Three days ago I bought a 2004 with 65,000 miles on the car and 5,000 miles on a Mazda warranty replaced engine. I have been reading lots of posts here and have started doing a few things:

- replaced air filter (it was quite dirty)
- started premix
- clean MAF

Soon I will replace the battery, coils and plug wires; the plugs are almost new.

Thanks everyone for all the great information available in this forum. I bought the car as a daily driver for the great looks, handling, the unique rotary engine and as a hobby to learn about, work on and maintain.

Cheers!

 

Congrats on your new ride! I get my 05 with 60k on it today. I know next to nothing about cars in general, but have been doing a lot of reading to ensure I keep it running smooth. Looking forward to hearing about your progress. What is this "premix" you speak of?

 

Sounds like you are on the right track. Keep reading and learning, and welcome to the club/addiction.

 

Scott7d, check out the first sticky post in the tech garage, it is all about premix, which is adding 2 cycle oil to the gas tank at each fill up for additional lubrication in the engine.

 

Welcome TYork.

It's a small pic, but it looks like a clean car!

Sounds like you're off to a good start man. Enjoy the car.

 

Midpipe, and OMP adapter. They make for happy.

Congrats on the purchase!

 

congrats and welcome. usually overlooked with tune-ups is the cabin filter. i know i need to change mine

 

welcome sir.

 

searched AND gave advice! You'll fit right in

 

Agreed. And congrats.

 

Thanks all. Just verified that the MSP-16 update was done at the dealer that did the engine replacement, and just removed removed the cabin air filters...FILTHY! Thanks for the tips, keep 'em comming.

 

now that we're heading into summer, check the AC drain. It's often called "duck lips". They can get sealed shut with junk and cause issues.

https://www.rx8club.com/rx-8-discussion-3/ac-leaking-passanger-feet-198188/

 

also read this
https://www.rx8club.com/new-member-forum-197/congratulations-you-got-8-a-202548/

 

Good luck and take care of it. It will last longer if you did.

 

Well you learn something new every day! I don't use the AC all that often, so it shouldn't be much of a problem... Still though, it's good to know these things.

 

yeah, they're one of those things that no one reports and issue with for a whole year, and then blam, 10 guys in one week are talking about flooding the interior of their cars.

 

Yet another new owner here. I bought an 04 M6 in Winning Blue a week and a half ago. I was looking for something to replace my 97 Trans Am that had been knocking on deaths door for some time. I did a ton of research on the 8, mostly from this site, before buying it and so far I'm extremely happy with the car.

I plan on spending this weekend checking the filters/cleaning the MAF/etc. as was suggested in the thread above. I don't have a good pic of the car yet, I want to wash it before I take some but I'm waiting until I get the tail light gasket in so I don't fill up the tail light again.

 

Take care of it, good luck. Show pics or your lying

 

Good color choice on the blue! Definitely the best. I am kind of biased thoough... Haha

 

I agree, I was holding out for some time hoping to find a good one in blue before my previous car died. I ended up cutting it rather close but I got it

 

Update:
Just replaced coils this evening, was a fun project. Also new gas cap and cabin air filters Plug wires will be next. While removing the intake bellows between the MAF and the throttle body I noticed that two of the three black plastic vacuum hose fittings on top of the bellows have holes in them. That means the engine has been running with unmetered air
Got them plugged with electrical tape for now; need at find new fittings ASAP. I have not searched yet but I don't remember seeing anything about this specific problem. BTW, the car seems to run much better now, at least during one quick test drive. Could be the new OEM coils, the plugged leaks or a combination of the two (or my imagination), but it sure seemed to idle better and accelerate stronger. Regardless, I really like this car.