wangel

Hello all.... New guy here

I just recently bought a 2004 Rx8 ... 77k miles on the engine. It runs great, and was well taken care of. The car was bought from an auction by a dealer, and I in turn bought the car from a certified Mazda dealer.

At anyrate, I've noticed that when I've driven it awhile, lets say, I drove it from work to the auto-store to get some oil for it. I was in the store maybe 10mins, went back out, and attempted to start the car.

It sounds "weak" trying to start ... like it's not firing. I held the key down for about 6seconds, let off, and tried again and within 1 second or so it fired and started..

I noticed it a few weeks back and started doing some research on it. From what I can tell everyone is saying it's either a compression problem or it needs the upgraded starter maybe?

I'm going to call the dealer (I've had the car about 1 month now) and see what they say. I'm afraid because I bought it as-is no warranty I'm sol =( Although, the engine does have an 8yr/100k warranty right?

I noticed, on the driver side door wall, there's a sticker that says Mazda Authorized Modifications. It says the following Modification was done: N3Z1-18881-S. Dealer: 34611 Date: 10-7-05

I tried searching for the N3Z1 #, and never found anything that referenced that with the -S ... my question is.... Is that an eprom "S" update, or the updated starter?

I'm in Louisville, and I bought the car from Neill Huffman Mazda.

Any help or advice is appreciated.

Thanks!

RIWWP

iTrader: (2)

Yes, hot start problem with no cold start problem is pretty much the single most decisive indication that your compression is failing. You are finding the starter references because you can temporarily mask low compression hot start problems with a fast starter. Your compression will keep degrading however, to the point that not even a good starter will mask it.

Yes, there is an 8yr 100,000 mile warranty on the engine. HOWEVER, you will have to do some homework to find out if you are still covered. 2004 + 8 = 2012. And many 2004s were sold in 2003, and some were sold in 2005. Call up Mazda North America Operations with the VIN, and they can tell you if anything in the car's history has voided the warranty, and how much time you may or may not have left on the warranty if nothing voided it.

wangel

Sigh....

I just called Mazda, and the car was out of warranty in Nov. of 2011.

Looks like I've gotten screwed huh =(

RX8Soldier

iTrader: (24)

You weren't screwed. You just didn't research before you purchased

fyrious<>

take it in and get a compression test. while the signs are not in your favour, you can't say for sure until you get the facts in-front of you.


my wife bought a mazda 3 brand new in 2010 with no research. we have had no issues. researching is great and all, but is not the be-all end-all solution. every brand has it lemons, i could easily research the heck out of the mazda 3's seen how reliable they are and got a lemon. it happens. But i know in general mazda is a good company, i've known quite a few people loyal to them so in the end i've bought a couple of their cars.

RX8Soldier

iTrader: (24)

That could be money down the drain.
OP, my advice would be to test your starter, plugs, coils and battery. That will be a cost-effective way of ruling out other issues.



Not the be-all end-all. But, the more you know, the better. Period.
Also, I just don't want the label "Mazda screwed me" to be the focus of this thread

wangel

No, Mazda didn't screw me, I didn't mean to put it that way.

I bought the car from an authorized Mazda dealer, who says they've done a "102 point inspection on it".

I would assume, that of the 102 inspections, one was a compression test.

I've had the car almost a month, and it's failing. I relies I should have done some better research before buying, but they should know that the 04's had compression problems and tested for it?

Maybe I'm jumping to conclusions, but I'm figuring the worst. That's what I meant by being screwed. I bought the car and may have to dump another what, 3-5k in it for a new engine?

I will call the dealership tomorrow and have them pull the records of when they inspected it when it was brought in and see what they say. But I fear the worst honestly =(

Thanks again :D

Unionville_2004_RX8

When you buy the car from a Mazda dealership do they not have a warranty they give you with the car when purchased? I thought I was reading something like that when I was just in at the dealership.

RIWWP

iTrader: (2)

Actually, I don't know of a single 'multi-point certified' inspection that DOES check compression. And it's retarded that it isn't checked and results available.

wangel

That's silly ..... since that's a problem with the cars?

As far as warranty.... I bought it "as is" w/ no warranty (standard for used cars). I think they threw in a 2 free oil changes and tire rotations!

I could have opted to purchase an "extended warranty" but decided against it. As, it only covered 24k miles or 2 years. So uh, yah.

I might have some leg to stand on maybe, since it was a dealership, they should KNOW about the problem, and I bought the car < a month ago.

It's still disappointing....

RIWWP

iTrader: (2)

Your local state law may have a mandatory legal warranty regardless of what else the dealer says they do or do not offer.

timmytriangles

I read some crap on here about using transmission fliud in a process where u pour it into each chamber and let it sit to increase or repair compression. have u guys heard of this? sounds risky to me..

RIWWP

iTrader: (2)

It's not "crap", but it is "misinformation" when used in that context.

If you are having trouble starting, especially if it seems like the seals are stuck, like if the engine has been sitting for months at a time, then the detergents in automatic transmission fluid can assist in the lubrication AND cleaning of trying to get the seals stuck, and can momentarily increase compression for that first starting.

It will burn off very very quickly, and obviously will no longer provide any benefit once it has done so.

ShellDude

iTrader: (12)

I believe this is MSP16... although the date may be a little early. My 04 got MSP16 in 2006 or 2007 (I think -- would need to pop my hood to verify exact date) when it had very low (less than 5000) mileage.

It was one of the very first things I asked about when I joined the club having just bought the car. Will see if I can find the picture I took of it. General consensus is the earlier you got the reflash the better.

ShellDude

iTrader: (12)

here it is:

https://www.rx8club.com/showpost.php...&postcount=175

Razz1

It could be your CAT.

heats up and gets clogged causing hot start problems.

xun4gvn4everx

iTrader: (2)

Since you have bought the car so recently I would recommend taking it back to the dealership you bought it from to diagnose the problem. Don't mess with anything yourself cause you could nullify whatever warranty you could possibly have even though you chose to opt out of the warranty. Luckily Mazda has the manufacturer warranties that pass on from owner to owner but if you have a sketchy dealership they may try to screw you if you mess with anything on the car so just don't mess with anything and bring the car back to them.

wangel

UPDATE:

I took the car back to the dealership today. They are going to run the compression tests and what not.

I asked for a copy of the tests, and was told that they mean nothing to me, and unless the tech "pencils" something in they won't have much to give me? I wanted the #'s so I could post here and get your opinions.

I dropped the car off at noon my time, and at 5 they where "still running" tests. Said it could be in the morning.

I made mention also that when driving the car, the low coolant light comes on. Even though I have the coolant full, it will kick on and stay on from anywhere to 15seconds - 2 minutes ... it kicks off and the engine never gets any hotter, so I dunno.

I will let you guys know more. But, knowing my bad luck, I'm bracing for the worst =(

Cesar Quintana Rodriguez

well i have been reading in this helpful rx8 club about warm start oh!! man well i have a 8 its a 04 automatic i got it when it had 89k first thing i did was a complete tune up new coils,spark plugs,wires etc well the car were running nice just a little vibration i have been driving this car for 9 months with no problem now my 8 wont start on warm engine { i have to wait 10 min} :l it did it starter in summer now im thinking about replace the starter idk if the last owner replaced for the new one i just replaced the engine mouths and no more vibrations! awesome car runs great now im thi9nking about get a new starter, the battery its 2 years old so probably get a new battery ill add some bg44 tomorrow do u guys things all this may help im trying to be positive maybe i have a bad compression idk i dont want to think about it cuz i just got 100 k i hope u can help me a advice always good

thank you guys!

RIWWP

iTrader: (2)

Same advice as the beginning of this thread. Hot start problems are almost always low compression. If you have a 2004, you are probably past the 8yr warranty mark unless you car was sold after Feburary 8th 2005, which is unlikely.

Get a compression test. Anything else you do is just going to mask the problem for a little bit. The engine was probably starting to fail when you bought it. It's why we really encourage new owners to get a compression test before buying.

Cesar Quintana Rodriguez

my gosh :l thank you for the advice... i have not warranty so idk what im gonna do if i have low compression