Hey everyone, new guy here trying to get some facts. I do not own an RX-8, but I've driven one. Can't remember the ride, due to a bad crash in said RX-8, hence the following questions:

1. Did the 2004 model have a black box unit? Crash recorder, data recorder, what ever you want to call it?

2. I understand there was a recall on some of these cars for possible control arm/ball joint failure. From what I gather online this car's vin was not in the range of affected units. However, I gave this vin to a Mazda dealership to inquire about "buying this car...what's been done under warranty/recall's etc." and they told me this issue had been addressed on this particular vehicle. I am also to understand that fixing this particular issue MAY have just consisted of a tech 'looking' at the control arm/ball joint, and possibly passing it off as OK.

Further reading online has led me to believe that there have been no crashes reported involving said recall.

To get to the damn point: Has anyone here ever had, or know someone who has had this part actually fail on them?

Yes, there was hard driving on the night in question, no, I wasn't driving it at the time. The owner of the RX-8 was driving it at that point. Police tell me we were doing approximately 80 mph when we left the road. I have been back to the scene many times since, and the curve isn't that bad, and it's even banked. No skid marks. It's as if we *couldn't* even turn through this curve...IE: loss of steering.

I have in my possession a passenger side lower ball joint that has been broken off of the car, but it's impossible for me to tell HOW it broke. VERY hard to discern between failure from hard driving, or the fact that the passenger side hit the ditch first. I lean towards failure because you can clearly see the road and know that he apparently wasn't able to turn...no skid marks on the pavement. This could also be very hard to prove though. I'm stuck.

So ultimately what I need to know, I've asked. Black box? Actual failure stories?

Oh, and if you were wondering, he died on scene and I'm trying to deal with that, so that puts a very big burden on me, and my mind.

PLEASE, whatever you know about this, reply or email me. I would greatly appreciate it! Thank you for reading this very long winded post. Be safe.

 

Don't recall any posts reporting an "A" arm/ball joint failure, but you can do some searches to double check. As I remember, the visual inspection required by the recall was perfectly adequate since the faulty units were only those with certain manufacturing numbers on them. And, I think the failures were on the very early cars and only in Japan. The associated service bulletin is probably available on the forum. I'll see if I can get you a link.

As to the off-road excursion, did the driver have the DSC/TC turned off? That might account for the unexpected loss of control. Those HAVE been reported on the forum. As far as I know, there is no "black box" on this car. But there is the ability to store certain vehicle error codes and other dynamic information in the PCM. Not sure what all that includes.

Update: Didn't find the recall notice on line. I have a hard copy of the notice and it applies to '04 cars only with VIN from JM1FE17**40100053-129716, built between April 23, 2003-December 27, 2003. So, you can look at the sticker on the drivers side rear door and determine yourself if this car was included in the recall. You can also look at the "A" arm yourself to see if it was one of the faulty units. The following numerals will be part of the casting: "K4" and "◊1". If both those numerals are NOT on the casting, the "A" arm is NOT included in the recall. In addition, if the recall was completed by a dealer, there should be a label on the car for recall "3405G". Of course, the dealers didn't always apply the required stickers.

 

I appreciate the info! I don't know if the TC was turned off, I can't remember anything at all from that night, memory loss from the severe concussion/trauma. Still going to look into the black box thing though, if it has one, that will tell me a lot. I don't have access to the car anymore to check the control arm but I have the vin, and I think it's in that range. Check it when I get off work. Again, thanks for the information.

Will

 

Will, you don't say where you are, but by the tone this sounds like it is heading towards lawyers, etc.

You should take the part (both sides of the fracture) to a metallurgist - University Engineering department should know where to send you - to see what the mode of failure was. It could be anything from a bad casting to improper install. A generic 'recall' won't help you to prove what part (if any) caused this particular accident.

 

There is a recall that tells how to identify the possible defective part. Go to the US Department of Transportation website and look it up.

 

I have one w vin ...0033 and the ball joint has failed before the boot has. Anyone heard of one this early going with less than 50K miles?

 

First time I hear of this issue, mine are original and in good shape after 10 years.

 

im having mine replaced they just failed on me on the drivers side lol didnt experience anything wrong but an extemely loud poping sound from it so it binded which sucked