i have heard a lot about how the 09 engine is holding up. ANyone have enything?
OD

 

Wat

plz 2 use englis kthxbai

 

What have you heard about the 09 olddragger?

 

I've had some issues with coolant, but nothing with oil... so far anyways

 

7k miles and I've gone through about 3 quarts of between-oil-change top offs... Coolant is fine.

Not engine related but my rear drivers side shock (before springs) blew after only about 1200 miles. Mazda won't replace it because it's not blown enough

 

Blow it some more..

 

they changed a lot in the engine for 09. But i didnt see much that was changed in reference to cooling issues. Anyone monitoring temps.
Obviously they are using more oil--which is a good thing.
Mazda is not stupid (that could be debated some!) but they went to a lot of trouble getting the lubrication right for the 09's. Higher oil pressures--better oil pump--and a much better mop.
As much attention as properly cooling (temps) this engine has drawn --you would think they would have made some changes to the cooling system?
SO I am interested in the coolant and oil temps, oil pressure readings and oil usage.
I want to see the differences between the 09's and the pre 09's and if there are any observable affects. This is a start.
OD

 

I burn a quart every 1500 miles or so. I haven't checked my coolant temps, though.

 

I should be doing gauges in the spring I wish I could give you some readings earlier... if you want to give me a research grant I can get some numbers sooner

 

There wasn't any reason for Mazda to address cooling issues with the renesis. As it stands there are little to no issues with an average user of the RX8 regarding the cooling of the motor.

Cooling issues have only spawned from those of us who have heavily modified the car and changed the tuning to a more aggressive fuel map.

Even still, you have to run the **** out of the car on the track or in some of the locations here out west before you begin to seriously tax the cooling system.

Mazda isn't going to address anything that is caused from engine modifications. The oiling issue was something that effected everyone from bone stock to full race. The engine recall was directly linked to a lack of oil lubrication so it only makes sense for those redesigns to occur.

There are plenty of well designed cooling parts available for this motor so if cooling is your concern then they are at your disposal.

 

I haven't checked temps but on hot days I'll get the coolant light turning on every so often

 

i have about 16000 miles now, and have run in 105 to 100 degree days for a few weeks with no problems. i red line going onto the interstate but no track days

 

flash--are you saying that oem rx8' are not seeing 230F coolant temps on the street?
Or do you mean that 230F coolant is not a problem?
everyone else for the feedback--sure are using more oil
OD

 

OD and Flash, I don't know where you got the idea Mazda changed little in the cooling system on Series II (09~) RX-8's as there were a few.

1. Slight increase (about 1/2 litre) in radiator Coolant Capacity and a modified radiator core. "The down-flow direction of water inside the radiator causes air to bleed from the cooling system easier" Unquote
2. Change to Water pump Impeller to a "plastic one" for "reduced water pump drag"
3. An extra Cooling Fan Speed from 2 to 3 speeds.."Three-stage control has been adopted to the cooling fan with high, middle, and low speed rotation allowing noise reduction and power savings."
4. Upgraded Cooling Fan Motors now both the same (2) and slightly larger, S1's had a N01 and N02 Fan motor of Different Part Numbers. S2 uses same fan BLADES but a different Fan Cowling (Holder Shroud) to take changed Fan Motors.

As far as Temperature monitoring, I recently tested my Cooling Temps Via my OBD-II Port with my OBD+Key scanner, it showed a constant 82-84c (179-183F) temperature with our Winter outside Temp of 15c (60F), this is also thermostat Open temps (82-84c), when temps reached 96c (204F) (Idle for 2 minutes or more) Low speed Cooling Fan cuts in.
I also tested (same day) my sisters 2006 Kia Cerato (2 litre) and her Temps were the same (82-84c).

I will let you know what the actual temps are when we go into Summer in a few months or so.

Engine Oil Use....
As we know Mazda adopted their all new EMOP set up with an additional injector Nozzle per housing. IMO Mazda have targeted oil more efficiently and I think I am using less than S1 owners (as 04-08's have had volumes cranked up to Max with all the PCM Flashes)..
I use about 200 Mil (1/5th litre) per 1000 KMS or 600 miles.

 

BTW, OD the Internals of the RENESIS II (09's) have not changed at all, Rotors, Apex, Side and corner seals, eccentric shaft, etc are identical.

What has changed are the Oil Pump (higher pressure) and the external EMOP system which required new rotor housings for the extra middle nozzle hole, and new Iron housings because of the new oil pick up and return EMOP system, new front Alloy housing for new larger Oil filter and it's re-location.

Additional Knock sensor on rear rotor housing also ( now 2), both the same part numbers.

 

There is most definitely heat issues.

 

If you are getting a coolant light it's because either your coolant level is low or the sensor in your overflow bottle is faulty.

I stand corrected on that information. Thanks ash!

Honestly the only person whom I see having cooling issues here in Phoenix has been Easy_E1. For whatever reason his RX8 seems to run very warm with the stock radiator. Even a rather light to moderate speed drive through the twisty mountains yielded temps as high as 232. However, it was over 108 degrees yesterday.

There are heat issues in the situations that would cause them anyway. We've had serious heat this weekend with Friday seeing as high as 114 in some parts of the city with no cloud cover at all. A mixture of highway and city driving I was seeing around 220 degrees. Now, I can't speak for stock RX8's in that situation because I have an upgraded cooling system.

I'm sure in seriously hot climates like Arizona that cars are going to run much hotter because the overall manufacturer design isn't done around extreme environments.

Using Erick as an example, when he had heating issues quite a while back when he was seeing temps as high as 240 degrees it was discovered that the coolant mixture was too heavy on the anti-freeze side.

You have to look at many cars over the span of a very wide area before claiming the overall vehicle has a problem. The trap people fall into is they have issues with their own vehicle either because of their modifications, driving style, or because they simply made a mistake with an installation and then blame the OEM design for the problem.

 

Flash--i will have to respectfully disagree that there are no cooling problems with the oem cars.
I have seen and heard from numerous owners that see temps of 230F at times. Hot weather , gridlock/slow moving stop and go traffic is where most have problems. Or constant high rpm use.
Seems like our cooling systems also do not have much if any fail safe capacity. For example if one fan goes out and cooling system is being taxed--it will even get hotter than 230F. Or if the foam around the rad comes out for whatever reason---it is easy seen in much reduced capacity.
WHo was it---Roar Racing? that revealed they started seeing housing warp at sustained 225F temps? No prepared RX8 (track ) are running temps over 200F--must be a reason they are doing this and Mazda made the changes they did?

Ash --thanks a lot for the info--guess i missed the boat on that one. The things mentioned makes a lot of sense and I bet they have been a help. Really good info as usual--you da man!
OD

 

What kind of modifications do they have to their RX8? If it's a hot climate are they switching to a mostly distilled water mixture or using the factory mixture for coolant?

It seems to me that the biggest change Mazda could make is to switch the fans on earlier which appears to give some of the biggest benefit to the cooling system. If the fans are not turning on full until 215 degrees then you've already soaked the cooling system and the fans are not going to slow that down much.

I've found that temperatures will increase slowly but once they reach 220 degrees in my own RX8 then the time from 220 to 230 is vastly less than 210 to 220.

Please let me clarify my position so it's not misunderstood. If you are a normal person using your car in a typical transportation method or even living in an average climte (low to mid 90's down to below freezing) then the cooling system is going to be fine.

Driver style also plays a big part with how well your car cools itself. I have RX8 owners who have problems with their cooling system because they tend to cruise at 5500 rpms or higher all the time.

I'm just not sure what "changes" you're looking for OD. What exactly did you expect Mazda to do with the 09 motors?

 

Here guys...thought I would put this in to show the FAN and 3 Speeds ON/OFF Temps for the 09's...still pretty high before Max Fans Speed is on "Flash", 226F or above!, which is over Boiling Point!

 

Flash and OD, do the 04-08's have Cooling Fans ON or "After Cooling" when engine bay temps rise after you turn car off with ignition off and you exit car locked?

As basically when Temps get to 230F+ under the Hood High Speed Fans cut in, I would like to know at what Temp do they turn off?....would it be 97F?

I noticed this on my car last Summer, but did not have my Scanner then..

BTW: Notice "ECT", Meaning "Engine Coolant Temperature" and or Engine Compartment Temp conditions.

 

Also notice under the "Fail Safe" mode, IF the ECT Sensor Fails, ALL Fans are on HIGH...

Now... I wonder..... if WE could run a separate switch on the dash which WE could then Isolate the 'ECT Sensor' as to unplug it via the dash mounted ON/OFF switch forcing our FANS ON high speed for those extreme HOT days or Track USE...

MMMmmm, this could be a good little Idea or Gadget....what do you think men??

Now where is this ECT Sensor and how many wires does it have???, it is probably incorporated into the PCM somewhere, and untouchable??..

I think I have a good Idea??...what do you think?

Don't Forget "ECT" is also Engine Coolant Temperature!

Thinking more!!!...this would be a great feature to have a dash switch...particularly if it is a hot day and you get stuck in bumper to bumper grid lock, you could flick the switch in advance, only thing is would you then get a CEL.

 

Mazda did increase the coolant capacity on the 2010 RX8. They would not have done that if they didn't have issues.

 

I will not disagree because I know little of the RX-8. But what do you think would have been the right approach? When I built track bikes, if we had a hot runner, we would install larger capacity radiators. That was pretty much a universal fix. They have more capacity to absorb heat from the engine, and can expel it more quickly with the greater surface area of the cooling fins.

 

Actually, it is the Auto Only that has been changed for MY2010, according to the USA 09 Service Highlights the MY08 manual went from 10 to 10.6 quarts for MY09 same as MY2010.

Also the USA 2010 info appears wrong as the capacity has never been 9.2 qts Auto or 9.4 qts Manual, 10 qts was the minimum for 04-08 and 09 Auto.