More info here.

 

Missed it by less than 500 - but it seems the safety issue is the insulator falling off the vehicle - is it large ? Wonder what they changed at the end of August and why they did not do an in-house fix at that time. - John

 

The original post was updated in before Omicron started this thread and it actually goes all the way to January 28th, 2004. With a much higher ending VIN #. I also tried to go to the mazdausa web site, entered my info, and nothing came up. I'm going to keep a very close eye on it. Here's the thread with the updated info : https://www.rx8club.com/showthread.p...594#post253594 There is also additional info about an airbag recall.

 

Man this is a good bit of work. What's the chances they get the interior back together without a scratch?



http://www.finishlineperformance.com...er_recall.html

 

I just called my dealer(Bob Moore Mazda in Edmond) and he said he hasnt seen anything on the recall yet. He said he kinda knew something about the airbags. He said that they couldnt fix it until he was notified by Mazda.

 

Darn! mine falls in that range.. hope they don't scratch the interior while they take the **** and the console panel out.

 

I was crawling around under there last night (to re-install my WBO2S for more testing) and I got a good look at the part in question.
I fall in the recall VIN range and there are no cracks in the shield as far as I can tell.
I pounded on the damper a bit with a rubber mallet to see if it would yield at all, but it didn't.
The heat shield is an "L" shaped steel half-box about 4.5" on each edge. It is bolted up onto the bottom of the transmission and to the PPF and painted black. It doesn't look too hard to get to, but I'm gonna leave mine as it is.
I suspect it will make quite a racket if it does crack since it is at the tailshaft of the tranny and subject to a fair amount of vibration and will contact all kinds of goodies on its way out of the vehicle.
Even if it does come flying off, the person behind me who gets hit by it shouldn't have been following so closely!:p
It would likely get cought up in one of the chasis braces and the exhaust as it is right at the back flange of the CAT, in front of the resonator.

 

The heat shield is exterior of the transmission case. We have already done some stock units (i work at a dealership). it is kind of simple, the tech here as figured out how to do it without removing anything from the inside of the vehicle.(thats why iit is good we did the stock units first! ) most dealers now have the info on both recalls but will not have the parts until the end of Feb. or first week of March. Best advise right now is if you want to call the dealer just make an appointment for sometime in March at your convenience. do not expect anything to be done in Feb. this is for both recalls. hope this helps!

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by ibfubar2000
[B]The tech here as figured out how to do it without removing anything from the inside of the vehicle.(thats why iit is good we did the stock units first! )


Thanks for the info. I feel better now that the interior can stay intact.

 

I don't know why the TSB has so much stuff to be removed to effect the repair.
The whole dynamic damper can be pulled by simply unbolting the PPF and the chassis brace that is just under it.

 

I think this explains the sound I have been tracking down without any luck. https://www.rx8club.com/showthread.p...;threadid=18683

I theorized a heat-shield was loose; maybe I was dead on.

 

Above link is broken. Use this: https://www.rx8club.com/series-i-tech-garage-22/moving-tech-garage-buzzing-noise-18683/

 

I have to admit, I'm a bit nervous about my dealer doing this much work on such a new car.

 

Does anyone know what happens if the heat shield does break away?

The reason I'm asking is that in the first month I had the car I was driving at around 65 mph when I heard a terrible sqeelling scraping sound coming from under the car. We thought it was coming from a front wheel although we couldn't be sure. After less that 15 seconds it stopped and has not returned since.

I have a very slight grinding sound when first starting the car and releasing the clutch for warm up. That sound does not occur at stop lights when idling after the car is warmed up.

Any thoughts? Car drives fine.

Thanks

 

IBFUBAR2000,

Can you supply instructions for this replacement that don't require working inside the car?
I think a lot of us in other states would appreciate having them to show to our dealer. Thanks

 

according to the tech. he can reach around the trans by the cat. it is a very tight fit but it can be done. there is no exact instructions, it is just something our tech found that worked, nothign on paper. sorry.

 

Mine was done today. The Dealship had parts for the instock cars but hadn't recieved any for cars that had been sold yet. Well they got Mazda to fax them the paperwork on how to do it and ended up with one extra bracket. The tech seemed to think the problem was in the rivits and area where they attach. He brought the part out to show me. Its about 4 inches on a side. Not real big piece for all the effort. They also did the air bag wiring job. I think he said they started at 2:30 and were finished by 5:30

 

Did you check the interior for scratches?

That's my concern given the involved Mazda instructions accompanying the recall.

 

I haven't found any damage. I talked the service tech afterwards and he seemed pretty knowledgeable. He did say he had to go to training in Florida to be certified to work on RX-8's. I guess I had a good experience with my dealership.

 

Hopefully doesn't involve the Australian models... mine build 29 Sept anyway

 

IBFUBAR2000,
I have an appointment tommorrow morning for my recall fixes. I too am concerned about my center console taking a beating due the instructions. I was wondering if you could provide me with your dealership and tech's name so I can contact them directly before I go in tommorrow.

Not that I dont trust my dealership, I would like to equip them with information they might not have.

thanks in advance,

PHA RX-8

 

Does the space shuttle ring a bell...guess NASA is into everything these days....ok ...that was terrible...sorry

 

anyone have a pic from under of the part that needs to be replaced?

 

http://www.finishlineperformance.com...per_recall.pdf

 

Holy back from the dead thread, Batman.