sstricker

what year is your 8? if it is 2004, then I would check to see that all the current TSB's have been performed... ie... battery, starter, SPARK PLUGS, CAT, etc.... the battery, if they have not been performed, should have been covered under the TSB... check it out and let us know....

ps... sorry about all of your problems... when i first got mine (used 04 had 24xxx miles), i had a lot of problems for the first 3 months... i had all the TSB's performed and seemed to help alot...

RedRotaryRx8

I have an '04 8. Bought it brand new and now it has about 31k miles on it.

I will mention it to the service shop tomorrow about the TSB's.

The thing I have noticed from these dealerships (I have been to 3 of them thus far with my 8) is that they sell the 8's but are really at a loss when there are problems with the car. I printed out a previous thread from this forum and the mechanic was like thanks for the info we need all the help we can with these cars.

cjkim

i had similiar problems. I realized by putting load on the brakes, the car would die... but with a 94 altima so take this with a grain of salt.
i had two problems:
both alternator and distributor were going bad
hope that helps a bit? i'm surprised no one mentioned alternator (or maybe i just missed it)

RedRotaryRx8

No one has mentioned the alternator yet so thanks for that. I am mechanically deficient so all this insight is great. I plan on taking a print out to the dealership tomorrow and let them run a laundry list of tests.

So right now I am going to have them check:

To see if I am missing any recent flashes (which I doubt but still will check)
Check MAF Sensor and Check Intake (in regards to the crunching "marble" sound I get around 5k RPMs in second gear)
Check Alternator
Check Spark Plugs
Check Fuel Coils/Injectors/System
Check the Tranny Control Module(TCM)

and the list continues. Thanks for all your insight everyone it is really appreciated

cleoent

call mazda NA, or call a lawyer. you've been way too tolerant.

Skythe

Try Chevron. In my personal experience I've found that cars tend to perform better with Chevron. It's like crack once you get'm on it, they don't want off. If you put somethin else in, you WILL notice a difference.

Red Devil

Switching gas should do nothing for this guy's problems.

I think the best thing you can do is take the dealership's rotary mechanic for a nice long drive and show him all your symptoms. And get them to put everything they tell you in writing. Calling Mazda NA in the mean time and starting dialogue with them is a definite, also.

sstricker

I think that calling MNAO is a good idea. I would also try a 4th dealer... Possibly one that knows how to work with the rotary. I am quite fortunate to have a dealer with a great knowledge of the rotary and its quirkiness... I still say there has not been any TSB work done to your car. Once this is determined, I would try to have them refund me the price of the battery.

RedRotaryRx8

thanks for the continued updates guys - you all are awesome.

I will agree I have been way to tolerant. I want to contact Mazda NA and now you have given me the inspiration. I take it there is a thread on how to contact them but if there is not do any of you have the phone number so I may contact them?

I am serious when I have had major problems with my car. It has been in the shop so many times it is ridiculous. I am so frustrated. I will mention the TSB stuff to the dealership and see what they do.

I know that there are good dealerships out there that are good on working with rotaries but the fact is every dealership that sells Rx-8's should be well trained in how to deal with the problems.

The past dealerships I have been to are just taking shots in the dark and have no real clue on whats going on. It is stupid that I have to "shop" my car around to different dealerships to try to find the right one - Its like I am a drug addict trying to find the right dealer.

I will start typing up a letter to Mazda NA tomorrow and try to remember catalouge all the problems I have been having.

I take the car in tomorrow morning first thing. I'll keep you all posted to see what they find.

RedRotaryRx8

I checked over the Mazda site and found this contact info:

1-800-222-5500
Our business hours are Monday through Friday:
8:00AM - 4:45PM (Pacific)
9:00AM - 5:45PM (Central/Eastern)

Mazda North American Operations
P.O. Box 19734
Irvine, CA 92623-9734
Attn: Customer Assistance Center


does that sound right? I plan on calling them once I get some thoughts down on paper so I can chew them out.

snap-on

I'd say the odd's are very high that the person you plan on chewing out tomorrow will not be the one fixing the car.

If you want my opinion I suggest you stop going from dealer to dealer trying to solve this. Figure out which of the three service dept's seemed most competent. Check the Mazda USA website. See which dealer has the most accolades. 30% or so will be "Winners circle" and a significant smaller group will be "Gold Cup". Dealers must maintain a very high customer relation score to keep these banners.
Bouncing from dealer to dealer labels you as a "orphan owner" and all the dealer can see from the warranty history is...someone drove your car and found no issues. Believe it or not the dealer body has no real way to see what each dealer did. There is no "big brother network".

As for the mechanical issue with the car. Ask someone at the dealership to call the tech line to justify a compression test. They should also ride with you and attempt to duplicate the problem. They should also check vacuum readings during the drive as the problem occurs. I'm fairly sure I know what they will find.

Good luck.

RedRotaryRx8

the dealer i bought the car from is a gold cup dealer and they are the most incompetent of the three i have been to.

I will mention a compression test to the service manager today.

I'm not going to chew out the dealership just MNAO.

alcimedes

If they're a gold cup dealer then they covet that standing. Let them know you're not happy with their service, and what you would like done.

There's an excellent chance they'll work with you to keep you from submitting a negative review. But call Mazda NA first, so you've got that lined up and ready to go in case you need clout.

RedRotaryRx8

Just an update.

The dealership had to keep my car over night because the tech line did not get back with them in time.

So I called Mazda North America and filed a formal complaint with the company.

I decided to call today because I read some of the engine replacement threads and saw very similar problems that I have been having with my car. I decided to be proactive and get some of my issues documented with Mazda.

I talked with one of the customer service reps for Mazda and listed all of my issues with the car and gave details about each of the problems.

The customer service rep gave me a Mazda document number for future reference. So now I have my complaints documented and if I need to take it to the next step it will be easier.

Slims8

Lol... all I can say is good luck. I promise you don't really have that many problems. I've been through 3 transmissions, a clutch (all those were from the same incident that took forever to get resolved), a wreck valued at $9750, blown motor, then rear ended Monday, and motor problems yesterday. Now that is having nothing but problems.

The key is finding a good dealership. MNAO really doesn't care. They are just there to make you feel better. Finding a good dealership will go a looooong way.

trustbuddy

iTrader: (3)

and you still keep your car?????????

RedRotaryRx8

The dealership called and they have to send my chip out to CA for an update. After it is updated they have to take the car out and drive it at a certain RPM for 20 minutes.

We will see how this works out and see how long it takes for me to get the car back.

Slims8

ooooh.. . I just got that update. It's supposed to speed up your oil stepper. After I got mine done I started noticing massive oil consumption (1 qt every 250 miles). I ended up taking it back and they replaced the motor. There was another guy who had the same update I did that just returned his for the same reasons. WATCH YOUR OIL LEVEL.

I can't keep it running properly long enough to sell it. I just got rear ended Monday and busted and oil cooler line yesterday. Now I am getting those problems fixed.

RedRotaryRx8

sorry to hear about your bad luck - that has to be super frustrating I take it many of these problems happened after eligibility for the lemon law ran out? It sure seems like you have one.

snap-on

Slim's situation was one that relates to what I posted earlier. He had a repair at Dealer "A" then took it to Dealer "B".
IIRC neither one was the selling dealer. His car sat for months with neither place wanting to take possesion of the problem.

The dealer sent the PCM to have a flash installed to help prevent your stalling issue.

I'm afraid you will be posting in another thread soon.

RedRotaryRx8

yeah that is what I am afraid of too. Only time will tell. I am pretty sure this "fix" is just a band-aid trying to cover the problem.

Thats why I decided to call Mazda and get my complaints down in their records incase I am another person who has to have their engine replaced

srm858

RedRotary RX8,

I understand your frustration. My 8 has had a lot of problems, but not as bad as yours. I brought mine into the dealer 2 weeks ago for rough idle, high oil consumption (1 qt/800miles) and a burning rubber smell. They backed into it and it spent 2 weeks in the body shop and when they got it back they replaced the plugs. It idles a little better, but they did nothing about the other problems, just said there were no leaks and they didn't smell anything.

I'm so tired of being at the dealerships (my 3rd one), I'm just going to sell. It's being listed today. My Kia is going to get used a lot more now.

RedRotaryRx8

Hello all,

I got my car back from the shop a week from tuesday and have been testing it out ever since. Last weekend I made a trip from Washington DC to my home town on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. I was in heavy duty traffic for about two hours and the car seemed to perform well. It did not shut off once and I did not hear the "marbles in a blender" sound when the road opened up and I was able to drive faster.

Everything was so far so good I thought...until last night. While I was on my way home from the gym I came up to a red light. While I was at the light, my RPM's dipped below 500 and the needle was close to the 250 mark (I am guessing 300 RPMS). It was like that for the whole time I was at the light. When the light turned green, the car was very sluggish.

I turned off my radio so I could hear what sounds/noises were coming from the car. When I got to the next stop light, again the RPMs dropped below 500 RPM's (around 300 again). The car did not shut off but there were MASSIVE vibrations coming from the rear of the vehicle and I hear a very audible clack,clack,clack sound coming from my car. Again the car was sluggish coming off the line.

The car did something for the first time. When the car was still in first, I heard the marbles in the blender sound again. That is the first time I have heard that in first gear, I usually heard it in second gear.

When I pulled into my parking spot at my apartment, I still heard the clack, clack, clack noise. I put the car in park and it went away. I put it back in drive and the noise became audible again. I opened my car door to attempt to hear where the sound was orginating from. I couldn't go to far since I had to keep my foot on the break (AT Model) but it sounded if the sound was coming from under the car, close to the drivers seat. I could be wrong but something under the car was making that noise.

Anyway, the car doesn't stall anymore it just dips below 500 RMS, is sluggish and now there is a very loud noise coming from it. It never ends. It is crazy. The first year I had the car it would idle at 1200 RPMs, now it idles around 800 and now dips into 300 RPMS.

I'm going to keep my eye on the car, if it keeps happening, I am going to call MONA again and add to my first complaint.

skillmaker

Automatic transmission, drop at idle, marble noises... Sounds like the torque converter is damaged somehow, causing extra drag on the engine. This would also account for stalls, and surging, as well as some peculiar reactions when you place the car in and out of gear.

Remember, I am NOT a professional mechanic. I just speculate about wierd noises. (I need to find a new hobby).

zoom44

did you check your tranny fluid?