* I've had some serious issues with my car after I was in for a reqular 80 000km service (around 50 000 miles) in the beginning of April.

They fiddled around with the car, also updating the software and such and after I got it back, I immediately started to have hot-start issues. (hard to start and I need to crank the car for 10-15 seconds in 2-3 rounds before it would finally fire up when hot).

* Then, after a lot of back and fourth, the mechanic meant that the cat was melted and the spark plugs were shot and that one of the plug-wires needed to be changed...."that will surely fix the problem"...right..?
- Wrong, after a service last week, 7th June, that cost me around $3500, the car STILL had issues regarding hot starts....i know, because I drove the car home and while nice and warm, I shut the car off...waited 3-4 minutes and tried to fire it up again....same thing, had to crank for 10-15 seconds in 3 series before it finally and slowly came back to life.

Then, while the car was running, I revved it to 4500 for 3-4 seconds, took my foot of the pedal and then revved the car to 6000 and then to around 7000 for 4-5 seconds before taking my foot of the gas pedal. (though that this would maybe help clean it a little and try to start it again).

But, when I took my foot of the pedal, the car slowed and slowed and slowed, coughed a little bit and then stalled.

Tried to turn the key, but all I got was "click".

After re-charging the battery (It's a brand new Optima 35R, but debugging is debugging) and de-coupling the battery and re-attaching it, turning the ignition key would still only produce a simple "click", nothing more happened.

Tried to roll-start the car in a small downhill slope outside my garage, in fourth gear to be gentle, but the wheels locked totally up, both wheels were skipping....tried to turn ignition off and on again (I didn't have a lot of speed, so it was safe), put it into second gear.....wheel lock....then I just put the clutch in and put it into neutral and waited for the tow truck...

Car is in the shop now....they really haven't looked at it yet, talked to them today and they just said they needed to open the engine to see what was what.

What the ??

Now, I don't have a lot of confidence in these guys, as they really don't have a lot of rotary engine knowledge.....they don't even have the equipment for a compression test. (I know, because I ask them to do one back in April). This is a Mazda certified dealer.

Have any one of you guys ever heard of this problem..? The engine seems to be completely stuck when I put it into gear and trying to start the engine by turning the ignition key only produce a clicking sound.
(By the way, there was no metallic sounds or scraping sounds or bangs when it died after the 4 second rev to 7000, just a normal "death" with some small puffs in the rear muffler).

- I've been driving the car around 800 miles since April when the hot start issue started, because I don't have another car, can this have been a contributing factor to my experience now...?

I am in Europe by the way, my car is imported from Germany, it's a 2004 high power edition.....does anyone know if there is some kind of warranty on the engine?

Goddamn, I didn't plan to buy a car which would ruin my economy like this.

 

Couple of things. First did they change the plugs? They plugs go bad after about 30000 miles in the 8 so you might want to check those. After that you might want to have a compression test if the car has bad hot starts again. The car has an 8 year 100000 mile warranty on the engine core. So if you fail a compression test and you're under 100000 miles and have your reciepts you should be eligible for a new engine. But I would try coils first. I haven't heard of the wheel lock thing though. So not sure what's going on there

 

Yep, they changed spark plugs, wires and cat last week.
The plugs were initially changed in August 2010 (at around 43000 miles), due to some jerking while driving in 5th and 6th gear with low revs.
So they should be good anyway, but I changed them still last week along with the other stuff. (the old ones seem fine though, a little brown, which is normal from what I gather).

Again, I am located in Europe, so I am not sure if the US 100 000 mile/8 year warranty is valid over here.

The shop doesn't have a compression test unit (kind of funny...almost) for rotary engines....but that woun't do anything really, because nothing happens when you turn the ignition key. (a compression test, involves turning the ignition while having the compression meter attached to the plugs from what I gather).

 

^very true. The car has to crank for the test. And I am not sure if the warranty is the same in Europe or not. I would assume it would be similar if it wasn't the same though.

 

Couple quick tests to help determine if your engine is seized.

1)Turn headlights on, crank engine. Do the headlights dim?

2)Put a socket and wrench on the crank pulley bolt and try to turn the engine by hand. Will it turn? But before you condemn the motor this way, make sure no accessories are seized instead. I've seen a seized a/c compressor not let an engine turn over.

 

Ok, thank you for your answers so far, the car is still at the shop (they'll be looking at it in detail on Friday, just wanted to check real quick here on any pointers I could pass on to the service-people)

Let's hope things won't be too expensive....

 

Just wanted to give this thread an update:

It seemed that an apex seal in rotor one had gone to heck, so the engine was stuck with iron shavings inside the rotor.

The "cheapest" fixing alternative the mazda dealer could come up with, was ordering a new engine. Changing one rotor housing would "probably be more expensive or at least as expensive, due to the complicated procedure of doing so + parts and labour" they claimed....just a way to admit that they really don't know what they are doing really...imo.

Mind you, a new engine where I live, cost roughly $11 000,- (yes, you read that right) - and that is after we negotiated a $3600 discount.
I got the discount because they have been so slow, with poor follow-ups and poor understanding of the rotary engine, which caused an un-needed repair job a few months back. (I've been at it since April with problems with this car, all caused by a poor/failing apex, which they were never able to diagnose -because they haven't got the equipment to check the compression on rotaries(!)).

Anyway...no warranty in Europe on a car that has only 86 000 km, so I have to pay up, that's bitter money, because I only had the car for 6 months before it broke down. (bought used, privately).

So that's an update for you. My tip: If _anything_ is starting to go wrong with your car (difficult starts, hot-start problems especially, stalling, loss of power etc): Get a compression test as a first step, because it can save you time and money. People (me too) usually go trough the typical procedure of bying a new battery, new starter, new spark-plugs, new coils etc etc. and checking to see if this fix the issue, don't do anything before you've confirmed that your rotors are in good working condition!

 

$11,000?! Wow that is crazy. I would either go to a different place or try to change the rotor housing yourself. Not easy but it would be worth $11,000 to me. That was more than I payed for my car...

 

Well, indeed crazy, even with the higher wages here, it's such a high price that my confidence in the RX-8 and in rotaries in general has fallen drastically.
- There are very few repair options here, as few know rotary engines at all, and I am not qualified to do much other than topping off the oil and driving it, I know next to nothing about engines and the internals of cars, let alone rotaries.

I get warranty on the new engine (not sure how long and what, yet), but I am considering on just selling it and go for a more conventional car with a little power (if I can find an affordable one) after I have broken in the new engine.

Too bad though, I really like the car (when it worked), fun to drive and a good experience, but if engine failures like this is common-place, then it's just not worth it for me, sorry to say.
Oil change and general maintenance was done on time, according to the service manual history.

In the six months before it broke (3700 miles driven by me, making the total milage 49 700 miles), I red-lined it now and then after it had warmed up properly and topped of the oil regulary (changed oil once) and basically drove the car normally, having fun now and then in corners and while accelerating, nothing heavy (and no granny driving).

I am unsure if the car was mapped wrong (fuel/oil mix), but I didn't use any 2-stroke oil in the gasoline....anyway, I think the damage was already there when I bought the car, seriously doubt that I was able to wreck the car in 6 months of normal driving and caretaking.

 

Dam bro. Thats Horrible.. My motor just failed a compression test and i had to spend 550 USD for the parts to get the new motor.. You should have some form of a Warranty.. Call Mazdas customer line give them the VIN and have them look up the SSP "Special Service Program"