hi gang,

so here's the lowdown. my stock '04 with 45k miles on it popped a CEL yesterday morning and had a huge loss of power. i turned it off and then restarted it and it ran normal for the day. today, i started it in the morning and the same thing happened. huge loss of power. i tried to restart it a few times but this time it did nothing. they symptoms are, huge loss of power and rpms barely craw past 3k rpm's. i had my coil pack replaced last year under warranty when it had similar problems.

so i crawl to my nearest mazda dealer and they diagnose the problem and it points to a bad coil pack and a bad oil metering pump. the damage? $1900! my warranty expired last october and they won't cover my coil pack even though it was replaced last july. they said that they would run a compression test to see if maybe they would replace the motor. regardless, they would still have to replace the coil pack and oil metering pump.

my question is, have you guys faced multiple bad coil packs and bad oil metering pumps? am i gettin totally swindled here? I don't drive it hard and have fairly low miles. i don't know if my car is a lemon or what. any feedback is appreciated. thanks in advance.

 

you can buy coils for $25 each.. get all 4 for $100 and change them yourself..

i'm not sure how a failing omp would create power loss.. if the omp failed completely then the engine went to crap which is most likely the case and they should warranty it no questions asked.

with that said driving this car "not hard" is not good for it anyway.

 

both should be covered by the 5 yr 60k mile powertrain warranty.. it was extended for the 04 and 05 models..

beers

 

04-08 rx8s have a 100k/8 year powertrain warranty.

 

All depends on dates. My 04 warranty expired the end of july.

 

Only on engine internals. Like apex seals.

 

yep,

that is becoming an issue. but i would say less than more..

op needs to look at purchase date..

beers

 

You can buy a used OMP for less than $200..they rarely fail. The likelyhood is that the thing needs to be reset so it will work. The OMP will put the car in limp mode immediately after a reset...so if you have huge power loss..and it won't rev past 3500 or so that's likely the issue.

I highly doubt that it is both the coils and the OMP at the same time

Dealers don't think sometimes...why would you get multiple failures in 2 or more unrelated systems at the same time....not very likely.

As someone said..the coils are about $110 and take 20 minutes tops even if you don't have a clue

If you want to try and reset the OMP PM me and I'll try and help

 

my warranty expired last october. i bought the car in october of '03. so will the extended powertrain warranty cover both the coils and oil metering pump? i think the technician is trying to replace the motor by doing the compression test to see if it passes or not. regardless, he's telling me that i would still need to pay and replace the coils and replace the oil metering pump. are those considered part of the powertrain? do the coils go bad that frequently?

i would have definitely done the coils myself but i moved to california a year ago and i don't have any tools here. totally sucks.

thanks again for the feedback guys.

 

coils generally have a lifespan of 20-30k. i think my first set lasted about 30k before i noticed lower traps and higher ETs in the 1/4 mile. every few months that i went my trap speed would go down about ~2mph. when it got to 87mph i decided to change the coils and spark plugs.

 

i just got a call from mazda and they said that the compression was fine. kinda sucks cause i was hoping that they would replace the motor. oh well, they got the $65 bucks for the compression test outta me. as far as resetting the OMP, he said he won't do it cause mazda is against resetting it cause it may cause engine damage and then therefore won't cover the engine if it gets damaged. his only solution is to replace it. the code that came up is P1688. cost to replace the OMP, $1400. as far as the coils go, he said that he's reading a missfire and that the coils need to be replaced. again, i got these coils replaced with the upgraded ones last july and i'm surprised that they went bad again. this may be something that mazda should look into. i told him that i would change them myself so he said that they're $51 a piece. i'm gonna have to shop around for that one.

so...what do you think guys? i'm definitely gonna change the coils myself but do you guys think i should get the OMP changed?

 

go to www.finishlineperformance.com

coils are $26 each.

i think you should take dan's advice on the OMP and try to reset it.

 

go punch that service tech directly in the face

 

you can find used OMPs much cheaper - changing it yourself might be another matter. definitely buy and change the coils yourself.

 

Yeah, you're better off listening to Dan, he's a tech expert on RX8s. (and much more)

 

Go to a different dealer and see if they recommend the same thing?

 

I wish....I do know the fixes for crap that I have fixed on my car..or on friends cars

I do know what most of the car looks like though...I think I have had everything apart at least once now

 

here's what you need to do:

1. take a few dollars worth of quarters and put them in a sock.

2. go back over to mazda and PUMMEL whoever told you it was going to cost that much to fix your car with that sock full of quarters.

in all seriousness, though... do you own basic hand tools?

you can do all of this with a jack, stands and basic hand tools, dude.

it'll cost you about 5% of what you're about to spend.

 

$1400 to replace the OMP is so worth it!

You guys quickly forget the OMP is bolted to the side of the engine with THREE bolts. It takes almost five minutes to get under the car, remove the engine under tray and find the correct size sockets.

I haven't removed the omp lines without removing anything else, so I don't know offhand if the UIM will be in the way or not. Assuming it is, that's like 8 bolts or so.

 

in other words, if you have to pay mazda to do this for you, you are not a man.

 

Did they even check the connector and wiring harness on the OMP, or did they just assume it went bad? An electrical problem seems far more likely than a mechanical failure.

 

20-30k? Damn, you're gonna have to tell me what your doing to make your coils last so long next weekend at VIR. In the last 30000 miles I've replaced the coils 7 times, plugs 5 times and the wires 4 times...still having problems! It still misfires like crazy, and the dealership can't figure it out.

 

Check the ESS...they pick up crap and then the sensor has dropouts that causes misfires. A number of us have found that the sensor works better if it is spaced out from the trigger wheel with a couple of washers as well

 

if the omp is fried how did the engine get enough oil to maintain the compression for the compression test?

i cry BS- they have not tested the omp for failure and they did not run a compression test. ask them for a copy of the results.

do the coils yourself

 

I'm sure they just read the codes......there is a scarcity of people that think in most dealership repair bays