My 8 is currently running, just not at its best.
(Yes, I have searched but this is a little too specific)

Well, long story, started having some issues with my car since January.

Background; Bought the car in 2009 with 90,xxx miles on it (now has 143,xxx). I had a few issues with it. Lost compression on the first engine, I think.. Then apex seals blew. then after my 100k my apex seals blew again, being dumb and naive I bought a new engine from a junkyard with a one year warranty, same or different thing happened and the company replaced it. (yes I've had terrible luck with this car) I change the oil with regular 5-30 castrol every 3k-3.5k miles and topping it off every few weeks.

Symptoms:
Warm starts within five min of turning the car off took a long time to turn over. At first it was about 4 sec, and then got worse and worse over time up to 30+ sec of cranking. (I know, not the smartest thing.) So usually I would wait about 10-15 min then the car would start fine with no problem (1-2 sec cranking).

One day I went to go work with my dad, went on a lunch break to McDonalds (don't judge), turned off the car and ate in the parking lot. So I ate and waited for about 15 min and then tried to turn on the car, and I tried to crank it for about 30 sec nothing, waited a couple min and tried even longer about 45 sec, still nothing. So I wait another 10min and i still can't get it to turn over. 45min later I finally get it to turn on with about 10 sec of cranking.

The next morning. I turned on my car to warm it up like I do every morning. It turns on fine but when when I come back outside the idle sounded really rough like, "bup-bup-bup-bup-bup-bup-bup-bup". And even with a little throttle it still sound bad. It ended up turning off by its self and wouldn't come on after 20min of sitting. It wouldn't turn on the next day. a day later I ended up changing the plugs and wires and tried turning it on a couple times but it was still the same and would not turn on.

I called the rotary performance shop in Garland and he told my that it sounded like the engine had low compression as well as it being flooded. I actually got some advice here on the club and followed this deflooding method> https://www.rx8club.com/series-i-do-...lumber-182410/
(with the new plugs and wires) I did every step and had it plugged up to a battery charger hooked up to it and had done all steps and repeated "step 4" the cranking process and it sounded like it almost wanted to start but it did not turn over. I tried these steps for over an hour and a half, and still could not get the car on.


The next day I went out of town and my dad has a friend that's a mechanic and has his own little shop in Dallas. So the mechanic came and picked it up on a flat bed. luckily he knows about rotary engines, but just isn't a specialist. Anyways after a few days he got the car running, deflooded it?, changed two coils that were bad, and changed the oil (5-20 synthetic) and said I should always use/buy the synthetic oil from the Mazda dealer. He also told me that he "upped the compression?" In all the total came out to $244

So currently the car is running. The only thing is that it feels a tad bit different..

Cold start; sounds louder than before (not too much, but its one of those things that I vs my wife would notice)
Sometimes, after warming up the car, more ofter with a cold start, when I put it in drive the engine feels VERY weak, and from 1-1.5k rpm it feels like he engine is shaking, and struggling. Also sometimes even when the car is warm it feels weak, like the engine is plugged..

Anyways I made this thread I guess to see if anybody has had any similar issues and/ or what I can do to help. This forum has always been a great help. I've even had people offer to help me, so thank you guys in advance.

Fernando

PS; buying another car is not an option right now!

 

Every time someone provides their maintenance information by listing their oil changes, and only their oil changes, it scares me a bit. If you don't run it out of oil and have regular oil changes, it won't impact anything else on the car. If you don't do this, then the engine seizes. There is no in-between. Oil maintenance won't impact any other problem noticeably, and neither will weight or type.

There are lots of OTHER things that are critical maintenance, which are apparently ignored by implication. As an example: Coil, plug, and wire replacement intervals is one that wasn't even mentioned here, and would be a huge factor


However, get a real compression test. 6 compression scores, 1 for each rotor face, and a cranking RPM. And change the other two coils, wires, and plugs too. Easy to do, and i bet the rest of the parts are near deaths door, if not fouled/damaged from the failure of the two that were replaced.

 

Sounds like you have a bad engine again. Proof would be in a compression test. Get it done and solve the mystery.
Another thing it may be, is this the original Catalytic Converter on the car? Because with that many miles it's more than likely clogged or clogging.
I would make sure the plug wires are on the correct spark plug and coil, even though you mentioned the mechanic knew about rotaries.
Have you ever cleaned the MAF sensor?

These are all pretty standard checks for a hard starting low power rotary.
I'm sure someone will chime in with the proper threads to read to help you determine the issue.


Me, I say bad engine.

 

I say bad engine too…

So you changed 3 engines since purchasing the car in 2009. Did you test any of these engines for compression? From your post it sounds like you just replaced the blown engine with a random used one…This is not what someone should do, not only with rotary engines but with any type of engine.

Like others said, take the car to Mazda and have a compression test to be sure. Further, do not listen to what your dad's friend is saying...

 

Thanks for the quick responses guys.

I added the info about the oil changes just because we have some internoobs here that are going to ask the question "how often do yo change your oil?" - when I am supposed to!

plugs and wires are new, just that two coils are old (still working)

I gutted the cat back after the 2nd or 3rd issue when it was glowing red.

I can check to make sure the wires are connecting the the correct plugs when I get home.

I have not cleaned the MAF censor but I'm sure I can pick up some cleaner on my way home.

As for the compression, I will call the rotary performance in garland and see how much it would be to get a test done and also possibly repairing it. Yes I should have done a compression test on all engines.

 

A compression test from what I've seen on the forum ranges from 75 to 150. If your engine needs to be replaced/rebuilt do some research first and explore all your options. There are a lot of ways you can go (Mazda remanufactured engine, Mazmart remanufactured engines come with a few upgrades, etc.). Perhaps you might also want to consult your regional forum…There should be some people close to you that could help you with your decision.

 

Someone asking you about your oil change interval for a compression, starting, ignition, or fueling problem is a sign that you shouldn't listen to them

The guys that know their stuff won't ask you for it.

 

i can't imagine anyone being that unlucky with engines, and he failed to mention coils and the cat but also mentioned the engine noticeably louder.

i would start with the obvious, check the catalytic converter and then the ignition coils to be sure they are all working.

usually if you are going through engines like candy it is because you are ignoring the parts that are NOT being replaced with the engine.

 

So I just got off the phone with Dan over at Rotary Performance in Garland and he was a great help, very knowledgeable. He said that they could have my dad's friend could have basically just "steamed" the engine removing some carbon, as well as deflooding it. But he said it just sound like a bad engine. Repairing it would only help short term but the car will get worse and worse over time. I could replace the engine, which out the door would cost me around $5,500, but after 50k miles I would be in the same position I'm in right now..

Sooo, I guess I have some thinkin' to do. I know I won't be replacing the engine, or repairing it right now. Like I said the car is running right now so that'll give me some time.