JGR4444

I am just wondering if i should spend the money to buy new plugs, wires and coils to try to fix my issue i have going on right now...

the issue is that i have lost a lot of power and my motor sounds like a lawn mower at times (thats the closest thing i could think of). At idle it sounds really choppy and it sputters.... starting up in first gear is tough, have to ride the clutch quite a bit or else it will want to stall out because of lack of power... switching to second on a normal shift is shaky because the rpms fall... and then when crusing in any gear at around 3-4,000 rpms if you mash the gas or even go half throttle the car will either accelerate at a pathetically low rate or it wont accelerate at all but you can hear my air intake open up so its sucking in air....

no major mods-- air intake and ap midpipe thats about it...

my guess is that my engine is going bad but i have only had it for a year and a half or so and its an 07 model with only about 30k on it... dealership wants 200 for a diagnostic and not many other places around here work on RX8s.... i just need to know if buying the maintenance stuff (coils, plugs, wires) are going to be worth it or is my motor pretty much gone?

i know its hard to judge without actually seeing, hearing, or driving the car so please just give me your best opinions... no flaming please i am only looking for some helpful advice

thanks in advance

Jon316G

iTrader: (1)

Do you ever receive a CEL and if so have you pulled the code?
If I had to take a guess on buying the ignition components to fix this issue... I would lean more towards no.
If you have any local RX8 buddies and you want to rule that out, ask to swap components with them and see if your problem goes away.
But based on what you mentioned the car does, I would be surprised if it was an ignition component alone doing this.

yiksing

If its been a long time since you replaced coils, plugs and wires, I think you should before something else goes wrong due to one of them being faulty.

rxwarrior

iTrader: (1)

You might as well replace the plugs, wires, and coils, and see if it helps. The dealer will make you replace that stuff before they do a compression test anyway, and even if you gety a new engine, you just transfer that stuff over. Check out Atkins Rotary for a damn good price on the tuneup kit.

JGR4444

i talked to my buddy who is a mechanic today and explained the problem but i also told him that when i got up this morning to drive it to his shop it was completely fine... he said it sounds like a bad sensor somewhere that caused a glitch in the computer... im not really sure, still thinking about the coils and stuff..... i dont know any local rx8 guys so i cant really test the waters before i jump into it

Jon316G

iTrader: (1)

JGR4444- If you feel like driving 2hrs I can look at it with you (I'm north of Kent).

ArXate

I think your engine is NOT broken. Replace the ignition coils, spark plug wires, and spark plugs. I'll bet that will fix everything. Your symptoms sound exactly like mine before the above were replaced (except the spark plug wires).

Listen to the other people here. We're all saying the same thing. Don't think about whether you should change out the coils anymore. Just do it. Replace all three of the above items. Even the Mazda dealership would start by replacing the 3 items and going from there. My bet is you won't have to go any further.

Buy the items and take them to Jon. Have Jon install them for you. Very simple to do. Buy him a 6-pack. The dealership will charge you 2 hours of labor.

Jon316G

iTrader: (1)

Pizza and beer... the universal payment for working on cars!

ArXate

Oh so you're upping it to beer AND pizza now?

Jon316G

iTrader: (1)

Hey... Little Caesars has the $5 hot-n-ready pizzas which is perfect for occasions like this

JGR4444

haha thanks jon... i might take you up on that actually if something doesnt go through tonight.... but i do know how to replace all that stuff on the 8 haha dont want people thinking about an idiot here...

but yea i might be hitting you up here soon jon

Jon316G

iTrader: (1)

No problem... just shoot me a PM if needed and we'll exchange information and numbers.