Yesterday Iwas driving and all of a sudden the engine lost power and started fluttering, then smoke started to come out of center arm rest and the the a/c ducts. I pulled over and smoke really started coming out of the center arm rest. My wife started to call the fire department but we could only see a small piece of something that fell from the car on fire and went out. This happened only a few blocks from the garage I have my work done. A tow truck towed it to the garage and even after about one hour smoke was still coming out of the car. After cooling down I tried to move the car as it did start but the motor was missing like crazy like it was running on one or two plugs. The heat was bad as now the transmission barely moves and the brake pressure is gone, probably cooked.
I will not know until tomorrow after we get it on the rack but this looks very bad as so many things were effected by the high heat.

 

sounds like something large and flammable got sucked into the car and melted some wiring. Or at least I hope it's something easy like that for you.. good luck man.

I had a plastic bag get sucked up near the manifold while I was on the freeway with my son. Car started to fill with foul smelling white smoke as I exited and pulled into a parking lot.. and since the gods are nothing if not funny, a CEL came up. It turned out the cel was from the gas cap not being put on tightly enough, but the timing was perfect to make me think smoke + cel = omg my car is dying.

 

Sounds like your CAT was bad, got hot and cought something on fire. Good luck man!

 

The heat was so bad the tranny is almost locked up and brakes gone. @$%# happens.

 

damn damn damn !

Glad u and ur wife are ok.

So, its "tomorrow" now. What da dealership said ?

 

whoa!

 

Progressive is taking the claim. The heat was so bad it melted the brake cable. At least the transmission looks okay. Phillipe at Service Auto is doing diagnostics only. He had to cut the brake cable to move the car. Looks electrical.

 

holy sheesh... pics?

 

I'd check with the garage. What work did the do?

 

plastic garbage stuck to the exhaust

 

The work was done March 3. Plugs, wires, tranny fluid, differential fluid, rear shocks. The car was running great then the fluttering started in the motor, loss of power and then smoke out of the center arm rest. Should hear more today from the garage. Driving a rental provided by Progressive, Chevy Impala, beats nothing and grateful to have it. What a slug to drive.

 

Dam man. Hope everything works out for you

 

Damn that sucks, I blew the motor in my Jetta 1.8t last year and it still isnt fixed yet, hope yours doesnt take long at all. I wanna see that nordic green on the road again

 

Final word from Progressive. Selling the car for salvage as the damage is to extensive to repair. Now waiting for the settlement check and now looking for a RX-8 in very good condition.
I can't tell you how much I miss my Baby. I also dropped a letter to Mazda indicating that I am not to happy that the a CAT manfuction ruined my car which has been paid for, for many moons.

 

aww. that sucks.

Shouldn't Mazda pay for it? I mean its the CAT that caused the problem.

 

Whaaaaaaaaaaaat!? This sucks, man. I guess it's a good thing it was already payed off...?

 

wow that just blows, did they tell you what exactly happened? and good luck with the new 8.

 

yea, before pointing fingers, what was the exact diagnosis of how it occurred?

kevin.

 

ditto on this

 

A very experienced Rotary mechanic along with the rep from Progressive inspected the under carriage of the car and just could not with certainty determine what caused the extreme heat that melted the wiring harness and the emergency brake cables. Also burned a hole through the floor where the CAT is located. There was no eveidence of something getting caught under the car from the street that started the fire. None the less, I have written a letter to Mazda North American Operations along with all the paperwork regarding this loss.

 

Now considering buying a new 2008 40th Anniversary RX-8. The deal is looking sweet with the 2008 re-bate and further discount from the local dealer in light of what happened to my 8.

 

Turn a negative into a positive! Those AE 8 are sweet looking with that red italian leather my bro has it on his white s2000 and my cousin has it on her BMW. IDK if it is italian

 

the 40th AE is definitely nice, the 09 r3 with 19's looks pretty sleek...looks being the only real improvement of it tho...and even that is debatable cause the 40th AE badge alone is beautiful.

kevin.

 

Picking up my new 2008 Anniversary model this Friday. Will post pics next week. Mazda North American Operations and the local dealer, Oceean Mazda treated me very well with the re-bates and additional discounts. Mazda North American Operations does respond to complaints and not an empty response.

 

A blessing in disguise? Hope everything works out for you.