Let me start by saying don't flame me I'm not trying to stir anything up. I love my car, I wouldn't trade it for anything except a future new RX-7 maybe.

I went to one of the Mazda dealership's bodyshops today, to pick up a customer for Enterprise, and one of the guys was telling me that the service center has 5 8s in there that all need new engines. I have him looking into it, but I thought I'd ask if anyone here has had any trouble so severe that they needed a replacement engine. I don't know if they're AT or MT yet, but I should find out shortly. Hell it could just be that someone there screwed up an oil change or something.


Again I love my car, just want to prevent something like that from happening to me.

 

where do you live?

 

Jeez. Definitely get back to us with more info, I'm curious.

 

My local dealer has changed only one RX-8 engine since day one.

 

Your dealership sucks at the RX8.

 

The engine in my 8 was replaced because the Tech coul not get it to quit knocking on 87 octane. Other than that it ran fine. Unfortunately, the new engine knocks on 87 too so I just stick with 92 octane.

 

yes there is much information on the forum about the engien failure issue. its the reason for the new flashes and the reason ther ewill be a recall shortly to get everyone on th enew flashes. there is a thread in the issues/problems section called" who is amember of the new engine club" whhere most of the people have had an engien replaced for the issue. search my posts for threads about the failures in Vegas and arizona and Lubbock texas. The problem first surfaced a year ago. There are currently 20 lined up at the dealer in vegas waiting for engines.

how is ohio this time of year? has it been hot and dry or is it humid there? is this cincinatti or columbus?

 

The point is there has not been any need to change engines.This is less than 1%,and approximately the same rate as Mazda 3 motors.Maybe it is our environmental conditions

 

its only like 1 percent i think total engines so far in the states if you were to count worldwide it would be much lower. somewhere around 200 still - not over 250 yet i think. but the combination of thign sthat cause it are hot temps (over 100f) low humidity(although there have ben a few in higher humidity areas) traffic congesgtion and AT(mostly). mostly AT becasue of the one oil cooler. cars that are driven in those conditons see drastic spikes in oil temps and carbon buildup which leads to BAD THINGS. so hot dry congested areas (VEGAS) where alot of ATS were sold see th eproblem more so than places like Whitby.

 

it's not supposed to run on 87 octane to begin with...and a lot of people have knocking when running regular fuel...

 

That's what I was thinking. It recommends higher octane, so don't be a cheapass and run the recommended. The fact mazda gave you a new engine is generous.

 

That's Bull, I run 87 since I bought the car with out any problem. The manual also states that the RX-8 can run on 87 octane. Do some RX-8 have to run on higher octane? I would say yes but this is the exception not the rule.

 

probably not a proving fact that 87 knocks, but i bet not every states 87 octane is fairly exact. some might be alot lower, others closer to 90 even.

 

zoom44, to answer your ohio question, it hasnt been all that hot or humid. at least no worse than an other years. just since this past weekend has it gotten really hot. and i'm guessing nodoz, that your talking about one of our cincy dealerships?

 

Nodoz and I are both in Cincinnati, and the weather is very hot and awfully humid. Which dealer were you at, Nodoz? Don't tell me Kings!

 

This is the bean-counter's way of saying "we aren't responsible if you use low octane and it craps on your engine". "Slightly reduce performance" is what you get with no motor at all in the land of accountancy.

That said, 87 is seldom actually 87 AKI. By the time you add oxygenates and ethanol, you are really in the 85 or less region.
Here in Phoenix, 91 is actually 89 AKI.

Go ahead and run 87 if you like it.

 

Picked up my 8 at the dealer today...tried to get the flash done...they have one in the shop now getting the engine changed and they have done about 6 in the recent past. Most all during the summer months. The heat here in New Mexico is beyond the threshold of tolerable for some engines is their guess. They tell me that's also the guess of the Mazda engineers although they aren't really sure why this is happening. Most all were MT cars.

The service writers said that in the southwest states (hot) there are a good number of engines being changed. Very much unlike what is happening in the northwest and northeast (cool).

I can't say much for the truth of any of this...just another data point from Albuquerque New Mexico

 

So what Mazda needs to do is send out a recall on the AT's and give them 2 oil coolers that way out there Engines dont get too hot and the Rotors dont lose compression.

 

Does anyone know if the failure rate of the Renesis is higher than your typical piston engine?

Zoom, I read your comments as you don't think so, assuming the figure is around 1%.

Also, why do whole engines have to be replaced?

 

It's my understanding that motor break-in is very crucial. Looking at the Renesis Apex Seals it appears as though they may be susceptable to small cracks and chipping if they are run hard in totally new motor. This seems to fit with the later losses in compression that have led to some premature motor replacements.

The first RX8 I drove was a dealer special with about 200 miles on it. With the salesman in the back seat driving down a country road he told me to punch it and wind it up until the buzzer went off. I did. After we got back he said thats how they were meant to be driven. I asked him if there was a break-in period - he said "no, it's a rotary".

Two out of four dealers I test drove cars with said the same thing, where two said the car needs to be broken in and didn't want me to rev it over 5000. One dealer actually had a demo for people to rev that was driven by the Sales Manager - with about 8,000 miles on it. He explained that they would keep the car for 7-8 months just so so they had one that was properly broken in for people to drive it at full revs - that over-revving it before it was broken in could lead to premature engine failure - usually a loss of compression.

I don't know if that's a major factor or not, the trouble is no one seems to have any good data on failure analysis.

 

I know the 04 manual reads that 87 can be used. I'm curious to know if the 06 manuals read the same. I looked at an 06 8AT the other day and it has a sticker that reads premium only (or something close to that) on the inside of the gas cover

 

th e06 manual calls for premium without the 87 can be used line

 

Could a hot trunk in which metal from a suitcase burns your hands, or super hot cup holders, or a 40 degree differance in temperture at the console on the outside as compared to the cold air from the A/C be a clue?

How about a hot glove box that warps CD's or console that melts gum and candy?

Do they want more clues?

 

My engine (build date 09/03 MT) was replaced last August and I live in the Chicago area.
First problem to pop up was a warm start problem. After the engine to cooled down from nominal temperature it would start.
Second, about a week later, the exhaust sounded louder. There seemed to be no loss of power. Nor was there any problem with engine vibration.
I took it to the dealer and was later told that a new engine was required. It took over one month to get that new engine.
I had an apex seal go on my RX7 and it wasn't anything like that. I don't know what went wrong with this engine.

 

I am in Kansas City and have my car in... tech tells me my engine will need replaced... I have an 04 with about 30k miles on it... still drives fairly good... but the idle was getting bad... just need the regional tech to come down and approve the replacement since its on a manuel... apparently its starting to crop up in more and more manuels from what the service manager was telling me... they have a brand new flash which they are hoping will fix alot of problems but my car has already had the damage done to it with bad flashes and whatnot so I want it replaced under warrenty