Located in Australia, but converting prices to usd when i remember. Our used car market is a bit crazy atm.
I will start this by saying, DO NOT BUY SOMEONE ELSES PROJECT CAR WITH ANY HOPE OF HAVING IT RUN WELL IN THE NEAR FUTURE UNLESS YOU ARE PLANNING ON SPENDING A LOT OF TIME AND HEARTACHE ON IT.

Late november.
Found a bit of a gem, '04 yellow rx8 on facebook marketplace(Up for $7000AUD, ~4700USD). Seller claims it's not running, despite the recently rebuilt engine, and he's just sick of trying to diagnose/fix it.
Ask a lot of questions, sounds like it's been taken decent care of, engine wise. Sohn adapter and catch can, rebuilt 2500km ago by a reputable rotary expert in my city, and got the full treatment then(spark plugs, coils, oil/brake/transmittion fluid changed etc), always given a drink of 2stroke with the petrol, always given 98.
Seller says it sputters while idle and under power, and doesnt run well. Hasn't driven in a couple of months as the registration lapsed and it was having the aforementioned issues. Chat with friends and family about it, consensus is-Big risk, but if seller is telling the truth could be an absolute steal.
Day 1-December 3rd
Organised a day to take a look at the car. ~60 min drive away, Brought $6k in cash with me, after talking potential price with the seller. Organised a friend to come with to have a look with me.
Biggest issue(apart from the misfire) is that it is filthy, Doesnt seem to have had a wash in a long time. But it was kept undercover, so theres that.. And a horrible air freshner(guess that one is personal taste).
Seller starts it up, and it idles pretty well(surprisingly). Make an offer of $5750 in cash to get it towed today. He accepts, rx8 is mine. Have to get it towed due to lack of rego($250 for the tow).
First step, Wash and minor detail. Leather is in good condition.
Next up, Small engine check- Maf cleaned, air filter cleaned, belts inspected, electrical connections inspected, etc
Biggest issues? Battery is fucked(minor leaking and bulging). AC belt missing, Misfires when revved up, FILTHY.
Total spent: Car($5750) + Tow($250) $6000aud($4000usd) (Plus pizza and drinks for my mates who came around to help )
dirty boi

Typical rx8 habitat

 

Day 2: December 4th.
Time to start the troubleshooting process. White board is created.
Despite the issues throwing a CEL, the previous owner never got it read(???)
First purchases made. Battery replaced($200aud), OBD2 reader purchased($100ish), and air con belt($26)
Had 2 friends helping today, so while i was taking apart the air box with one of them to inspect the MAF, intake, and other various engine bits, my other friend was giving it a good cleaning. Carpets wet vacced, etc.
Major milestones today: Throttle body cleaned(was already pretty good), air filter was good(still gave it a clean), filled up washer fluid, checked all the fluids(Brake, Oil, 2stroke resivour. etc)
Found a pair of sunnies in the sunnies holder!
Discover first "Easy fix"- Previous owner said the boot release on the remote never worked. There was a button in the glove box that he never found? Pressed the switch, and viola! the boot opens!
Total spent: $6000 + Battery($200), OBD2 reader($100), AC belt($26)
wet boi

 

Another lightning yellow nice!

first thing is to read all the codes it has.

I'd also immediately check compression. If it has low compression anywhere you will want to reduce the risk of damage to the motor (if it was good enough for a rebuild).

If compression checks out, check the spark plugs and see how they look. If its only one plug looking fouled, then it might just be an ignition coil issue (new coil, poor grounding, etc)

And also an easy check is to get a new battery. If its that bad, that can play a roll.

 

Replace the ignition preventatively. Number one cause of headaches and dead engines. Considering he just had it rebuilt, whatever killed the first engine might still be on the car.

 

Day 2.5- December 4th-8th
Went in and got it regoed in my name, plus new slim black number plates
$1077(sheesh)
Day 3- December 9th.
Huge day at work so i was pretty wrecked going into this. Plan for this night was to just spend a few hours on it, At this point we've narrowed the misfire down to
most likely:
a) Spark plugs
b) Ignition coils
c) fuel injection/pump
less likely:
d)compression
probably not(but maybe?)
e)ecc
Time was a bit tight, so we elected to jack it up and check the plugs and ecc.
Results?
Rotor 1 trailing plug. All the plugs had some carbon buildup but this one in particuilar was unique- Carbon on the body as well as the tips(while all the others had clean tips, black body.
Rotor 1 leading plug. Wasn't tensioned at all-compression washer was like new. Lol
Swapped the plugs, around, gave it a start, still had the rotor 1 misfire. Oh well, now we know its not the plugs!
Went home, had a sleep, had a think.
To me, the carbon buildup on the tips as well as the body would indicate that it's not firing, therefore- either bad plug, bad coil, or bad high tension lead.
Also mounted the number plate. **** those screws are ****. they got stuck and fell into the bumper. **** that. Zip ties for now. Found a clip that goes in the hole on thingieverse, getting a mate to 3d print it. Kept the dealership plate as a keepsake(took it off after this snap)
Total spent: $7403

 

Yep, this is where I went to aswell. Battery, ignition, compression Sorry meant to post all these at once haha. Still a few more posts to come :P

 

Day 4-December 11th
The 10th was way to hot to be in a shed-37 degrees C, so the 11th was the next shed day. Goals were simple: Check coils, then watch fast and the furious 3 :P
After having a look at the coils and a google, search on this fourm, etc, Figured out these coils were ebay knockoffs of the ACdelco? coils which are a common mod.
Removed em all(after labelling the high tension leads and the connecters :P. and gave em a test on the multimeter




Yep, we have a winner. Matched the spark plug with the dirty tips as well.
As luck would have it, someone near my work had new in box, proper ACdelco coils that would mount right into the bracket. Arranged to pick them up the next day after work!
Nothing spent this day, just diagnostics

 

Day 5- December 12th(Today!)
Picked up the new coils after work, then headed straight over to the car.

Took a bit of wrangling, but got them in. After triple checking every connection, pushed the car out into the open air, and gave it a start
Forgot to take a video, but a pretty decent start, then, after letting it warm up a bit(let the coolant temp needle go to about 1/3-1/2, revved it up just to 3-4k to see if there were any misfires.
Ran...perfectly well? I didnt want to get my hopes up, but they were pretty high at this point.
Only thing left was a blockie(a few laps around the block). Made sure it was warmed up, and gave it some beans.
Pretty sure the popping was just becauseof teh way i drove it(as well as the lack of a cat), since i was a bit more cautious in future and it...didnt happen :P
Absolutely chuffed. Drove it to the servo to refuel and pick up a replacement brake light(dropped it while we were cleaning the fitting). Ran really nicely. Got plenty of looks :P


Drove it home that night.
Up next? Plenty to do still.
Needs:
New Cat(misfires were probably what clogged the old cat, leading the previous owner to drill it out i believe)
Suspension done(rear is way too low lol)
Head unit upgrade(The seller gave me the standard double din mount thingie, just needs the screen stuff)
Number plate clips
New lugs, new rims(the lugs are....fugly, and the black is...not a great look imo)
Oil, All the fluids, Spark plugs, etc.
But am Absolutely Loving it!
Total spent: $7643($5.15k usd)

 

Oh, and i won $2 on an instant scratchies ticket my workmate gave me in a christmas card. So i'm killing it today, lol

 

glad you are getting it sorted. personally i would not put a cat in but a resonated midpipe instead

 

Congrats Catt! Enjoy!

 

do you speak like a foul-mouthed bogan openly in public too, or just write like one?
.

 

Do you know how many miles (or kilometers) is on the rebuild?
Just an FYI, I just got my LY back with a new engine and the shop owner told me to take it easy for the first 1000 mile break in to give everything a chance to seat, no hard pulls or redlining.
Oil change after 1000k also.

Good job fellow yellow.
😁

 

Ah yep got about 2000km so might be due, good shout

 

Ah yep got about 2000km so might be due, good shout

 

Run ya car not ya mouth mate :P

 

I sure hope its all the time

 

i keep telling team its a job requirement but hes too busy quoting the bible to listen lol

 

You might want to explore MazdaEdit or VersaTune. I keep seeing here the AC Delco coils need dwell adjustment to operate properly. No experience personally cause I bought the BHR coils so didn’t have to deal with it. Read up on this. I could also be wrong - it happens. Nice find by the way.