Bought a second hand 03 rx8 with 6spd transmission a year ago, 3months back it blew the engine and got it replaced for $5000, master and slave cylinder bad had to replace that for $700, blew the coils and plugs cost $1500 replaced, clutch completely worn $1000 replaced. Now there are mor ebloody troubles. The transmission makes rattling noise when going into clutch at acceleration and again makes rattling noise from the tranny when I put a bit of force on the gas. No problem at idle and going into gear driveabiliy etc, it just feels like the tranny or driveshaft will 'snap' or have a catastrophic failure something soon. Also dsc and abs light will come on instantly the moment I turn on my headlights, I've never even heard of this stupid problem before. Insurance job sounds like a good option right now and I've searched all day on the web nobody seemed have posted in regards to these two unique matters over the net. Any ideas? Theories? I'm going to bed now and hope I dont wake up in the morning

 

You paid to have the engine replaced, so that must mean that the car is out of warranty and has more than 100,000 miles on it. Wile some can go a lot longer, an engine should be expected to be nearing the end of it's life at that time.
You bought a second hand transmission, of unknown history, and you expect it to last?
You over-paid for the coils and plugs. Total cost for parts is about $300 or less and is a simple repair. $1000 for a clutch replacement could be considered a bargain.

You bought a high mileage used car and there will be problems. That's why people buy new ones.

 

THe rattling from the clutch with the peddle pressed sounds like a noisey throw out bearing. That is normally replaced when the clutch is replaced. It is not going to hurt anything just annoy you. Make sure to check the tranny oil also incase it is low. That could also make things noisey.

The headlight issue is tied to the leveling sensors on your suspension which also ties to the DSC. Jack up your car in the front and look around your front sway bar and a-arms. You should see a small link and one end is probably popped off.

Once you get thru the abuse from the previous owner you will find that these are fun cars and worth the effort.

 

Yup sounds like you bought a beauty all right.
I'm sure you don't need to be told that buying a used car can be a risky proposition especially a 2003 RX8.
How many miles on it?

Completely worn out clutch ... yech that is typically caused from abuse or a **** poor driver.

The rattle could be the throw out bearing, hard to say really without hearing it.
I've never heard of that strange electrical problem.
What kind of aftermarket gismo's do you have installed? (ie.stereo)

I'll keep it short for know, just in case you don't wake up.

 

BigC and Al beat me to the post!

I'll get you guys and your silly dog too!


To the op ... the three of us posted similar comments without knowing what the other was typing (look how close the time stamps are) ... interesting

 

That is what makes this site so good. Great minds think alike I guess... Good to see we are all headed in a similar direction with the ideas.

 

Scooby Dooby Doo! He, he, he

 

I'm 99.9% sure that most cars that are called POS by their owners would have something nice to reply with...

 

Sorry us australians doesn't have the luxury of 100,000 mile warrantly etc. Its done 140,000ks how much is that on ur system i dont know. Parts are stupidly expensive here and for uprated coil pack and plugs that was the cheapest I could get at the time. Master and slave is new and prior to this the transmission did not present any problems. I would like to see you own a brand new rx8 with a price tag of $71000+ 3% stamp duty and $1000 registration and a crap 3-5 year 6-80000k warranty. My car cost me ~$30000 includin all the stamp duty and rego. Now stop telling me how I should become an american and tell me wats wrong with it so that I can decide to do an insurace job or pay for a $700 labour

 

Sounds like some one bent you over and tickled your tonsils if you were foolish enough to pay the money you did for those repairs.Have you changed tranny fluid since you owned it,what is the maintenance schedule for the vehicle .The parts you have replaced are wear items,yes, even the engine, being an '03, I'd say you have been fortunate.Its just a car, nothing to lose sleep over.

Mate, Im also an Aussie, and you are lucky with 3% , here its 23% and gas (petrol) is $2.00 Aust; a liter, no extended warranty. What is the $700.00 labour charge for ? If you need parts and Repco or Supercheap dont carry them, get them from the US, it will work out mucho cheaper

 

You are right sir I don't lose sleep over it just a couple of grand from my wallet lol

 

Ill make sure the check first thing in the morning

 

+1 most of us work are own cars. U think 5000 grand is a lot.. A clutch master and slave cost no more than $120 coils are right there in front of u when u open the bonnet up, as far as the clutch it takes 30min to drop a transmission less than 30min with 2 people. I felt the same way about my ride to you and the The best advised I could give u is to learn your car like a woman. Cuz with this car if treat her wrong it will treat u wrong back and hurt your pockets.

 

That is correct, unlucky for me I worked like a donkey for the last two years, now that I've left my job I'm going to explore this bitch throughly and push all the right buttons

 

I didn't realize we were dealing with an Aussie. Your location isn't listed in your profile. It's the nature of the beast that we make the assumption that the member is from the states.

 

If you can do the following in 30 minutes:

Jack up car and set on 4 jackstands
Unscrew shift ****, then pull console coverplate/shiftboot
Unbolt and remove rubber coverplate around shifter
Unbolt and remove shifter assembly
Unbolt and remove two cross bracings
Unbolt and remove cat converter pipe
Unbolt, disconnect, and remove starter
Drain trans fluid
Unbolt and remove driveshaft cover plate on PPF
Unbolt and remove CF drive shaft and then wrap it to prevent damage
Support transmission
Unbolt and remove PPF
Unbolt clutch slave cylinder from bellhousing
Unbolt and remove transmission


Then you must be Superman. In reality you are Fullofcrapman.


.

 

once it is up on my log cabins, I can get it out in 1 hour--it takes me 6 to put it back in. I have problems lining the dang thing up right.

 

OD:
It took me ~12 hours spread over several days after work to get mine lined up right during my clutch replacement. I finally went to a hardware store and purchased a set of bolts longer than the OEM ones (I think 75mm? can't go too long) and threaded those through the transmission into the block, and evenly/slowly used those to pull the transmission in a proper line to the engine until it was close enough that the OEM bolts would thread.

Just a tip for when you go to do it next. Was a life saver for me.

 

Car lifts aren't poisonous... why it looks like nobody ever uses them in the us?

 

No garage yet. Hoping to remedy that problem within a few months, and I already have the wife's agreement to buying a lift as soon as possible after the move.

 

A jack and some elbow grease always worked for me, can't say that it ever took me more than 30 minutes to get it mated back up by myself (have done this maybe a dozen times at least), but a second set of hands with strong arms is always quicker and easier, a few minutes at most

 

You keep mentioning pulling an "insurance job" in your posts, wonderful. I really hope you are not talking about what I think you are, and if you are hopefully you get caught.

 

 

You fail

You forgot to "open the bonnet "

 

^
Maybe there isn't one from the beginning for cooling purpose.