lbeagley79

It has been almost 4 weeks since I took my car to the dealer. The new engine just arrived last week and I was informed it will take a little less than one week to install.

From what I've read, it does sound like a combination of issues that are causing the problems experienced in these higher temps - particularly oil temps and carbon build up like Zoom44 stated. I'm just wondering what changes if any have been made to the engine to fix the problem...I hope to have the answer later this week.

zoom44

the only chagne has been to add the extra oil cooler and make some operational changes in th pcm with a new flash. well and eliminating the 4port altogether starting with the 2006 MY here.

vegas RX8

New member of the "New engine club". My dealer told me at least 2 weeks but I won't hold my breath. Thanks again Zoom44 for the info on the thread. Much appreciated. vegas.

Straight8

Would you be referring to Judge Ito?

Nubo

This has affected mostly automatics driven in very hot climates. If we accept the carbon buildup explanation, then that would correlate with the single oil-cooler found in the automatics. I.e, the oil is running at the edge, thermally, and coking at some of the hotter locations in the engine. Also, the automatic probably experiences a smaller range of RPM operation. Lots of people recommend a regular high-rpm operation to keep things clean; maybe there's something to it. If these speculations are correct, I would suggest that use of a high-quality synthetic oil, frequent changes, and an occasional "beep" would give a bigger safety margin.

RedRotaryRx8

great advice Nubo. I saw the thread on this board instructing AT owners to rev their engine to atleast 6k RPM twice every day to help remove the carbon buildup. Unfortunately for me, I starting doing this at 32k miles and it was to late for my engine. When I get my car back from the dealership with the new engine you better believe I will be taking this advice and reving it twice per day.

vegas RX8

BTW - 2004 Manual Transmission - 33,000 miles, bought in Oct. 2003. Have had all oil changes/maintenance done as recommended by Mazda, only use 91 octane. Went in on 7/21/06 and I prey it doesn't take much more than 2-3 weeks to replace engine, I'm cruising in a 2006 Chevy Impala for now (I saw 6 and a half weeks on earlier post )

vegas.

Arky8

Well, I have had basically the same symptoms with my 8 as vegas, and I should be getting my car back today or tommorrow with a new engine. Took about 10 trips to the dealer, sending off the ECM to MNA to be reprogrammed, new plugs, battery, countless reflashes before MNA agreed to replace the engine. I hope this ends my ordeal with stalls and noise, but only time will tell. Had the car in last Thursday, new engine installed on Monday, get car back today I hope.

vegas RX8

Well that stinks Ryan13b. If it keeps happening to my 8 after they "fix" it I won't hesitate to trade it in for something else. It's not worth putting up w/ the power loss. If they actually do fix it then I'd love to keep it for a long time. I guess we'll see. vegas.

zoom44

ryan has a different issue.

vegas RX8

Cool, for me that is. I'll keep hope alive. vegas.

Shoei

Looking at a used 05 with 19k miles. Naturally wary given these posts. Car runs great on a short test drive at all speeds, no engine lights or unwarranted noise or vibration. But pre drive one of the exhaust pipes has small amount of liquid oil residue. Not gummy, this is raw oil. Other pipe has some black/ gray carbon. Post drive both have some carbon, no liquid.

Questions:

- Is this motor a candidate for scrap yard
- How will cat work if motor feeds it raw oil
- Is this normal signature for an apex seal renesis

Shoei

I don't think it was carbon/ water mix, and only in left pipe. It looked like black oil to me. However after a 10 minute drive, only carbon. Also if it was water mix I would expect it in both pipes. I don't own the car, just test drove it. There was no burned oil smell at any time. Otherwise the car was almost flawless.

It is likely the dealer ran the engine at idle for a while as they cleaned the car up, could that contribute.l

If I decide to go back and buy, I will definitely look into it further. Not likely however as they were not too helpful on my trade. I don't like this oil symptom either.

devious12

Well, my 8 has been at the dealer for a month now on and off. The original engine blew, then the new engine that Mazda put in had antifreeze in it, and now they just got another engine which is waiting to be installed. I'm anticipating having more issues once I get it back, only because of the track record I already have with Mazda, I wish they would just keep the car and give me the face value at this point... fat chance!

Can anyone tell me how antifreeze gets into a rotary? I know there are no heads to be cracked or head gaskets to be blown, so how does it get in there?

spieder

I don't know about the renesis but my 12a's ran water trhough the intake manifold. If you didn't torque down the intake manifold correctly it would leak water.

demob05

I read elsewhere also about a Flash that gets more oil pumped through the MOP... I'm a little nervous about the increased oil consumption, and resulting increased risk of carbon buildup, as a result.
Is this Flash only applied to those 8's that are experiencing problems??

LambertRX8

Think I could get a new engine because I have 108,000 miles on it.
No problems to date.

rxeightr

That's awesome Lambo.

You are my hero!

chiefy

Yours must be one of the highest mileage RX-8's around. Any special tips as to the way you run it - like the use of premix etc or do you just drive it in a special way?

CERAMICSEAL

Lambert,
Why does your sig say Aug 2006, 105,500 miles? We're still in July.
Whatever your present miles are, if it's in that neighborhood that's good and I would hope that most will achieve this and better but only time will tell.

vegas RX8

So I got the call that my car is ready! Most likely w/ a reman. engine but I'll find out the full details tonight. Hopefully everything will work fine. Finally back in my 8, the last week and a half in the Impala has been torture. I'll post first empressions of second engine later. vegas.

Jump120MPH

I have been having this same problem with my 04 MT. When I turn the AC on and drive it for about 20 min I have some rough idle, stalls at stop lights, and lose throttle response. I did notice that the center console was EXTREMELY hot. It has even done this with the AC off. I took it in once to have it looked at, among some transmission stuff. They rebuilt my tranny and said they fixed my AC issues, but driving home when I got the the first stop light off the highway STALL and right before turning in my driveway STALL. Im going to the dealership tomorrow. Im going to tell them to keep my car until its fixed. I have 42000 miles on it now and have been having this problem the last 9 months. Does anyone else have a sound coming from the engine under acceleration that sound like marbles in a can rattling?

vegas RX8

So i picked up my car last night at the dealership and to my amazement the car was running sooooooo beautifully that you couldn't wipe the permanent smile off my face. I was so happy w/ the reman. engine, the car hadn't felt so powerful and smooth since it was new.

Well the 2nd honeymoon ended early this morning. On my way to work the car stalled 3 times in a matter of minutes. It was stalling on each stop sign/light. Needless to say I was pissed beyond belief. I called the dealership and the service guy said to bring it in so they could check it out, maybe there was a loose hose/cable or something. I took it to the dealership (I'm now late for work of course) so they can look at it and the news came shortly after. "We're going to have to do it all over again" as my jaw drops. Wha wha WHAT!! " Yes, if it was something like a loose hose or cable the check engine light would come on, sorry but we have to replace the engine again." Damn! I then proceed to the rental car place and am now in an Exploder. SUCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My next question is........Is there a freaking lemon law or something to help us with this f'n issue?!?!? I'll check online and see what I find but this is getting re-god-damn-diculous. And now I'm depressed again w/ out the 8. vegas.

VOODOO8

Vegas,
Feel for ya man! I've been through the engine replacement scenario myself. One suggestion, if you can get compression test numbers on the replacement engine BEFORE they drop it under your hood (damn difficult to do) it might save further pain. If this is not possible, you are certainly within your rights to request compression diagnostic on the engine AFTER it is installed but BEFORE you try and pick it up.

Usual story here is that initial compression tests may be claimed to be off by some minimal percentage until the engine is spun up for a while (and others will say Not So because the Renesis manual does not specifically indicate a break-in period is needed on a new engine), but I think it is a good investment. If the results are really low, you may be able to duck the issue your now facing. If not helpful immediately, at least you'll have a baseline to compare to as you periodically check the engine as it ages.

Lemon laws vary by state so nothing much I can contribute to this question.

zoom44

vegas ask them why exactly theyneed to do it all over and what that means. are they replacing it again? what is the reason?