so my car has been at the mazda dealer since saturday morning.

I was having a problem that others have had :

Car runs fine for cruising and 'normal' driving, but when you go WOT the car will run to around 5-6K rpm, then shutter and buck and not want to rev over about 7K rpm....durring this there is no CEL or any other warning lights, it did it a few times on and off for a day and slowly got worse....finaly my CEL blinked at me 5 times and went out.

It was misfire on rotor 2, took it into the dealer, they told me they changed the plugs and wires, and the problem was fixed. I took it for a test drive and it was not fixed, so I had the service dept take it back, they started going over the whole car "cause they have never seen this, and mazda has never seen this with any RX8"

The ONLY code the ECU has is the same misfire on rotor 2

Here is where it gets complicated, my car is STOCK, the ONLY thing that is different from one off the showroom floor is that my VFAD is removed and the vacume hose to it is pluged. This is because the car was in a front end collision and it was broken, I never got around to replacing it, and Ill admit I used the 200 bucks the insurance gave me for it to do an oil change and take my girlfriend out to dinner.....

The dealer told me that because the VFAD is gone, thats whats causing me problems , and my warrenty is now voided. I asked if there was a vacume leak, because I dont see how a phunmatic valve that is vacume operated could cause this problem, esp when the car doesnt even know if the valve is there or not....

They told me if I come pick up the car today, before they close they wont charge me anything....otherwise I have to pay for the rental car they gave me over the last few days AND the service charge for the tech working on this. I didnt want to get pissy on the phone so I told them I would be over right after work, and I want to talk with a tech and the service manage.

I have the broken VFAD at home (the pipe is cracked into several peices, I am going to take it with me.

Can anyone chime in and tell me their thinking? I am ready to debate this with them till hell frezez over, Ill even buy another damn VFAD or glue this one back together if they just FIX my damn car and let me keep my warrenty.

Im sure they are just blowing smoke, cause they dont have the power to do that...they cant figure out whats wrong and its eating up time in their bay.

My car has 106xx Miles on it and was built 04/05 and I bought it 05/05.

 

So if you removed the VFAD you also removed the flap so that is wide open? Have you checked for any possible blockage of the intake tubing you have left?
The link below shows seeds inside my air box left by field mice. It is not un-heard of to have a small animal crawl up there and die.
https://www.rx8club.com/attachment.p...chmentid=46186

 

something else is wrong... otherwise all the people with REVi/airduct would have the same problems, which most people don't

take it for a 2nd opinion at another dealership?

 

Remember - it takes more than them 'telling you what caused the problem' they have to PROVE IT.

This is what I'd do - ask them to disable the VFAD on an rx8 in their lot, and go for a drive. If the problem is there, they've made their case. If not, it's on them.

I'd bring them a copy of Magnussen-Moss act, too.

http://www.impalaclub.com/naisso/magmoss.htm

 

Did they check your coils?

 

They're looking for an easy way out of this. VFAD proved to be useless for most of us and shouldn't create problems for your car if disabled.

 

The black plastic cover that keeps the area above and below the crash bumper apart is still there, the car spends all its time parked in a garage anyway.

I changed the air filter (to another stock one) about 600 miles ago with my oil change and the box had a few small leaves, but nothing major.

I will be very interested to hear the tech explain how this valve that works of vacume pressure is causing a misfire and keeping the car from reving over 6K rpm.

They wont put the tech on the phone, so I have to hear everything thru the service advisor, as far as what Ive heard from him, they checked the valves in the intake manifold, reflashed the car, changed the plugs and wires, checked (maby changed) the fule pump/pressure, changed the air filter, changed the fuel filter.

They have not run a compression check, checked the coils or visualy checked the cat, all of witch I have requested....they say that mazda didnt tell them to check that, and Im not a tech...so they wont do it.

I will be more than happy to get a new VFAD and have them install it, but if the problem is still there, I wont pay for those parts or the work. They can take them back out.

Bottom line : the dealer is lazy/cant find out whats wrong and they dont want to deal with it... Telling me Mazda has NEVER heard of another RX8 doing this...ever... what???

Im not worried, I know Ill get to the bottom of this....im not worried, its just crazy that its taking this long to even FIND the problem.

 

ky,
i have a vfad sitting on my shelf in the garage that you can use if you want to take it in. i wll help you put it on if need be.

beers

 

That dealership as with most dealerships is full of crap. They don't have any clue what they are talking about and are too lazy to actually do something about it. Combine that with a crew of mechanics that probably believe that monkey wrenches are actually made by monkeys and you've got a combination of the most irresponsible and uneducated workforce you can find and they are working on your car. Tell us which dealership it is and then tell them how to get to this link. I want the moron who told you this to publicly come on here and attempt to defend their position.

 

i would pay money to see that thread!!!!!!!!!

beers

 

they'll especially look silly when the new MazdaSpeed cold air intake accessory comes out since it won't have a VFAD either and maintains the warranty .....

 

might as well get a Revi Ram air duct now

as for the problem...faulty spark plug?

 

come to think of it the new mazdaspeed cai probably doesnt use the vfad.

i will say that there is a cel for vfad not working. my car had it when they replaced the mop. my guess is they are just getting rid of all the cels hoping that is going to fix the problem.

beers

 

no not a plug. my car did the same thing about 2 months ago. at least his is cronic. i have not had the problem again.

beers

 

It sounds like a fuel injector might be sticking or not coming on at all. Not too many things it can be and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that it wouldn't be a VFAD issue.

 

the best i can tell when i had the problem they put 93 octane gas in it and reset the kamm.

i ran a can of b&g 44k just to be safe.

beers

 

first- they say they flashed your pcm? with WHAT? you had the recall work done so you are on the most current flash- there isnt anything newer. in order for your pcm to be re-programmed they would have to send it to MNAO like some have had done.

bottom line this is not a vfad problem. could be a faulty position sensor or wire harness or injector, could even possibly be knock causing a misfire event. but not anything to do with VFAD.

but just in case there is even the slightest possibility i will ask around.

 

Ask them why mazda didn't install the VFAD on the five speed 4port engines and auto's or are they smarther then the engineers at mazda. From my experience most of the mazda dealers know very little about the renesis, if i asked them something about it they can never answer or give the wrong answer.
So don't let them push you around. I have been waiting half a year know for them to solve my problem and they still haven't found a solution.

 

VFAD = basically Noise reduction for the intake

How does that cause a misfire??

IDIOTS

 

Fred -

You and I need to team up and put together a WEB site to bash these fools.
You hold the dealers in contempt nearly as much as I.

The dealership service department is simply there as a way to make money after the sale. Even good techs are forced to bite their lip when a car comes in if the repair is not a money maker.
If the service department can't soak you or Mazda for a boatload of cash, they will simply spank you and send you out the door.

The best bet is to try to establish a direct relationship with one of the techs. When you have a problem, ask them directly.

Fortunately, the dealership I go to has several guys that are enthusiasts and genuinely decent. I'm sure they are good mechs to, but that is of little consequence to me. All I care about is that they don't give me static when I have a problem and sign-off on the paperwork.

 

How did you damage the VFAD during a front impact that only produced $200 worth of impact? Is it not pretty far behind the bumper?

 

ohh this sounds like what happend to my RX-8...took the techs over a week to find it and I even had to drive the car with the Mazda Tech to prove it to him......

https://www.rx8club.com/series-i-tech-garage-22/engine-cuts-out-high-rpms-66470/

That might help some.

 

I have a vfad laying around too if you need it. I would like to know the dealer that is telling you this.

 

Sounds like you took it to Classic Mazda East.

Bad idea. They suck ***. Take it to Cory Feldman or whatever that dealer is across from Florida Mall. If you took it there, I guess try Classic Mazda, but they'll just dick you around some more.

Sorry to hear of your problem from another O-towner.

 

Cory Fairbanks is in Longwood.

Classic Mazda is by the florida mall...