hmm, just saw this post today. Interesting that it was about a month ago I needed my cat and muffler replaced because I had parts rolling around the exhaust system.. :confused: . Had just recently finished "break in" not long before so had not revved high or done anything that should blow the cat. Maybe it was our -30 c winter when the car had to idle to warm up to operating temp?

Never got a CEL when this happened, I just heard pieces rolling around and jingling (the sound was awful, driving my "new" sportscar that sounded like a jalopy). The Mazda guys mentioned the problem affected was the back end of the cat.

Uhmm.. You do know who owns Mazda, right???

Such a thin line...not quite ownership yet: ~33%+ of Mazda Corp shares belong to Ford, but still....not quite a full acquisition.

I wouldn't be surprised if share buy backs are in the works for mazda in the not so distant future.

I stand corrected. Long may the 33% (or less) continue in that case!

Actually, I beleive Ford now has "controlling" interest in Mazda; but, alas, the good news about that is that Ford recognized that Mazda has been doing a superior job in bringing marketable products to the consumer and instead of simply picking up the phone and calling Japan to find out how they did it...Bill bought the company!!

Cheers!!

Only in north america my friend ;)

Actually Ford has had has been in control of Mazda WORLDWIDE going on almost 10 years now, from May of 1996 when they bought controlling interest of 34% . Since that time Ford has called all the shots but given Mazda a good deal of autonomy in what projects they felt would benefit Mazda and the Ford family.

Plus, the Mazda 3 rides on the Focus / Volvo S40 platform. They share a lot of stuff.

Still a long shot from Volvo, Jaguar, Land Rover, etc....

Doesnt Mazda now have an American head guy that was assigned by Ford? Pretty sure I read this a year or so ago????

He got moved out to Ford of Europe (good luck, when I read that article it mentioned FoE is down 200 billion..)

At the helm of Mazda is now a fella called Imaki-san, who has been with Mazda for something like 30 years.

I'm not sure, but I *think* I remember reading Imaki-san was head of R&D at Mazda before he got The Big Chair.

Lensman,
Good to see you are still alive!

That was quite a tangent, with all this ownership stuff...
 

Back on topic here, folks... Don't care who controls/owns/whatever. I like what I've got, regardless.

Except that my 04 is in the shop for the next week due to overheating. Hurricane Dennis swallowed part of HWY 98, and shifted all four lanes of it's daily traffic into my daily commute. Turned MY 20 minutes into OUR 1.5 hours. On my way in yesterday morning (90ish degrees), steam started billowing from under the hood. I had a sunburn from hell due to the Dennis Evacuation, and "needed" the AC on full. 2-5 mph for well over an hour caught up to things. Hobbled it to the dealer through a series of warmups and cool downs, and half a gallon of antifreeze. :D Service rep says one of my fan motors is fried/burned out; one bit the dust, blowing the fuze for them both (which I replaced on my way in, noting one fan then worked). I had absolutely zero air flowing through my radiator initially. :(

I can confirm several points here:

1. Renesis does run hot
2. Temperature gauge really does move up and down depending on temp. I saw it several times hit H.
3. Turning the AC off and the heat on, and idling the engine will bring down the temp.
4. My dealer looks out for it's customers: for the next week I'm driving a brand new toyota prerunner sr5 4 door truck free of charge, due to warranty (free rental). :cool:

Think they'll be able to work the recall issue with mine while it's in this time, or will I have to bring it back in in another month?

You will have to take it back.

The recall letter will go out in August. Has anyone talked to the dealership about a repair procedure?

I'm gonna talk to the dealership more tomorrow and see what info I can get about the repair procedure, etc.

(Just found this thread today thanks to tiggerlee linking to it from my 'Buying an '05' thread :D )

you know actually, after reading that pdf again... when I was at the dealership earlier tonight, only the MT's had been pulled off the lot for the recall and he just sold an AT the day before... The pdf doesn't mention either.

They should have the inspect/repair info by now.

Just don't take your car in for an inspection until you know they have the parts. If they inspect it and find a problem of any sort related to the recall they're probably going to be legally obligated from allowing you to drive that car and they're going to keep it until they get the parts. I doubt they have any releases for you to sign at the dealership relinquishing their liability.

I know they don't have the parts. I just know they have the repair info for the dealer vehicles.. ;)

I have sat on a few boards where all the decisions get made.

If they asked me I would say, "Let's include the ECU flash even though we don't need it. This way we will make sure all NA cars have the same flash. It will help our reputation as our customers will stop posting problems on the Internet and stop complaining to various agencies about the problems incurred from previous flashes."

So, I'm not too worried about the flash.

Some more info has come to hand. Seems like the RX-8's built before the plant fire halted production last December will require the fitment of a repair kit. This kit is not yet available to dealers. The kits contents have yet to be notified. Delivery of the kit to the dealers will be prior to the recall which will occur in August. Vehicles built before the fire fall into Group 1.

Vehicles built after the fire are known as Group 2 vehicles and are subject to a dealer inspection for heat damage to the fuel tank. They are also in need of a re-flash. If damage is found to the tank of a Group 2 car, it has to be held until the Group 1 repair instructions are issued.

The new flash is "E" for six speed cars, and "F" for autos. New cars produced at the factory after 7 July have already been sorted.

That's all there is at this stage.

Cheers,
Gomez.

Thanks for the updates!!

New cars on dealers lots built after the fire (March 22 or later) "should" be okay for delivery after a reflash. If the car you have on order falls into this category, you should expect delivery next week, IMO :) .

Gomez.

Still no word from Mazda Australia on whether our cars will be affected by this recall... :( . I have no idea what the go is in Europe, or elsewhere.

well i have a wonderful (well not really) personal exsperience that happened tonight...while i was sitting in my car chatting with my gf.....it was idling with the a/c on by the way. she burned her foor on her chair...well the metal frame (braket?) that hooks the chair to the body of the car...i was idling for perhaps 20-30 min.'s tops. i knew the car runs hot..but this is the first time i've ever seen my 8 get so hot in the cabin...her side felt liek it was on fire (everywhere :( ).i can only imagine what its' like under the car. granted i normally don't just idle her when she is already warmed up.....and i guess i never noticed my pasenger seat melting..b/c the only time i've idle her for any long amount of time is when i'm was in traffic or rush hour (D.C. area)..and i've never had a passenger to burn themselves on the seat in rush hour. when i drove my 8 after she almost melted she cooled down a lot (seat only slightly warm and no longer too hot to touch).

I really like my car....and i'm glad mazda has a fix to address this issue :D...go heat shields all over the car. :p

one thing that scared me though is as soon as she got burned (not seriously thank god...someone/thing hurts my dream gi....ls i'll have to get medevil on their/it's buttoks :p ) we smelled something burning...well i almost had a heart attack...but it was only a candy rapper in the drink holder ...ooooooooooo....and i had a thing of chapstick that completly melted in the drink holder and a pen burst/leak b/c of the heat...crazy crazy..if i liked coffeee at least it'll be kept hot as hell...but i hate coffee :(

oh well i'll just not have to idle her on purpose..and no longer keep anythign in the drink holders ....... i think i'll do a lill mod i saw anouthr forum member do and heat shield teh underside of the drink holders..that should help my poor poor chapstick out (well it's replace ment)...and hopfully mazda will help with the rest (heat shields)