I'm currently looking to get an 04/05 as there currently in my price range and its been my favorite car since its come out but had a couple of questions since that seems to be the most problematic year.


Know a decent amount about the rotary as I had 87 FC in my teenage years and we have a family 85 FB sitting in the garage that my dad restored. So I definitely have experience with flooding issues as the FC I constantly had to take the plugs out crank and clean the plugs and always started back up, funny though ended up straight piping it and the flooding became extremely rare. anyway onto my rx8 questions.


So seems to be a lot of 04-05 in my area for around $4k-$5k, been trying to find one that has a rebuild already done to, so I can feel a little more at ease.


anyway lets say I find one with a rebuild done to it and mazda did the rebuild, they have all the documentation of when etc.. does that mean lets say the motor now has 60k miles on it, is it covered till 100k since mazda extended the warranty a couple years ago.


obviously if it has starting issues especially after driving its a big sign of compression issues??


anything in particular I should be looking for?? I know someone is going to mention a compression test and to me most people won't bother taking the time out of there day to do that, they'd rather just sell it to someone who doesn't care about additional request and shelling out $200+ for a rotary tester and not actually owning the car yet is a no no for me. I mean if I buy one I'm definitely going to get that as it seems a goodway of being able to tell when its time for a rebuild to avoid extreme damage...


also the updates that came out for the 04/05 like the ecu flash etc are those covered regardless of mileage??


I was also researching if issues arise like apex seals breaking what can be done as shelling out $700-800 for a single housing would be a pain in the ***. I saw a couple company's doing resurfacing of the housings for $300 for both, has anyone had experience with this. Doesn't seem to bad if it does work compared to having to buy new housings. I'm pretty mechanical and I plan to do everything if I get this bad boy including a rebuild if I have to as it doesn't look complicated at all to do. I've done clutches, tranny swaps, timing belts, water pumps, etc. so I'm down to just jump in if I need to, just want to be prepared as I'm very OCD about knowing what I have to do if it arises.


Seems to me if this works and you do your own mechanic work that you could rebuild your own engine for under a $1k compared to $2k plus labor for someone else to do it, would I be correct in this??

I'm in Orlando in case anyone is wondering.

appreciate the input and the help.

 

Welcome to the club. Make sure you read up in the new members forum. A ton of good material there that will help as it is mostly RX8 specific.

Rebuilds can be hit or miss as well. Best bet is to go for one you feel the owner maintained well.

Not necessarily. Could be bad plugs, coils, a number of things really. And yes do get that compression test!

I think the housings will require an actual machine. Using premix helps with wear on Series 1 Rx8s.

Full gasket/master kits are usually $1k+. I think the price of a rebuild usually comes out to be around $4k with no housing or rotor replacements.

Assuming your engine just loses compression you can probably rebuild it yourself with a lot of research. When a seal flys out of its groove thats usually when significant damage is done to the block.

Hope that helps some. GL!

 

Be very careful about making assumptions about the RX-8 based on your RX-7 ownership. Many RX-7 experts are tripped up with significant costly problems because they don't realize how much has actually changed, and what might have applied once might not apply any more.

This is one example. Flooding happens easier and is harder to deal with thanks to our side ports vs your peripheral ports. The side ports were designed to keep unburnt gas inside the engine after all. But, the ECU has come a very long way since the RX-7, so it will only actually flood if you are letting something fail. A healthy RX-8 won't flood, even turning off bone cold repeatedly.

Be wary of shade tree rebuilds, the RX-8 is more sensitive to very minor things in the engine build process, and someone with RX-7 rebuild knowledge only and basing the rebuild on that will more than likely only produce a 10,000 mile lifespan on an RX-8 rebuild. Lots of new owners show up here with a completely jacked up rebuild. You can't get away cheap on them.


The 8yr/100,000mile warranty is from the date/odometer of first purchase. As in all 2004s are out of time, 2005s are basically all out of time unless you find a REALLY late first purchase one (my 2005 expired in Sept 2014), and most 2006s are out of time. It doesn't matter if the engine was replaced at 7yr 11m 30d and 99,9999 miles. 1 day or 1 more mile and the warranty is over.

Yes, that is the primary sign, however it is not conclusive, so don't assume that no starting problem means no compression problem. A good starter will overcome poor/failing compression until it drops REALLY low.

See the new owner's thread, it has the inspection lists. If you can't get someone to do a compression test on your dime, get one from a dealer that will give you a 3-day warranty or return policy so you can take it for a test yourself.

Only if you have the powertrain (5yr 60,000) warranty left, and obviously only 2010s+ will have that remaining. You can still get the reflash done, but it will usually cost you a diagnostics fee.

There has been zero success on proper refinishing of the housings, since they are chrome plated. Re-chroming costs more than a new housing, and the various attempts at finishing them with something other than chrome has resulted in very short lived engines. Again, you can't cheap out on a Renesis rebuild, it will usually run you $2,500-$4,500, depending on parts/options/markup. It's often cheaper just to turn in the current engine as a core for a replacement reman from Mazda.

Good, the 8 is very easy to work on in general, compared to most cars. Just can't really apply that to engine rebuilds. Everything else is usually in the 'stupid easy' category.

See above. Seal kit is $600ish, 2 new housings are $700+ each. That's already over $2k, and assumes that your rotors, e-shaft, and irons are all still within spec, which is unlikely for any motor past ~80k. A reman from Mazmart (or a dealer that doesn't mark it up too much) is around $3,300 for the 6-port ($4,500 for the 4-port). So you can see where just using the current engine as a core is often cheaper.

Pettit is your closest 'Rotary expert' I believe.

 

what a bummer haven't really been in the position to have dough like that saved up or be able to come up with it when needed hense the reason needing the info. Didn't wanna make a mistake and just jump into the car even though I really really want to just can't at this point in my life. Might just go back to getting an FC later on. Was just really hoping that some alternative was around to avoid the costly replacement of housings etc...

 

The alternative is to get a $150 compression test (ranges from $90 to $250, $150 is the normal cost) before you purchase, so you can get a car with solid compression that will last you 80k-120k+

But yes, if cost is a problem, the RX-8 isn't really going to be viable.

 

Glad I did a little research before jumping the gun, was more of the thought of seeing people actually trying to resurface or cermet coat the housings for less than $500 for the pair but couldn't find anyone that has had success with either coating and than hearing that ceramic seals are a better option as well but once looking at the pricing things can easily shoot up the cost, was seeing rebuild kits for $600 and was thinking that included the apex seals, I mean really $1k+ just for the seals , well the ceramic ones I researched. Wish these procedures were perfected would be such a huge benefit for those that aren't scared to tear into there engine.