Red Devil

"dealer mandated Chevron only fill-ups"

Never head that one before. How would they even know?

Phil's 8

iTrader: (3)

quote: I also hated the dealer mandated Chevron only fill-ups. There is no Cheveron stations near me, so planning my gas stops became difficult.
Your Mazda dealer must own Chevron gas stations or have a lot of stock in them.

Aratinga

^^^ I think jerryf mentioned in another post that his dealer told him to use only Chevron gas, because it has Techron to remove carbon deposits. Carbon buildup seems to be one of the issues in the loss of power/stalling problem.

aggietiff28

This is pretty interesting. We have seen some really hot days here 106 on Sunday, 101 yesterday at 6:00p.m. I have never had any problems with my 8 and cutting out or stalling while driving. I have hit the rev limiter (the first couple of weeks I had it) at least 5 times, I rev it to 9000 rmps at least once every couple of days, etc (to clean the engine of course). The only problem that I have had with my 8 is the gas evap system, nothing else. I run 93 octane from the cheap gas station across the street (not Chevron...way too expensive) most of the time and 89 periodically when the gas prices get to high to pay for 93. I ran 87 octane the first 2 or 3 months with no problems also, but decided that I prefer the smooth feel and increased power of 93 (this could be the reason that I had to have the gas evap system replaced...although the service advisor said that it is a common problem with the earlier build dates...mine was 7/03).

I wonder if the problem that you are having has something to do with temperature along with humidity rather than just temperature.

Nubo

Sorry to open a can of worms, but wouldn't some of the info from this problem point to an advantage in using synthetic oil in the RX-8?

zoom44

thats quite normal as a lot of leases of 2004 cars are ending.

Oktobernv

The engine failing has something to do with outside TEMP for sure.

As far as temp and humidity being a cause - maybe.

Here in Vegas we basically have ZERO humidity.

When my 8 went down the outside temp was about 114.

Zero humidity.

The other areas where engines seem to be blowing the most are Arizona and Texas.

I know the humidity in AZ is pretty close to what we have in Vegas.

What about TX?

Not sure there.

I would guess theirs is higher due to the fact that they are near the ocean.

Rob in Vegas.

20 days without my car and counting..............

rodrigo67

I find it hard to beleive that we have a car that has issues when it's driven in the heat and has issues when it's driven in the cold. Maybe they should only sell these things in seattle... :p

On a serious note, Mazda has been playing around with this engine for decades. I know the ports are slightly different but this is basically a 13b engine. How in the world are we having problems with heat related issues. I know the FD had heat issues, but I thought is was because of the twin turbos, and I never heard of FC's having heat issues, so why after all this time these engines have been on the market is Mazda only finding out now about this. What is it about the 8 that's so different form the other rotary engines...

Lschiavo

Does not have anything to do with engine being hot. I live in calgary , nice 65 degrees here with good wind. My car sounds the same. But i have a turbo. When i go around 6K it sounds that rattle, like if an empty coke of can was crushing inside the engine. It is like a flap flap flap, metallic sound. I think it is pinging and I can hear it better when driving next to something (highway divider or another car). Never had that while stock.

zoom44

not the same thing you are hearing Luis

missinmahseven

The rattle at 6000 rpm is annoying, but it's not ping. VFAD, wasn't it? or SDAIS? I forget which one opens at 6 krpm..

I thought it was ping at first too. Till my brain asked me "why at 6, and only 6?"

Come to think of it, I don't think I've ever heared a rotary ping. Is it the same 'marbles in a coffee can' sound of a boinger detonating itself to destruction?

But back to the 6000 rpm thing.. anyone figured out *why* it makes that sound? A resonance vibrating the actuator arm or something? Besides hearing it, I swear I feel it through the wheel.

Nubo

The electronic control. Ever have a look at the shop manual? It is enormous and the biggest chunk all has to do with engine management and control. It's not that the engine is throwing more heat than before, it's that the rpm are now controlled by a computer rather than your foot. It opens up a lot of useful possibilities that have already been realized in terms of improved "flashes", but on the other hand complexity breeds problems too.

Shamblerock

I just got the R flash and have noticed this exact sound Thought it was pinging ot something loose.

sharward

I'm not sure I believe all the hype about Techron.

The "Chevron requirement" may be a misinterpretation of a marketing deal between the companies.

If one felt particularly devoted to Techron, and does not live or drive near Chevron stations, Techron is available standalone to the consumer (click for info).

SHOWOFF

Exactly, and most people keep a car 2 years or less as well. I see it all the time being in the car biz.

sjbender

Well once again the temp in the Philly area hit 98 today with 60% humidity. The car AMB temp showed 106 on the highway and after about 15 minutes of stop and go traffic then open throttle on the highway it did the same, noise, power loss stall. Getting kind of use to it now!

Thats three times in as many days. Ironically the AMB temp was above 100 each of these times. Time to call the dealer to get it on record again.

Oktobernv

Get the compression checked

your seals are most likley blown or warped

your engine is in danger



Rob in Vegas

pcimino

Sounds like the engine needs an intercooler for some markets.

tuj

intercooler != oil coolers / radiator

pcimino

Yes, I know. We have a radiator and oil cooler. Intercooler, as in cool the air going into the engine. Often found on turbos.

A regular intercooler wouldn't work, it would have to be something that actively cooled the air. There are some intersting discussions in the HP forum. Someone proposed using electric peltier effect, or alcohol spraying etc. Some of the ideas kicked around won't work for turbo because they don't provide enough cooling. But for normal driving in hot temps, maybe something mught help preserve the engine?

Someone mentioned (I think) a Dodge RAM truck with "Cold Shot" that saves up some cold AC air and then shoots it into the intak when you need an HP boost. Something like this maybe, not used for HP, just to keep the engine from hitting some peak temps.

Just a thought.

MadDog

This thread is very frustrating to me. People are being reactionary to the point of trying to insight panic. People need to stop diagnosing this issue when they don't have all the facts. No one, not even (maybe especially) your local dealer has the facts except MANO. Posts like the above serve no useful purpose as there is no way to diagnose a problem like his with such limited information. Its quite inflammatory!

I counted only 5 people on this thread that have reported knock+loss of power symptoms. I am sure that there are more who haven't spoken-up, and there is an established issue with the AT models, but this forum has 19,328 members. How big of a problem is it now? 3 people said their symptoms went away when they switched to 92+ octane - which is what Mazda told us to use in the first place. Consider also that forums such as these tend to make problems seem much worse than they actually are because we represent the most vocal segment of the population.

I for one, think that the Reneis is probably robust. People have ported it. People are putting turbos in and and running them untuned with detonation without issue. Those crazy guys in Puerto Rico have run it to over 300HP and have detonated until they got things tuned. Charles was detonating all over the place using nitrous. One guys has a combined nitrous and turbo. I ran my CZ waaaayy too lean many times and never damaged anything.

The seals on the Renesis are supposed to be better technology than the seals on any of the previous rotaries. Granted, the position of the ports makes it worse when a seal is blown - and maybe the position of the ports makes it vulnerable to some other things like heat. But its a little too early to be saying that 8's in hot climates are going to need a new engine every summer.


All I am saying is that people need to calm down. Inflammatory posts only insight panic when none is warrented. It is certainly something to be aware of, but people trading-in their RX-8's because of this is rediculous.


-MD

zoom44

not the issue at all.

zoom44

exactly maddog and i hope i havent contributed to the madness by informing people of the issue. i wonder sometimes if i should bother with the craziness that goes on.

however that being saids there is an issue with standard power cars in hot climes. specifically texas AZ and Nevada(Mainly Las Vega) a few in cali 1 or 2 in florida. i really dont thinkthat this recent heat wave is causing the same issue that is occuring in those places. BUT i think it would be prudent if you have a loss of power and stalling to switch to a higher octane gas. Because to me it sounds as if the knock retard is workign over time and causing this loss of power. I think too if this has happened more than a couple times you should have a compression check done. Even if you have to pay for it.

MadDog

^yep.

I also wonder if the ECU is richening the AFR in response to an overheating cat. We know the ECU has a couple of other cat-saving "features"....

This would correspond to loss of power in hot climates.

zoom44

good point also.