I called a minute ago and he told me that the numbers he gave me were in PSI. my apologies for my misinformation. So one rotor had 84psi and the other had 74psi.

 

Wow, that's low... Bummer

 

Yeah, well we shall see how the new engine goes. I need to know what the break-in procedure for the Renesis is. I am not going to drive it like mad like they said; makes me shiver. Help me out with that Nemesis? I am too lazy to search.
I am keeping it under 4K right now...

 

http://www.racingbeat.com/FRmazda4.htm

Click on the How to "Break-in" your new RX8 picture

 

Thank you.

 

diane you're doing a good job scaring off the n00bs on msprotege forum

 

lmao...I was pissed at the time, and probabaly a little inebriated.

 

You said you've been seeing a good number of the 8's rolling in to service, esp. AT models and more and more MT (6 spd) ones now too...
Do you know if they're experiencing the same issue as yours (compression loss in the rotors??)
I've been reading some other threads regarding this specific issue, as the Apex seals are actually reduced and Intake Ports enlarged compared w/ the previous gen 13B engine on the 7. Does this look like excessive wear on your Apex seals that resulted in this, according to Mazda service dept.??

 

So the only indication of lost compression would be harder starts? Then the car seems fine? So, if lets say, my car starts harder and harder, I should first replace the battery and, if it still persists, go to the dealer to get the compresion test done.
While if the car starts fine, compression should be still good.
Did I miss anything? I guess I like warning signs, would have a hard time just asking the dealer to check compression for no reason (as those spark plugs are hard to get to...)

 

My car has a rough idle and has for some time. But it runs smooth as hell once its warmed up. I leave it around 3500 shifting until it gets halfway. Makes me start looking hard at the vette

 

man i feel so guilty i know a few times i revved it pretty high before it was fully warmed up.

 

Let me ask the mechanic if he has tested the AT cars, but he knew for some reason that they needed motors, not just because compression, but they also ran really rough and would die when idling sometimes. The six speeds run rough and becaue he knows what could be going on, he checks the compression.

I am not sure how your Mazda dealers are in your area, but our head mechanic really cares about getting the car fixed the first time, not just doing BS software "patches" and or fixes.

I think this is why Mazda really investigates in the car's history, because so many in our area have needed motors.
This is how it goes: the more warranty claims a dealership has, the more Mazda will scrutanize their work. Mazda just wants to make sure the claims are legitimate if they are going to pay 4 grand to a dealership for a motor install. My dealership realizes this, but we don't want customers to be driving shitty running vehicles around and constantly bringing them back to be fixed. this creates non-brand loyal customers and is a general pain in the *** for the customers. I should know.

Once again, the dealership is not allowed by Mazda to tear down the engine. Mazda demands the bad engine to be sent back in original condition within days of the engine swap. This is why we are left clueless as to what is happening with the motors, hence my frustration. But generally lost compression can be excessiveApex seal wear.

 

This was the case for our car, but it may be other symptoms for other cars, such as the ATs we have seen with major problems will die at an idle regardless of warmup, time driven or so on.
I doubt they would do a compression check. Like I said the head Mazda mechanic at my dealership cares a lot about his customers, so he does the check anyways when one is in the shop for engine trouble. Some dealerships may not want to take the time as they may see it as a "waste" of time.

 

Do you know if Mazda will reveal its diagnosis of your engine to you or even your service dept. that submitted it, or just keep it to themselves??
Also, with the rash of rx8's coming in to the shop in your area, anyone else seeing this Trend in other places and regions?? If it's happening in one area, then there should be other places where this is occurring.... Since it's getting to the 2 year mark since the 8's have come out, more data should be coming in.

 

I wonder if the motor buyback plan that was secretly being implemented by Mazda has anything to do with this?

 

Nope. They won't even let the dealership know what's going on.
We have heard that the same problems with the ATs are happening in Las Vegas, but that was all. I haven't asked of late, but that was a few months ago. *shrugs*

 

Do you mean the one for the hp rating or is there a new one for the engine problems?

We have had 3 RX-8s that were buybacks that I know of; two were AT and one was a 6spd.

 

Oh yes, and another friend of mine who has a 6spd black 8 has had his tranny rebuilt, A/C compressor replaced, throw out bearing replaced, AND a new motor put in. I talked to him today and he said the new motor is running fine (it has about 11K on it).

 

Hmmm. I think these motors with allegedly low compression on one rotor are actually just fine and they're pinching them to use in the Mazda Star series 'cause there's a motor shortage.

I don't know. Maybe it IS just a production variance thing. My car feels strong at 21,000 though.

 

What was the cause of his orig. motor replacement, same compression issue?? And u know how much mileage the first motor had racked up when this occurred?? I'm guessing that there were no mods, neglect, or abuse before this happened...

 

Yah...let's ruin our customer confidence in our cars' reliability and spoil any chances in return buyers all in the name of racing...

I'm sure that's what they're thinking.

 

I am not sure if it was the same low compression that mine had, but the motor was definately blown when he had it towed in. BUT it overheated for "unknown" reasons (I think he hit a small animal because it had radiator damage when it came in).
just over 50,000. I am quote surprised that Mazda warrantied the engine since it was out of the warranty milage. *shrugs*
No mods, and he did his oil changes at some miscellaneous oil change business, not at the dealer, so I assume he was keeping it up.
But the body shows more than 50K worth of wear. he put that car through hell and racked up his 50,000+ miles in just shy of a year.

 

Please advise if you hear of any more 8's being towed in....

 

Okie dokie. But rarely are they towed in. Most times the owners are able to drive them. The problems are sporadic. That's why they are shocked when they hear the car needs a motor.

 

i'd love to tear a bunch of those motors down. i'm thinking it's gotta be the side seals just not liking the exhaust contact.

anyone who's built rotaries before, you might be shocked at the side-corner seal gap of .012-.022"!!!! i don't know if some of these were a mistake, or if it's because the seal is in contact with the exhaust gas-therefore expanding much more or what, but i don't like it.

but in any respect, my rebuilds have all been 100-115+psi cranking them with my spare t2 bellhousing and starter, and that's before they're ever started (compression goes up after they're run-in). go figure that one out.