indicating they are not working as soon as I start the car up again.

6.) The radiator stays on sometimes up to 30 mins after I turn the car off. I live in Vegas so I assume it's just the heat. The car does not overheat at all. Just verifying it's not an issue.

7.) Lastly, it seems that when I hit around 3000 miles after an oil change I can smell gas in the cabin, my oil light comes on, and my gas mileage decreases. I assume my car is eating oil. If so is that common on the rotary engine?

Thanks for all your help!

 

1. Could be low on freon.
2. Check the horn relay.
3. Is there fluid in the reservoir?
6. If you are refering to the fans, that is normal.
7. Well they do use oil!

 

1. Would that have any effect on the clicking noise and lack of air flow? It is plenty cold enough, just doesn't move a lot of air.

2. Cool I will check it out.

3. Yes

6. Yes mean't to put radiator fan. Just wanted to make sure.

7. That seems to me that it's burning a lot of oil, but again not sure if that was normal for rotary motors.

 

1. change your cabin filter, it should move much better, and have the refrigerant checked also

3. Let us know if the motor actually comes on when you hit the button

4. the steering wheel will probably have to be pulled and straightened, have an alignment shop do this so you dont end up with a steering wheel that'll turn more one way then another, haha (but you need to pull it off to plug in the controls for radio/cruise)

5. is there maybe a short in the dsc/trac control button?

6. 30 mins seems too long, (i'm in vegas also, and mine will go for about 5 mins after a drive it hard)
7. 3000 miles without topping off your oil would lead to a light. I'm not sure about the smell or mpg, though.

 

welcome to real world.

 

7. Also check your fuel pump for a leak at the outlet.

 

Could be some debris in the ducts. Dried leaves can jam up against the blower vanes and make the noise you mention. Check the cabin air filter too.

 

So I am unable to hear the wiper sprayer motors whine when I try to wash my windshield. Are the motors bad? Bad fuse or a short?

 

4 and 5 are related. if the steering wheel is not on correctly the DSC gets bad input . the pcm will figure out that something is wrong and shut the system off

 

don't assume anything

 

I gotcha with the never assume comment (I try and live by that rule in the software support world)

I would think that a crooked steering wheel means the car needs an alignment or something is bent/broken, no?

edit:
#7 has me shaking my head. You do check the oil level before 3000 miles don't you?!?!? The smell of gas would be a coincidence, I would check for a fuel leak.

 

Not sure this got mentioned but the Rx8 injects oil into the engine to keep it nicely lubed up. You need to top up the oil every couple of times you fill up the fuel tank. I also add a little bit of oil/premix (I used 2-stroke oil but you should use a colourless oil) to the fuel as it makes the engine run much smoother especially at higher revs.

 

No why should I? I've never had to before. I have primarily owned nothing but mustangs and didn't change my oil until 6,000 miles and never had issues with oil levels.

Ah that makes sense and why the oil level drops. Thanks for the tip.

 

Since you didn't know that bit of basic rotary tech, perhaps it might be useful to read up on more of the basics about the RX-8 here: https://www.rx8club.com/new-member-forum-197/new-potential-owners-start-here-202454/

Just a tip, I don't mean any offense.

 

Cool thanks! Non taken. I didn't know rotary's were THAT much different. I will read it thoroughly.