I want to start by say I love this car, it is by far the most enjoyable vehicle I have owned. I bought my 04 6 spd MT in August of 2018 from someone who I thought took care of it due to its low mileage 40k engine 100k body, and cleanliness of the vehicle, boy was I wrong. Rexi since August has had its battery fall flat on it's face, needed a starter, coils, wires, and plugs. A MAF sensor mount bolt hole filled and tapped because of stripping, and a new relay for the driver side amp. Recently I have come to discover that not only does the sunroof leak, but it is also leaking from under both the driver and passenger side dash (no the passenger side is not a coolant leak I've checked both color and taste of the liquid) to such an extent that the headliner probably needs to be replaced from water damage and the underdash wiring gets absolutely drenched. So as soon as the weather permits it the fun shall begin. I will remove all that fun stuff to get to the sunroof drain pipes, the hood (for ease of access) and all the lovely windshield trim pieces, as well as the whole dash assembly, the steering wheel and column (unrelated to leak, I've just been meaning to modify it for telescopic adjustments as well as motorized adjustment) lol, all this aside I love this car, am still very happy with my purchase and have no regrets, I am just so thankful I enjoy working on cars and am in the automotive industry. Rx-8s are definitely quirky lil devils tho. Should be a good time, I'm determined to find the leak or leaks before they rot right through my floor. 🤣

 

Curious about the telescoping wheel idea. That's one downside for owners of certain proportions.

Good luck with the leaks. Have you had the cat checked after the ignition and MAF issues? Wouldn't be bad to make sure it's n ot clogged.

 

I have not checked to see if the cat is clogged, that has been lingering in my thoughts, it just hasn't been a priority since the cars not on the road until this march. Im up in ontario canada and in march I will be up for an emissions test, luckily ontario has decided to remove the bi-yearly emissions test as of april 2019, so as soon as I'm done the last test in March I will be hollowing out the stock cat until I can afford to get the bhr catless bhr midpipe. But I have some other modifications that take priority to the midpipe so who knows when that will be. And with a baby on the way any of the serious modifications I have been looking into (rotor face, housing and side plate cermet coating, ceramic seals, port and polishing, turbocharging and water/meth injection, lightened rotors and assembly balancing) have on been put on the back burner for quite some time unfortunately.

 

In regards to this I am hoping to come up with a cost effective solution, if I can either come up with a bolt on conversation kit or just a diy cut here attach here kind of thing I will definitely be bringing it to the forum, I just have to look some more into the proper process of advertising products on the site. But regardless of cost or complexity its definitely something I will be doing for myself I prefer to sit with my seat tilted just a bit further than the stock position currently allows me to. For the life of me I don't understand why mazda didn't implied it on atleast the series 2 rx-8s. But regardless if I can make it work I know it will be something that the rx-8 community will be very interested in.

 

The MX-5 didn't have telescoping steering wheel for the longest time as well.

RX-8 and NC shared a lot of parts(even the front subframe). This is likely the reason.

 

I had the same issue. Driv side would leak down the firewall and form a puddle on the floor, pass side would leak less but stain the headliner.
It ended up being the rain gutters on the roof where they meet the windshield. Prob the best way to fix it is to redo the windshield seal. A quick fix is to silicone the space where the gutters meet the windshield.

 

Thanks for this, at the very least this gives me a starting point, I pretty much am getting the same thing, a drip on the driverside it always hits the pedal or ypur foot of driving, the passenger side is less affected but as you noted seems to affect the headliner more on that side.I will say this is the first time I've ever been happy that the ecu is in the engine compartment and not under the dash as that was my biggest concern when i noticed it was happening..