Replace 3 of 4 shocks?
 

I have a 2011 RX-8 R3 with 20k miles on it. It is completely stock with only oil changes as far as maintenance goes. I daily drive this car and do a few autocross events (5/year).

This spring, as I went to change from winter tires to the OEM summer tires I noticed that there was quite a bit of dirt around the yellow Bilstein shocks. Today I took the car in for an oil change and asked them to look at the shocks because I suspected they were leaking.

The dealer tested all four shocks and said that both rear shocks and the front driver shocks were leaking and will be replaced under warranty.

I am not very happy with the thought of having 3 new shocks and one with 20k miles on it. I am not sure if there is anything I can do, short of buying the 4th shock myself, the 3 bad ones are already being paid for under warranty.
Also, I have never had to replace shocks on any other vehicle, even over 100k miles.

What are your thoughts about running shocks with different mileage on them? Is this something I should be concerned about? Do I just need to take more/tighter left turns to wear down the front passenger shock while it is still under warranty? :rofl:

I would just buy the 4th shock.

Me too :)

I trust the Dealer has this correct as 'some' shock leakage/weep-age is normal, there is a Mazda TSB on this for all shocks and what will pass as warranty or not.

Thanks ASH, those diagrams are very helpful.

I got the car back today. I never looked at the front shocks, but the rear did not look anything like the diagrams. The rear has heavy oil spots in the very middle of the shock, around the full diameter. The dealer said the front shock was just seepage and thus they were not going to replace as it is "normal" and not covered under warranty.

I will have to keep an eye on the shocks. I am glad the front shocks will still be matched. I wish I had a definitive answer for why the rears started leaking. Oh well, I should be good for at least another 20k miles I suppose.

I brought my 2011 GT in on May 7, 2013, because the rear driver's side shock was leaking fluid so bad there was a puddle on my driveway. The dealership, Paretti Mazda in Metairie, Louisiana, told me that the car was driveble while the shocks were being ordered and asked me to bring the dealer provided rental car back, so I did. When the parts arrive on May 9, I called the dealership and asked when I could bring my 8 back in. They said just drive it over the weekend after I complained about the rear end bottoming out on slight depressions in the street. So that night, as I was going into my driveway, the driver's side lower control arm broke where the strut bolts to the lower control arm.

Now they (the dealership and allegedly Mazda) are claiming that I hit something (there is no body damage to the car, the front cap is in perfect condition and there is no evidence of anything bouncing under the car), or kicked up a piece of concrete that caused the driver's side suspension to bend and the control arm to break. The basis for this assertion is there was damage to the control arm (which I showed was the spindle hitting the control arm when the tow truck attempted to load the car) and damage to the outer tie road (which was most likely the inside of the rim hitting the outer tie rod when the tow truck tried to load the car). So they are refusing to warranty the front end.

My question is, since both rear shocks were blown, can that put enough stress on the front end suspension that it would cause the driver's side control arm to fail? Also, are there any TSBs on 2011 RX-8 control arms?

Thanks and I don't mean to hijack fataldeadlock's thread. Was just amazed to see a shock thread at the top of the page.

Dang, I know there was a recall for my control arm (2004), but I would check up on yours. Do some searching, or be lazy and log your ride in @ autozone.com, they have a recall list specifically for your car after doing so.

Saw the recall for the 2004 control arm. Couldn't find one for the 2010-2011 control arm, but did d/l the shock TSB for the 2010-2011 ITT. Just trying to figure out how to get someone at an upper level in Mazda NA to take a look at this. I feel that the dealership I brought the car to is looking to increase their customer pay per car instead of fixing my car under warranty. Very frustrating.

There is no recall for S2 Control Arms at all..NONE...there are no recalls for any S2's.
They are not the same Lower Arm as 2004 S1, Series 2 is actually stronger.

And no about your rear shock question.

skwidd sorry, but I am with the dealer with this one, that (car) has taken a serious bump/hit to rip that out....you don't have to necessarily see any other 'damage' to break this out.

Do you have adversely rough roads, lots of potholes, particularly if you were going around a corner, did you drive over a high curb?..

I really can't see you winning on this one.

It certainly has not been an issue for any RX-8, I think I have see one other S1 and a few in Miata which are lighter made again (same dimensions).

The original recall was for certain 2004 production cars where there was one incident in Europe...or was it Japan...too long ago to remember.

Again a TSB is not a recall.

Good luck..

Ironically, I can't see me losing on this one, Ash. No bad potholes, no running over high curbs, etc. See the attached pic for the condition of the rim.