onewhippedpuppy

If all goes according to plan I’ll be picking up a 2007 GT, manual transmission, 27k miles here in a few weeks. The car has been driven regularly but for short distances (obviously), with regular oil changes and semi recent coils and plugs. No current mechanical issues. My grand plan is to get it totally baselined to make it a fun, reliable weekend driver. This is RX8 #3 and rotary #4, so I’m fully aware of basic issues and taking care of these cars. Here’s my to do list, what am I missing?

Oil and filter change
Change all other fluids
Premix from day 1
Aluminum coolant reservoir
S2 starter
New tires
Upgraded coils and wires
Spark plugs
Engine air filter
I’m on the fence with hoses, I may go ahead and replace all coolant hoses when I do the reservoir
Probably also do brake lines when I bleed the brakes

Any other common failure points that I’m not addressing?

BigCajun

iTrader: (1)

Paging GWilliams...

Loki

iTrader: (1)

If you're going to do the reservoir, do the rad as well. While I don't see a reason to just change the reservoir, doing so is likely to break the radiator nipple it's attached to.. so you may as well get a new rad.

mazdaverx7

iTrader: (6)

May want to consider replacing the drive belts as well. They are over 15 years old and there's no reason to take a chance on a car that sounds as nice as you describe. You may also want to consider replacing the cabin filters, as well as having the car aligned.

All other fluids should include the coolant, trans, and differential. Its essential to replace the coolant on a rotary engine. I replace mine every two years.

Other than what you mentioned, I would just go over the car very well and see if any of the rubber hoses under the car are starting to dry out and may not be as flexible as they should be. These cars hold up very well if they're maintained properly and this one sounds like it could be an incredible car.

onewhippedpuppy

Excellent feedback thus far, thanks all! I’ll definitely add the drive belt to my list, that’s a definite miss and something I’ll want to replace. At this point anything rubber is suspect, it’s 17 years old.

gwilliams6

RX8 Club’s recommended maintenance schedule, more comprehensive and proactive than Mazda’s schedule.

30,000 miles:
- Replace Ignition coils
- Replace Plug wires
- Replace Spark plugs
- Clean MAF (mass air flow sensor)
- Clean ESS (e-shaft sensor)
- Reset ESS profile
- Clean power steering connections
- Clean battery terminals and clamps
- Replace transmission fluid
- Replace coolant (Mazda FL-22 is highly recommended)
- Replace air filter
- Replace brake fluid (fluid in the brake lines AND the clutch line)
~$300 USD in parts if you shop smartly.


every 60,000:
...all 30,000, plus...
- Clean all chassis electrical grounding points
- Replace accessory belts
- Clean OMP lines
- Replace rear differential fluid
- Replace thermostat
- Clean / Straighten AC condenser fins
- Clean / Straighten oil cooler fins
- Inspect catalytic converter
- Clean / Inspect intake valving
- Consider / inspect all points in 90,000+ as well, many items fail early
~$130 USD in parts if you shop smartly.

90,000:
...all 30,000, plus any 60,000 not yet done, plus...
- Replace coolant bottle
- Replace radiator hoses
- Replace radiator
- Replace front O2 sensor
- Replace motor mounts
- Inspect clutch pedal assembly for flex / weld breaks
~$900 USD in parts if you shop smartly.

At 100k, anything original in the cooling system, and an original cat is really suspect and failure prone. It represents the biggest threats to your engine.
Yes upgrade to a better starter AND the S2 fuel pump, the S1 fuel pumps are crap and overheat and fail, leaving you stranded in the road, it happens trust me .

Some of the upgrades I did to my 2008 40th Anniversary Edition RX8 (bought new in 2008)
Mazdaspeed Cold Air intake;
Second-gen BHR high performance Ignition coils and wires;
Series Two fuel pump
Performance CAT and midpipe from Rotary Performance of Garland, Texas
Koyo hyper-v-core radiator upgrade, and closed aluminum cooling system upgrade from Pettit Racing with Racing Beat hoses. https://pettitracing.com/products/al...spec-a-kit-rx8
Cooling fan low temp control kit
Mazmart Re-medy upgraded water pump, and low temp thermostat
Upgraded starter
BHR reinforced clutch pedal
Rotary Performance low temp oil cooler thermostats.
All recalls done, and a few other things on the mechanical side.
Continental Extreme Contact DWS 06plus tires.

My 2008 40th Anniversary Edition RX8 (only 1000 made in special US Edition) is now insured as a classic car for a full $50K value with no depreciation from State Farm Insurance (which now owns Hagerty Classic Car Insurance). I have had my RX8 paint corrected, clay barred , polished and four layer ceramic coated, and it looks better than new.

One very low mileage one went for $42,250 USD at a MS Classic Cars auction in 2021: https://bringatrailer.com/listing/2008-mazda-rx-8-8/. This one was surely ceramic coated also.

Cheers and best to you.
FYI, I have owned seven rotary Mazdas since the seventies (stock and race-modified): one R3; two RX4; all three generations of RX7; one RX8. With easily over a million rotary miles driven on street and track.



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onewhippedpuppy

Fantastic information, THANKS! The 40th AE RX-8 would be my absolute top choice, love the color scheme and the R3-like upgrades minus the tight Recaro seats. They are not an easy find.

gwilliams6

You are welcome, Cheers

Forgot to mention I did get a second Renesis engine (a Mazda Remanufactured) for free under Mazda warranty, at the end of the eight-year Mazda warranty period in 2016. My compression numbers were ok, but my dealer (great guys) failed the engine so I could get the free reman. At that time I put in a new clutch since the engine was going to be out anyway. The second engine is definitely stronger and was properly broken in by me over 2000 miles . My guess is that 40th Anniversary Edition's engine never had the chance to be properly broken in before it got abused and driven hard when not warmed up in test drives by potential customers at my dealer, before I bought it with 50 miles on the odometer back in 2018.
Cheers

mangomikey

You know ive read this in the New Owners thread.

One thing that stuck out to me was "Cleaning the OMP lines".

How does one go about doing that?

mazdaverx7

iTrader: (6)

Without removing the oil metering pump lines, there's no way that I know of that you can clean them internally. You can clean them externally, but the thought of even removing them makes me cringe. They're delicate and prone to cracking when disturbed. When in doubt, I would replace them and their respective crush washers and remove and clean the oil injector nozzles and reassemble with new crush washers.

Loki

iTrader: (1)

You can run Seafoam in your oil shortly before a change and wind it out to high load high rpm so the OMP flow rates are maxed.

If you've kept up on oil changes, it shouldn't be necessary to do anything. Oil additives are there to prevent and dissolve deposits. Especially with regular oil stock, it dissolves own deposits whereas some synthetics do not. You can just remove the OMP and have a gander at the oil gallery. If it's not crusty, your omp lines shouldn't be either.

Oil injectors are a different story though, you want to test and replace as needed.