So if they provide 100% braking capacity right until they fail, then my brakes are fine for now? If the brakes are capable enough to lock up the wheels (ABS kicking in) that means the brakes work as intended and they're not weak right? Because when I break hard it sets off the ABS. I hear the ABS clicking/grinding sound when braking real hard.

No it wasn't a continuous screech. Just a loud chirp at the beginning and then small squeaks here and there until the car came to a stop.

Edit - I haven't heard any worn brake pad alarms either.

 

The best way to tell is to actually look at pad thickness. Anything else will be error prone. The "pad alarm" is just a metal tab that will start causing a squeal if the pads wear to danger levels, but not all pads have them, so it is unreliable and not worth using as a failsafe. Just look at them and see how much thickness is on them.

Just because they work right now doesn't really mean anything if you have no idea how much life is left on them. You might have another 80,000 miles left, you might have 2 miles left. And trust me, you DON'T want to find out that your pads are gone by hitting the brakes and nothing much happens.

 

ABS means Anti-locking Brake System.
If your wheels are "locking up", your ABS system isn't working correctly.
That's it's purpose, to maintain traction by preventing wheel lockup while braking.
If the ABS light cones on, there's a problem with the system.

 

I should note that a few weeks ago I did a 100mph to 0mph as hard as possible on rather violent track pads.

There was tire chirping, just momentary squeaking, but not even on every pulse. That sounds like exactly what you are describing with:
"No it wasn't a continuous screech. Just a loud chirp at the beginning and then small squeaks here and there until the car came to a stop."

So i think your ABS is working fine, just separate from how much pad life you have left.

 

This^
"Locking up the wheels" is what I'm talking about.

 

And this^
"tires screech"?

 

Oh the joys of describing noises, smells, or vibrations in pure text over the internet

 

Hey! Isn't that sarcasm in this no-sarcasm thread? Oops, I just used sarcasm! Wait, that was sarcasm too. Oh gods where does it end!

Anywho, the **** industry is hard at work on innovations to bring noise, vibrations, and smells to you through the Internet...

Hey Nisaja, add your general location to your profile. There may be RX-8 fans near you willing to help you with checking and maybe changing your brakes. I change my brake pads before and after every track weekend, many times a year. it's not hard.

 

Well, tires screeching and wheels locking taken literally would be anathema to an ABS.

 

Agreed

I have the same problem when someone says that their "rear wheels locked up" from too fast a downshift from too low an RPM.

No, they were moving, just rotating slower than needed for the speed, so they slide as they rolled.

Semantics: The true refuge of all internet egos.

 

Haha alright guys let me clear this up. I know that ABS kicks in when the wheels try to lock up. That's why I mentioned it. And my tires do screech here and there under hard breaking, even when the ABS is doing it's thing, but not on every pulse. I mentioned the tire screech because when I braked hard that day, it screeched for about half a second, then the ABS kicked in, and then there were only chirps here and there. That screech at the beginning got me worried. That was the longest screech I had ever heard haha.

The ABS light does not come on.

Wankelbolt, my car has 2800km so I don't think I need new pads just yet bro.

I just wanted to know if the brakes are working as intended if they are capable of setting off the ABS. Oh and I didn't know that brake pads work 100% right until they fail :D

 

Thanks for clarifying.

 

Anytime man. Apologies for the stupid questions haha. My bad.

 

This is crazy. I just came back from a drive and noticed an odd issue. My fans are on high speed all the time. I know the AC forces the fans on high, this happened even with the AC off. Coolant was around 190F, yet the fans were on full speed and they would stay on for 5 seconds after shutting off the car. Whenever I turn the key to the ON position, they would come on within 2 seconds.

This has never happened before. This only happened when I tried to start it when the coolant was over 213.8F. When driving, the fans would go into high speed if, again, the coolant gets over 213.8 or when the AC compressor turns on. Never when it's at 190F.

Help guys!

 

Found out that the system will force both fans on high speed if there's an issue with the ECT sensor, as a fail safe. Checked for CEL codes. Got nothing. Checked coolant level and for anything obvious under the hood. Nothing unusual

 

So I finally got around to buying a SOHN adapter and am looking for potential oil tank install points. I was thinking of putting it where the airpump was but....



...this thing is in my way. I got my 8 with no airpump installed, so I'm a complete noob in regards to what all it used as far as electrical. Is it safe to remove this? If not, can it be easily relocated?

 

Andrew, that's the fuel pump low speed resistor. It cannot be removed. It could be relocated but I think you want to provide some vibration isolation. What you see is half the air pump bracket left over after removing the air pump. There are rubber isolators on those two bolts to the right of the resistor.

 

Good to know. I'll see what is doable. Thanks for the quick answer!

 

When coasting to a stop, the engine will idle at 1000-1100 rpm until I come to a stop. Only when stopped will it come down below 1000 rpms to the normal idle RPM (825 rpm). I can coast in neutral for as long as I want and the RPMs will not drop below 1000 until I come to a complete stop. 1 mph and it's still above 1000 rpm. Is there some connection between engine idle RPM and vehicle speed that I'm not aware of?

 

Yes It's deliberately done to provide sufficient brake booster vacuum. Even my aftermarket ecu on my miata has it. Tuning it is troublesome though, like all aftermarket ecu idle tuning.

 

question about coils,

I was having misfires a while back and took it to my mechanic and he replaced one coil. all good the car ran perfect.

The car has 60k miles, 04 MT. I believe this was the first time any coils were changed. Should I replace the other 3 now or wait for signs like power loss / misfires? The car seems great now, smooth all the way up to redline.

 

Jefferson, I think you are past the recommended mileage for changing the coils in the maintenance schedule. Check the owner's manual (available online). There may be other maintenance things you've missed too.

Short answer is yes. They are maintenance items. If they haven't all gone bad already, you're not driving it hard enough!

 

It's recommended here to change plugs, coils, and wires every 30k miles.

 

ok thank you

about plugs and wires, 4 plugs are about 1k old, one wire was changed with the one coil. Should I be okay changing 3 coils and 3 wires and leave the plugs?

 

Yup, that would be fine.