Hi From Findlay Ohio. I just bought a well cared for 06 Shinka with 55K. Always loved the Mazda Wankel. I rebuilt a 12A for a customer when i was a kid, but never owned one. 40 years later i have bought myself a retirement gift
Ive read a lot of the "new member" posts - its going to take a long time to read them all, but i have that time now !
Only question i have: (I am a maintenance freak, so i guess this is the right car for me). Is there a way to get a detailed service history report other than the incredibly vague carfax report, which creates more questions than it answers. I know what dealer serviced it for the first 10 years of its life, and ive requested details from this dealer, but i suspect it is guarded information - perhaps even unethical to ask it of them ?
Really, i only have a couple of questions, as it runs really well. Have the engine, radiator, or Cat ever been changed ? Other than tires, and a poorly implemented parking sensor kit, she appears bone stock and in great shape.
Looking forward to contributing to the Forum,
Kiwi.

 

If the dealer doesn't wanr to share records (I don't see why, it's your car now), try Mazda North America.

Welcome aboard!
You'll want to read the thread titled New and Potential Owners, it describes in detail what all to look for.

 

HI,
I don't get why dealers are t like that,
I even got the previous owner to ask fro a copy of records,
they wanted some payment to anonomise the files,
which I was happy to do,
but gave up in the end

 

Weird. Just call Mazda.

 

Thanks for your replies guys. I planned on calling Mazda. They should have a record if the engine was ever replaced, at least.
Found the battery cover tabs and battery box case broken yesterday. battery clamp non existent. Looked as if some idiot that changed the battery just ripped the cover off and broke all the plastic -aargh !!
Took it back to the dealer i purchased it from, because they changed the oil and it was way overfull.
Pulled the airbox out to check the filter, and clean the ess and MAF sensors. Neither were real dirty and there was no oil in the intake, but found one of the lower airbox mount grommets missing. I suspect this happens a lot.
Pulled the spare tire out and checked over the jack etc. Neither looked as if they were ever used. Yellow rim ???
Filled the tank, adding 4oz Amsoil premix, and took her for a 300 mile run yesterday and it ran great ! Im going to be caught speeding in this thing, guaranteed
Now, where am i going to find a battery box? Search begins today !

 

Ebay or a junkyard your best bet for any plastic bits. Glad the car working well. The yellow spare rim is correct. It's to shame you in to getting your rim fixed haha.

 

This spare tire you speak of. Where is that stored? Does it just sit in the trunk in plain view? Or is there a little hidden compartment I don't know about?

 

It's in plain view. Some RX8s have it and some just come with the tire fix kit.

 

Ok that makes sense. There was no spare when I bought the car.

 

Mine has both. The cars paperwork included a separate booklet on the fitting and operation of the spare tire assy. Sounds like you get the fancy yellow rim and need to get your own tire ?
Vehicle Manual says nothing about it. Sounds like it may have been an option or accessory purchase. Takes up half the trunk !

 

It was a dealer option. Pretty sure it came with a tire though.

 

It was an optional extra from the factory. It should have a tire on it or it's pointless though. I'd still remove it for trunk space unless you are prone to flat tires driving out in the boonies.

 

Im certainly not removing the spare. Car has 4 new Continental Extreme Contact DWS06 tires. Day after i bought it, wheels were off to inspect the brakes. 1 tire had a nail in it, another had a slice out of the inner bead, and yet another had two pieces of a broken utility knife blade in it ! None of these caused air loss - i couldn't believe it.

 

Yeah, it’s not the best design, IMHO. I’ve owned mine for nearly 15 years now and have had to replace the battery cover twice! And I was being careful while removing the cover. Removal/reinstallation is NOT intuitive, and the plastic is somewhat brittle; tabs break easily.

 

The spare tire kit was an official Mazda option, installed by the dealer or at port of entry (I forget which). Yes, it’s a small, bright yellow space-saver spare wheel and tire designed only for emergency use: short distances at reduced speed, just enough to get you to a mechanic, dealer or tire store. It’s suspended on a large, horizontal black bar installed across the top of the trunk space where it, unfortunately, eats up a significant amount of your already limited trunk volume. Not only that, it effectively blocks most of the trunk light, making your trunk much darker to see into at night. Also, the spare needs to be kept at 60 psi, which is more than my Mazda-supplied tire inflator or my little manually operated floor pump can muster. My ‘05 Shinka came with the spare kit already installed. I’ve thought of removing/selling it a number of times, but I’m lazy so I haven’t.

 

Question: on the front lower suspension drivers side. and on the rear lower suspension drivers side, there are small control arms going to electrical switches. They obviously detect suspension travel, Im guessing they probably switch when detecting extreme travel.
Id search the site if i knew what they were called !

 

Can you take a picture of them?

 

Level sensor for headlights?

 

Correct Red
I guess they are for the headlight leveling system
Pic is generic.

 

Hello,
My name is Adam, I’m new to AZ looking to meet some cool new people. Hopefully find some car meets and make some friends to chat with about cars.

 

If ever you get a dash light for the headlight leveling system, they're the culprit.

 

Hey I’m new around here in West Phoenix, where and when are the meets around here?

 

Yes, they are for headlight leveling but why is your rear suspension so low? 1 of 2 things is going on here...
Either you slammed your car on coilovers or your rear shocks are completely gone

 

Pic is generic. I just grabbed it off the web to show the sensor. Dont even know what car it is from.

 

I guess i have to post this here as i do not have 10 posts yet -sigh !
I just noticed my engine oil sump is punched in, and although the engine doesnt seem to care, id like to replace it. What are my choices here ?
I cannot imagine a salvage yard would part with a sump off a good engine, but maybe one from a bad engine ?
New, I see the oem sump at $200, Greddy sump at $400
Is there another choice ?