Did you ever have a shorting issue in your RX8?
I checked the fuses, relays and all were good. The starter was bad and replaced it; I thought that was the source of drainage because a bad starter could have been a short internally.

The alternator was good and also recently replaced, and the battery was replaced; i just went to drive it after 2 weeks singl since replacing the starter and driving it, and no dash lights at all.

Just wondering if it's a common rx8 thing.

I did see another thread about the trunk 3rd brake light harness being a source of frayed wires and possible location of a short, and will check that tomorrow in daylight, but anyone got any other common short issues?.

It is a bone stock rx8. BONE stock, no LED's, no aftermarket stereo, nothing.

 

Not this is not common. So the car runs but the dash is dead? And the battery is getting drained? This doesn't really sound like a short, what exactly is going on?

The 3rd brakelight is one weak point, the ignition coil harness when using old style BHR coils without removing the engine hanger is another.

 

It was indeed the trunk harness. I had the car for a year, and the trunk button switch in the glove box was off all that time, so I've only ever used the key to open it.

Thank you for your reply.

A few weeks ago when cleaning the car, I found that switch and turned it on. Yesterday I went to drive it, and found the battery totally dead that the dash wouldn't turn on with the key.

I suspected the trunk button in the glove box since that's all that's changed in the past year, searched the forum, and found a few threads identifying the trunk harness issue, but it was late at night for me to check it or the button. I asked the same question I posted in my post above, but since this is a 21 year old forum, that thread probably won't get replied to, so I made this one.

Coincidentally I found the problem right after posting my car for sale, too.