So, I know it's the god awful winter and it's cold, but my rx8 has been acting up.. It's not having the normal high performance it always does. The RPMs are is idolizing fine and low, but anytime you want to shift up, it shifts you right back down. The transmission seems fine when in neutral, but it will not give the extra boost it always does. Basically, it's not going fast at its normal performance. After I tried to warm it up and take it for a test drive, I got back and it had a plastic burning smell. The oil is fine, but I have yet to check the coolant. Could it be the coolant? Or possibly that it really is the cold weather affecting the performance of the rotary (since I do know that rotaries do not like to run in the cold)? Or could it be something worse like the engine needs replacement? Help!

 

Ok first off- are you allowing your engine to warm up before slamming down on the throttle?

Second, we need some details:
Year of car?
Mileage?
Auto/ manual?
Mods?
Last tune up?

 

What do you mean by "any time you shift up, it shifts you back down"? Can you give an example?

Does the check engine light come on?

 

RX8Soldier: Its a 2009; 54,000 miles; auto; no mods, last tune up was when i bought it in september of 2015.

Loki: Its not on anymore, my caty went out so a test pipe was put on it by my mazda dealer 3 weeks ago and the light has not come back on since.

 

Hey So the 2009s have a moving redline. When the engine is cold it won't let you rev past a certain point to avoid damage. Once it warms up, you can rev higher.

Other things to think about: your cat didn't just fail, something caused it to fail and that thing may not have been addressed. Common cause is failed ignition coils. They produce lack of power, stalling and eventually engine failure. Were tjose tested and/or replaced ever?

Also please answer thoroughly, what did you mean by the sentence I quoted?

 

My bad, it doesnt want to shift very smoothly when in auto, so ill use my slap shift for to help determine the problem. Ill use the slap shift and get up to four then itll automatically drop me down to third shift even if im in slap shift manually shifting. When i rev, the transmission is fine and i can push it to six rpms but only when im rev. When actually driving it wont go above 4th gear. My engine sounds fine, and my caty didnt just fail, someone cut it off in my apt complex. It'll shift fine going down a hill, but going up or on flat roads, itll go really slow and wont shift easily. And nothing in my car besides the caty has ever been rebuilt, or replaced.

 

i thought the caty had failed but someone stole it my mazda mechanic said

 

What rpm are you at when it shifts you down? Down means higher rpm, so perhaps it's avoiding dipping into too low an rpm range when you shift up? This engine doesn't have much pull below 3000 rpm. I'm not familiar with the auto box logic, but they will all shift up or down if they are out f the normal rev range.

 

By "down" do you actually mean "up"?