Now I know that vibrations at idle have been done to death and I have done a search so don't flame me. No-where can I easily find info on what my dealership thinks is wrong with my 8.

It has developed a reasonable vibration at idle. Now it's done 52,000kms and has had better than Mazda states servicing. Kid gloves in fact. I put the vibration down to having the aircon on all day as it's so bloody hot here at the moment. Glad I don't have a Black 8!! Hottest I have seen on the outside temp indicator is 45 degrees in bumper to bumper traffic!!

So I try the following. Turn off air con (no real change) Check air filter (it's clogged and dirty so replace with a nice new green one that fits better than Mazda one and seems to let car breathe more) no change, call dealership they say bring it in!

So the mechanic is under the bonnet, revvs the ring off it and then says, your car has a vacuum leak from a couple of places. We have had to replace some valves on a few 8's and yours needs them too.

Now I got the car on the hoist over the weekend before I went to the dealer and looked at the engine mounts, one looks ok, passenger side, one looks higher, drivers side. DS one also looks like it's moved more??

I haven't had any warning lights come on, nothing else to report other than this vibration....which if it were not so worrying might be pleasurable to endure

Will let you know what they say after the 26th cause that's when they can look at it.

Your comments in the meantime would be appreciated so I can go there with a full compliment of questions.

As an aside when I mentioned engine mounts the mechanic said, we have never had to replace any engine mounts on any RX8, few blown engines but no mounts!

 

it is the mount. the exhaust side fails. the part has been upgraded..

beers

 

Yep, it's the mount. This is a known problem from 3 years ago, but Mazda dealers never know about known problems

 

Ok well when I take it in I will want them to inspect the mount really well......and then replace it.....

The other issue i have is why do I have to help them spell my rego plate???

It's RENESIS for pities sake.......

Might call another dealer and see what they say......

 

That is complete bullshit if he is speaking for Mazda (as he should be if dealer servicing is worth the factory connection). I suppose it is just possible that his particular dealership has not had to install any but if he kept up with his technical service bulletins he would know this is a known problem with the earlier cars until the replacement part mentioned by Swoope was introduced.

Not only have plenty of us had the mount replaced, it was done for free, no questions asked, even on cars out of warranty, because the problem was so notorious (and I suspect MA wanted to avoid a general recall). Your symptoms are a classic fit for those mentioned by just about everyone who has had this fix carried out.

Get them to do everything short of a MRI scan on the thing before you let them off the hook on that one Julia...

 

What about SIK-13B.

Could be taken as 'sick leb' or 'sick 13b'.

Its safer just to ask sometimes.

 

Point taken but since the car was bought from there and has been back there 3 times for warranty issues and I have lost what little patience I have..... It's when they say......RENESIS, what is that? When I say it's spelt EXACTLY like the engine some still draw a blank!!! WTF!!!

 

Thanks for that....yes I will be going in on the 26th with a club cleverly concealed in my hand bag...I tell you they aren't faring too well if they expect to sell me another one going this way! Now I wonder if I can get a copy of that TB??? To hand to them if they look at me with a blank look??? Pays to be for-armed hey! I must have really bad PMS at the moment!!!

 

I have found a copy of the TSB and am off to look at my VIN to see if my car is affected.........should be interesting if it is in the affected batch.....

My centre console lid is broken too and my gear **** is scratched so will go in for this as well!!!!! Might as well go the whole hog hey!

 

Ok so now I am totally prepared.

My VIN is below the number JMFE1******154999 in fact it's well in the affected batch...... 103*** is my number.

So armed with the TSB I will go have a chat to the service guys and see what they say. Seems to me that my 8 will not be leaving there until they actually replace the part........so wonder if they have them in stock???

Thanks for your help everyone!

 

Be prepared for the blank looking response when you mention the TSB, and the comment "Oh, but that doesn't relate to Australian cars"

I'd laugh...but VW dealers are no better.

(thinks aloud) wouldn't it be great if you could have a dealerless car, sort of like open source software, and source all your information, mods and updates from the interweb

 

Douglas Adams thought he had this sorted too - dealership mechanics would have been on that space ship with the longest bathtime in history.

And we'd still have all died from a dirty public telephone.

(Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy fans will know where I'm coming from)...

Go get 'em Julia!!! Before the PMS wears off and you get all nice again...

 

Ok for the shortened version of the last 2 days events! Boy I bet they wish I had never bought a car from then now...getting the picture!!

Tuesday morning - rush accross town in peak hour traffic to deliver car to dealer.
1. Got the blank look, so then produced TSB with my VIN on it and highlighted that it was in the affected batch. Told the guy who took my keys that the car vibrated badly at idle and this was not normal.
2. He then took my keys....brief squabble as they had no loan car for me.....the sales manager appears with a set of keys and all is fixed...I get an auto Mazda 3. OK.
3. Call service department at 1500 to enquire what was going on. Get the, "the service technicians can't find anything wrong with your car, what was the issue again? Does it do it all the time? They have taken it for another test drive to see if they can isolate the problem." To which I reply, I am coming to get my car and then stuff whoever I spoke to under the bonnet to let them SEE what the problem is.....I then get told, "We will call you back when the foreman gets back, I have visions of him driving till the tank is empty....you only need to sit in it while it idles to know it's not right!!! I call the salesman I bought the car from and let him know his service department is crewed by monkeys who cannot do anything other than change the oil?? He gets onto sorting it out.
4. Salesman (very helpful but has a vested interest to keep me happy as I might buy another car from him) calls back and asks if it's ok for me to keep the loan car and they will call me in the morning and let me know what's going on. I say no worries I can put a couple of hundred clicks on the clock and use your fuel
5. I call back today cause I haven't heard anything by lunch time. I get told, "The car had failed engine mounts which have been replaced", they also at great expense replaced the gear **** I complained about cause it was falling apart!
So after telling them what the problem was, printing out the TSB, I am amazed that they didn't ask me to change the mounts myself!!!

In my usual calm and collected way I only erupted into a seething Volcano of ver angry upwardly mobile female after 2 minutes...not the usual 0-BITCH in 0.25 seconds...so I gave them fair time to placate the situation. Apparently now the vacuum leak is "within normal limits" so I guess it might not have been the issue in the first place???

I am not happy with the lack of service, being treated like an idiot and getting fed some bullshit line about vacuum leaks....or fuffer valves, I asked to see the mounts they had removed but apparently they get tagged and sent back to Mazda...I suggested they send me a copy of the warranty report showing they had replaced the engine mounts and was told that it had to be processed etc...so I calmly said "is that so, well when it is processed send me a copy so I can remember the date I got frigged around by the service department who wouldn't know "service" if they fell over it!"

Was I too harsh? No. In the letter I will write then I will be eloquently harsh! Oh boy I do hope they send me a customer service satisfaction survey to complete!!!

So that boys is my sad and sorry tale of why and I fed up with being a female and being treated like a second rate citizen. I should start a service department just for women...catering for our needs and treating people with respect and not bull shitting them!

Ps. I can summon the feeling of PMS at will now...a skill I have developed just for occasions like this!

I am off to join the throng of peak hour traffic! Toodle pip!

 

Yay, Julia...you go, girl!!

I like how you can summon your PMS power at will (scarey for us blokes, though )

As some here will attest, I call my approach "getting in touch with my inner *****" but I've no doubt yours is more effective

I see you are going to write a letter. Please -- for all of us -- send a copy to Mazda as well

 

I certainly will send them a copy. Last time I complained Mazda sent me a lovely book on the Rx8 and a pen....and a lil pat on the head...this time they might send the boys around!

 

Hell hath no fury, etc, etc.

Well done Julia.

If it's any comfort, service depts are also happy to treat guys like **** too, as my experiences with Crookie and Artarmon will prove. As you say, even when you tell them what the problem is, they will still charge you for time spent 'diagnosing' (i.e. scratching their **** whilst reading the paper and popping their zits).

My last scathing email to Crookie went unanswered, which speaks volumes for their ability to face up to a disgruntled customer. I'll never buy a Mazda from them again, ever!

 

Yes well. I got all the stuff done on warranty so I didn't hand over a cent just used 1/4 tank of their fuel and cleaned the exhaust system of the lil Mazda 3 they lent me

I am not sure that any car dealership is good/excellent to buy a car from. Ongoing service to the customer is something that many places forget about. They don't realise that is what sets them apart. I have the utmost praise for the sales guy I deal with. He is excellent. I would buy another car from him if I decide to go Mazda again. That choice I am still agonising on.

Interestingly though the car is quite different to drive. In slow stop start traffic it no longer hesitates and runs as though it has a wild cam in it. Nice. On the open road it seems to revv more freely and get up in the revvs quicker and smoother. Guess that's the result of the engine not being able to move and try and throw itself out of the engine bay! It was great to drive it again after the Mazda 3 though.

My letter will arrive to them by snail mail and will go into particular detail in relation to COMMUNICATION between departments, as well as COMMUNICATION with the customer.

Thank you for all your kind words and your advice.

My new gear lever **** is nice too :-)

 

Geez, I just started having the same problem, i called my dealership and told him i believed the engine mounts were failing and told him off the symptoms, and surprisingly enough, he admitted to me that it is a known problem, and he would be happy to replace them. The only problem is they are booked out until late next week. It is so rough to drive atm, it almost "jumps" at idle and makes a loud knocking sound under load. I only changed out the ignition coils 2 weeks ago, so i knew it wasnt that old problem! Im trying to leave it in the garage as much as possible until then.
Hopefully it can get sorted without too much hassle, thankyou for yr posts on this RotorConvert, it saved me alot of time in searching for the root of the problem.

 

Interesting point to add. The original mounts were replaced by a new and improved part. Mine were replaced about 18 months-2 years ago now. My car has been in for some surgery lately and one of the first comments when I picked up my car was "Have your mounts been replaced?" when I asked why I was told that they are starting to sag again.

And this is all without the new added extra hot temps they are gong to see I can only guess that the "new and improved" mounts are that great after all, they didnt change them, or they changed them with the original part instead of the new one.

Either way I am thinking I will look at the mazsport ones next.

Cheers

Andrew

 

I think they are wear and tear item. I don't think mine will last very long either.

 

Sure its a wear item. But as I have argued before, there is an expectation that it should last longer than the 50,000k people are replacing them at.

 

Mine were replaced a lot earlier than 50K - more like 20-25K.

They should either be more durable or if they cannot be engineered any better, they should be something that gets checked every service. We're still getting reports of service depts not having a clue about it, which is not good enough now that the car's been around for a while and it is a known weak spot.

 

Well put Dave. Whenever we have a problem like this, its crucial the remaining members are aware of the issues.

Well done Julia, remind me to give you a call if I ever need a hand with something. Hell, you could even charge solicitor rates and end up with the same result....!

 

Dave, agreed, mine went at 20k but the point was that most cars get 100's of 1000's of k's before SOME start to fail.

 

Mine went at 10,000km's! They replaced them but the same vibration is coming back lately..