Sluggish Acceleration...Warranty?
07-24-2010, 11:03 PM
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Sluggish Acceleration...Warranty?
Hi, I'm new here. I just bought an 04 RX-8 on Ebay. I never saw or drove the car in person before I bought it. Probably not the best idea, but I've done this 3 other times never with an issue. I guess I got a little over confident. Anyway, I just got the car today and everything seems fine except the car feels very sluggish under hard acceleration. I'm going to have Mazda look it over. The car has about 94,500mi on it and just has a K&N air filter and a Greddy catback exhaust. If the engine is no good, will the warranty cover it with the intake and exhaust?
07-24-2010, 11:26 PM
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Yeah, that's exactly how I would describe it too. Seems perfectly fine under light/normal acceleration but when I mash the pedal it feels slow to get up and go.
Last edited by jaxen; 07-24-2010 at 11:30 PM.
07-24-2010, 11:34 PM
#5
i dont think mine is slugish, maybe slow (but i blame that on my friends turbo rx8 and my other friends turbo rx7 which i am used to being in ). The lack of torque can be weird for a new to rotary driver(coming from a v8 it was very odd) , also maybe flooring it at a low rpm ? that is the only point where id consider it a little sluggish.
then again who knows i am on engine 4 or was it 3 lost count and I never noticed that they were dead besides the last one spewing oil and stalling. (almost at 50k miles lol)
then again who knows i am on engine 4 or was it 3 lost count and I never noticed that they were dead besides the last one spewing oil and stalling. (almost at 50k miles lol)
Last edited by czar; 07-24-2010 at 11:38 PM.
07-24-2010, 11:56 PM
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i dont think mine is slugish, maybe slow (but i blame that on my friends turbo rx8 and my other friends turbo rx7 which i am used to being in ). The lack of torque can be weird for a new to rotary driver(coming from a v8 it was very odd) , also maybe flooring it at a low rpm ? that is the only point where id consider it a little sluggish.
then again who knows i am on engine 4 or was it 3 lost count and I never noticed that they were dead besides the last one spewing oil and stalling. (almost at 50k miles lol)
then again who knows i am on engine 4 or was it 3 lost count and I never noticed that they were dead besides the last one spewing oil and stalling. (almost at 50k miles lol)
07-25-2010, 11:50 AM
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07-25-2010, 11:58 AM
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What's the build month on the door sticker? Check everything else out first then compression is last. Get the service history on it to see if the engine is original it might already been swapped out with that many miles.
07-25-2010, 05:59 PM
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You need another Club Member or someone (you don't show a location)to drive it and see if you really have a problem or your just not familiar with the feel of the Rotary engine. It could just need a tune-up(plugs,coils,wires.aprox $300)those could cause it or an air cleaner or de-carbon cleaning might need doing it could be many things etc... If you bring to Mazda and ask for compression they will charge you and most likely say you need a tune up for $$$.
07-25-2010, 10:50 PM
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not sure how long the core engine warranty issue 100k miles and so many years but u may get it check just to make sure if u have warranty still. I check compression first o_O, I have my own tester though so i check it every now and then.
Last edited by czar; 07-25-2010 at 10:52 PM.
07-26-2010, 08:57 PM
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You need another Club Member or someone (you don't show a location)to drive it and see if you really have a problem or your just not familiar with the feel of the Rotary engine. It could just need a tune-up(plugs,coils,wires.aprox $300)those could cause it or an air cleaner or de-carbon cleaning might need doing it could be many things etc... If you bring to Mazda and ask for compression they will charge you and most likely say you need a tune up for $$$.
07-26-2010, 09:35 PM
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A compression test will run about $130 if the engine passes, but you must make sure the test is done at the right rpm. 100 rpm test difference off of par and a failing engine could read as a passing one. Engine Fails, no cost, replacement engine. If your local dealer gives you any guff just call Mazda National.
07-26-2010, 09:44 PM
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A compression test will run about $130 if the engine passes, but you must make sure the test is done at the right rpm. 100 rpm test difference off of par and a failing engine could read as a passing one. Engine Fails, no cost, replacement engine. If your local dealer gives you any guff just call Mazda National.
07-26-2010, 10:07 PM
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8 year/100k on original, and seeing as the car can't be eight years old you are good, I don't know about replacement. You want to make sure the test is done at the proper rpms, (I donno what they are, but I know some one does) otherwise the actual compression of the motor can be misread.
07-27-2010, 09:01 PM
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First off, thanks everyone for your help. Your really helping me sort this out and learn more about the car. The CAT was actually the first thing I thought too...the exhaust (air) seems abnormally hot. Would that be a bad cat or is that just the way this car is? How else can I tell? What am I looking at for parts + labor?
07-27-2010, 10:02 PM
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First off, thanks everyone for your help. Your really helping me sort this out and learn more about the car. The CAT was actually the first thing I thought too...the exhaust (air) seems abnormally hot. Would that be a bad cat or is that just the way this car is? How else can I tell? What am I looking at for parts + labor?
08-03-2010, 04:41 PM
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Update
Ok so I bit the bullet and brought the car to Mazda. I had them do a compression test. The tech says they have to call Mazda national because and I quote "you might need a new engine". So I asked if it failed the compression test and he wouldn't give me a straight answer but he said "theres a ton of carbon buildup so we'll have to clean it and test it again." aka it failed. If it fails once thats it right? What do I do if they tell me tomorrow, "hey good news the car passed now that we cleaned out the crabon!"? Because that would just obviously be complete BS.
08-05-2010, 10:01 PM
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