In December I bought an '04 RX-8 6 speed and I have to say I love the car. It's got very low mileage and is in mint condition, other than a few blemishes on the paint. GT package too, with everything but the nav system.

I bought the car as my daily driver and I drive about 100 miles a day. I figured if I had to be in the car for 3 hours a day I might as well enjoy it.

Of course after purchasing the car I started reading online about the '04 engines blowing after 40K to 50K miles and I have to admit I'm concerned. The car runs beautifully: idles normally, has power and really isn't showing any of the warning signs I've seen online. No problem starting when warm etc. The only thing that has me paranoid is that it takes 2-3 seconds to start (but it does start every time). It just takes longer than I'm used to. Am I being needlessly paranoid?

If I'm asking something that has already been answered then I apologize, but after searching I really haven't heard of anyone complaining about a slightly slow start.

 

what mileage do you have in the car? maybe its time for new sparkplugs and coils

 

make sure you have the lastest ECU flash

 

Maybe your car doesn't have the upgraded starter motor?

 

Wow, join the club. I'm a new(4 week) owner of a used '04 rx-8 with 53k miles
but with an AT, which from what I have read, is a worse boat. Mine starts
awsome when it's cold, although I do live in WI, so it is cold. It does take
2-3 seconds when it is warm. I just had a local Mazda dealership do a
compression check and it is a bit low. My plan is to do the seafoam DIY
and just ordered coils, wires, and plugs which were recommended by
the dealership. Although they recommended it at ~$650. I'm a DIY type of
person except when the tools cost way more then I will use them. I'll update
if the seafoam or any other replacements improve my warm start time. I don't
plan at this time to spend another $156 for a compression check.

P.S. I also really really love the car. It's a third car and knew it would be a bit of a
hobby when I bought it. If I have to rebuild the engine it's just giving me more, I guess.

 

All right I'll say it .......... pics or it didn't happen.

 

Congrats on the new car. Like others have said maybe new coils/sparkplugs and make sure you have the updated ecu flash.

 

Thanks for the advice everyone; I appreciate it. The car has almost 34k miles on it.

I'm thinking that maybe it just doesn't have the stronger starter that was put in the later models. Either way I'm going to bring it in to the dealer in the next week or two to have them check a few things and I'll ask them to flash the ECU.

Also, if at some point down the line the engine does blow, what ballpark am I looking at for a replacement? $3k, $4k? If I purchase an extended warranty will it likely cover the engine replacement if it does go? I've read too many things online about Mazda not honoring the warranty for or reason or another.

And oh man does the car sound sweet at 8500 rpm's...

 

Well, I would be methodical and do the following checks just to see how the "new" car is performing:
Engine compression
Catalytic converter
Spark plugs change (it never really hurts, read about the coils too ).
Clutch pedal (it's known to fail).
I would also do a full oil change (including tranny and diff.) and start premixing and clean the maf\iat sensor.

Keep in mind that if your previous owner has the records for the regular maintenance you'll be able to use the 100.000miles\8yrs extended engine warranty from mazda. Some vendors like Mazmart sell remanufactured engines for a reasonable amount of money, other builders on this board often do good performance oriented builds too.
All in all considering how polite your are i'm sure that you'll always find somebody willing to reply and help you

G

 

Hmm, I don't have any records other than what's reported on the Carfax. Without actual records the 8 year extended warranty will be voided if the engine goes?

I've kind of come to terms with the fact that the car 'may' end up costing me more money than I originally expected. But that's fine, because every day I drive it I like better. Without a doubt the nicest car I've ever owned, and just so much fun to drive.

I've been getting horrible gas mileage lately because I've been keeping the tach up between 6 and 8K all the time just to hear the engine and feel the pull. I need to get it out and find some windy country roads one of these weekends to enjoy the handling as well.

 

I just got my first RX-8 about a week ago. Its a GT model with 29k miles and I notice the same thing. Starting takes longer than I'm used to. I just ordered new spark plugs.

 

Yes.

Engines with the newest flash crank longer than ones with earlier flashes. It's part of the anti-flooding changes that came with 4206f.

When you're at the dealer, they can check to see whether it's had the updated flashes. The most recent was MSP16. Download the bulletin on that from finishlineperformance.com. You're entitled to that flash for free, even if out of bumper-to-bumper warranty.

If the engine does blow (not as likely as you'd think from this forum) you should only need records from the time you had the car. That's "should" because different dealers treat customers differently. But there's a post somewhere on this site from someone who asked Mazda about records, and got that answer.

Ken

 

Thanks! It's good to hear some positive news about the engine. That bit about the newest flash causing the longer crank really makes me feel good as it's the one thing that doesn't feel 'normal' about the car.

I'll be keeping all the records for any work I have done on the car.

 

your car will be very reliable if you -
let it warm up before driving
let it cool down before shutting off
change oil every 3 to 4k miles
maintain your cooling system ( change coolant ! )
redline it every so often when you drive it
and -
get the BHR Ignition

 

Where in WI are you? $156 seems high for a compression check (I think I paid around 100 for mine a few months ago)...and don't forget, your engine has a 100k warranty so if your compression was low enough to be out of spec you should get a new engine under warranty.

 

normal with the new flash like said above

 

Letting the car warm up isn't necessary. We are fuel injected. If you had a carb and were working with chokes then yes. I would wait no longer than it takes for the RPMs to drop the first time. Once that needle bounces your good to go.

As for cooling off, its ok to shut it off warm. You wont hurt anything, just make sure you don't allow it to over heat.

My coils have lasted 65K so far, and I track my car, along with taking driving courses. I have no misfire problems at all. Some have said I'm lucky but I doubt it.

You can save yourself some grief if you take the trottle body off and clean it. Make sure the idle port is good to go. There is no carbon or oil build up on the valves. This is an easy thing that will help you out.

Changing your coolant to meet your environment could help you though. I don't know where you live so I can't give you the ratio for your area. But 50/50 isn't always the answer. Antifreeze has a horrible thermal conductivity.

2-3 seconds to start is not a huge deal. 15-30 seconds is. The entire time Ive had my car it takes about 2 seconds to start, and its performed beautifully all along.

 

I typically let the car warm up to the first line on the temp guage; it may be excessive but I live in NH and it's pretty damn cold right now.

I'll see if the dealership can pull up the records and see what flashes were done and if they can track any other work that was done to the car.

 

Did the Seafoam DIY. Went smooth, much smoother than I though despite being 10F in Wisconsin today. You can see the resulting smoke caused by it here:

http://vimeo.com/18607226

Remember to close you driver door as it is pretty intense. Not as bad as I thought though based on other comments. Nobody came with there fire hoses. In the winter many people burn wood so maybe they just ignored it

It felt better afterwards and maybe effected my warm start time by a second or two but time will tell. Have spark plugs in hand and the coils and wires are on there way from finishlineperformance.

 

Like said above, letting it warm up sitting isn't really necessary. Plus the car warms up extremely slow while just sitting at idle.

I usually crank it and wait for the RPM needle to drop to about 1500rpm (which doesn't take long at all), then shift before 3000rpm until the temp needle gets around the first line. Then shift a little before 4000rpm while it is significantly on the gauge but not yet to normal position. Then once it has been at its normal position for a short bit I start driving like usual...

And letting it cool down before you cut it off isn't really necessary either. If anything just let it sit for a couple seconds. Our cars have a pretty damn good coolant system. The fans even stay on once the car is cut off to continue cooling the engine if it is necessary. You definitely don't have to let it sit there idling in the driveway forever before cutting it off.