oojimmyc

Well, I picked up the RX8 Friday late after having a Mishi Rad and Mazmart ReMedy water pump install. The engine runs super cool in traffic and on the Hiway now. However,(there is always a however) when I took it to the mountains things changed. It was running with A/C on at 203-212 degrees in traffic and on the road. When I started climbing the hills in 8-10% grades in third gear at around 4g rpm it started to get warm on me again. It reached 232 with A/C on and 225 with it off at the top of the mountain. The ambient temp was 80-85 degrees. I was concerned about this after all the work. I won't be climbing mountains with it very often. I'll wait and see what happens at 95 degrees ambient in traffic.

One thing that really pissed me off. I took it to Mazda of Lakewood 3 weeks ago and had a new thermostat installed. The tech told me the fans were working as advertised. He also took it in traffic and it never overheated. Shortly after that I had it at 240 degrees in traffic. Thats why the new rad and pump. The mech that I normally take all my jap cars to and that I trust said the primary fan was disconnected. Now tell me how a Mazda dealership tech can test the fans and say they are o.k. with one unplugged???? I called them back after discovering this and the tech swore they were working according to his computer. Someone is lying! My mechanic had no reason to say the fan was unplugged. He simply had nothing to gain from it. He hooked it up and it checked out o.k. This is the kind of **** that really pisses me off about dealerships.

Jedi54

iTrader: (7)

odd that you're seeing those kinds of temps.
I was out carving canyons today in almost 100° weather, LOTS of 2nd gear, 7500+ rpm driving and I barely touched 225 water temp. (bhr rad, mazmart pump and mazmart t-stat)

did you make sure to remove the foam off the oem radiator and glue it onto the Mishi?

oojimmyc

I thought it was odd too. The varying temps were interesting. The mech said the Mishi rad was a very tight fit. I told him to close all the gaps. It was all put together when I picked it up so I couldn't see. He had left for the day. I will speak to him tomorrow. I won't be carving canyons daily and I am somewhat pleased with the in-traffic temps. That was my biggest worry. I'll just keep driving it and see what happens. I'm taking it in to a different dealer next week to get the rearend damage done. I'm gonna have them do a compression test on it just to see if that has anything to do with it. I popped the clutch in the gravel at 6000K rpm one time and the rears locked up and were spinning until I hit the asphalt and they suddenly stopped spinning. I thought that was a little gutless of the motor. Maybe I should have popped the clutch at 7-8.5K and would have gotten a different result. I'm running Continentals on it. Whattaya think?

CRO8TIA

I'm a lil confused, you dumped it at 6k and the rears locked up and were spinning ? ,do you mean the LSD was working ? The 8 doesnt have a great amount of torque,and of course, the DSC was disabled ?

oojimmyc

Ya know, I simply didn't think of the DSC when I did it. I guess it's been on all the time. That would make a dif huh? You say your a little confused...Hell, I'm a lot confused!

EricMeyer

I would take a step back for a second for your own diagnosis (assuming you haven't already). Grab a flashlight and start looking all over the front of the car into the radiator opening, behind it, underneath it, etc.

Get your ducks totally in a row before you start your technical dialogue with the service manager or mechanic---those discussions are usually won by the those technical folks.

I think one thing I would do is run the car a bit and double confirm that the fan is working properly. This shouldn't be too hard. It could be as easy as blocking the front air opening with tape and driving around the block. Once the fans kick on you remove the tape and things are fine.

I would check your water level (again, you have already done this however double checking everything is really the smart way to go) so as not to appear like a goof ball back at your mechanic and/or not find the real root cause of your issue.

Your mechanic. I'm not sure how close your relationship is with your mechanic but I do know for a fact that some feel the need to justify service even if they can't figure things out. Why do I know this? Because I have mechanics that work for me and they get the jobs that the jr. mechanics botch or can't figure out. They are very good and they share these things with me. No disrespect to your guy. If it was the fans not properly hooked up then you should be fine and your high water temp issue is fixed.

Is it fixed?

bse50

If everything was installed properly you might understand why some radiators are more expensive than others

oojimmyc

bse50. I know what you mean. And Eric, I do trust my mechanic. The coolant level is dead on. I ran Z cars for lots of years and they worked on them and were always honest and up front with problems and recommendations. The price was right also. The primary fan is working now. My neighbor and I checked them out yesterday. Now that I can hear the primary fan I know it wasn't working before. There is a distinct different sound with both fans running also (A/C on). I never heard that sound before Friday when I picked up the car. No doubt in my mind my mech was right about the fan being disconnected. I tossed a paper towel up to the rad and it sucked it right up and held it. Interesting thing is according to the prior owner no-one has been that far down inside the engine compt to disconnect the fan. My mech said the fan plug was dirty like it had been unplugged for some time. I actually think I caught Mazda in a lie. That really bums me out. I'm also gonna do a compression check on it and see if I have any other problems. I'll let you guys know how it comes out. Thanks