Alright, I'm sure the regular posters here probably see the same old questions over and over, and I'm trying to search and read up on issues I'm having, but it is a lot of information to take in, and not all of it I understand.

I am the owner of 2004 RX-8 automatic, about 80k miles. I know there have been a lot of issues with rough idling, but I'm confused about some things.

From what I gathered, a lot of members talk about replacing the coils. However, when I talked to a Mazda technician on the phone from the nearby dealer, he said it's not going to be the coils because the CEL is not illuminated. How much truth is there to this? He said there's probably some carbon build up, and the throttle body needs to be cleaned? I think that's what he said. I assume this is something you can do yourself? Maybe there's a tutorial somewhere on this forum, haven't searched that far yet.

Another question. I've had the car stall and shut off a few times while stopping, and once while going in reverse and backing out. What would cause this, and is this related to the rough idling at all?

Third and final question for now, when I shut off my car, I make sure that it's warm and rev the engine when doing so to avoid the flooding issue. However, when I go to start it shortly after, it takes longer to start up and can sometimes take several cranks. This is really annoying when I go to fill up at a gas station. But if I were to wait let's say 30 minutes or so, after the car sits and cools down a bit, it's starts up fine on one crank. What's the deal with that? Are all these problems related somehow?

Thanks for any help and feedback.

 

Your Mazda Dealer is full of ****.

CEL for coil will go on ONLY when the coil is completely dead. that usually means you should see symptoms waYYYYYY before.

Dont buy their "throttle body" cleaning crap. there is nothing to build up there unless you had oil there before.

Carbon Build up maybe, but usually a few extended hard runs (high high rPM) would fix almost any carbon issue.

As for the car stall/shut off while stopping, that sounds like engine is going south.

after running the whole paragraph, it sounds like your engine is going south. Go do a compression test on your engine. Im 99% sure its dying.

when you go there, they will probably try to tell you that "Oh you will need to replace coils/plugs/wires/Tb cleaning/blah blah blah" before you can do a compression test.

if they do that, just leave and find another dealership to pay for the compression test.

 

Another question, I keep hearing about this compression test. When I do a compression test, what am I looking for? And what happens when the results aren't favorable? Does that mean an engine replacement? Thanks for answering, I'm sure you guys probably get frustrated reading the same q's over and over.

 

You will get 6 numbers from the compression test, any of those falls below the acceptable range means a engine rebuild is necessary. Please note the rpm at which the compression test is supposed to be done at, (i forgot what it is).

 

I may just be adding some more fuel to your fire, but try doing a de-carbon for your self to see if that helps. A thing of cleaner is about $10 to $20. There's a good DIY on here for it too. If you don't get the Mazda Zoom Cleaner you can use aquarium air hose as a substitute for the tubing that they incude.

https://www.rx8club.com/showthread.p...seafoam+engine

I was having similar problems, even complete power loss, but after I did that it runs much better. It has a nice gentle purr at idle instead of violent shakes.

Your stalling, does it happen when you are low on gas (less than 1/4 tank)? I've had mine stall out at a stop twice before, both when I was low on gas. I suspect the fuel pump. I'm waiting for BHR to release their mod before I buy a new one and see if that helps.

Also, you have an '04 so your starting problem could be your starter. The '04's and '05's seemingly have bad starters and should eventually be replaced with the upgraded version. There's plenty of threads about this.

 

had a new starter installed in 2007, might try out the cleaner

and the stalling was not because of low fuel in the gas tank

 

First of all throttle body is never going to work out on a massive 2stroke if you're so smart rip it off and grab yourself a carburator this is why most never pass emissions throttle body never worked out I couldn't even get close to making even my 1978 mercury grand marquis Ford to be effective at fule burn now I have designed and put a EFI and timed ane put a bad *** ignition coil pack on mine I still see the woman who needed it more than me it has over believe it or not she has 750.000 miles on it I'm working on another one in the future it going to completely run on bio feul it can run on the **** at gas stations but it's not going to ever impress your self and all your going to do is **** the faithful girl off except you won't be able to get anywhere to sleep 😴😈😈😈😈😈😈😈😈💪💪💪💪💪💪💪💪💪💪💪😆😆😆😆😆😆🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤫😱😱😱😱😱😱 😱🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤕🤕🤕🤕🤕🤕🤕🤕🙀🙀🙀🙀🙀🙀🙀🙀🙀🙀😾😾😾😾😾😾😾😾😾🏃🏃🏃🏃🏃🏃🏃🏃🚑🚑🚑🚑🚑 🚑🚑🚑🚑🚑🏥🏥🏥🏥🏥🏥🏥🏥🏥🏥

 

I had a few stalls way back at ~ 38K miles- but (at 42K miles) I did the 30 & 60K maintenance posted on this site @gwilliams6 and I haven't had once since. I also started premixing after the maintenance work - as this car was new to me. I also run fuel injector cleaner (Techron) about 2 tanks before I change my oil - which is frequent (2-3K miles as this is my recreational car).

posted often from my friend @gwilliams6
RX8 Club’s recommended maintenance schedule, more comprehensive and proactive than Mazda’s schedule.
30,000 miles:
- Replace Ignition coils
- Replace Plug wires
- Replace Spark plugs
- Clean MAF (mass air flow sensor)
- Clean ESS (e-shaft sensor)
- Reset ESS profile
- Clean power steering connections
- Clean battery terminals and clamps
- Replace transmission fluid
- Replace coolant (Mazda FL-22 is highly recommended)
- Replace air filter
- Replace brake fluid (fluid in the brake lines AND the clutch line)
~$300 USD in parts if you shop smartly.


every 60,000:
...all 30,000, plus...
- Clean all chassis electrical grounding points
- Replace accessory belts
- Clean OMP lines
- Replace rear differential fluid
- Replace thermostat
- Clean / Straighten AC condenser fins
- Clean / Straighten oil cooler fins
- Inspect catalytic converter
- Clean / Inspect intake valving
- Consider / inspect all points in 90,000+ as well, many items fail early
~$130 USD in parts if you shop smartly.

90,000:
...all 30,000, plus any 60,000 not yet done, plus...
- Replace coolant bottle
- Replace radiator hoses
- Replace radiator
- Replace front O2 sensor
- Replace motor mounts
- Inspect clutch pedal assembly for flex / weld breaks
~$900 USD in parts if you shop smartly.
At 100k, anything original in the cooling system is really suspect and failure prone. It represents the biggest threat to your engine.

 

^^^




I've seen that posted so many times.
I'd be shocked if 1% of RX8 owners actually did this.