OK Justarius,

I am getting closer!

http://www.rx8club.com/showthread.ph...7&page=3&pp=15

I stumbled upon a thread "issues and problems"

"What's up with the heater"

user stevej119

This is one of the pieces I copied from that thread that I took into the dealer:

Originally Posted by fray
My 8 had this problem, turned out to be a faulty heater control unit. A few other people have had the issue as well.

From my issue (and another persons issue)

CUSTOMER STATES WHEN ADJUSTING THE AIR MIXTURE ONLY SWITCHES TO BOTH EXTREMES-SOP HERE HEATER CONTROL INTERNAL FAULT IN CONTROL HEAD.
REPLACE HEATER CONTROL HEAD.
U0207ARX .6 61/9W

To see if it's the same problem, find the air-mix actuator on the drivers side center console.. basically look at the center tunnel area near the gas pedal but "up" a bit....

with the car running (and the heater fan on).. move the temp ****. The air mix actuator should move following any change you make to the temp. In this particular fault. The actuator will go all the way cold.. and all the way hot.. in the middle it MIGHT jitter a bit.. but only does extremes. (And the dealer diagnostic procedures tell them to check the extremes.. but don't have rules for checking the intermediate range.) So you pretty much have to show them the actuator isn't working right to get it diagnosed.

Hope this helps,

Rasper

 

Dirty - Dirty

This is probably the dirtiest she has ever been.

Shame -

 

Nice pipes!

 

I forgot about this dirty car thread. My dirty car pic didn't get any attention in the Stormy Blue thread so I'll post it here.

 

^ that's not dirty...you can still see the paint

 

Do you get this much: "Hey, your tailpipes are gummy...you burning oil?"

Yes. A lot. David Suzuki and the unborn cry at my tailpipe oil burn.

 

Nice to see other dirty 8's. I skipped a couple (dozens) of car washes this winter. The good part is that the yellow is very forgiving about showing dirt.

Sorry, no pics, I'm still ashamed of myself for being so cheap.

 

Our cars use premium gas and lots of it . The Esso Extra card gives you one point per dollar spent, but triple points for premium gas. 499 points gets you a free touchless wash at the "modernized" Esso stations. I don't know about Ottawa, but there are plenty in the GTA.

Driving the car from spring to winter and using the card, you should be able to save up enough points to get at least one free wash per week during the winter.

...and no, I don't work for Esso

 

That's what I was doing but for petrocan but I ran out of points doing that. I guess that their points suck more than esso's.

 

Petropoints FTW. They all get converted to my PC points... free groceries! Can't beat that. (In essence feeding my 8 feeds me too)

 

When I go through a car wash, it's always the Esso touchless wash. But it can't even touch the dirt on the car in the winter. After I'm through the wash, I wipe down the car a white towel and, by the end, the towel is absolutely filthy. I'm so happy the warmer temps are here. I'm washing the car in the driveway this aft to finally get rid of that winter filth.

 

omg why would you wipe a dirty car with a towel?! WHY?!!! I feel for your paint.

 

I appreciate the concern. But the car's still wet and I use many, many towels.