Yeah shipping to you and shipping of your core back to them so it would be in the $2500.00 range yet still.

 

I called another local dealer who is typically cheaper and they quoted me $2,200.00 = the $1,000.00 core. So a $500.00 difference between two local dealers

 

Oh and your engine has to be a usable core. Not sure what they determine to be usable.

 

Probably something like: "something that we can install in someone else's car and call it a reman"

 

I would just worry about sending it back and then them saying "sorry your core doesn't meet our requirements, we can ship it back to you for $200.00 and you won't be refunded for the core charge"

 

Don't mean to go thread hopping or trashing here, my engine is also almost blown too. One of my mechanics said it would cost me around 5k for a gasket rebuild, 6k for a rotor/gasket rebuild and 9k for a completely new motor to be put in. I wish I could find a place in Wisconsin/Chicago that could do this cheaper...

 

Time to start calling rotary engine builders.

 

I feel that if you are planning a rebuild then you may as well do a good job especially if you plan on FI. This means new rotors and housings as a minimum to ensure you have tight tolerances. Many have skimped on these and regreted later on.

I like what the likes of Mazmart and Pettit do to improve the standard engine.

 

Mazda has a list price, and some dealers like online mazda parts, are willing to offer a discount, and there are some that mark UP over list, like apparently all of the ones in the san antonio area....

 

Road trip down to Atlanta or Knoxville for a new install. Way less than $9k.

 

Since I have multiple cars anyway, I decided to not stress about it and wait until this one no longer starts. If I see a good deal pop up I will get one. I added road side assistance to my insurance worst case scenario.


This motor is tempting: Rotary Engine 6 Port Mazda RX8 RX 8 renesis 04 08 | eBay


But when I called the guy he didn't seem to interested in telling me the compression on the three rotor faces, he just said "I did it with a mazda compression tester" when I pressed he said, yeah they were all around 100-110 or so, and the RPM seemed like he just threw it out there "uhhh 275...???"

Revvinsevvins.com - Home


Can anyone vouch for this guy? He was either a little out of it at the time, or maybe not that truthful.

Also, is there a resource online comparing the Mazda compression test to a normal compression tester with the schrader valve removed? If not I plan on doing a test this weekend and video taping it at 60fps. From that I should be able to calculate RPM and the high points of each rotor. I hope the write up could be helpful to others who don't want to pop for the $110-170. Thoughts?

Thanks,
Lucky Kid

 

He is okay, me and my friends have purchased a few things (engine, trans, calipers, etc) from him and they have been okay but I don't believe him to be completely truthful about mileage, etc.

But then again I don't recommend running a used engine. It could last 50,000 miles or 10 miles. It's tough to get proper compression numbers with the engine out of the car.

 

I would rebuild it myself, just because a shop can and say they build rotary motors , doesn't mean they build them well. I can put a few so called rotary shops out there , because I am a nice guy I wont. They claim to build quality rotaries, but all your doing is padding there wallets with your hard earned money and your getting a crap motor that is on the verge of dieing after a few hard runs. And you have to be very careful of so called rotary shops that will use your new parts on there project cars and put back old rotary parts into your motor that your requesting to have rebuilt or worked on. You clowns know who you are....... Research, research , research and get customer feedback if you can. Talk to many rotary owners as you can and ask who they go too and who they stay far clear from!

I rebuilt mine with a very knowledgable builder who has been building rotaries since the '80's from pro street to full blown rotary race motors in the Tampa bay area. Its been one year and 18k miles later since my build and I am very happy with the results. He doesn't own his own shop , he is a "backyard mechanic" or traveling rotary mechanic, but his skills and service supercede any of these wannabe rotary shops in my area.

Like i mentoned , research and ask questions. If you can't find anybody, honestly go and buy a new motor from Mazda, save yourself the headache and just swap out your old motor with the new one and call it the day.

 

A lot of interesting theories, and some plain misinformation in this thread. I'm not even sure I want to get involved, but it's kind of like a train wreck, I don't want to watch but I can't look away.

 

Please clear the air, you are one of the companies I am seriously considering for a rebuild. Atleast you know how to build a freaking website!

What I hate about forums is when someone says something incorrect, no one challenges them, and everyone who read that thread ends up distributing this incorrect information until it becomes "common knowledge" at which point, good luck disputing it.

Honestly I am shocked there is not a INFO thread that contains information on all of the build/reman/used options with real info. Is it safe to say atleast half of the forum is on a 2nd or 3rd motor? Seems like a pretty big need to consolidate information.

/RANT

please help out the community and say what needs to be said.

Thank You,
Roy

 

I know Mazmart are popular with rebuilds and no negative feedback. I have also heard Pettit are good as well.

However, there are no specific threads highlighting the pros and cons. I know there are a lot of negative feedback on mazda dealership remans as they may be reusing rotors and housings.

 

it does seem like the forum regulars are replacing engines every other week, and that reading this forum = engine failure, however i don't think this is actually true.

i do own a car that is on engine #3 @92k miles, however the owner didn't spend a dime on maintenance, and the quality of warranty work was exceedingly poor.

however, we had a 3 Rx8 caravan the other weekend, and all three cars are on the original engines, and ran fine, in fact 2/3 are on the original coils, i think 3/3 are original clutches, except maybe the 09, as its had it transmission rebuilt, twice. 2/3 are original cats, 2/3 original brakes. which is actually quite good.

my 04 has 73k, the other 04 is about 85k, and the 09 is 30k.

 

The actual answer was about 600 miles.

The car would not start after stalling in a drive through. It took about 10 minutes before it cooled off enough and I got it firing.

I think the motor is coming out this weekend if I can bear the cold "spring" weather.

I appreciate all the info from everyone, but unfortunately I am not sure of the best option as of yet.

Can any vouch for Rotary Resurrection? Unfortunately he doesn't seem to want to tell me what the "misinformation" was that he mentioned was in this thread. That kind of puts everything I thought I knew on shaky ground, and I don't feel like making a $1500-4000 bet on something unknown.

Cheers,
Lucky Kid

 

he's been around for a long time, and i live on the other end of the country so i haven't seen his work in person, but everyone that has one of his engines is happy, it seems.

i think the misinformation he's referring to is the cost and parts actually replaced in a Mazda reman, they don't take pictures or have a list of stuff they replace...

 

basically. they had some problems with people sending FD cores back that had bricks in em, or the wrong rotors and housings and stuff.

so in the packet of papers is a picture of how to ID an REW engine core, i think the Rx8 has something similar, although who cares

 

Thanks for you info.

My local dealer can get me an MSP 6-port for $2001 with a 12mo, 12K warranty even if I install it myself. Its very tempting, but I am waiting for a reply from Kevin at Rotary Resurrection right now.

 

Get that warranty in writing.

 

Just an update:

I ended up getting one of my businesses setup as a wholesaler from a dealer. I got a reman on order at wholesale pricing and I am covered by the 12/12 warranty.

If anyone near milwaukee needs a reman in the future let me know.

Cheers,
Lucky Kid

 

Just throwing this out there, I was in the same situation and I have been for the past year. My 05 Shinka was under warranty when it was going in for hot start issues and dying after interstate driving. The dealer kept telling me nothing was wrong and I ended up getting it towed there last week and I demanded a compression test. Turns out it was low (they didn't give me the numbers) but it was covered under the warranty extension on the engine itself. Might be something to check into even though it looks like you have it covered maybe someone else will find this helpful?

Raves

 

I am about a year out of the 8/100 warranty.