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I recently acquired my first Rx8 - its a beautiful 2004 model, less than 40,000 miles. It looks like someone put a body kit and spoiler on it - not sure if its factory or aftermarket but it looks great. I've never had a turbocharged car before so that is exciting - haven't gotten to drive it much yet but so far I am loving it. I'll probably be back with some dumb questions at some point but I've been reading up on some of the awesome and informative posts so thanks to the posters for all those.
Last edited by Devin Blair; 09-18-2020 at 03:15 PM.
I am still doing my research but it does have a greddy auto timer and greddy e-01 boost controller if that tells you anything. What else do you want pictures of? I'm happy to photo anything that will be helpful
I don't actually have a ramp handy to put this thing on and I'm guessing the turbo is tucked down below or something since it's not obvious from the top.
Silly question but can the previous owner not provide you info on what's in there? The car looks well taken care of, someone put love into it.
How does it drive?
Bought it from a dealership so I can't question the previous owner. Haven't had much chance to drive it yet. Only had it a couple days and I live where I work so I don't venture out much. What little I have driven it has been enjoyable though lol
Are you premixing? It's possible the OMP was disabled when installing the turbo. If you haven't looked into it, you may want to do so immediately.
I definitely intend to premix, and i found a bottle of 2 stroke oil in the glove compartment so its a safe bet the previous owner did as well. Now whether or not the dealership did during whatever driving got done while it was in their possession - that is the cringe worthy question and I don't think they'd even be able to tell me if they did. I had actually not even considered that the oil metering pump might be disabled from when they installed the turbo and I will investigate that just as soon as I figure out where I need to be looking.
I had a quick look at the oil metering pump and all i can say for certain is that the little fragile looking oil lines coming out the top of it are black in the middle - like there is oil there. So I am going to assume that means the pump is still functional. I've been looking into that sohn adapter kit thing and that looks like it would be a good idea.
I had a quick look at the oil metering pump and all i can say for certain is that the little fragile looking oil lines coming out the top of it are black in the middle - like there is oil there. So I am going to assume that means the pump is still functional. I've been looking into that sohn adapter kit thing and that looks like it would be a good idea.
Wouldn't even bother with the SOHN. Just keep premixing an FD rated 2 stroke in @ 6-8oz a tank, do oil changes every 3k miles, and you should be good to go. Definitely will want to do a compression test ASAP to see how healthy that engine is. Considering its not stock that would be my main concern.
A compression test is right at the top of my to-do list. I don't have a compression tester for these motors so I'll have to get it done elsewhere.
Regarding the sohn adapter kit - you said you wouldn't bother. Can you expound on that a little? Any reason not to do it?
There is no evidence the SOHN adapter will extend the life of your engine. Its kind of unnecessary unless you already have everything perfect and just want added insurance. Improper installation or a bad kit could actually cause problems.
Yes, it could be beneficial to run a SOHN but its not clear how much better it is vs frequent oil/filter changes and premixing. Better to spend your time and money on this car elsewhere for now.
There's more to it. The choice to use a Sohn or not needs to be in context of the rest of your oiling strategy. Do you plan to run synthethic? Do you plan to race? Do you plan to premix (sounds like a yes)? The Sohn has a lot less to do with the quality of oil you're injecting than the quality of oil you're not injecting: if you decide to run expensive synthetic stuff (which given the turbo and all that, might be a good idea), it stays in the engine and out of the combustion chamber. You can then burn oil made for the purpose.
Having it doesn't invalidate the choice to premix, the two things are complementary.
There's more to it. The choice to use a Sohn or not needs to be in context of the rest of your oiling strategy. Do you plan to run synthethic? Do you plan to race? Do you plan to premix (sounds like a yes)? The Sohn has a lot less to do with the quality of oil you're injecting than the quality of oil you're not injecting: if you decide to run expensive synthetic stuff (which given the turbo and all that, might be a good idea), it stays in the engine and out of the combustion chamber. You can then burn oil made for the purpose.
Having it doesn't invalidate the choice to premix, the two things are complementary.
Yes to premixing, most likely no to racing. As far as running synthetic I was still looking into that. I run synthetic in all my other vehicles. If the sohn adapter would make it more viable to run synthetic then that's probably a good enough reason for me to do it. From what I looked at the install is pretty simple
Yes to premixing, most likely no to racing. As far as running synthetic I was still looking into that. I run synthetic in all my other vehicles. If the sohn adapter would make it more viable to run synthetic then that's probably a good enough reason for me to do it. From what I looked at the install is pretty simple
It would be beneficial for that reason. You would be able to run full synthetic with a SOHN which is better and allows for longer oil change intervals. I'm not trashing the SOHN as it does have benefits, but just doesn't seem necessary right now in your situation when you have so many other things to worry about.
Compression testing is still at the top of my to-do list. I'll move forward once I have those numbers. In the meantime I'm also tracking down the source of my tcs light being on. The dsc light had been on too but the book told me how to reset that and it went away.
if there is no AFR gauge I would expect it is likely flash tuned with the stock ECU... but not for sure. You have a loaded recolver with unknown # of bullets and you are driving it....
There is a boost gauge but no afr gauge. How would i go about finding out how its tuned?
First thing I would do is pull the plastic ECU cover off and see what's in there.... if nothing but the stock ECU it will be flash tuned. If there is no Accessport in the car hopefully it was tuned with something like Mazdaedit ....
If you can't figure.it out get an OBD reader that you can check the stock WBO2 sensor to see what the AFR is.
Like we have said already.i would be super careful until you get some more info about what is going on
aside from being covered in what looks like black paint is everything there that should be? The paint on it is just weird and someone has definitely rooted around in there before me. The bolts are missing and the cover is broken a little in one place. As far as being careful about things I didn't get this car because I needed it so I'm not driving it until I get everything figured out sufficiently enough that I know it's not going to up and die on me