My friend’s 04 manual RX8 could not crank at all.. He called Mazda dealer . The mechanic came and found the engine to have low compression. Oil was added to the engine. It worked. The engine started and the exhaust emitted a lots of white fume.

My friend insisted the car to be towed away to the Mazda dealer but mechanic persist to drove the car to the dealer . Later, my friend was told that from the header to the catalytic converter was smoldering & burning red thus resulting burnt carpet and melting rubber under the gear stick (dunno the mechanic word).
According to the dealer my friend need to change the coil, spark plugs, carpet & gear stick. The Mazda dealer admitted their mechanic’s fault and willing to bear half of the expenses cause by the smoldering header and catalytic converter. While the coil & spark plugs remain my friend’s expense.

Have anyone in this forum experience this before?? I’ve searched but found nothing similar to this problem at all…….

What other things that might have been damaged due to the smoldering header & catalytic converter? Hope to hear from you guys soon…

 

Sounds like a clogged catalytic converter to me. Thats why all the heat built up.

Possibly caused by the oil added to increase the compression.

 

Thx bro for the quick reply...
In that case. the catalytic converter needed to be replaced too i reckon...

 

if the compressin the engine were low and he's still under warranty, he should also be getting a replacement engine. i presonally feel that if the dealer were at fault, they should bear the entire expense of replacing any damaged materials caused by the converter melting..if they feel that they caused that..which a little oil in the engine shouldnt cause a converter to plug.

 

Thx for the input..
He is out of his warranty already as in our country warranty only up to 3 years or 100.000 km...

What other things might be affected or damaged by the burnt header & catalytic converter?? like fuel pump, the wiring, etc etc need to be replaced?? need to hear more input of what other components possibly damaged by this burnt..

 

Your friend should pay for an engine if the compression is too low. The plugs and coils are consumable items, so your friend would have to pay for those too. The header, cat & carpet were damaged due to the negligence of the dealers mechanic, so they should cover that.
If they are willing to cover half of the cost of the total repairs (minus the plugs & coils), I would think your friend would come out ahead (if this includes the engine replacement).
The only thing, that I can think of, that may have been affected by this would be the O2 sensor. The heat may have damaged that or it's associated connecting wire. There is one in the header and one in the cat.

 

Thx Bro Alnielsen.. That's a very helpful input... I'll inform him abt the 02 sensor..

 

about low engine compression.. Is it really necessary to get engine replacement??

 

yes it is. if the compression is low, the engine is on its way out. replace it before it leaves your friend stranded.

 

not if the low number was a result of flooding. when the car is flooded it washes the oil away so the sealing is less an d compression is less. after the flood was fixed the test should be done again.

is this car in the usa?