Kumorikou

I bought it from a dealership and it has about 54k miles on it already. I've read through quite a few of these threads before I got the car and before I created an account on here. The only concern I have is where to start with maintenance and upkeep. Or where to start in looking for things that could already be wrong with it that was left by the previous owner that wasn't told to the dealership.

RIWWP

iTrader: (2)

Post #33 of the new owner's thread: https://www.rx8club.com/new-member-f...t-here-202454/

Kumorikou

I read that but I guess it just didn't click. So even if I don't know for sure whether or not it has any issues with any of that I should replace it nonetheless?

RIWWP

iTrader: (2)

In my opinion, that is the proper list of critical maintenance for RX-8s, not the dealer's maintenance schedule (plus oil, which I don't have listed there).

Just because a part hasn't failed yet doesn't mean that it is magically safe from failure. You don't wait till your engine has seized from oil starvation before replacing it do you? Those parts tend to fail after the listed mileage, and every item on that list is something that if it fails, it will either strand you and make the car undriveable, or lead to costly cascading failures. Every single item on that list is one that you don't want to encounter a failure on.

Kumorikou

I agree. I just hope I'm not buying it with a potentially fatal engine problem already in the mix. I was going to replace most of the things on that list anyway but replacing all shouldn't hurt. Now, is that a list of things that would have to be replaced every 30k miles? Or after 90k should I have enough experince to know what's wrong with it? It honestly didn't take me all that long to learn the ins and outs of a piston engine. Such as what to do when this-that-or the other happens.

RIWWP

iTrader: (2)

At some point, you will understand your car enough that yes, you will probably be able to monitor everything far easier, but for new members with no prior knowledge of the car it's different.

When I get an 8 again, I'll be following that same list for any item that I don't have proof of a replacement for in recent history.

Kumorikou

Alright. Thanks for answering my questions.

RIWWP

iTrader: (2)

If you cover all those items, the only real fatal problem that might be lurking and un-addressed would be the engine compression, but a compression test would have told you if a fatal flaw was hanging there.

Kumorikou

How accurate of a compression test can I do on my own?

RIWWP

iTrader: (2)

Not very.

You need the individual compression scores of all 6 rotor faces and the cranking speed of the engine during the test. An analog compression tester will give you the highest compression score of the 3 faces on each rotor, but not the cranking speed, and you need the lowest peak compression face, as well as the comparison between each of the faces to know if the engine has failed or not.

Kumorikou

And I'm assuming the only way I can get an accurate compression test is to go to a Mazda dealership or go to a rotary engine specialist?

RIWWP

iTrader: (2)

Yup. Dealer price for a compression test is typically between $120 and $180, with a low of $90 and a high of $250. It's cheap to know where your engine is at.

Kumorikou

Whale then. Thank you very much. It's much easier to talk to someone about this rather than reading page upon page of information trying to find an answer. It's weird that people keep asking me if its a 6 cylinder and when I say no, it's a rotary engine so it has 2 rotors they just give me a puzzled look and don't ask anymore.

RIWWP

iTrader: (2)

It's strange. I wrote that, I wrote the answers in this thread. To me it just feels like I'm repeating myself

Kumorikou

I bet. I stumbled across this wesite by accident. No one else around me knows anything about this car and as much as I like reading about things, I still prefer a direct answer. I dunno. I guess it's just preference. I'm pretty sure I could spend all day reading through the threads and find enough info to suit me just fine, and yet I would still have question about some of the same things I read about.