scshack

Removed

CaymanRotary

You could try to sell it as it is depending how much money you are into it. At minimum, you'll need to figure out the misfire and change fluids. P0301, is likely just bad spark plugs or something easy. P0411 is not a very serious code and not worth the attention at this time.

If you are going the route of repairing it, the absolute first thing you need to do before spending ANY other money is to get a compression test done. Also, since it's an automatic, it is not in as high demand as the manuals are. So, you will likely have a smaller pool of buyers and even less willing to pay very much for it without a compression test.

scshack

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CaymanRotary

That engine is nearly dead. Minimum compression by Mazda is 6.9+ @ 250 RPM. It may continue to work but it will be low on power and hot starts will get more difficult soon. If you are just going to run it into the ground, you'll need to just replace the engine and forget about the rebuild.

With these numbers, that's about a $2500 car max unfortunately. You could try to sell for more and hope you get more money if they buy it without asking about compression. I'd definitely just get rid of it at this point, take the loss and at least you gained some knowledge before your next purchase.

Loki

iTrader: (1)

Are those compression numbers at 250rpm? They're not great for sure. What was it testes with?

The flipside I see is you could replace the engine for 5k-ish and try to sell the car for 9-10 if the rest of it is in good shape. Used car prices are up right now, especially fun cars.

It's a gamble, you may make your money back, you may not. Depending on what you paid, you're definitely not making it back with those numbers unless you sell it to someone who doesn't know the first thing about rotaries and doesn't ask too many questions.

You could try a few things. You can dab ATF into the spark plug ports, spin it around and let sit overnight. No promises, but depending on the specific cause of compression loss it could free up the seals. Google for more specifcs on the procedure. You could also give it the ole italian tune up. These cars carbon up if granny driven.
Just add a bit of 2stroke to the gas for extra detergency and media to carry away any carbon it loosens up.

Oh and check the cat for clogging. Bad coils can cause that, which in turn causes compression loss over time.

Just a bit of personal experience, 6 years ago I had a comp test come back super failing. I'm still driving the same engine and test annually. It has passed every test since.

Rattlehead

I agree with cayman an auto will have a harder time selling.
if it was manual in its current state 2000-2500 if lucky.
anyone who is gonna buy an rx8 and is knowledgeable will test hot starts(i used to have to wait an hour)
youre better off not hiding anything

A new engine will help you but you may not break even
Good luck

scshack

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CaymanRotary

I've seen these engine still last with low compression for at least a little while. The problem you got is one day very soon, it just won't start. The better ignition system will help with that and you may have luck selling it to someone who doesn't even care about compression. Try to break even on it and you did well. The engine totals the car imo. It costs more to replace the engine than the car is worth so for you, it makes no sense to keep it.