yamixv

So about a year ago I got my 8, wide eyed teenager went and got my dad to lend me the money and promised I would pay him back with the money of my Camry, and of course me being teenager, didn't do my research and worried more about broken apex seals than low compression. I got a Series II, 2009 Mazda RX-8 Grand Touring with 80,000 miles. Completely stock except for a AEM intake. All was well, until of course the flooding of the engine months later. Then I find an issue when breaking suddenly or hard, the engine stalls. Then later hit a deer which surprisingly only broke the front bumper. Now when it turns on from a cold start the rpms bounce between 500 and 1500 with the lights getting brighter and dimmer as they bounce. After a while the rpms go up to 2k, and slowly come down and idle correctly (if the engine doesn't stall first). When breaking, if the rpms get too close to 500 it will again cause the lights to brighten and dim. Tried cleaning the MAF sensor, deflooding, cleaning the throttle body. Possibly a vacuum leak? I got a Duraflex M1 bumper and the fitment is awful and looks terrible. Then at some point So at this point I just need to sell it because its just taking too much money from me and I still need to pay my dad back so I am asking if its worth getting a new oem bumper for and painting it, and selling it all together or just parting it out. I did take it to a Mazda dealership, and got the compression numbers.

Rotor #1: 6.0, 6.2, 6.2 kpl
Rotor #2: 5.8, 5.9, 5.9 kpl

I did also come across people talking about warranty for the RX8 to get a reman, as I read 10 years/100k miles. I don't know much more than that, and I don't even know if they would accept my RX-8 since it has the AEM intake and I don't know if a mod would nullify the warranty or not.

Anyways, I just want to know whats more worth at this point. I still love the car but I have come to the reality that I just cant afford keeping it right now.
If anyone would like pictures or videos, I will upload them and reply with links.
Thank you for your time.

CaymanRotary

Yikes... this is quite a sad story. First off, should have done the compression test before you bought this car. Secondly, you’re gonna have a hard time getting any real money for this car. How much do you owe your Dad? Getting the engine fixed by Mazda under warranty isn’t going to happen because it ran out on your car. Parting out this car isn’t that bad of an idea. Could only get maybe $1500-$2000 for the car because someone will LFX swap it. I wouldn’t even bother fixing the front bumper, just sell it as is. Don’t beat yourself up too much about it. You are still young, this is a good time to make these kind of mistakes. Hopefully you really enjoyed owning the car while you had it.

NotAPreppie

You are out of warranty unless the car left the dealer lot in 2010. Since it's a 2009, this is unlikely.

If the idle is hunting, you may have a vacuum leak. The fact that it calms down after a few moments during cold start makes me think it's the vacuum actuator for the air pump valve.

yamixv

Sorry for such a late response, trying to work as many hours as possible and balancing it with school. I owe my dad 5k, of course he doesn't ever rush me for it, but we'd both just like to stop the headache of problems and get it fixed and gone. Sucks to here that the warranty is expired but its life. The bumper isn't too terribly bad, I was looking at getting some bondo and filling in some of the gaps and getting it repainted again.

yamixv

Let me explain it a bit better, as of now it doesn't seem to rev up and down anymore on start, just on a few occasions, and after it pops it levels itself out, but now its more like normal where it will turn on, rev up to 2k, and as it warms up, slowly go down and idle at 1k. During the time it is warming up though, some red leds turn on on the rpms where the redline is and stops the car from revving past 5k, then again as it warms up it get rid of 1 light and goes up to 6k, then the last light and goes to its normal redline at 8k. Now after a warm start sometimes it will rev up and down but only for a few moments then levels out. The only other problems I have are when I start to slow down and the rpms drop, they sometimes drop too low to around 500 rpm, and all the lights inside and out, start to brighten and dimmen and the engine gets close to stalling, sometimes it dies for a second and continues, and I can tell because the battery light turns on for a quick second, or it completely stalls and I have to restart the car. Again still has the problem where if I come to a stop too fast, the engine stalls. Only other minor issues is the Outside temp just shows 2 dashes and doesn't work and sometimes the aux input doesn't work or something because the cord will be connected to my phone and all, and I'll click the media button and nothing happens, and randomly start working again when it feels like it. Thank you for any help.

Edit: Forgot to mention, that when switching from Park, to Neutral, to Reverse, to Drive the rpms will drop to near 500 and again sometimes stalling.

jcbrx8

Your car has allot going on..., but you hit a deer. . I would ensure that the issues are being diagnosed by a rotary expert. Yes, your compression is low, but i don't recall you saying it didn't start. Your symptoms, c/b being caused by a myriad of things: MAF, sensors, vacuum leaks, etc. I recommend trying to find a reputable rotary mechanic or shop to diagnose the issues, and going from there.

CaymanRotary

The red LED's for the RPM gauge is normal on series 2 RX8's. It limits your ability to rev the engine too high when cold. This is completely normal. Did you check your battery connections and condition of your battery? It sounds like you are losing electrical power which is causing your car to die.

Loki

iTrader: (1)

If the battery connections check out, it could still be a vacuum leak. Get an OBD reader or stop by a shop to get Short Term and Long-term fuel trim values read on a warm idle. Report back.

The compression numbers you cited, is that at 250rpm? Because I mean. This engine isn't going far if so. Does it restart easily when shut you turn it off warm?

Also I see no mention of any ignition maintenance: coils and spark plugs. Critical stuff.

yamixv

Okay sorry once again for the late reply. Weather has been terrible lately but I did get an OBD reader to check the codes. It got 4 which were

1. P0301 - Cylinder 1 Misfire Detected
2. P2096 - Post Catalyst Fuel Trim System Too Lean Bank 1
3. P0171 - System Too Lean Bank 1
3. P0661 - Intake Manifold Tuning Valve Control Circuit Low Bank 1a

I am looking around to see if there is a rotary expert anywhere near me, right now I only see Mazcare, and the actual Mazda Dealership that I can take it to.

yamixv

Haven't had the chance to check battery connections, again due to the weather, but I did post the codes I got with my OBD reader. As far as the compression numbers, I don't know. I looked back at my receipt from the Mazda dealership and that is all that was stated on there. Right before it gives the numbers it just states "ck engine compression is under spec. low spec is 6.9 kpl" then after the numbers "Tech completed de-flooding of engine and compression test. Showed vehicle is under spec no repairs at this time.' That is all. It does restart easily after warm, it may do the rev up and down for a few seconds but normally it'll fix after a few seconds. I did change the spark plugs back when it flooded once. I used NGK Laser Iridium Premium spark plugs since I read these were the best for the car, but I have not changed the coils.

yamixv

I did get the battery checked back when i first got the car at Auto zone and they told me the battery was almost new and was in perfect condition, I can get it checked again just to make sure and report back.

CaymanRotary

Sounds like those are your numbers: Low 6’s high 5’s. For reference, 6.9 is minimum spec so your engine is pretty much toast and won’t last much longer. You can look into a new reman engine or try to find a known good used engine. Problem is yours is a series 2 which is rarer. Just bad news all around really...

CaymanRotary

Your catalytic converter is toast by the sound of it. Probably have a vacuum leak and bad ignition coils/wires as well. The P0661 is your 3 solenoids under your UIM. But with engine in such bad shape I couldn’t recommend fixing anything. It’s not gonna make enough difference to warrant spending the money to fix those codes. You need to replace the engine first. Looking at many thousands of dollars. Just sell it as it sits and if you buy another RX8 make sure you test compression and do full diagnostics before purchasing it.

UnknownJinX

I would first get rid of the vacuum leak issue and then see what's going on.

Does your car start easily when warmed up?

If the engine starts easily when warm then I think you should get some new ignition components.