Speed Racer

Recently I've noticed a fair amount of slop in the drive line and it is really starting to bug me. It feels like the PPF may be loose or damaged.

I want to check the PPF before I take the car into the dealer and a while back someone posted info on how the PPF is supposed to be aligned/torqued. I've spent a fair amount of time searching for the post but I've come up empty handed. Can anyone help me out?

Omicron

Isn't that in the Tech CD Roy? If you don't have it, gimme a PM and I'll see what I can do to help you out.

Speed Racer

Thanks for the reminder. I just thumbed through my collection and found the Tech CD. They briefly mention how to align the PPF but the info is a little vague.
[list=1][*]Insert a bolt to align power plant frame.[*]Tighten mounting hardware.[*]Remove alignment bolt.[/list=1]

Hopefully the Service manual will have all of the specific data but I won't find out for a couple of more days. UPS is supposed to deliver it on 2/17.

JoeRX8ter

Speed Racer,

Check out the recall on the heat shield in this forum. Your
Power Plant Frame alignment may be OBE if you have this recall accomplished.

Speed Racer

Thanks for the heads up. I'll have to give my dealer a call and schedule an appointment as my car falls under that recall.

Speed Racer

I brought my car in for service today to do the two recalls and I also told them about the slop in the drive line. When I picked the car up and looked at the invoice I immediately got defensive because it said that they couldn't find a problem and didn't notice any slop. I spoke with the service manager and he towed the party line by saying, "it's supposed to be that way." Grrr...

Anyways, after talking with him for about fifteen minutes I didn't feel like it was worth the battle so I just took the keys to my car so I could leave. The funny thing is that as soon as I started to drive away I noticed that they had fixed the problem. LOL

So I think that reaffirms my suspicions that the power plant frame was either loose or misaligned (it had to be removed & reinstalled to do one of the recalls).

Another incidental plus, is that the noise that everyone says is caused by the throw out bearing is also gone. As far as I can tell, the noise was probably caused by the loose heat shield that was replaced under the recall.

Rotary Nut

If you could do me a little favor. In that CD does it say anything about specific placement of the wheel weights or about specific balancing instructions for the 18" wheels!

Speed Racer

I don't remember seeing anything specific about balancing the wheels but I'll take a closer look tonight.

Rotary Nut

Thanks Speed racer.

I just wanted to prove a hunch that I have concerning a minor vibration I have had since having my new tires mounted. The vibration is prevelent no matter what wheel is on what axle. I have rotated the tires front to rear and from side to side and it still vibrates from 30 mph all the way up.

I have had them rebalanced twice but to no avail. I thought I had a tire out of round but I do not think ALL tires would be out of round.

The only common denominator I can see is that the first time they were balanced they used clip-on weights on the inside bead only. The second time they placed stick-on weights over the inside bead only. The OEM weights were place approx. 1" in from the back of the spokes only. I think the placement of the weights will affect the rotational CG of the wheel.

This is why I was wondering of there was special instructions for balancing the wheels.

Thanks

Rotary Nut

Speed

The instructions worked like a champ. Just had them balanced and they are smooth as glass. Thanks bro!

rotarygod

Something for you guys to watch out for in the future if you ever drive your cars really hard is power plant frame cracking. This happened to many hard driven 3rd gen RX-7's. I believe they fixed it and it should never be an issue with the RX-8. Just pay attention to it should you ever decide to spend alot of time at road course driving school events. Probably nothing to ever worry about though.

NAVILESRX8

iTrader: (1)

Is our PPF made out of a compsoite, or is it all metal? I was poking around under my car, I didn't actually touch it, but it looked like metal...I could be wrong though.

jdl

Alright you two: share the balancing secret with us

Rotary Nut

Check here!