My concern isn't what might have happened during the time I have owned the car -- it's what might have happened prior to my owning the car. The car was manufactured in April, over three months ago. The car was moved, shipped, transported, nudged around the dealership, and even test driven a few times I'm sure.

I once test drove a brand new car that wouldn't start due to a dead battery -- someone had left a light on. The car was jump started and off we went on our test drive. My understanding is that jump starts could cause the RX-8 to go into a self-protect mode and idle at a much higher rate for an extended period of time (correct me if I'm wrong on that). It may also have been flooded one or more times before I purchased it.

I realize these scenarios may be extremely rare, but given the potential seriousness of the issue, I'd like to side with Mazda in making sure the car is safe.

Consider this: in theory, a brand-new RX-8 with 0.1 miles on it could have damage, if specific conditions were met. Remember: the damage occurs when the car is sitting still under certain conditions. Rare? Yes. Risk? High.

I will be contacting my service advisor today to alert them to the fact that I would like the car to be reinspected and for the instructions to be followed to the letter. I will also ask to be present during the work.
No, because the Group 2 instructions do not call for that, unless there are signs of damage to other components. However, it is the "other components" that I want them to check, as per the instructions they were given by the manufacturer.
I am -- but I'm not happy that they didn't take their responsibility seriously in this matter.

Everyone, there does seem to be a recurring theme of service techs not following procedures. I encourage everyone to watch the work being done, with instructions in hand.

Again, my thanks to all.

so it's August now. Has anyone received the recall letter yet?

great here come 17 pages of "no " posts:(

no

No, but the PDF is on the Rosenthal Mazda for the 3305G Recall. Called my local dealer and they are going to contact me tomorrow with a date and time to do that as well as paint my rotors after they remove the rust.

:p NO

Is the solution to reprogram the ECU?

Mass Hysteria .... oh The insanity of it all. :eek:

Folks ... Patience is a virtue! ;)

wait for the letter and your dealer to receive the parts.

Had purchased a used RX8 from CarMax on July 4 (2700 miles on it) with a build date of 8/03. Immediately, Madza notified me of two recalls (airbag, transmission damper). Went in today (8/1/05) to have those issues resolved and Heritage Mazda of Bel Air notified me of the third recall involving thermal damage. As they explained it, they had mentioned that the recall just came out and deals with high idle situations that the RX8 can go into which can cause overheating in the exhaust and then damaging the gas tank. Well, I didn't have any damage but they did mentioned that several parts were replaced with better insulation and the PCM was reprogrammed to better protect from high idle situations. The whole thing took about 1/2 day. Well, three things I immediately noticed when driving my car again.

1. The transmission is now quite smooth from when I first got the car. It wasn't necessarily bad before, just more "loose". Now it is smooth as silk and tight as well.

2. The center console doesn't seem to be the heat sink it was before. (Wonder if the replaced parts' insulation are better managing the heat from the exhaust). Now I can put a drink and it doesn't get warm in two minutes.

3. The overall idle seems much smoother. Not that it wasn't before, but now it is totally quiet.

In addition, Heritage of Bel Air threw in a free oil change for waiting (and subsequently not taking a rental for the day). Sweet...

Even if there is no thermal damage, for the 04, they are replacing parts with better insulated items. Not sure exactly what parts but I can certainly ask Heritage Mazda for more detail about it. If you are going to have service and you definitely have an 04, get this done. If you are in the Baltimore area, I highly recommend Heritage of Mazda in Bel Air (Part of Mile One Inc.), they have made me a return customer!

Mazda is sending the recall insulator to the dealerships in a quantity based on sales and estimated cars in the service area. Letters will sent once the parts are in stock. The foam insulator simply stops the heat from traveling over the fuel tank.

The parts the recall states to replace if damaged are the same as the ones that came on the car from the factory.

What's the life expectancy of these insulators & heat shields?? Over time, will repeated hot temperatures wear them out and diminish effectiveness?? I imagine given the extreme heat issues, these insulators will have to be replaced at some mileage intervals??

no the type of insulation they are using and where they are using it you'll never have to replace it. we use the same type of material to reline chimneys and it is good for chimney fires up to 1800 degrees for 30 minutes straight (tested to canadian standard- american standard is 3 10 minute fires). itll last forever on the cars i bet. remember the reason for the thermal problem in the first place. normal operating temps wont affect it at all

This is strange... I don't understand how the insulation installed above the fuel tank would influence the temperature of the front cup holders. The fuel tank is under the rear seat, well behind the cupholders - and as far as I know, they don't do anything with the insulation of the center console itself.

I agree, it is just something I noticed. I wondered if the insulation is around the exhaust and not the fuel tank (the exhaust pipes do travel from the engine down to the back).

Perhaps someone who knows more about the RX-8 exhaust design could chime in? Or is it just me ???
:confused:

UPDATE - Just reviewed the recall bulletin posted by Rosenthal Mazda and it does include the cup urethane bottoms as an item to be inspected for heat damage. This leads me to believe the insulation is probably placed around parts suspectible to heat damage down the entire exhaust pipes. It is interesting to examine the other items to examine and replace for thermal damage. Hmm, maybe the center console as a food warmer is not really a feature of the RX-8???

still :confused:

Still ask an expert to shed some light on this... Thanks in advance ;)

i havent gotten any. im still waiting..... patiently... not really. but yeah

Placebo I'm afraid. We'll all have to continue drinking warm Coke..... :o . Maybe psbjames1970's dealer did him some special cupholder cooler favour, but nothing done on this recall should affect the cupholders. The dealers will replace the urethane pads in the bottom of the cupholders if they've shrunk, but that's all.

Gomez.

there is an insulating blanket available for people who complain alot about the heat int he cup holder area. they may have installed that as well as the blanket for the fuel tank.

Well, Roxy's back at the dealer service dept. again -- dropped her off yesterday when her CEL came back on while I had her up in Ventura over the weekend. Then her passenger side window decided to stop working. The GOOD news is that I got 281 miles out of one tank of gas on the drive home! (20.9 MPG). Best she's ever done!

There were TSBs for both the CEL and inop. window issues so I printed them out, along with the TSBs for squealing front brakes, interference between the trunk lid and the taillights, and snapping sounds from the front wheels while turning (I've noticed all of these things intermittently on the car but was never bothered enough by them to take the car in for them alone). I also printed out the recall instructions and brought those along as well.

When I arrived with my sheaf of printouts, the service writer looked at each one, wrote down my complaint, and noted the TSB number that was applicable. I left the printouts on the front seat of the car for the technician's easy reference. If the CEL code is the same as it was before (P0456 - EVAP system leak detected, very small leak), I'm hoping it's just a faulty gas cap as Gomez suggested. If not, then I'm wondering my gas tank itself is leaking because it's been heat-damaged.

I showed the service writer the printout on the recall, and he said they don't have the insulator pads yet, but they could inspect the car for heat damage. He asked me, "Where did you get all this information?" I told him I know some Mazda insiders. ;) Now I hope the tech follows the directions (I even hi-lighted important parts) and does a thorough inspection, not a half-@$$ed one like some of you guys have reported .

I'll let you know what happens.

I just got off the phone with my dealer service manager.
I have a group 1 (11/04 mfg date) Shinka.
I haven't received any notice from Mazda yet.
I told the service manager that I was aware of the 'recall' and wanted to know if they had started receiving parts for the repair/modification.

He said that they had one set of the necessary parts in stock to perform the recall procedure.
I have an appointment for Thursday morning to get retrofitted and reflashed; along with my first oil change.
He said that they would need to keep the car for at least 4 hours. I told him that I couldn't wait that long, and he said that he would have a rental car waiting for me to use.

I'll post a report after the procedure is performed.

Ok everyone my car has the greddy turbo kit installed on it and my mazda dealer says that I'm going to be in need of this fix as soon as they get the parts in. What will they do about the ECU since it's piggybacked? Will they even care? Just wondering.

Jamie

I've also got the greddy kit. I doubt they'll care.
The only thing I'm afraid is if the new 'R' flash is leaner (changes to the AFR's). I'm currently on the 'M' flash.

me too and I think the car has finally settled on this "M" flash. Do they have to do the flash update?

Jamie

Got a TSB and/or a part number for this? I will ask for this when I go in for the recall work ONCE I GET THE LETTER :)

Thanks!

This won't apply to you as you have an '05. They already have this.

Parts information: F151-55-161 Heat insulator pad.....for your interest.

They must update the flash level as part of the recall. I wonder if the R/S/F has any effect on AFR's and only address the high idle issues per the recall.

Call Magic Mazda...they seem to be a good source of info.

702-221-8000