I just bought a 2004 Mazda RX8 GT (MANUAL) last month which had 91k Miles on it. However, there is a BIG ISSUE with this car. After driving my car for a while and letting my engine warm up, if while im driving or stopped and put the car in NEUTRAL or let the rpms idle, the engine will die and is VERY hard to restart sometimes even taking an hour of letting the engine sit with the car off then trying again. This is very frustrating when coming to a red light, or stop sign in which I always put the car in the NEUTRAL gear and it just dies. Doesnt happen when the engine is cold. And I mean cold as in I live in wyoming and its winter here right now. Lots of cold, snow and ice everywhere. It just seems like the RPM needle is falling to low and killing the engine. I also know nothing about cars, but I changed the oil, replaced the engine coolant etc. Sometimes the Check Engine light comes on but then will go off and not come back on for says, then more occasionally, the Engine Coolant Level light comes on all the time and goes on and off for no reason.
I know nothing about cars or engines, can someone tell me what my problem might be? My nearest mazda dealer is in the next state over and is 2 hours away plus i dont know if they could fix this problem and if they did would charge me alot.

 

no offense, but you really should do some research into a vehicle you buy.

My advice is to get your compression tested. If you (or the previous owner) kept up on maintenance, you should be covered under the 8 year/100k mile engine warranty.
Read this, to start you off on your journey to learning about your car https://www.rx8club.com/new-member-forum-197/new-potential-owners-start-here-202454/

 

I have been doing alot of research, but have not found anyone that can tell me what is wrong with it. No one has had this same particular problem and if they have then SPEAK UP!!! When I bought the car from the dealership, i remember signing something saying NO WARRANTY,

 

you really need to work on your research then.

Click the "search via google" link in my sig, and use key words such as:
low compression
hard starts
idles and dies
check engine light (misfire)
spark plugs and ignition coils
etc etc etc.

You'll see that you have EXACTLY the same issue as many other people on this forum...

 

I hate to tell you this, but if you live 2+ hours away from the nearest Mazda dealership, then you bought the WRONG car if you know nothing about cars or engines.

Its going to be a very, very expensive route for you to take if you can't work on this car up there on your own.

If it was my car, the very first things I would do would be to install new ignition coils, new spark plug wires, and new spark plugs, and see if that perks things up. Throw in 2 bottles of Techron Complete Fuel System Cleaner, too.

The next thing would be a drive 2+ hours south, to one of the better Mazda dealers in Colorado, and pay for a compression test. If it fails, I hope you have oil change receipts from the previous owner(s), because the dealership might demand them if you are still within the rotory engine replacement warranty time frame.

If you don't pass, and you don't have receipts, and they don't authorize a replacement engine, you're really in a pickle then.

If you do pass, you're golden.

BC.

 

Ok, I just called mazda about that 100k warranty and he said even though I have 91k on it and not 100k that specific warranty expired for me on september 23rd 2011. I JUST BOUGHT THIS CAR LAST MONTH! How could my warranty have expired? I didnt even have it at the time when he said it expired. I called here 800-222-5500 2004-2008 RX8 ROTARY ENGINE CORE LIMITED WARRANTY EXTENSION PROGRAM SSP 77

 

I take it you don't know how warranties work?

The warranty works like this:

From the original date of purchase, the engine is covered for 100k miles, or 8 years, whichever comes first.

Obviously, the VERY FIRST owner of your car took possession of his car on Sept 23, 2003. Add 8 years to that date, and you get Sept 23, 2011.

That's when the engine warranty expired on your car.

There's not a thing you can do about it.

Had you looked at this forum before you bought the car, you would have possibly seen the various threads on engine warranty, and how to buy a used car.

One of the first things mentioned is to get the VIN, call up Mazda, and find out if the engine warranty is still in effect, and what its end date was. You obviously didn't do this until just now. I doubt you had a compression test done, too.

At this point, you should follow the rest of the advice given to you in this thread, and read the new owners FAQ sections. Change the plugs, wires, coils, dump in some fuel system cleaner, and drive down south and get a compression test done. Then you will know what you are dealing with.

Your only other choices consist of keep driving your car like it is until it dies or sell your car, and buy something else.

Good luck to you.

BC.

 

I guess this will be another person to spread the story of "how terrible the rx8 is", and "mazda is garbage"...
If only research had been done PRIOR to purchase

 

Nope, I still love mazda and the RX8. Before this I bought a Mazda MX-6 and it was and AWESOME car until i totaled it at 110MPH off the mountain pass lol. I am 24 and had that car since I was 17 and it was my first car. Alot different switching to driving the RX8 from that car. If I end up having to pay for a new engine, how much do they cost and would I have to pay all at once or would they bill me and let me pay in installments?

 

around 4k for a decent engine.

 

I thought it would be more than 4k for an engine, either way, no way i can pay 4k all at once. Will the dealership make me pay for it in full? How does this usually work? Can they install it and let me make payments?

 

I have no idea. I live in a country where financing and other ways of robbing people is only partially common.

The main question is... why did you buy a car that can't maintain?

 

<<<<<<What I just sent the dealership that I bought my car from. They did a compression test and said I need a new engine and that my warranty expired September 23rd 2011 and that its about $4000 for a new engine and install. I am completely screwed unless the dealership that sold me the car does something now.

 

I doubt this will bring you much result, if you bought the car in "as-is, no warranty" condition from a used car dealer.

 

you said it only dies when you put it in neutral...

What happens if you leave it in gear with the clutch depressed at a stoplight?

 

It doesnt have the problem often enough for me to test that out. It hasnt done it in about 2 weeks.

 

I was thinking about going through a 3rd party warranty extension like here www.warrantydirect.com that way its like im doing payments on the engine while it gets replaced instead of paying a huge $4k all at once. But I dont know about these 3rd party warranty places. Do they work?

 

I just had the same problems you describe. I had bought a 2005 rx8 and thank gosh I did through a Mazda dealership in 09'. Apparently if you have also done the same Mazda May/or May not Replace your engine and starter under an extended 100k warranty free of charge due to the overwhelming problem of just what you , I and many others have described.
Best of luck to you =)

 

Jared, I had a similar problem with my 2004 RX-8. The car would run fine until warm and then stall whenever I stopped or let the RPMs fall below 800.

It turned out that, when the motor was replaced in Aug 2011, the dealer who did it plugged in the fuel injectors into the wrong places. My local dealer put them in the right places and it runs like a dream

 

dont do the warranty they will **** you in every orifice wearing a sandpaper condom.

 

Yea and getting a 3rd party extended warranty and then telling them right away that you need a new engine will raise several red flags. Even if the company is legit and actually pays people they wont pay you when its obvious it was already busted when you signed up. Its probably illegal as well.

You could try and find a personal loan... but chances of that happening are slim to none. You already have the car loan(im assuming) so I doubt anyone would loan you more money to fix something that you don't even really own.

 

Yeah, a $10,000 Loan from the bank and my grandpa had to get the loan and do all this for me. I am only 24 and credit sucks and his score was like 870 lol. I think mine is 570. And those Extended Warranty places I submitted my phone number to will not stop calling lol. I think I've gotten a call from each state now. www.fiuzamotors.com I even had this car shipped from utah to billings mt for $400 and I still had to travel from wyoming to billings to pick up the car. Also said it would have a full tank of gas, but when I got it, it was completely empty. HORRIBLE Dealership and I went to all the local NewsPapers and posted what I quoted above.

 

Major case of buyers remorse after finally doing some research, I take it?

You're going to get no where with the attitude you are spreading around.
What you really need to do is what I mentioned before.

-Update all the ignition parts, if you haven't already (I doubt you have).
-Fuel system cleaner through the gas tank to help clean up some deposits that are in the engine, on the rotor faces, and on the apex seals.
-Two quick oil changes back to back separated by a couple hundred miles to flush out the bulk of the old engine oil.
-Probably a new neutral position switch in the transmission, and inspect and replace any engine mounts that have gone bad. Those can cause idle quality issues also.

Its that, or you try and trade your car in to another dealer for something else, and take the loss, and the lesson in used car buying.

And in case you don't realize what that lesson is yet, I'll make it perfectly clear just for you:

RESEARCH THE CAR YOU WANT TO OWN BEFORE YOU BUY IT.

BC.

 

At this point I would do a home compression test before spending more money you don't have on parts that "might" fix the problem.

 

I still love my rx8 GT. I have not had any problems with the engine since I read on here how good it is to rev these engines. I rev it to 9000-10000 RPM's everyday now while in 1st or 2nd gear. I drive it everyday and race it, and I havent noticed any problems. So just how badley does it need an engine replace? It doesnt seem like it really needs one at this point, so hopefully I am good until I can save some money. I dont have enough to go update all my engine parts either to see if it helped. Bladecutter, how much do you think it would cost to update all the ignition parts on my engine? Am I looking at $300-$500 or up towards $1,000?