Texas 8

All,
Just recently started having problems. What I have is a multiple-part problem. First, a HORRIBLE knocking type sound is coming from UNDER the car under moderate/hard accel in any gear. When I say horrible I mean "holy crap, is the car going to friggin blow the hell up" horrible. It is extremely loud. It sounds like someone is under my car banging two steel pipes together. In addition to the noise, I have severe power loss. Full throttle first gear, rpms slowly climb and speed takes forever to rise. For example, earlier tonight I pulled away from a stop sign as normal and the floored it and the banging started and power instantly went to near zero. It took a good 10 seconds to reach about 20mph. 2nd, 3rd,etc... garner the same result. Oh, and when I put it in nuetral and get on the throttle, no problems whatsoever. Rev's fine, sounds good, no noise, nothing. But, put it in gear and take off, starts up again.... I'm at a loss.

Ok, now before anybody freaks out, I have searched and read up a bit on the typical knocking of rotary engines. I will admit that this is my first rotary and am not real experienced but, I don't believe I have the same problems as I was reading about in numerous other posts here. It just doesn't seem right. Everyone else seems nonchalant that it is a little knock. Mine, I believe, goes above and beyond a little knock.

If anybody has any idea whatsoever I'm all ears. Thanks, Greg---Texas 8

snap-on

Greg,

Has your car flooded in the past as far as you know?

Gomez

Whatever it is....with those symptoms I would not be driving it. Get it to the dealer.

Texas 8

Not since I have owned it. I bought it in Feb. 04 with 30 miles on the odo and 13,500 miles later, still no floods. What happened in those first 30 miles is beyond me. BTW, got your PM and that would be great. I'll shoot it to you today, thanks.

Texas 8

That's what I thought, too. Having it towed today.

MrMethane

Definatley tow it in to the shop. But just out of curiosity, when was the last time you checked your oil?

guy321

I wonder if something like a piece of your cat or a seal could be rattling around in your exhaust??

Texas 8

Once a week, on Friday. I wash it every Friday, so I figured it's a good as time as any. I did check it when I got home and shut the car down. It was halfway between add and full marks.

Texas 8

Thanks to a tip from Snap on, I am going to have them look at the cat.

Gomez

Sounds more like a complete cat break-up. That would rattle around and severely reduce power. The sound is coming from UNDER the car, so I don't think the engine is the culprit here.

Is this what you were hinting at with the flooding question, Snap-on?

Gomez

Oh, I see it was!

Texas 8

Thanks for the help guys. Headed to dealer right now. Will let you know what the deal is when I find out. Thanks again! Greg--Texas 8

zoom44

my first hought was " his cat has come apart". then i see snap on's question( and guy's and gomez) and i see we're all on the same tack. let us know if we're correct

Texas 8

All,
Recently I have been having some problems with SERIOUS rattle and lack of power (there is a thread in Tech garage if you're that curious). Anyway, another member here thought that the symptoms that I was describing sounded like the results of a previous flood. Well, I have owned since Feb. 04 (30 mi) and have yet to flood it. Well, then i had a friend of mine do a little digging and found out that in Dec. 03 @ 6 miles there was some warranty work done (2 hours worth) that my dealer got paid for. Well, I took this info to the dealer and he did a little more looking into it and found out that when they recieved the car and was performing the PDI the car would not start due to possible flooding (moving to boat, shore, dealer, etc...) Had to clean plugs, de-choke, etc.. Well, here comes my happy *** along 2 months later thinking I am purchasing a "brand new" car. I don't know about you, but a car that has been flooded is not NEW in my book. So, I talked to the sales manager and according to him they are not legally obligated to disclose any "minor" maint. I guess minor means something different to him than it does for me. Bottom line, they can't do anything for me. Needless to say, I am P-I-S-S-E-D!!

Had I known about this previous flooding I would have never purchased this car. Flooding can cause detrimental effects that can linger on for years. What about resale value?? Who will want to buy a car that has been flooded?? This is ridiculous. I feel taken advantage of. Even though I love this car, I no longer want it now. I purchased it under false pretenses.

Does anybody know if there is anything that I can do?? I am going to call MNAO tommorrow and insist that they buy back the car. Bottom line, this is horrible business practices and Mazda is on my **** list. And I for one am not going to stand idly by and be screwed. I expect when I purchase a new car it is in fact a NEW CAR and not a reconditioned car.

Any legal, lawyerly-like advice would be greatly appreciated. Sorry about the long windedness. Greg--Texas 8

Morgan

sorry dude...that sucks. I hope everything gets taken care of for you!!!!

Texas 8

I took it to the dealer and of course he couldn't duplicate the symptoms I compained of. But, I took you wonderful people's advice and mentioned the cat and he has one on order for me. One a side note, check out my rant in Discussion section that explains what I think caused this(it's a good one). Cliff note version: car flooded before purchase, nobody tells me, me pissed! Thanks again!! Greg

joseight

that sucks, i wish you the best.

zoom44

theres not much you can do really. the part that is bad will be replaced under warrenty yes? so they are fixing your problem. the prvious flood i assume was found out by the note of replacing the plugs right? so your plugs only have your wear and tear on them lots of cars have maintenaince or repairs done before being sold. rock chips in the widshield, scratches in the paint. there is always something that has to be done. yours had its plugs changed. please check your pms thanks.

nbthing

You do realize they're talking about an engine flood, not car driven into a lake flood right?

snap-on

You still have those pics Charlie?

Grabitquick

Not to be contrary, but I think you should solicit other tech opinions on whether a simple engine flood can cause the problems your experiencing. You may get some responses in this thread. Many owners' cars here have been flooded (mine included, by a body shop), and I've not had any problems since, and as far as I know nobody else has either, at least none that can be directly linked to the engine flooding. I'd be willing to bet that a lot of 8's have been flooded before they were purchased, just like yours apparently was.

As for pursuing Mazda, I think your chances of getting any action from them are less than zero, especially after such a long period of time and if your 8's problems have only shown up recently. They are also probably completely in the clear legally. That doesn't mean that they should not have told you the engine had been flooded before you purchased it as a courtesy, but I seriously doubt that anyone could prove that they had any legal obligation to do so. They will probably just tell you to have it fixed under warranty, and leave it at that. I'm not blaming you for being mad, but there could be a thousand reasons that the car is having problems (that's what warranties are for) and you should just try to get it fixed now, or sell it if you're not comfortable with it.

zoom44

here

Sea Ray

Let me guess.......that is not your brain on drugs????

Actually I know that is what is left of a Catalytic converter after it fell apart, maybe due to over heating after a flood.

Texas 8

Yes. But, does it matter?? A flooded engine or driven into a lake, either way I should have been informed prior to purchase.

zoom44

yes it had a flood prior to purchase and the cat died on the owner. early rx8 cat failure has been linked to flooding on this forum. the majority folks on this forum who had no problems with their car until their cat failed had the common link of flooding prior to purchase. the flooding is recorded in the cars service record usually by an entry showing plug replacement, which is standard operating procedure for a car flooded prior to purchase.

and no nobody has looked at the cars whos cats havent gone yet to se if they had the plugs replaced early.