djfa

iTrader: (3)

+1 on the let your engine idle for 30 mins and brake pedal stomp.

Are your coils overdue for a change maybe?

By the way, my dealership was the same. When I picked the car up the rep told me nothing except how lucky I was to have a new engine. I told him its not new its remanufactured. He said "no no I know its new we dont put reman stuff in cars on warranty work" Then I insisted so he called the parts specialist and told him it was a reman!

As for the break in, they dont even know. You probably know more about an rx8 than anyone at your dealership. Sad story but its the truth. Being on rx8club.com makes you more knowlegeable than any of them.

As for the break in, im following 1200km under 4k, change oil, additional 500km under 6k, and then ***** out.

I hope they fix it well man :/ Maybe there is a loose hose somewhere?

J-MON

OK thanks for this Footman. I passed this suggestion on to the Service MGR at Select Mazda (Chris Giardino) via email just now.

They mentioned they pulled the intake today and confirmed all hoses and everything is attached and nothing is pinched. A service tech told me late today that they're in touch with Mazda corporate about this issue and they're going to attempt to re-program the 8s engine CPU tomorrow.


Man I'm sick of taking the bus to work

Here's hoping I have good news to report to you guys tomorrow.

Footman

iTrader: (2)

NO J-mon..

you do it yourself. Don't "think" the mechanic will do it for you. Do it yourself.

In his perspective, he's gonna be insulted like "what? you expect me to perform some random procedure because you heard some guy say it on the forum?" The dealer is not gonna take that seriously. They will nod their head and be like "okay okay" but inside they're like "yeah **** off bro, I know what I'm doing cause I'm a Mazda master mechanic".

Seriously, search it up, and do it yourself as soon as you pick up the car from the lot, just do it right there in the parking lot.

BigPoppa

Hello All,

I'm a "new to me" RX-8 owner and new member of the forum. Reading this thread puts a little scare into me but as I understand it from reading other topics, this issue mainly applies to Series 1 cars, correct?

I've got an 09 Sport and according to the previous records, all maintenance for the past 30k miles has been done at a Mazda dealer (not the one in my area). Just looking for some comfort knowing that as along as I at least stick to the factory service schedule and specifications that I should be okay for the long haul with my new "toy".

Good luck with the new engines for those of you that have had to suffer through the replacement work.

J-MON

My problem is near identical to this thread: https://www.rx8club.com/trouble-shoo...g-idle-234313/

DJFA - Earlier on in this thread I mentioned that I spent near $1500 for new coils, new plugs n' wires, and a new starter motor. I did all this to beat the "bogging down off launch" I initially went to the dealer for = so yeah they're brand new.

Footman - I know it's up to us forum members to do stuff ourselves and I wholeheartedly appreciate experienced users like you taking the effort to help out a junior like me but I still think it's valid to send some info to the Service MGR himself to potentially help them solve this problem. Its up to him if he wants to ignore our suggestions or not. For what its worth I sent the KAM reset info to him and he responded back with this:

Hi Jay,
That is correct, the only way to reset the KAM is by depressing the brake pedal 20 times. This is required after the engine has been installed and it was performed before the first road test, it was performed again after the ECT was installed and it still made no change. Jim or I will be in touch tomorrow.

AND UPDATE for 11:30am on Friday is still no news. As far as I know they're programming the cars CPU today and they said that would take hours then they'd test her and let me know.

J-MON

Update: I get my 8 back - TODAY ! Hooray !

Hope she runs as good if not better than when this thread started.

The other kool thing to note is that on Saturday when the service MGR called to say that the 8 was still running great one minute and bad the next, still had the hunting idle and even would stall out now and then, I asked him to re-consider their policy about not offering loaner vehicles to people having this type of work done (ext. engine warranty) or at least to take exception in my case since its been 100% past the quoted return date of one week to replace the engine. Service MGR called this morning to say I can come down and grab a Mazda 6 to use until they figured out the problem.

When I textd my wife just minutes ago telling her they said they found the problem and I can come pick up my RX8 today instead of coming down to get the Mazda 6 she retorted: You should have asked for a loaner sooner

The problem apparently was a tugged electrical line within one of the fuel pumps. It was making the other pump work harder and is what caused the intermittent nature of the car sometimes firing up and going fine for a bit and then caughing out at low revs and the hunting idle.

So this should be and end to this thread - I'll reply with my post-pickup notes on my new engine.

P.S. maybe some of you more experienced guys can let me know f I should be linking this thread to some of the technical based sticky threads on other parts of rx8club.com ? I think there is collaborative wisdom here and if any info within this thread can put an end to an RX8 owners headaches quicker vs. later than I think it's worth it.

J-MON

Final update to this thread:

I got my car back on Monday, August.20th after giving up my 8 for a total of 3 weeks. 1 week for the engine diagnostics and my new starter, new ignition coil, new spark plugs and wires and 2 weeks for the engine to be replaced (1 week installation and 1 week of trouble-shooting). Bottom line: My 8 has never run better albeit within the confines of the new engine break-in procedure. I'm anxious to get this first 1000km out of the way so I can start piling on the power gradually. However, I can already notice more torque within the sub 4000RPM range and more smoothness to the engine.

So again - thanks for all advice, kind words and well wishes regarding my engine transplant and I wish anyone going through the process has a smoother time of it than I did.

Last thing I'll say is that Select Mazda Service Manager was acutely aware of the break-in procedure, however, he only talked with me about it after I brought it up. So this is in contrast to what I'm hearing other forum members that have a reman engine put in and when they ask about break-in procedures they say there are none or they're not aware of any. I'm going to keep going to Select Mazda for the foreseeable future and absolutely consider future rotary products from Mazda as they come down the pipe.

djfa

iTrader: (3)

Congratulations!

Although I find 3 weeks quite a lot for a new engine install. Mine took 3 days to get proof of maintenance, 3 days to order the engine and 2 days of labor.

I know how you feel the sub 4000rpm power is highly noticeable! No more bogging or slow acceleration. Unfortunately, mine is back at the dealer because my CAT is now clogged and something is wrong with my intake system and they wont tell me what. Just that the "intake is bad and the parts are ordered" My cat was not covered so im going catless.

So what procedure are you going to follow to break in your engine? Notice your gas mileage will also improve. Mine went up 15%. I got 11L/100km on my first 2 tanks. Used to get about 13.

Keep me posted!
cheers

J-MON

3 weeks IS a lot for an engine install. They dragged their heels throughout the diagnostic procedure but they kept telling me they wanted to be thorough and that they'd do something one day then report back to Mazda corporate and then Mazda corporate would tell them the next step. At that early phase - Mazda told me that dirty spark plugs was the cause of my 'bogging down from launch' and after spending near $1500 for new spark plugs, wires AND a new starter motor AND a new ignition coil they gave the car back to me and said enjoy. AND I WAS ! The car was running fine. I got it back on the Saturday and on Monday Service MGR called early in the day to see how I was liking everything and I WAS ! He called me back later that same day to say Mazda corporate wants to replace my engine. Something about them not liking the way my vacuum pump seals were operating even though they were 'within tolerance'.

So they ordered me an engine at said it would take 2 weeks. All the time I drove over these two weeks the car felt identical to prior to my problem of the loss of power at launch (bogging down) and I was pleased.

I take the car in for the engine transplant and a week later I get the car back and I didn't get more than 3 blox before she stalled and kept stalling all the way back to the dealership (in rush hour). All in all I think it stalled like a dozen times limping back.

So every day after that they call me on my cell (sometimes more than once a day) to say they tried this or that and it's still stalling and has a 'hunting idle'. This goes on for a full week before they found the problem = pinched electrical connection to one of the fuel pumps.

Car is aces now !

Break in procedure is the one that is coped over and over again here @ RX8club.com

1. first 1000km don't exceed 4,000RPM
2. first 1000km don't launch under full load
3. first 1000km try to vary your speeds and Revs within 1-4000 and don't hold it at one speed for excessive time (i.e. highways don't use Cruise control).
4. first 1000km don't mash the pedal
5. next 1000km gradually pile on the power. (for every 200km you put on you can then stage up to the next RPM range 5000, 6000 etc.)
6. after 2000km drive it like you stole it !