UK BLACK

I took my car in for regular service and the recall. He did the re-flash "R" i think, then told me that the car was not driving well in the high end rev range. After calling Mazda USA it was determined that my motor needs to be replaced. 6-8 weeks before I get my baby back. Apex seals leaking was the diagnosis.

Anyone else experienced this. I did notice a slight lack of power between 6000-9000 rpm, but other than that it drove great.

Driving around in a POS Pontiac Grand Prix. Thank God I dont have to pay a penny for this nightmare.

Still love the car , and this has not changed my mind about the car one bit.

zoom44

there is a thread in the issues section titled engine failures. a good portion of them are in vegas. did they run a compression check on your car? is this Magic Mazda?

truemagellen

all of these problems just in vegas (I know heat is a factor) makes me VERY suspicious of how legitimate these engine replacements really are....they are defying probability which is why something stinks

MadDog

Man -o- man...

You mean you didn't have any problems before you took it in? And, more importantly, WHAT THE HELL WAS THE TECH DOING DRIVING YOUR CAR IN THE HIGH-END REVS ANYWAY!!!

It sounds REALLY suspicious to me. Is that Las Vegas dealer trying to make a cottage industry out of replacing engines? That's the one locale that is having problems, and you didn't even have any when you took it in!! It sounds really, really questionable....'

-MD

Glyphon

vegas isn't the only area that experiences high temperatures. this is starting to seem really suspicious. why aren't there issues like this happening in other areas with high temps, like NM, lower Cali, florida, texas...

greyson

I live in Cincinnati and it has been hot as heck here lately. Mazda just told me I
need a new engine. 3 wks.

Greyson

cleoent

wow, what the hell is going on in vegas...

truemagellen

what happens in Vegas...Stays in Vegas!

Glyphon

and let this one stay there :p

jaguargod

I live in Texas, and my car seems very sluggish now that it is hotter, and it seems like my engine oil is down to the half way mark quite often when I check it. I have heard people say they add a quart or half a quart every 1,000 miles. I go through oil alot faster than that. Are any of these symptoms experienced by the drivers in Vegas who are getting new engines? Hopefully, it is something that can be fixed by one of the recent recalls.

KYLiquid

I agree, I live in orlando, FL and we have had pretty steady 90-95* ambient temps for the last few weeks. Add to this the humidity near 100% and the heat index and your looking at a lot of days that creep to 100*+.

Then you drive around on asphalt, and near road air temps can climb to 120* easy, thats the same air that the cars uses to cool its radiator and the air its sucking into the engine.

It can also get pretty hot in Japan, where in recent years they have had a record heatwave.

I dont want to say this dealer or dealers in this area are scaming people, or trying to pull something on mazda, cause they wouldnt keep getting new engines put in if the ones they took out wernt broken. Just kind of strange.

I drive my car ***** out on my way home from work everyday, in 90*+ sun and the car runs live velvet.

cleoent

i doubt the dealer is trying to pull a scam. It's not like Mazda is going to say "Oh mr mazda dealer you need 30 new engines and money to reimburse you for your costs, no problem." Of course a real mazda tech has probably been out there or will be soon, so this **** is for real. The question is wtf is happening in vegas.

I do think there is a big difference between climates that see 90's often and climates like vegas that 110+ is seen quite often, that's a big difference in temps.

rotten42

Cheer up, I had my engine replaced after about 1.5 months of owning the car. I was a pain in the neck but the car has been perfect since then....Still love the car.

UK BLACK

This is actually Peoples Mazda and yes I was told it was a compression problem. The only real problem I noticed with the engine was a little lack of power at the high end. It still was fast, just a little off. I thought all it needed was a re-flash then I would be ok. but that was not to be. BTW this is the 3rd Engine this year according to the dealer. All for the same issue, low compression, leaking seals.

UK BLACK

"Cheer up, I had my engine replaced after about 1.5 months of owning the car. I was a pain in the neck but the car has been perfect since then....Still love the car."

Thanks for the kind words rotten42...

Dinhx8

just curious, are you AT or MT? also, are you using the recommended 5w20 oil?

In the Issues and Problems section, there is a HUGE thread on Magic Mazda in Vegas having a bunch of busted engines, and the thread is now focused on things like oil ratings and stuff.....still haven't narrowed down and found a definitive checks and balance on what = a busted engine though. It may help ya nonetheless, good luck with your car=did they say when you may get it back?

zoom44

ther have been engines replaced in the areas you mentioned. Also AZ. In fact the Texas replacements were what brought the problem to the attention of this forum in the first place. 2 dozen between 2 dealers alone that i know of. i agree its suspicious that Vegas seems to have the Majority but it is not the only place it is happening. the low humidity seems tyo be a factor as well . areas with less humidity sem to have more of the failures.

zoom44

***** out isnt the problem. driving at low rpms and low speeds so there is no airflow over the one oil cooler seems to be the issue.

zoom44

yes in fact if you have read the other thread it has been mentioned that there are teams of Mazda engineers in the feild at several locations that have large numbers of AT engine failures.

alderran

Been kind of thinking of trading in my G35 Sedan for an RX8 but this engine stuff is scaring me off. Why didn't Mazda put a normal engine in this car? Man if it had a motor like Nissan's VQ 3.5L you guys would have a hot looking, dependable and really fast sports car.

KKMmaniac

A "normal" engine, and I wouldn't have bought the RX8. Alderran, have you driven, or better yet owned a car with a rotary? I'm not saying it's a better engine than a piston engine; just unique and interesting, with different running characteristics. Some of us, myself included, like them.

I'm a little suspicious of all the engine replacements too. I just have trouble believing Mazda wouldn't have gotten it essentially right to begin with.

And incidentally, I think I'd just be better off not tuning in here, and continuing to drive and enjoy my car. At least until the day my engine blows up, and I let you all know how pissed I am at Mazda.

But I'll keep coming back. Addictive personality you know.

cleoent

The rx8 is the rx8 because of the rotary's unique attributes. It's small and can be mounted low and towards the middle of the car. 50/50 weight distribution and light weight = rx8. Without any of those components all you have is a carbon copy of the 350, g35 etc.

My 2 cents.

clydejmuggs

This is a hard pill to take eh?

Did you complain of power issues to justify a test drive?

Flop

I believe Vegas itself is the problem, it is such a party town that the engineers haven't been able to get any 'research' done (on the car that is )

Viva Las Vegas

Chef RX-8

I live in Orlando and had my engine replaced for the same thing in Jan 04. I had to drive an altima for 2 weeks. But it runs great now.