Okay guys, I really have no wish to enter into a pissing contest with one of the members of this enjoyable and informative forum BUT and it's a big But.
I started a thread " oil usage in the RX8 " just asking questions as I'm a new owner of an 8, mainly my question was that my 8 was not using much oil at all and was that normal ?
" A redline a day " seems the member in question dislikes that particular expression and indicates that a redline a day can be most harmful to your 8.
I bought my 8 about five weeks ago ( late 2006 RX8 GT ) absolutely loaded and I love this car, it's awesome. Prior to buying I contacted a friend who works as a technician for one of the largest Mazda dealerships in B.C.
Basically he told me if the car I was interested in had been regularly maintained since new ( which it had ) then to pay $22 k. Canadian for an 8 GT with only 24k. kilometers on it and a negotiated 60k. bumper to bumper extended warranty was a good deal indeed.
So fine, I did my homework and research before I bought, now on this forum a member is stating that these 8's have a 25% engine failure rate ( for earlier models ) and that as the mileage goes up in 06, 07, 08, models they too will suffer engine failure. My argument to his statements would be, if that was the case NO ONE IN THEIR RIGHT BLOODY MIND WOULD BUY ANY CAR WITH A POTENTIAL 25% ENGINE FAILURE RATE.
My friend ( the Mazda technician ) read this members post and told me it was ( in his words ) " bloody nonsense " if Mazda had a product with a major component like the engine that for every 100 that they sold 25 of them suffered engine failure then Mazda would be in serious trouble and there would BE NO RX8's. He also mentioned that in the years he has been at that Mazda dealership he has seen two 2006 RX8's with engine failure Both proven to be caused my negligence on the part of the owners. My point is made, I hope, nothing personal against the member in question, I do respect his opinion as I hope he will respect mine. I do want to know what other members think about this post,,,thanks buteman.

 

i will go ahead and say 25%+ of the engine (below 100000 miles) fails are coming from owners/members in this forum.

the most of the people who post in here they have a problem with their cars. thats why in here it seems that the engine fail is very high.

not many people are going to post how good their cars are in a forum.

if they have a 25% of all engines fail before the 100000 mile mark with the current economy i'm sure they were going to stop production and not come out with a 2009 model.

 

2004 Mazda RX8: I take very good care of my car, did all the oil changes at 3k miles and i am on my third engine in the car. I even check the oil every other gas fill-up too. I made it 30k on the first one, 35k on the second one and now 26k and counting on the third one

 

That really is incredible, you take very good care of your car and you are now on your third engine,,,,,,,,,,actually it's more than incredible, it's down right bloody scary !!

 

If it were true that 25% of RX-8 engines "failed," you can be sure you'd see Brian Williams teasing that fact on the opening of NBC Nightly News. A "25% engine failure rate" for any car is unheard of, and would most definitely be news.

 

Well put indeed, and I couldn't agree with you more.

 

Further to this post, I can stand corrected but, I would hazard a guess that if the RX8 was experiencing a mind boggling 25% failure rate then the owners of such cars that have engine failure would be abusing the living **** out of their cars.
There are thousands of RX8 owners that absolutely love their car ( I'm one of them ) and apart from using a wee bit more oil and poor gas mileage you really don't hear any more negative comments about this particular car than you do of any other !

 

it's funny when people come up with arbitrary numbers that cannot be validated. rest assured the "failure rate" is nowhere near 25%.

 

OMG MY 2nd ENGINE WORKS SOOOOO GOOD ITS NOT EVEN FUNNY !!!!

FIRST ENGINE FAIL CUZ MAZDA FUXKED IT UP !

/endrant

 

inb4 the obligatory "78% of statistics are made up on the spot"

Some people advocate red-lining the car every day, some people don't. What you do is up to you. I hate it when people try to force their ways onto others. Post your reasoning, and let others agree or disagree with you =\

Although this is a forum, so expect to get opposition no matter what you do

 

I am not sure of the numbers but I have an 04 GT had the engine replaced at 47k miles. My wife has an 04 GT engine replaced at 58k miles. My Brother has an 05 GT engine replaced at 50k miles. There are several people in our local group (SARX) that have had engines replaced. One member 9KRPMRX8 is on engine number 3. From what I have read it was a design flaw with the amount/rate of oil injection into the combustiuon chambers causing seal failure aka low compression. Mazda put out a "Flash" to correct this but some in most cases the damage was already done. Also maybe a problem with some bad remans . Mine was swapped when the recall first started and my engine was shipped from Japan before they opened the reman plant here in the US. I now have 110k miles and 0 problems.

 

I'd like to know how many members with '06-'08 have had failures. I hear nothing but '04 and '05 all the time.

 

there was already a poll for this askign people for the year of their 8 if they've had their engine replaced (and possibly those that didn't but i'm too lazy to search).

 

This thread has a 100% failure rate.

 

CT: I remember something like that...I'm lazy also unfortunately.

 

I will post what I think, take it for what is is worth.

Well, the 25% rate was from an insider at Mazda NA who is close to a certain someone on this site. Various polls show similar numbers but I realize not wholly accurate. Take it for what it is worth. There is a thread/poll somewhere that broke it down by year. Also look up posts by sleepy-z (ex member who works at the reman plant). If you look here there are new engine failure posts here daily.

I also agree that this forum may show more of the people that do have problems but I also have personally met many 8 owners that do not come to this site that have had engine replacements. I also know many get rid of their cars so they don't bother to post anywhere. Just look on autotrader and I gaurantee you will find 8's that state they have had new engines. People get a new engine and then get rid of the car. I have had three engines as well as Hoss-05(another local member) and each of my engines were redlined and cared for in my typical OCD manner.

I also know from a service adviser at a local dealer I frequent here that they have done a couple hundred engine replacements. That is one dealer in a city with four Mazda dealers.

That being said, no one can state for sure that better oil (higher viscosity, brand, type, etc), or premix, or running the SOHN adapter (all of which I am doing) is a save all because there have been guys that have premixed daily and had their engines fail (think mods, ahem) and there are guys who ran high end synthetic oils and has their engines fail. The red line a day is BS, I am sorry. This is based on my own findings in 100,000 miles of RX8 ownership.

Sure, you will see the occasional 8 owner who has had trouble free ownership but regardless of how you stack it, they are very few original engine RX-8's with over 100,000 miles. The fact is that the Series 1 renny is faulted from a design standpoint and only time will tell if our various methods will do anything to extend the longevity.

I think the SOHN adapter (can anyone argue that motor oil is not ideal for being burned in the combustion chamber?) and on time, every time oil changes are a must do to the fact that so much oil (one liter in the pan alone) remains in the engine after an oil change.

 

Like it's been said 100 times, 04,05s are the troubled cars because Mazda rushed the car to market without fine tuning the ECU. All affected cars had a mandatory recall for a vacuum test and reflash. Engines were replaced as needed. Problem solved, end of story. Let it go. Stop living in the past. Just make sure the recall was done on a 04-06 before buying used.

 

^ We know this. I'm talking in terms of said statistics for years to see if those from '06-'08 that included the remedy or still had just as much engine troubles.

I've searched for such polls but found nothing short of attempts for one.

 

Taken last week, 2006 with 50k, all service records.


The 06's have began to roll in, no problem was fixed until 2009, and even then that has not been confirmed. the recal was done on my past two motors and the both failed. I am far from the only one who has had more than one reman engine.

 

you must love your children no mater how bad they act

 

it has a 100k warranty on it.
yeah it sucks that it will probably go once or even twice before then, but at least they are backing it up by warranty.

 

I see you live in a hot climate. What mods? Something else must be causing your engine failures. Have you any idea? Lots of owners have trouble free 04 rx8s like me. Mazda must be targeting you. I would have started looking for a different car after the second failure.

 

Roaddemon,

Yes, hot climate cars are more prone to failure. First motor failed at 22k (no mods, Mobil 5W-20 and 30, dealer serviced), second lasted 75k (no mods, mostly highway, Castrol 10W-30 and some premix, dealer and me serviced), got my third at 96k (now modded since I am out of warranty) I never went more than 3,000 miles without an oil change on either motor and I have not made it to 3,000 mile on any OIC on this one.

Mazda is not targeting me and I have been around a long time so I am well aware many are "trouble free" but it all depends on mileage. I got 75k out of my second motor and it was "trouble free" but the bottom line is that there are few original motor 8's with over 100k.

I love this car and I was well aware of whet I was getting into when I bought a first gen model rotary car. I do occasionally track my car and drive it hard on "spirited drives" through the hills but I also maintain it perfectly.

I have had many issues with my car besides the engine and I still love it but I don't sugar coat the problems with it either and when I meet a new owner I am honest and straight forward about what they should expect during ownership.

I love how people downplay the engine problems. I love the car more than most but I will tell the casual person that this car is not for the meek.

 

You sure are scaring everyone. Here's some more data for newbies

25, 2006 - 2:00pmRotaryNews.com has confirmed that there will be a recall on the 2004, 2005 and some 2006 Mazda RX-8s. Not every RX-8 will need a new engine, only those that fail a series of tests, including a new vacuum test. The replacement engines will correct for issues ranging from flooding, hard starting, complete loss of compression, and use of Synthetic Oil in hot climates. For those that do not require an engine replacement, the ECU will be reflashed to provide for more lubrication (an already released Flash). Recall notice letters will be sent out to owners on a staggered schedule. At this point some dealers do not know about the recall, as the bulletin has not been sent.

Jeremy Barnes from Mazda Public Relations stated: "We will not walk away from any Mazda owner." Jeremy also pointed out that other issues that have escaped on the Internet as of late were only part of the story. He hopes the recall action by Mazda will show owners that Mazda is doing the right thing after all.

We at RotaryNews say, if you own an RX-8, check over this list of TSB's (Click Here). If your car is experiencing any of the issues listed on that page, print out the ones that apply to you, and bring them down to the service department while they check your car for the other recalls. We, at RotaryNews also say: "if in doubt, do NOT use Synthetic Oil." For those of you that are "Rotary Gods" (!) and know what you are doing, it is OK, other wise stay away from synth, and use the good old Dyno Juice.