Be careful when installing the MAF, dont use too much force when tightening the screws that secure it.

 

Just curious....what's gonna happen?

 

The screw is metal, but you are screwing it into plastic. Too much force strips the plastic out and makes it impossible to seal the MAF against the intake, leading to a vacuum leak as well as disrupted airflow across the MAF.

 

I actually have a typhoon intake so the tube is metal. I still need to get the o-ring though. The shop still has not gotten back with me, so I guess I will have to wait until after x-mas.

 

Oh, well, with a Typhoon, the intake itself is already screwing up the MAF, so yeah, the screws won't add to that.

That intake very well could be the entire source of your problems, and in fact it's the 2nd worst brand name intake you can get (Weapon-R edging it out for the bottom of the list). Causes all sorts of problems, including power loss, CELs, rough idle, stumbling, etc... The stock intake is an upgrade to the Typhoon.

Seriously.

 

So my son's ex-stepfather bought him an rx8 (2006).. I'm sure his intentions were good for a 17 year-old.. The step-father is now going through a divorce with the ex-wife. So.. I have the responsibility of this car, payment and maintenance wise. Great.. Not a good car for most teenagers.. I know pretty much nothing about this thing except that the clutch replacement cost me $1400, the 'no-start' with zero compression cost me $600. The TPMS has cost me multiple tires (7 new) as well as some smaller electrical issues.. So my son is in college... I'm paying for everything and I'd sure like some real advice with this car (besides get rid of it 'cuz he's too young). I just want to know the basics for some longevity. Myself? Yeah, I dig the car. Not very fast, but I like the feel of it... Change the oil every 4k miles, plugs, wires, getting ready for coils, the boy put a CAI (is what the new term is for it) on. Seems a CAT Delete will help. Prevents build-up in these? Can I straight pipe it? I just want this thing to last for him through school. So if you can dial me in on the basics that would be great. If you want to be condescending? Go somewhere else. No offense, but some of the replies to people here that have legitimate, albeit ignorant questions, seem to get slammed. Everybody has to start somewhere.

 

Lots of information....start with the stickies and when you have more specific questions ask away

 

The best place to start is in the New Members section.
There at the top in big red letters is the New Owner Start Here thread.
Everything you need to know is there.
Merry Christmas.

 

Has anyone heard of these issues being the ignition system even though the spark is apparent? Just wondering if spending the $ on some BHR coils could fix it. I am very hesitant on it being the compression. The symptoms just don't fit. I could be wrong, but it just seems like it wouldn't run at all if the compression was bad. Just a thought. When checking it over the past few days, there is no smoke other than the super rich gas smell and the smoke that comes with it. That is the white smoke I spoke of before. It is not coolant! I am still wondering about the MAF, but I was curious if anyone has had any injector issues. It seems that it could be a fuel issue too. Just a thought. It will be a week or so before I can get the o-ring. Anything else I can check while I am waiting?

 

8s will run with bad compression.
I have seen at least one member say it was running really good right before it died.
If the O-ring on the MAF is bad, that could be a problem.
RIWWP said your intake is suspect, you may want to go back to a stock intake to eliminate that possibility.
He is very knowledgeable, and if he offers an opinion, you should strongly consider it.

 

How is it running now? Is the check engine light on? If it's running OK and there's no light, your message sounds like you're on the right track. You might take it to a dealer to get a compression check. Was that $600 you mention for a Mazda "zoom-zoom" or Seafoam cleaning? And did it include a compression check?

If the CAT is OK, eliminating it is not useful. You won't get much of a power gain, you'll make the car noisier and smellier, and the check engine light will be on all the time. That can lead to trouble because you won't get a warning if something does go wrong.

Check with Mazda about which special programs or other significant updates have been done. Having the latest ECU flash is important. That was MSP-16. Any dealer can look that up for you.

The stickies (see RIWWP's sig for links to the good ones) are thorough but overwhelming.

Make sure he's read the Quick Tips manual and knows how to avoid flooding. There are a lot of old wives tales about starting/stopping/warmup. The QT manual has the correct info. Browsing the owner's manual never hurts...but that's almost as massive as the stickies.

Good luck. And come back here if you have more questions.

Ken

 

Did you read my prior post? You might have more than one problem, but I'd bet money that your intake is the cause of most of it, if not all. Get a stock intake, or at least an AEM/Mazdaspeed/RacingBeat one. You are correct, it's your MAF causing this, but it's not the MAF's fault, it's that crappy intake's fault.

 

Maybe a dumb question & that's why I'm putting it here but I have a 07 RX8 that might be flooded. Is there anyway it "unfloods" itself? Sounds dumb but this is what I was told.

 

You have to deliberately deflood it. If you flood a piston engine car, you can just let it sit and the fuel will drain past the piston rings into the oil pan (not good, but it lets you start the engine again).

If you flood a rotary however, there is no place that the fuel can drain to, so you have to actively deflood it. Search on google: site:rx8club.com diy deflood. There are many methods.

The key thing to remember though, is that some part of your car had to have failed for you to flood it. Typically this is weak coils, wires, and/or plugs, sometimes the battery or the engine itself, and occasionally the starter. Yes, this is even if you "just shut it off cold". You can shut off a rotary cold without a single problem if everything is healthy. You just can't get away with it if something is failing. If you don't fix what the problem was that caused the flood in the first place, then it's just going to keep reflooding, and/or you are still going to be at risk for flooding in the future. So deflood it, but also do some digging to figure out what needs some maintenance.

 

Awesome information thank you for for all you do for the site!

 

I did read your post. The problem is that I bought it with the intake on it and due to x-mas, I am a little strapped. I am not trying to be difficult but I have tried bypassing the intake all together and it is still acting like it's running on one rotor. It sounds like a tractor; that is why I mentioned the injector. Sorry if I am coming off that way. Looks like I will have to rent a trailer to get it to the dealer for a compression test. I am just trying to eliminate everything before jumping to compression issues. Sorry again if I seem difficult, but I have never had to use the dealer for any car I have worked on. I have an 04 durango that is killing me in gas, so I need to have this up and running so I can sell that to get my wife a smaller car.

 

Understood. You can probably get a stock intake from on here from a partout rather cheaply. "Bypassing" the intake isn't actually possible though, and could still produce that effect. The exact path, diameter, curves, screens, etc... in the stock intake are there for a reason, and only the AEM/Mazdaspeed and Racing Beat replicate those correctly. Everything else ignored one or more features and is results in power loss and problems. I'm not entirely sure how you 'bypassed' the intake, but i am sure that since you don't have a good intake on hand, it would have made the problem even worse.

If you don't know the compression, then yeah, getting a test done is going to be valuable information, even if it passes.

 

When I say "bypassed", I mean I took the intake off and hook the MAF up directly with no intake. I know it is not a perm fix but I just wanted to see if it made a difference. It did not btw. I even unhooked the MAF and it ran a bit better but I am sure that was because it was at a higher rpm. I am going to get a new MAF and get that ESS clean and reset again. Hopefully that will do it until I can get a new intake.

Thanks again for the advise. It means a lot to know that you guys are willing to help the uneducated on these cars.

 

Yeah, hooking up the MAF outside of the tube will make things worse, not better, as the ECU will be seeing zero airflow across the MAF with RPMs more than zero. It knows this to be an impossibility.

I really really recommend against just replacing the MAF until after you replace the intake. MAFs do not commonly fail on the RX-8. There are only a handful reported in 10 years, if that gives you an idea of the frequency. And a new MAF will cost more than someone's stock intake from a partout.

 

I would put money on one rotor having zero compression .

 

Thanks for the input! I think I am just going to pull the motor and rebuild it at this point. If nothing else, at least I know it will be like having a new motor. I am not going to buy anything until I get it out but I will be posting some pics when I get it cracked open to show the progress. To be honest, I was kind of looking forward to rebuilding it since this will be my first rotary rebuild. I have done quite a few piston engines and transmissions in the past, so it will be a good learning experience for me. Any last min pointers before I get started? Should I just open a new thread when I get it started to show the progress?

 

Don't you think you should get it checked before you tear it apart?
Makes no sense to rebuild a good engine if you don't have to.
I think a rotary is not as easy to rebuild successfully as a piston engine, even though it's a simpler design.

 

This is my dilemma. I live 20-30 miles away from a dealer either way I go. I just bought the car so no reg or insurance to get it towed so I would have to rent a trailer to do so and then pay for the diag at the dealer. Just to get it back home and start spending money to get it fixed. The motor has 170k miles on it so eventually it would need a rebuild anyway. The way I see it, rebuilding it now will save me from having to do it later and leave myself without a car for who knows how long. At least now I have the means to get back and forth to work. The only flaw I see with my plan is that I am not sure if this will fix my issue due to the lack of a compression test. This would make me spend more $ after the rebuild but it would take the compression out of the equation. I would like to keep this car for the rest of my life and possibly hand it down to one of my kids. I am going to rebuild it anyway, I just want to make sure that there is nothing else I am missing before I tear it down. Last thing I want is to have to tear it back down or replace it because of something else that could damage a freshly rebuilt engine. I am not trying to be cheap with it, I just want to make sure I cover everything else before I go ahead with the rebuild. I hope I am not coming off as an ***, I just want ya'll to know my plan so maybe you can understand my logic. I hope this makes sense and like I said before, I hope I am not coming off as arrogant. I just want to make the best use of this bad situation so that the car will last me for years ahead.

 

There is an easy way to do a compression test if you don't have a tester ...... Remove one plug from one rotor and turn engine over with battery... you should hear even pulses
plug that hole and take a plug from another rotor and listen again . It should sound he same as the other side . Stong even pulses . Two weak pulses followed by one strong is classic blown apex . All weak pulses could be side seals .

 

I got what you are saying. I personally think that there is a better way to handle it, but I'll not try to force it on you. As long as you are aware of the options, feel free to handle it however you want.