Matts Vos

So as title says. Garage i bought it wont pay repairs or take it back, no warranty what so ever. I'm still looking at legal options taking this to court.
2004 HP manual model, 80k KM import in 2005 from US probably(uneven radio freq, can change to mph ect)

Troubles were at first:

Bearings gearbox worn out (replaced whole GB for a 2nd hand one)
clutch plates worn out (replaced with new)
Loose spar plug, (wrong wrench, wire came off and it was rattling in the engine), result loss of compression, power and irregular idling. (replaced with 4x new spark plugs and wires, 2x coils too, other 2 were fine)
brakes were history (new brakepads and a LOT of rust)
oil pump leak (small)
250km max on a full tank
would max out at about 210 km/h


Got it fixed for 3200€ at mazda dealership

Finally after 3 weeks got it back (I still had my other car so could get around, said they didn't need to rush it, saved me on labour)

Now new problems
No hot start. It cranks, but I noticed a lot slower then at cold(hope its a bad starter..but why didn't it do this before repairs? It took slightly longer then at cold but it did start)
Fuel-ish smell inside the car after it has been sitting for some time (cat probably f*cked from the unburnt fuel?)
Mazda also said the CEL is most likely broken since it didn't came on ever, maybe it was messed with by the previous owner to sell the car since it should have with the spark plug issue and bad mpg)
Still pretty bad mpg compared to normal for the rx8 (200km with 50% gone, gently warm up, redline once every cold start and for the rest no hard driving)
Now maxes out at 195 km/h ???

Also didn't mention it the first time i brought it in but the car has tendency to pull left or right pretty hard when the road has "trails" from heavy use. Much more then any other car i've droved. This also happens occasionally on higher speeds (about 150 and up) when the road is fine and i have to hold on to the wheel with both hands to keep it straight, and i'm not exactly a skinny guy...
It's not side wind ether..


Thanks for any input/advice

gfailure

I am not as experienced nor as technically adept as some other people here, but after reading this forum quite a lot and with my still limited experience with the 8, maybe I can try and offer my 2 cents in this.

Regarding your new problems and assuming your old ones are gone, hot start issues might come from a bad starter, but did you have a compression test done? That can probably reveal a lot. Also, might want to check your battery and the Amps it develops along with how old it is.

You also mentioned low mileage, but for the sake of silly math, if you have 200km on half a tank and we assume similar driving and whatnot, we can (not) safely guess that you will get around 400km in a full tank. If I'm not mistaken, that's around the normal mileage for an 8. If that's still low mileage for you, maybe you just went for the wrong car. Rx8s do have a drinking "problem" and no amount of AA will help them.

For the fuel smell and low max speed, I will throw a guess and that's what it only is so don't take it at all seriously, take it more like a case of "maybe it's a place to check also" but maybe a bad or leaky fuel pump or injectors could account for both these effects no?

The pulling left and right could be as simple as wheel alighment or bad suspension?

Regarding the low mileage you mentioned as old problem, and this comes from personal experience, on my 8, which is the same year and model as yours, only it's blue so it has 15HP more :P, I have low mieage aswell, (250KM per tank) and when we got the car up to check something else under it, we found the the previous mechanic who worked on it, probably won a Nobel stupidity prize, as the catalyst was in the wrong place after both O2 sensors, which means the car is running apeshit! That can cause low mileage so, though I like to believe that there aren't so many stupid mechanics out there, you might want to check that too since it won't really cost anything.

Bladecutter

Matts Vos,

Welcome to the forum.
Read this thread:

https://www.rx8club.com/new-member-forum-197/new-potential-owners-start-here-202454/

Replace the other two ignition coils, replace the starter, inspect the catalytic convertor for damage internally, and then get a compression test. Since your car was running so bad for so long, you probably lost compression in your motor, and are in need of a rebuilt engine.

That's what you get for buying a used car with no service records, nor any research on the car you are buying.

BC.

Matts Vos

@Gfailure thanks, will def let the battery get looked at, the display lights do flicker a bit when its beeing cranked, but as my previous car does this too with a brand new battery i thought it was normal.
I let my nose sniff inside the car again after it has been sitting while i was at work and I am now thinking its more the leather giving this smell.. (they did said the leather was treated with some stuff to keep it in good condition)

Whoa easy there , I appreciate your comment but please don't think I didn't do my homework. I've read through this forum for 3 weeks before I bought it. (And yes I've readed the thread "new and potential owners start here" more then once.)

The service records were fine, to me it seemed at least. Regular service on oil & filters. Sparks, wires and coils were all replaced at 33k and checked again at 74k (that where they prob screwed it in too tight). The test drive went fine, no funny noises, no loss of power no nothing, it was an amazing car. Note I've never drove, owned or even touched an RX8 before this one, so my knowledge on "appears fine" was still limited, and that's what cought me. The trouble started at day #2 when I had it and when I called back they told me to let it get checked by mazda, so I did. Mazda E-mailed me the costs and I called the garage again and explained and said what the costs were going to be. The answer of them basically was "Go F*ck yourself, its your problem now"

The reason I created a new thread is that I cant find anyone with all the symptoms I described above combined. I think its very odd that I got new spark plugs, new wires and 2 new coils and the car decides it wont fire up warm anymore and give up at 190 instead of 205 before.


Getting 2 other coils (can you combine mazda's coils with other brand ones or is that not recommended?), the 2kW starter and after that a compression test and if the cat is history i'll probably replace it with an aftermarket since 2k for a new one is way beyond i can afford right now..

cheers