Good day fellow triangle enjoyers,

A co-worker is selling their RX-8 and I'm interested in picking it up. She's not perfect though.
It's a red 2007 manual with 92,000km on the clock. Physically in very good shape, stock aside from a subtle exhaust and a couple interior mods.
Dash is cracked, I've heard this is a common problem. My 3 has a severely melted dash, Mazda just don't know dashboards lol.
Problem being this car has sat in a garage for around 18 months and is running rough.

Took it for a test drive today, power was all over the place, flat spots in the power band between 4k and 7k, particularly at full throttle. Not a happy girl.
It was hunting for an idle after a slight rev in neutral, and was stalling out at traffic lights. Crank sounded laboured but I'm unsure of battery condition, always started.
If left alone, idles smoothly, and it can get to the redline, it just takes a while. Lights on dash were check engine, traction control, ABS and the handbrake indicator.
Four DTCs; P0172, P0335, P0661, P0410 (0172 and 0661 were duplicated so 6 total). I have the live data from the OBD scanner if needed.

The rest of the car is awesome though and the way it drives is unmatched compared to my 3.
I was hoping some owners and/or experts could give me some advice on severity, causes and potential solutions, and whether it would need a rebuild.

Cheers in advance,
Blayd

 

Could be anything, I would start with fresh gas and a reset, see which codes come back while driving normally. Don't push a sick car.
You have a bunch of sensor issues, possible animals have chewed on the wiring while it was sitting?

If you haven't already, read the "New and Potential Owners" thread. I wouldn't buy any rotary without a compression test. 90k km isn't particularly scary, but things like not replacing the ignition in time could have lead to early problems. Does it restart easily when turned off while warmed up?

 

Thanks for the reply Loki, I think I'll get him to take the car to a local rotary specialist (Mazda dealership recommended) for a compression test, maybe a smoke-down and a general diagnosis depending on cost etc.. this thing was stored in a garage under a sheet so I hope no rodents but always a chance I guess.

Startup was a little slow, could have easily been a weak battery, forgot to test that I'm afraid. I'm not entirely sure what a healthy vs. unhealthy rotary sounds like when cranking, my Dad sold his FB before I was born. I'll have a read over that thread. I'll report back