Jpayne00

Hi everyone, this is my first time posting on rx8 club. I recently bought a 2004 rx8 for a a decent price. I knew when I bought it that the clutch was shot. Replaced the clutch, pressure plate, throwout, everything went fine.

Now onto the problem. The car is a 2004 Rx8 6speed with 130k miles. The car only starts when cold, will not idle on its own. if i want to start it hot i must find a hill or some loyal buddies to push. I did manage to drive it close by my house for 20-30 miles the whole time not letting the car idle down to nothing. I feel that the car has bad compression, the plugs, coils, wires are all new. I confirmed the coils are operational by using a timing gun. I tried sea foam with 2oz to each rotor housing. I asking for help to see if there is anything left to try before i take the motor out. if the car would idle and start while hot it would be fine to drive. From what i've read this is signs of bad compression, The car pulls and drives fine when up to speed. What should I try next?

If the rotors and housings are in good condition may i just out new apex seals in to bring the compression back up? how much would this cost?

Any help is greatly appreciated

StealthTL

iTrader: (1)

Nope, it's new motor time.

An apex seal job by a competent rotary tech will be in the same ballpark as fresh motor.

nycgps

iTrader: (1)

'it's going to cost you at l LEAST 3-4 grand, might as well buy a Reman, rebuild it and install

Carbon8

iTrader: (4)

Why wouldn't he just rebuild the one he has , no need to buy a reman just to rebuild it. Just get yours rebuilt, by a reputable shop and be done with it.

Cliffjumper126

You could always get a compression test, to confirm it. I would want to anyway, so I don't spend 3-4 grand on something that isn't the problem. Upload some pics of the car!

Lvis

ever consider a 13b fd swap? sure its more $ but well worth it at the end

200.mph

iTrader: (9)

that swap will cost 2x as much as the car is worth fyi

Lvis

i was under the assumption it wasnt that bad. They have swap kits mod edit: banned vendor link removed and u can still retain the ecu. I know it will need better cooling but if the swap will be stock turbo set up then i imagine it wouldnt be that much of a deal. Im doing research on this myself so im not fully informed about the subject

Carbon8

iTrader: (4)

Ever consider staying out of a thread you give advice that is either wrong or completely irrelevant to the grand scheme of the topic

200.mph

iTrader: (9)

a good fd engine swap will need a rebuilt engine, ditch the stock pos twins (idk if they would fit anyway), lots of skill, custom work, supporting mods, electronics, ect. ~$10-20k depending how much you could do yourself. its been done before so please search for those threads. if it was cheap and easy at least half of us would have done it

Lvis

ok thanks im going to do more research into it. Theres a shop in NY thats done a few of them already so ill have to pick his brain

reddozen

iTrader: (1)

OEM remans are questionable quality. You may get a dud that only lasts 10k miles, or it may be fine, and this $3~$4k number that keeps floating around is ridiculous. That would make since if you were wanting all new housings, and the shop to pull and replace the engine.

New housings for a basic daily driver / weekend warrior SCCA driver, are not necessary if the housing are within Mazda spec tolerances. (You would get reused housings in a Mazda OEM reman too).

If you're willing to pull the motor yourself, strip it down and deliver/ship it, Rotary Resurrection can rebuild it for $1400 (doesn't include shipping) assuming that there's no damage to the hard parts etc. I would guess it would be about $300 round trip shipping. Kevin has some shipping contacts and may be able to get you a better deal.

You should give Kevin a call and see what he can do for you, and check out his site to see his detailed pricing.
Rotary Resurrection home of the budget rebuild.

Jpayne00

I will not buy a reman, I read and the tolerances and building procedures are not up to my standards. I can rebuild the engine myself if it comes to that. I found a engine with all components and tranny for 2k with 57k miles. He said i can come and drive it and he will pull the engine out, he is wanting to do some type of swap. here is a pic of the car and compression test.



switched the leads to verify



what was left of the old clutch

Jpayne00

My next question is if the rotor housing are in good condition may I just replace the apex seals? what do i need to look for? where is the best place to buy parts and are reasonable? as you can tell by the compression test only one rotor is bad, could I just replace the seals on that side? Thanks for any help

Carbon8

iTrader: (4)

Partially replacing seals is asking for a blown engine, do it right or don't do it. Seals should never be reused.

This post also begs to ask, are you sure you know what you are doing? I ask out of concern as even the most knowledgeable piston motor builds can't built a rotary worth a damn. The seal kit and new parts needed alone doing it yourself only saves a couple hundred bucks why risk it.

Jpayne00

This housing is considered non-usable?


Only bad spot

j9fd3s

yep, pic #2, its done

Jpayne00

Thanks for the input, trying to figure out What route to take in fixing this thing.

Jpayne00

found a engine imported from japan with low miles. any suggestions when starting the engine that has been sitting for a long period of time? put oil in housing? prime any lines? thanks for the help

DMaverickRX8

iTrader: (1)

Subbing

Jpayne00

Any help?

dannobre

iTrader: (3)

New oil...disconnect the ESS and crank it till you build some oil pressure. ..replug sensor snd start it. Use chesp oil and change it aftera few hundred miles or so

1oz per gal of premix wouldnt hurt either

Jpayne00

Here is the engine I had imported from Japan. Has 30k miles and I lucked up it has brand new coils, plugs and wires along with a racing clutch and light weight flywheel. Engine is in great condition!

Jpayne00

Mounted the engine tonight, hopefully will be able to finish everything up this weekend.

Carbon8

iTrader: (4)

5 speed or 6?