RIWWP

iTrader: (2)

Yeah, lots of ways to do it; hydraulic, gears, pressure, electronic. The difficulty is that it means some sort of moving plate, but must be flush with the surrounding iron in all positions to retain sealing.

Yes, all porting work plays with the port edges and angles. Check our racing beat's porting template for an example

soul_sailor

Hello RX8 club and RIWWP.

I am about to buy a 2004 RX8 GT with multiple modifications and 100k miles. It's engine was replaced within the past year and has only 10k itself. The current owner has installed an upgraded starter with higher voltage, a new fuel pump, a magnaflow mid pipe, greddy catback exhaust, AEM cold air intake, and an all aluminum radiator with new tubing among other things. He also stressed that he has experienced very few problems with it and it's flooded twice (once when it wasn't driven for some months).

Overall, the car seems to have been very well maintained and started fine on the test drive and I'm taking it to a dealer today for a compression test which I will post the results of.

I am in no way a car expert of any sort, but wish too further my knowledge on the topic through the experience.

At this point I'd just like to ask if you thought that the newer engine would have the problems synonymous with the 2004 engine or not and if the modifications will protect it from flooding as I get accustomed to the car (I understand it's more based on one's own driving and habits, but I'm mostly wondering about the extent of these preventative measures' effectiveness).

Thanks

RIWWP

iTrader: (2)

You need to read the new owner's thread

The two questions you have are both answered in that thread.

Flooding is in post #2, engine longevity is in post #10. You will have the same engine as before, just probably a different level of build quality. Higher or lower is anyone's guess.

NyonRa

Hey guys first post and certainly not the last after countless hours reading day after day I have few questions to ask.
Buying a used 2007 Rx8 touring with 85,xxx miles, clean for 8 grand checked it out last Saturday
Still has mazda 100k warranty
Everything looked good, it ran awesome and with no fear redlined it a couple times. A few things I was concerned and I know I should be

btw he owned the car for 3 years and he is second owner I will be third if all goes well. He put 45k of miles on it and says he hasn't a prob with it. Always on time with the maintenance

1. Coolant sensor was on- He told me it was a bad sensor and that there was no leakage no seals broken. And that it cost 250+ to repair other than that the car was fine.

2. I asked him if to send me the last results of his compression test and tells me he never had one because he never needed it. Now is this something I should worry about?

3.[update] did an autocheck and it got a 84 auto check score, 2 minor accidents reported and failed 2 emissions inspection in the same month back in 2010. What should I ask him or do at this point?

The only real concern is the car being a ticking time bomb with 85k miles.
Anyways any recommendations or suggestions on what I should do or ask him? should I take it to get it compressed after I buy it?

Was really feeling the car, I would be love the be the next owner and it will also be my first rotary experience.
Thanks in advance

sweatr

#1) Coolant sensor issue. Research all posts to due with coolant sensor, there are more than a few.
#2) If you have concern: Get a test at dealer. It should be around 60.
#3) If you have concern: Have the dealer check the car. All cars with any miles on them are ticking time bombs in my opinion only.
If you read as much as possible the questions will change in number and quality. It's a fun car and it is a specialty car again in my opinion. Some areas of concern on the 8 are always cooling, lubrication, cooling and did I mention cooling. This car requires a lot of attention. Some folk I talked to prior to buying mine in 20009 didn't like the rx8 because of all the problems associated with it.
I have put over 50,000 miles on mine and not with out problems. I just installed coils/plugs/wires. I am premixing but not before I read a while lot of threads on premixing here as well as other sites prior to making a decision. Its always a gamble buying a used and even a new car any more..

RIWWP

iTrader: (2)

See the new owner's thread, specifically the section regarding compression testing. You NEED it. If the scores are good, you don't have a time bomb. If they fail, then the prior owner can have it replaced under warranty and you start with a fresh engine. If they are poor but not failing, you have a time bomb on your hands.

It's HUGELY critical.

Expect to pay between $90 and $250. Typical cost is in the $130-$180 range.

2 different new owners in the past 48 hours have gotten their compression test to find that they bought an RX-8 with an engine about to die. Don't join them.

sweatr is correct about the coolant sensor issue. Very common. $130 bottle from Mazmart, plus labor.

Mr_Pieper

Read up on the new owner threads. The sensor problem is a common one and requires a new overflow tank as it is built in. One of you should get a compression test done to make sure it is in good shape before the warranty has expired. It would likely be easier for the current owner to get warranty work done as he is already registered. Ask him about the emissions stuff. If it was something simple that set an engine light then it should be fine. Misfires or a bad cat lead back to that compression test.

NyonRa

Really appreciate the responses. Will definitely keep this in mind and will not purchase that 8 without that test. I'm going to ask him if I can go with him to do the test. He denies or shows any hesitation then bye bye 8 and on back to my search for another 8.

Thanks again, will keep studying this site

yankeepicker

Hi, I have a question about "chips" in general.
I read the newbs read first sticky thread. I know that RIWWP said that there is no chip out there for the RX-8. Apparently, by reading through this forum and by looking for things like premixes and other information about the RX-8 online, Google thought that I would be interested in a chip, so it plastered my screen with an ad by a company called GFORCE:
MAZDA RX-8 GF Peformance Chip

What exactly are these chips? I realize that I'm old and have never modified a car or truck, but if there is some magic chip that can be put into a car to give it more horsepower AND better gas mileage, and it only costs $70-$500, then why wouldn't the car manufacturers use them as stock? So do these things actually exist and work in other cars, but not the 8?
And why is this company so confident that it wouldn't screw up the warranty?

200.mph

iTrader: (9)

no chips work. cheapest tuning option is the cobb access port.

yankeepicker

I sort of gathered that this site would be telling me the truth, so I accept that no chips work for this car. Do they work in other cars, though? And if so, why wouldn't the manufacturers use them if they are so magical?

RIWWP

iTrader: (2)

It goes to what "chips" are, and how they interact with the ECU.

Basically, the ECU is designed to try to keep the engine at an ideal air to fuel ratio. In older cars where the ECU and sensors were more primitive, the chips basically attempt to fool the ECU into thinking it's a different AFR than it actually is, under the assumption that the ECU doesn't really know what it's doing. This actually works under a narrow set of circumstances. For example really opened up intake and exhaust on cars that have naturally restrictive ones, means more airflow into the engine. If the ECU doesn't see this extra air or doesn't expect it, then fooling the ecu can produce higher fuel injection rates.

But, there are many problems with this in modern applications.

1) Nearly every single "chip" is actually just a simple 50 cent electrical resistor in a fancy package.

2) Modern cars with a HIGH focus on emissions and mileage are very very very good at managing this accurately. Applying such a chip is actually going to make things worse.

3) Modern cars with advanced ECUs can't be fooled by chips anyway, as they have far too many controls in place. The thread on "lean burn with negative split timing" that one member was doing was showing that the ECU would only tolerate a radically different commanded AFR for a short period before it would force the AFR back to where it should be, EVEN WHEN the ECU was told to run that lean.

A simple resistor is at best going to cause some harder running for a short period while the ECU adapts itself around the change in order to ignore it. At worse, it can cause voltage control problems in the ECU, damaging it.

yankeepicker

#3 totally makes sense. Thanks for the info.


On an un-related, but just as n00bish note, how the heck do I change my avatar? It won't give me the option. When i go to "edit avatar", it says NO Avatar, and the only radio button I have is "select no avatar"?

RIWWP

iTrader: (2)

Contact Zoom44, this is a bug that occurs with some member profiles.

yankeepicker

Hi, I searched through several posts about CEL's and I think I might have this issue that Zoom44 posted about:



My questions are:

1. How long does the CEL take to reset itself? I think my old Protege was like 100 miles or so

2. I don't really know what reflashing a PCM means. I looked it up and understand that it is a firmware update to the powertrain control module. Is that something within the ECU? Can an OBD-II scanner do this? Where do I go for this reflash? My car is a 2004 and may never have gotten that update...

3. If all that is going on is this evap test fault, I'd just as soon ignore it if it is going to cost me time and money going to a dealership to run this software fix. On the other hand, I'd like to find out what code it really is just in case, but then I came across threads about the RX-8 not being OBD-II or something? I've never tried fooling with a car's ECU, but I see that I can pick up an OBD-II reader fairly cheap (like at HarborFreight: Search results for: 'obd'). Can these plug into my car or do I need to also find an "OBD-ii Dongle" which I see referenced a lot as well)?

THanks so much for your help

RIWWP

iTrader: (2)

Each CEL is different. Some will never self clear, some will self clear immediately.
Most CELs that can self clear will do so in 3 drive cycles, but it is not a universal statement.

Basically, imagine the ECU as a USB flash drive that you would plug into your computer and transfer files to and from. Only this one is just a fixed block of data tables and code. Reflashing is just replacing this block with a new block with changed values. This is how flash-based tuning is done, as well as all dealer software updates, etc...

Any dealer can determine if you need an update to your PCM. Standard OBD2 readers don't look for the information the dealer update hardware does.

By US federal law, all vehicles sold in the US must be OBD2 compliant as of 1996. The RX-8 is OBD2 compliant, and all OBD2 devices will indeed be able to communicate with the RX-8.

Yes, there are lots of options out there, from simple corded ones that just read codes and clear them, to bluetooth dongles that allow full communication with smartphone apps, and many things in between.

teamxtaci

I have a lot of great parts to offload since I traded my RX8 in...whats the rules before I can post them? I looked and could not find anything telling me why I couldn't post when I tried, thanks!

RIWWP

iTrader: (2)

sweatr, what is with the attachments? They don't seem to have any bearing on the content of your posts.

RIWWP

iTrader: (2)

10 counted posts and 30 days.

kcochran

Needing some tech advice and haven't posted since the forum ruls changes, so no luck with a new topic. Please let me know if anyone has experienced something similar! It's a 2009 R3 with the Bose stereo

I was driving down the road, music on and the speakers popped a couple of times, the right channel cut in an out, then a god awful static came through at full blast, almost left my ears bleeding. I turned off the radio as fast as I could and it didn't stop, I had to turn off the car. I left the radio off and it did it twice again on the ride home, eventually at the side of the road I couldn't get the static (with a high pitch scream overlay) to stop. Luckily the amplifiers connectors can be pulled without tools.

Pure luck I didn't crash when that hit and my heart stopped, my ears have been ringing for two days since. No warranty is left and I'd love some form of radio but I can't plug the amp back in. Any suggestions?

kcochran

I should note, it was intermittent, I could restart the car and drive for a minute or two before the thing freaked out again, but only a few minutes. It seems like an electrical short or the like, the connectors all look clean and undamaged so far but I'll take a closer look tomorrow

RIWWP

iTrader: (2)

Many people are getting confused about what you are trying to say. Others think you are spamming advertisements for a clothing line you run.

I'm just trying to figure out the point of the attachments. It's starting to feel like spam, since you are attaching them to every post you make. Are you trying to sell them? Should I delete them as off topic?

2005Shinka

Hi new 2005 RX8 Shinka owner. Just wondering where's a good place to start for tuning up my car. Plugs wires ext. thanks

RX what?

Start Here...

SeacretIslander

Hey everyone, just joined and ive been reading alot but i havent come to a 100% answer for this probelm. i own a 04 Rx8, warranty just went, i have missfire codes and manefold codes which ive already read up on. The car is now having a problem starting up after its warmed up. It can have been on for 2 hours or 2 mins the 2nd start attempt makes a wired noise. Ive read about new owners buying a 8 with engines that are about to die and im really hoping i wont be joining them. Any thoughts?