Success! It took a few tries to get them to all to seat in place. (the first time I did it on the old engine, they went in first try - beginners' luck)

It runs like a real car [It took me a few stop lights to stop blipping the throttle, it's become such a habit]

Lessons learned: Ask for help sooner; don't take anyone's word that things were done right; stay with the logical process.

Again, thanks for the guidance.

 

I'm very happy to see it worked out for you!
I'd add to your caveat and say: "Don't take any mechanic's word that it was done right".
There are, unfortunately, way more bad mechanics than good ones. I've been lucky to know some of the good ones, but the ratio is something like 30:1 the wrong way. Sometimes, even the good ones are put in the bad position of having to ignore their instinct and "follow the book", which almost always turns out badly when things have been taken apart by multiple sets of hands.

Now go out and drive the thing!

 

im haveing about the same problem..i took my 2004 rx8 6spd to the mazda dealershit with 90,158 miles on it..the privious owner took shitty care of it and im paying for it..long story short they gave me a brand new motor (not a reman) they worked on it for prob 3 weeks trying to figure out what was wrong with the idle..when it first starts it will crank at 2200rpm..drop to about 1300 and then finally sit just below 1000...that is until it warms up then the idle will become irratic (moving between normal and 1500rpm)..it will do that for a few min then die....once i take off(no matter what the distance) as soon as i push the clutch in the rpms will go straight to zero...there is no vaccum leak..all the sensors are perfect (says the computer at mazda)...the tech guys dont know..and mazda dont know why it is doing this..they just gave it back to me and said maybe itll fix itself...2000 miles later...guess what..it still wont idle..any tips or advice?? just let me know if you need more info on the car.. all the senors are reading fine...the coils were replaced when the motor was (2000 miles ago)..the computer says that this car is PERFECT..but it obviously isnt...

 

This sounds very much like what I am experiencing, but cannot find the thread listed above. The whole "improperly positioned injector connectors" hypothesis is intriguing, but what to do about it? How can I see Charles' thread?

 

Chased out the injector wiring...
The "tan tape" had faded and appeared yellow.
Looked up the actual wire color code.
Had injector 3 swapped with primary 2.
Works great, lasts a long time!!!!


Using Google to search this forum is a life-saver.
Attached a PDF I made from the thread I found on the topic for posterity.