taste0fink

Got my 05 RX8 about a month ago now, 72kmi. We got slammed with a snow storm in Texas last week, so it put me behind on getting the compression tested.
Have driven it a few times to & from work after having Rotary Performance deflood it, change spark plugs/wires/ignition coils/oil/filter(oil & air cabin)

What I noticed during driving is:
- rough idle when in gear, but only when i'm sitting at a stop light - a little shaking, nothing violent, & this noise like the RPMs are going up & down, but the needle stays at 1000, never dropping below 950.
- white smoke (especially in the morning) when I'm warming her up. usually stops after I start driving, but still puffs a little bit out when idle at a light. no giant clouds though, doesn't burn my eyes or throat.
- check engine light never goes away, but not blinking, which i'm sure has to do with the low compression.
- battery light keeps randomly turning on & off on the dash. had one of the terminals replaced because i broke it trying to take it off (extra corroded)

Finally got compression test done & the scores were -

Front: 6.7 / 6.3 / 6.1 @ 242RPM (garbage)
Rear: 5.6 / 5.8 / 6.1 @247RPM (extra garbage)

Sad day. But I prepared for this being the case.
I'm aware she's on borrowed time.

I'm doing some research, I saw a post that said to check out MazdaTrix because they sell the rebuilt engines, but when I looked, they rebuilds they sell come from the manufacturer. Saw some other posts saying it's not a good idea to buy them FROM mazda cause they're usually half-assed.

I'm gonna email Rotary Performance & find out where they get their parts/engines because I already got a guesstimate on a rebuild from them, but I want to look at all the options before I make a decision.

Update over - Sorry I post long-ish threads.

BigCajun

iTrader: (1)

Take some time to read through this thread, also a couple of linked threads in it.
There may be some helpful info in it.

https://www.rx8club.com/series-i-tec...ilders-265177/

alterego

I am in the same exact position except my engine is rebuilt LOL.

I spoke with mazdatrix about getting a reman and they said,
1. Opening the engine will void the warranty
2. Painted engines are not acceptable as a core return
3. Any condition, even a zero compression mazda oem engine will work for the $1000 core return

When I spoke with a mazda sales rep. in person at the dealership, they specifically said they must install the reman or there will not be ANY KIND OF WARRANTY

BigCajun

iTrader: (1)

I can't speak with certainty, but I feel most Mazda dealers don't have a lot of techs with rotary experience.
A warranty wouldn't be worth the paper it's printed on because I assume they'd warranty only the cost of the engine.
The before and after labor costs would likely be enough to cover the price of a new engine.
My 2 cents.

alterego

You are 100% correct, and total labor costs would reach $4,000 at most, granted you are having them remove and reinstall the subframe again like it is outlined in the FSM.

Paul at mazmart had documented the disassembly of a reman a good while ago verifying the components of the internals. At the very least you are getting a cost effective almost entirely "new" engine. When I spoke with the mazda parts dept. they verified that the remanufactured engines of today do not come straight from japan to you. I was told they are coming from a facility in texas with a 5+ day shipping estimate.

I think it would be suicide to leave the lot without a compression test on a dealership installed reman in today's world. Especially if they go by the book and must verify that it runs in order to hold their end of the warrranty.

taste0fink

Thanks man, I bookmarked it.

taste0fink

Mine was rebuilt by the previous owner but after doing some research, I found out that the people who rebuilt it, didn't actually have much rotary experience.
Which is likely why it needs a rebuild again so soon.
The place I took it to here said it's likely a better idea to get a remanned engine, than try to rebuild it again because the housings are probably shot.

Honestly, I'd rather pay the people who know what they're doing, than the dealership who can't guarantee their tech is rotary trained.
Warranty or not, I'd feel more comfortable with RX8 savvy guys, than what's-his'nuts at mazda who couldn't even do the compression test.

taste0fink

You're 100% right about that.
The Mazda dealer here told me up front that their guy wasn't trained for rotaries & I'd have to take it to a different dealership in bum-fudge-nowhere.
They wanted 1300$ just to deflood & tune up, & it would take a week to do both.

I took it to the rotary guys here & it took them all of 2 hours to deflood, tune up, & do an oil change. Cost me much much less than the dealer.

taste0fink

Yeah I'm not about to pay 4k in labour to a tech who doesnt actually know what he's doing. I'll pay the guys who have rebuilt engines/installed a reman 100 times.