Hello all! I have a Mazda RX8 2004 with 42000 Miles on it.

Recently My Mazda has been hesitating upon acceleration and has probably about 60% of its usual power.

Also, Upon starting It takes about 2 and a half seconds to start the engine, even if its still warm.

What could these issues mean? It seems like its either running too rich or not rich enough.

 

Have you changed your coils/plugs anytime?

 

I have changed plugs and wires about two weeks ago. Coils I am not sure... I think they are original

One thing I should mention is that the Engine Check came on continuously a while ago for a CAT Deficiency. Now it is not illuminated and hasn't been for about a week.

I think it could be an O2 Sensor, the fuel pump, or Ignition Coils.

Anybody have this experience before? I pray it isnt Apex Seals....

 

sounds like a dead cat or coils bro.

 

I had the same problem.

I got the upgraded starter and new battery. Problem solved.

 

Yeah on the coils, but he let it go long enough to kill the CAT as well.

 

Thanks guys, that's good advice. Now should I order 4 new ignition coils and put them on or just the one that isn't working? Odds are if one is bad then the rest are soon to go bad right?

 

you should change all of the coils. A lot of guys change the spark plugs and coils at the same time.

 

I just changed the plugs and wires, they are good. Do the bad coils hurt the good spark plugs?

 

they can.

 

I love my RX8 but that car confuses me, if it was misfiring due to a bad coil, you would think the CEL would come on for that! There are no codes, and no pending codes.

 

When are you experiencing the power loss? In low/ high rpm?
You mentioned that you had a CEL, but it hasn't returned. Have you check the cat to see if it's deficient?
My .02- check cat. If good, move to coils. Buy cheap from Mazmart (and in future, get BHR coil/plug/wire upgrade).
I haven't seen anyone mention the SSV. Although, you would more than likely get a cel for that, as well.
Just a thought

 

I appreciate you helping dumb people RX8 Soldier, because when it comes to people like me, I am dumb in terms of cars. The loss of power is way more noticeable in low RPM power, but I believe it also affecting High RPM power. I have checked the Cat via back-pressure test. So I doubt it's that. It has completely flooded recently too, so bad that I had to do the full procedure to get it deflooded. And then again last night, it flooded a little but within a couple minutes it was running again. When trying to accelerate it feels like the engine is just getting bogged down.

 

I would recommend you visually inspect the cat. If you can, remove it, shake it and look inside.
If you can't remove it, check to see if it glows red after a hard drive.
If it's bad, you are still under the mazda warranty for a new cat!

OEM plugs and coils tend to fail around the 25-30k mile (40-48k kms) mark. Looks like your due for a change. Mazmart (I believe) have some of the cheapest around.

 

Thanks man, I definitely will. What I am getting from these posts is that the root of the problem is the ignition coils and the Cat is what suffered from the unburnt fuel. Am I on the right track?

 

This guy can search......read....and understand........winnnnnnnerrr!!!

 

Well he will be a winner when his car is running properly. It really sounds like your coils are toast dude.

 

+1

 

I Just ordered the New Coils, and they should be here Wednesday. I will have them in Thursday night and let you all know if they are the culprit. Does anyone know if BWD Coils are any good for the RX8? they were 26.99 each at advanced auto parts, thought for that price, why not give em a whirl. Keep in mind I am a College Student with VERY limited funding

Also, I talked with the Mazda's "Main Service Manager" and he seemed as though he thought it could be the apex seals but wasn't sure. When I mentioned your guys posts on the root of the problem, he seemed to warm up to the idea of it being the Ignition Coils. I have a feeling this will work.

I will update you Thursday guys

 

They always think it's the apex seals, so they can charge you an arm and a leg for a compression test.
Let us know how the coils go.

 

+ they usually make you buy the coils before getting a compression check anyway!

 

Oh Baby!! The Car runs beautifully now, that was exactly the problem guys. My gas mileage just improved by about 5 miles per gallon too lol.

When taking out the old plugs, the plugs were so bad that the coil snapped when we were taking them off! The were big time shot.

Thanks Again for the help!

 

Good deal!

I don't let plugs go much over 15k..............and that's a real stretch for me. Usually won't go over about 10k.

If I was OEM coils, I wouldn't let them go over about 25-30k.....just not worth the risk.