First - Hello again, been a long time since I've been back here! I'll have to post up in the Gulf forum and say howdy there as well.

On to the issue...

Driving to work on Friday morning the car is running great with full power throughout tach. On the way home the engine practically dies, press on the gas and there's heavy vibration from the engine, RPM's can barely rise, engine on the verge of stalling - pulled over ASAP and called the tow truck.

Instant clogged Cat? Rare but I've heard it happen before - I was more concerned with HOW it got instantly clogged.

So Monday I hear from the dealership and they tell me clogged cat and they'll replace it by this afternoon. They test drive it with the new cat and after about 10-15 minutes of driving the new cat is now clogged.

I'm about to call them now for an update to see if they ran the car without a cat to see if anything was coming out - oil, water, devil, etc - of the exhaust system.

Has anyone heard or seen anything like this? Any resolution or fixes you can offer?

 

bad coils can fubar a cat.
in 10 minutes though??? that's crazy.

 

Just talked to the dealer, they're thinking about throwing in another engine - this would be #3 for me. 25K on the first, 25K on the 2nd, how many miles can I get out of the 3rd? Taking all bets lol

New Coils were on it prior to the test drive.

 

Welcome to the third engine club. I am a member. These engines can just crap out. My last one was running fine and then one day it just starting stalling out.

 

damn RPM666, that's terrible.
did they compression test the engine?

 

I haven't gone over all the details with them - they're still testing and pondering.

Thank you I'm honored! A co-worker has brought it to my attention to maybe try for the lemon law. Needed a new engine twice so if this one goes out maybe I get a new car? Not sure on the specifics but that would be nice to get an '09. Probably not going to happen.

 

check your state's Lemon Laws but considering yours is an '04, you are probably not eligible at this point.

keep us posted

 

wow 3 engines yikes! lol

 

I had figured as much, just glad I bought the extended warranty!

The only thing I'm really upset about is the cheapest rental I can get is $30/day - I haven't researched it further than that but have prices really gone that high?

 

No ****, me too. I would have been screwed without it.

 

guys please help,

Just got my car back from the compression test and the only thing I have is the below data...

rotor 1 @250 rotor 2 @250
6.4 ....................6.7
6.4 ....................6.9
6.3 ....................6.6

can anyone tell me what this means in reguards to PSI. I have had 3 converters, 2 sets of coils, 2 sets of wires, 4 sets of plugs, two engine de-carbing and still have lack of power...

thanks

 

I picked mine up last Monday from the dealership and I had similar compression results. They had to deflood & reflash, when I started it up to leave it cranked very sluggishly...I went back in and ask the service manager why it was cranking so slow. He said it needed a new battery. Not, I had just replaced the the day before I towed it to the dealership. After telling him this he said it just took alot to crank these cars... I also ask why it kept flooding and if Mazda had come up with a fix for it...he proceeded to tell me how you have to let them warm up before turning off yada yada yada.... I said Sir I've had the car 5 years I'm well aware of what not to do with it. I hate it when they talk to you like you haven't a clue of whats going on with a car....

Anyhow fast forward to this evening. I get a call from the service manager and he asked if I had sold the car...(um nope) and can I bring it back in for another compression test at my earliest convenience. He had another customer come in and the compression test were all below 7. He called Mazda and they told him if any car came in and had below a 7 on compression test to replace the engine. He said he immediately thought of me and called to let me know. So now I'm taking it back again and if it fails below 7 again then he's going to replace the engine. We'll know in a day or so..... he assures me Mazda has done a lot of work on the new engines and I shouldn't/wouldn't have anymore problems.

 

you would think the mazda techs would have the pass/fail compression numbers burned into their brains by now.

 

unless your dealership is located at some really high attitude area(like on top of a mountain) other than that. those numbers simply means FAILED.

Especially the first rotor, 6.3 on one of the face? wow.

this whole engine has only 1 rotor face that "barely" reach the minimum, which is 6.8 x 100 kPa

btw, those are kPa/kilo pascal numbers. 630 kPa is about 91 psi.

Your engine has failed. tell them to replace it.

that Service manager and the tech who worked on your car are total morons.

at 6.3 kPa. there is some serious wear inside the engine. probably bad apex thats about to fall apart.

wow ... this is probably one of the biggest reason Mazda's brand image is so bad ...

and what does it freaking matter if its below 7? Standard should be 830 kPa , minimum is 680 kPa, difference between 2 chambers should be within 150 kPa( I think this is too high, just my opinion tho), and 2 rotors should be within 100 kPa(I think its too high). @ 250 rpm.

anything below 8 is a sign that your engine is going south. below 6? reaplce it.

 

Hey NY,

I read in another thread & TSB that the flooding issues are covered under the 8yr/100K and Mazda picks up that bill. I was charged $100 for deflooding and a reflash, shouldn't that still fall under that TSB?

 

exactly and the OP has what a low of 6.3 in one rotor and a HIGH of 6.9 in the other- wow its totally blown and they think the might want to run another check before replacing it?

why did the cat fail so quickly? because the of the fuel pouring in that isn't combusting in the engine that is lighting off in the cat. its not combusting in the engine because of the seal failures. this thing probably has side seal failures as well as apex failures.

no the core engine is covered if it needs replaced, flooding is your fault.

 

another question would be why are they using the compression tester and their old hardware instead of the vacuum tester from the recall and their new hardware? did mazda switch back? if so i havent seen the memo....

 

no

flooding is not covered.

but if they charged you already then they found out its your engine is bad, you can ask for a refund. Cuz its engine problem, lack of compression - not firing - flooded.

 

using the vacume testers, what would the numbers look like? i am guessing that there is a difftrence in not to confuse the two... haha. i have opened a case with mazda, they told me they would let me know something yesterday.... is 100 est and i still havent heard anything... i will keep calling them until morall improves. I will tell you that the dealer said that on the old chart i would have failed but on the new chart that mazda has them going by it passed? sound like BS to anyone?

 

Bottom line, if the car isn't drivable because the engine is screwed, and the engine is under warranty.....REPLACE THE ENGINE.

If they don't go to another dealer.

 

I told them it had just died (thankfully in my driveway) after coming home. The bill summary says.
Vehicle towed in. Customer states it will not start chaeck and advise. Engine was flooded. Perform engine deflood to start. test drove and now engine compression tests. Rotor #1 6.9 6.3 6.0 Rotor #2 6.4 6.2 6.2 Engine compression is good at this time. Engine starting properly at this time.

I ask the service manager when he called me back to bring the car in for another compression test if the low compression is causing it to flood. He said yes and that the oil is not distributing properly.

 

Frankly, they should be doing a compression test before they try a deflood...or anything else.
New coils or plugs won't fix a worn out engine.

If compressions are that low ^^ it does not matter what they do they won't come up.

What is the F**K advice Mazda NAO giving to it's dealers???, I have read all the TSB's, but IMO it is all a waste of time.

There are TWO things that should be done.

1. Check compressions if ridiculously low on ALL faces...replace engine.
2. If Low on one or two faces, could be a stuck Apex, put in 100 mils 2 stroke or ATF direct into chambers, crank over for a while, let stand, crank again to blow out excess oil, then see if this frees up seal...by...

Rechecking compressions, if they have come up, perform de-carb, if not, replace engine.

ALL the rest of the drama Dealers are putting Owners through is Total Unnecessary BS...

It really is VERY Simple.

 

ok so your engine will be replaced right?

 

This actually made me LOL in a very sarcastic manner! My car is currently at the shop waiting for the 3rd engine. The second failed without me ever getting in the drivers seat! Maybe he meant the 2010, with the added oil injector, but that is not what they will be putting in your car.
Those compression test are horrible, not sure why you are getting the run around. It seems for all the crap mazda makes you go through, they are pretty free about dropping in a new motor. Maybe your dealer just isn't pushing them hard enough because they don't want to do warranty work??
I'm starting to think Mazda should just have a tech in every city that does nothing but engine installs. I have read on here where the failure rate is not that much greater than other types of engines, you just read the horror stories, only people w/ bad engines are posting, blah, blah, blah. I can tell you that 5 people in our group of 20 have had an engine replaced in the last year (all w/ less than 100,000 miles)..... for those keeping track, that is a 25% failure rate. I would be hard pressed to find another car club with that type of number. That being said, I love this car, and I love the rotary! I have no plans to get rid of it, it is just a tempermental bitch!
Good luck to you, and I hope you get this taken care of soon!!

 

**** that, oil not distributing properly my ***.

there is a new Chart from Mazda somwhere, but EITHER WAY, 6.3 @ 250 rpm means a FAIL. period.

I know these engine causing Mazda millions of dollars. but hey, we're not the people who underestimate the lubrication that this engine needs. and what sup with that 2 oil nozzle point at the corner only ?

Im a maintenance freak and my engine still failed. just imagine thousands of Rx-8 owners out there ... they will not know their engine gonna fail ... even when they do they will not know what to do and getting hit by some dealers out there ...