Hello , I own a 2006 Shinka special edition RX8 and it keeps losing power while driving, with no reaction from my gas pedal, then shooting forward. When it loses power my engine light flashes and when it shoots forward the light goes off until it happens again. It’s also been stalling out on me in idle or when in Neutral and would have trouble tuning over at first but after a couple of hours would start fine and run until warmed up , then stall again and not start. Originally when hooked up to the computer it was reading misfire in cylinder 3, which Mazda told me was the spark plugs so I had them replaced.

Mazda said it was running fine and that they drove it with no issues. I got 5 mins down the road and it started losing power and shooting forward again so I pulled off and it stalled. It turned over fine , but stalled after about a minute while in idle.
It turned on again and I was able to drive it as long as I would rev a bit while stopped. After a few minutes it started to lose power again and then shot forward , but this time the engine light stayed on and it drove fine the remainder of the night , with no issues.
The next day on my way to work it started losing power and shooting forward again and this time when it would lost power the front of the car would rattle and then go back to normal when it shot forward. When I pulled into work I put my car in neutral while pulling into the parking lot and it stalled out on me again. A coworkers spouse hooked his computer up for me and this time it was reading O2sensor stuck lean bank 1 sensor 2 , and misfire cylinder 1.

Mazda is for some reason not keen to work on it and neither is my local mechanics because of the rotary. I’ve had two different mechanics tell me it’s ran fine for them and nothing was wrong just to make it down the road and it happen again.

does anyone have any suggestions on what may be happening ? Any help would be appreciated

 

Your fuel pump might be going out. Your ignition coils could be failing. You might have a clogged catalytic converter. All of these are testable by a regular mechanic, it's not special to a rotary. If Mazda doesn't want to work on your Mazda, find a different Mazda dealer or call Mazda North American corporate for suggestions on what to do. It's their rotary, their techs should be qualified to read the shop manual.

The code refers to the second O2 sensor which doesn't really play a role in driveability, but if it's showing lean you might have a fuel delivery problem. If you don't know the age of your ignition coils or they're over 30k miles, I would replace them. They're a common killer of engines. There are too many variables here to troubleshoot without being with the car

 

I would start off with finding a competent Mazda dealer that would be able to perform a rotary engine compression test. You should establish if the engine is healthy before starting to get deeper into repairing multiple systems for the underlying issue to be compression. Now assuming that the engine compression is healthy, lets look at what could cause you issues.

-Fuel pump
Definitely a possibility, fuel delivery can absolutely cause headaches... that said it isn't as common of a failure point as other components and not as likely the culprit.

-Ignition coils
These are a high wear & tear component of the ignition system, our engines put a lot of demand on these and they sit in an area exposing them to engine heat in close proximity. 30,000 miles for new OEM Mazda ignition coils is typically the community established replacement mileage. Replacing the spark plug wires (leads) and spark plugs with new OEM would also be highly advised to do at this point. Now while this can explain bogs in power, the stalling and not turning back on doesn't entirely sound like coils. None the less, this is an important component to address.

-Clogged catalytic converter
Your ignition system underperforming and failing can cause extreme stress and significant damage to the catalyst material. Its critical you have your ignition coils and rest of your ignition system inspected and any concerns addressed so a proper diagnostic of the catalyst can be done. This part when it fails/clogs is known to cause significant or even catastrophic damage to our engines.

-Secondary Shutter Valve (SSV)
This valve is located in your lower intake manifold, is actuated using vacuum which is supplied to the actuator by a solenoid. It is common for carbon to build up and cause the SSV to stick, resulting in slow movement or staying in a partially open/closed position (or even fully closed or open). Not all years of Rx8 have the position sensor for the SSV so this often becomes a manually diagnosed issue. There is a revised part number from what was installed during original assembly, however if wanting to just clean and test I like to use CLP to clean the bore of the lower manifold where the SSV resides and also use the CLP on the SSV itself to remove all carbon and oil buildup. This component being stuck partially or fully open could cause you additional issues with drivability and stalling.

Those are places I would start with the car.