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Was driving at about 5k rpms, had a miss fire with blinking cel (this was a frequent occurrence, I was at school had no time/money to replace coils wires etc, but the car ran fine other than the miss fires)
Had my final miss fire.... which IMO killed the car (as expected... but didn't believe)
Got the car home, ran the codes, SSV valve malfunction and misfire...
Replaced plugs coils and wires, took out the SSV and cleaned it, replaced ssv solenoid, checked all UIM for leaks. SSV code disappeared, but still misfired. Bumped it into gear to get it started, had to keep it at 1500 rpms because it would not idle on its own.
Im going to make this short even though I could rant all day about how I have tried everything on this forum about miss fires...
Low compression. (got it tested by a "professional")
Moral of the story is:
-Is it possible that the miss fire blew out an apex seal? The engine was rebuild I had about 20k miles on the rebuild. Kept up on oil changes, ran high octane, treated her like a princess
-The car ran perfect up until a month ago, started with the miss fires and didn't think anything of it. I was waiting until I got back home to diagnose it just figured it was the coils and wires. I need to be clear that the car had ZERO issues other than random miss fires
Actual moral of story:
-The engine now has low compression. 30 psi on both rotors, faces were different though like 20 psi on one face, 15, and 35.
-Did a miss fire blow out the apex
Heres some pics because I think it's the most beautiful rx8 I've ever seen and idk if I should invest my summer savings into this b****
"treated her like a princess".. "zero issues"...drove around with misfires... :/
Nobody here can tell you what to do with your money. Obviously nobody wants to see a good car go to waste for an avoidable problem. But the fact thay both rotors are low on compression points to long term wear. Either your misfires killed the cat, or the rebuild was botched from the start. Or there's another problem you're not aware of.
Also a misfire doesn't blow out anything. It's the absence of fire.
Who rebuilt it? Do you trust them to do it properly again?
Post the actual compression numbers. Preferably a photo of the dealership paperwork. If it wasn't a dealership, ask them which compression testing tool they used. If they used anything other than a rotary engine compression tester, tell them to FOAD and find a shop with one. Hell, see if forum sponsor RotaryCompressionTester.Com still offers rentals.
Worse case scenario: your engine is shot.
Solution 1: Mazda reman engine is ~$3000. Add in another $1000 for shipping, tools, ancillaries, and incidentals and your car will be in good shape for another X-thousand miles.
Solution 2: Replace the car. Um, yah. The sky is the limit, here. There are two advantages here. First, you can finance (which will be tough to do with solution 1 except by using a credit card). Second, you can get a nice, reliable Honda, Subaru, or Toyota that responds better to deferred maintenance.
Best case scenario: The garage you took it to are a bunch of numpties and you need a second opinion.
Misfire shouldn't be a common occurrence. It means you need new coils/wires/spark plugs. Easy-to-prevent issues.
I go by the saying "maintenance before mods". Looks like you put some effort in your headlights and wing, but that money should have gone to a new ignition system first. Tsk Tsk...
Assuming the compression test is accurate, you need a new engine and probably a new cat if you have one.
Misfire shouldn't be a common occurrence. It means you need new coils/wires/spark plugs. Easy-to-prevent issues.
I go by the saying "maintenance before mods". Looks like you put some effort in your headlights and wing, but that money should have gone to a new ignition system first. Tsk Tsk...
Assuming the compression test is accurate, you need a new engine and probably a new cat if you have one.
Thanks guys for the responses. I know "treated her like a princess" was a bit of overkill... I know I should of had it in the garage for the first miss fire... but, didn't have any way to do so. It has a gutted cat w/ catback exhaust. The compression test was done with a rotary compression tester (idk make or model) but the guy tested 3 other rx8's that were in my driveway. The others tested in the 90's for psi. Mine was in the 30's.... The biggest concern I had was miss fires are related to apex failures which I know the in theory they are (clogged cat=miss fire=compression loss) but are they directly related...? Based on the comments I'm guessing it's not. And the headlights and wing???? Come on fam RACECAR! But I know I'm cliche
If your cat has been gutted since the rebuild, I would be more concerned about the quality of the engine rebuild. Gutted cat can't clog and can't really kill the engine. And misfires from poor ignition are bad, but they don't do anything to the apex seal. Those things aren't connected.
So. Who did the rebuild, what parts did they reuse and how was it broken in?
I'm especially suspicions that both rotors are equally low on compression. That's not an accident.
And also also, at 30psi (or 15 or 25) you should have extreme difficulty starting the car or maintaining idle. Is that the case?
I have no technical advice but I just came here to say ignore the haters lol. I used to make custom LED lighting for a living so I love custom lights lol.
It would be helpful if you let us know who rebuilt it.
When the cat was gutted, was it broken up?
If pieces of the strata broke up, they could get lodged in the exhaust and affect it like a clogged cat.
If your cat has been gutted since the rebuild, I would be more concerned about the quality of the engine rebuild. Gutted cat can't clog and can't really kill the engine. And misfires from poor ignition are bad, but they don't do anything to the apex seal. Those things aren't connected.
So. Who did the rebuild, what parts did they reuse and how was it broken in?
I'm especially suspicions that both rotors are equally low on compression. That's not an accident.
And also also, at 30psi (or 15 or 25) you should have extreme difficulty starting the car or maintaining idle. Is that the case?
At first it would start up pretty easily but not idle.. After I took apart SSV and replaced solenoids and checked for leaks in the intake it sat and idle'd on its own for about 5 minutes, took it for a drive, parked it and it has not started since. That's when I got compression test done. The previous owner had the engine rebuilt right before I bought it (sounds sketchy I know). I'm DM'ing him right now to see if he has any knowledge on the rebuild.
06-25-2018, 06:54 PM
