Greek Racer 8

I had to battle with them the first time around to. It sucked. They tried to blame it on my cold air intake. I told them about this forum and the next day they said it'll be under warranty.

I just got my ar back today and all it was this time around bad motor mounts and bad coils. They were a lot nicer since they know I know everything thats going on +some.

AustinSBR

Just got the call today myself, I've been fighting with three different stealerships trying to find out what the issue was but finally they told me today that they are going to replace the entire engine.

I was thinking about purchasing an extended warranty just incase as mine is going to expire soon (49,800) 04 AT

I really hope the new engine won't cause other components to break as well

Greek Racer 8

LOL. I know you did it unintentianally but "Stealership," haha. That cracked me up. Thats what most of them are. They try to lie about what the problem is and steal your money when the warranty is up.

max5roadster

UPDATE: The dealership is replacing my starter and battery and retesting as the tech that did the first test no longer works there. It seems that 2 comp tests were done and each one was well under 200 cranking rpms with numbers a little better on the second one:
5.6-5.9ish on all chambers/ rotor 1 & 2

Better, but the cranking RPM is far too low for the tech line to auth a new engine. I will have the new results Friday. On a side note, this has been 2 weeks now, and the dealership has changed its immediate diagnosis. The first time I was told a new engine was needed and would be on the way. The upshot is they are replacing the starter and battery which are both out of warranty. Lets hope all is well in rotorville!

invasion08

iTrader: (7)

My first motor went at 30k and now my second motor went with 35k miles on it

max5roadster

Update. Got my car back today. The good news: The new starter and battery are AMAZING! You can hear the difference in cranking speed-WOW! Now for the bad news. The new service manager at the moment said that compression was with-in spec at 7.3 at 325rpms. (He was just reading the techs notes.) This is amazingly low for that RPM, but he knows absolutely nothing about cars so it is pointless to argue... I asked for the techs initial notes and he let me copy them down:
ROTOR 1 - 323 RPMs
7.9
7.7
7.5 (or 7.8, can't tell)

ROTOR 2 - 321 RPMS
7.5 (or 7.8, can't tell either)
7.8
7.7

As you can tell, they are not spec for that RPM, and I don't know where 7.3 average came from?!?! I bought some SEAFOAM and will try another compression test after a decarb session. They did say my plugs were fouled, so I hope I can get those numbers in the 9-10 range. I will get another comp test asap after the decarbing. I still have 7k left on my warranty, so here we go!

shaunv74

I thought 7-8 was in the spec range at that RPM?

max5roadster

According to the graph in the service manual, at 300-315 rpms the cranking pressure should be in the neighborhood of 9.4-9.5 kgf/cm2.

shaunv74

I see. Well that should be enough then for them to pull it.

max5roadster

Running a bottle of Seafoam throught 1/2 a tank right now, and I ran a full bottle throught the V-FAD nipple behind the throttle body-what a smoke show! Also sprayed down the throttle body with Seafoam "Deep Creep". The car seemed to pull better up top. Not night and day, but better. I will do 1 more session of spraying thru the manifold and get it in for a comp test asap. I doubt the numbers can jump to the 9 range, but at least they can't say it is just carbon'd up inside. May not be able to know more till after Turkey Day though.

09Factor

Let us know Max5. I'm interested in the post Sea Foam Compression #'s.

max5roadster

I have an appointment monday for another comp test, although, I overheard the mechanic mouthing about how dumb it was that I want another one... I really hope he isn't the one to do it again. One thing to note post seafoam: Car is more responsive and the exhaust even has a sharper tone to it at idle. I also no longer have the puff of blue smoke at start-up. (I pre-mix without a cat and could get this on start-up.)

max5roadster

Latest comp results:

R1 @ 292
7.7
7.7
7.7

R2 @ 293
7.6
7.5
8.0

given the cranking speed is lower by at least 30rpms and the numbers are the same or better, I'd say the sea foam may have helped. In the bigger scheme of things this is still low, but the dealer has insisted that it is within in spec. It is hard for me to argue, because I have no history of low idle or powerloss as described by others. My car feels pretty good for the most part, so I guess I'll just watch it for the next 6k. I think there are too many variables on a comp test for it to be the end all be all. My car when tested had only been started 2 twice so I do not think it was fully warmed. It sat for 45 mins, moved 5 feet from the service door, sat for 40 mins, started and driven to the lift, and then tested. I would not really call that a warmed up car.... but i digress, unless something major occurs, the car is what it is.

brokenhelmet

-_-....
I was told that my engine is nono... so gotta replace the engine...
totally no loss of power but hard to start (cranks well ignites slow)....
and also misfiring....
I'm not sure if really engine is bad..or injector kinda thing is bad tho...
they're keep saying engine has low compression.
got numbers like 5.8, 6.1, 6.1 / 6.1, 6.3, 6.1 at 200ish RPM...
problem is I have highflow CAT from SR and greddy exhaust system... which surely they are going to BS about.. waiting for the feedback on monday from Mazda North America..
will it surely uncovered under warrenty?
got my car around 41k and it's '05.... 4 yrs 50k as I know... but the aftermarket parts..

nycgps

iTrader: (1)

injector usually last VERY long.

I have a feeling is just carbon locking everything up.

CERAMICSEAL

Does 200ish mean like 205 or 230? See if you can get the exact number.

Seal.

everclay

30 mins after leaving the dealership after purchasing an 04 RX8 A/T................car dies.............dealership remedy..............new engine....wtf

max5roadster

previous owner probably unloaded it knowing it was on the way out.

SRrx-8JC

iTrader: (9)

I just had a new engine put in my 04 at 58,000 miles I bought the car new and I took great care of it and was really pissed when the engine died. I just now past the 1000 mile mark on the new engine and it is running stronger than before even when I first bought the car.

Easy_E1

iTrader: (2)

I'm glad somebody got more power out of there engine. I'm still looking for about 30 HP.

09Factor

Think positive here.. It was still in warranty right?

Cost of Reman = $4 - 5 grand.

everclay

yea, the dealer is covering everything, including the rental...cool people...but damn I JUST BOUGHT IT!!!

tim888tim

I just joined the club. 04 MT with ~36K miles. I purchased the car new in 04, changed the oil every 5-7k, added a quart of 5W-20 every 1-1.5k, etc. Started having problems starting the car if the engine was warm. Then the CEL came on so I took it to the dealer. They said it was getting low compression so they were going to change the starter. ??? Two hours later they said that it didn't fix the problem and I would be getting a new engine. Everything is covered under warranty and they did provide a rental car so that is ok...however, an engine going out at 36K?? I really love this car but once I get close to the end of the extended warranty, it is going unless someone can determine what is happening and finds a reliable fix.

Old Rotor

There are other people on here with the same story. What sort of driving did it get, short trips, hwy or around town, did it get reved up much, reg or prem gas, did you ever run any engine cleaner in it, did you ever hear any MIAC the sound of detonation in a rotary engine, did it ever flood on you. Please give us any info you can think of.

tim888tim

After the breakin period I would try to get it to 8k RPM at least once per fillup. The first 30K was a lot of highway driving. The last 6K has been about 50/50 highway/city. I did run 87 octane for a while when I lived in California, however when I moved to Utah 2 years ago I switched back to 91.
I never ran any engine cleaners or premix. I don't think I ever heard any detonation or pinging. It would help if there was a sample I could listen to online somewhere to know for sure. I did notice that the engine started to make a sound that was almost diesel-like if that makes sense; usually while cruising at 3k rpms or so. It also had an different sound while idling in neutral that was different from when the clutch was in.
I had my first experience with a CEL last winter. I checked the forums and the comments were that unless the CEL was flashing then don't worry too much about it. I didn't and it was on most winter. The light would go off after a few weeks and then come back on a day or two later. Once the weather warmed up the CEL went off and didn't show up until the incident a few days ago.
One other thing that I did notice. Occasionally while the car was warming up, if i put the car in gear and started to move, then put in the clutch, the engine would rev itself up to ~4K and back down to ~1k then back to 4k and so forth in about 1 second increments and continue to do this until I either put it in neutral or let the clutch back out and started to drive. Probably unrelated.
I never had any flooding issues. The only starting issues happened after the car had been warmed up and I went into the store for 15-20 minutes. I would come back and would have to crank the engine 15-20 seconds before it would finally go. The engine was turning over fine, it just didn't sound like any fuel was getting delivered. I could start it just fine in the morning at 5F. (2-3 sec)