With my car, it feels like it's going to run out of breath around 6000rpm, and then...it doesn't run out of breath, and it keeps going all the way to 9000. I assume that effect is caused by the "VFAD" opening like it's supposed to, and what the OP described could be the sensation of the "VFAD" *not* opening. I mean, the OP did say the engine hesitated, not that it hit a hard-stop like the cold-engine rev-limiter produces. That sounds more like insufficient fuel or air than anything else, to me anyway.

 

I believe the OP stated he has a Racing Beat intake, which means VFAD assembly is removed. The RB intake acts like an always open VFAD.

 

make sure the battery have solid connection with the power and ground wire. it happen to me when I not tied up the battery. good luck to you.

 

did you ever figure out what was wrong? im having the same issue. 7k + isnt happening. ive been looking around and found nothing. i guess ill check my coils. i did replace them last year. do they go bad that fast?

 

Have you checked your catalytic converter? Mine was completely clogged at one point, and my Top RPM under WOT started to drop rapidly, so low that I had no power (withing a week or less). Keep in mind, there is an 80,000 mile Emissions warranty in thee US to cover the Catalytic converter and the ECU.

 

I changed my cat with a mid pipe and still the same problem. I'm running out of things to do lol.

 

I can't start a thread, so I'll jump in here (quasi-related). Series II Sport with 6 speed, maybe 73K miles. 17K on plugs (about due), original coils. twice in last month, drive up very steep hills in second at nearly full throttle. About 6K RPM, will hit what feels like a rev limiter - engine bogs, and the second time I heard a squeak from the engine. Lasts a second or two. Thinking of disconnecting battery. Gas? tank was full the second time this happened. coils? - all at once? I can't seem to reproduce the problem

 

If you made it to 76k on original coils, consider it a gift. I have a 2010 with 40k and I already had my coils go bad, as has most others on the forums. If one of your leading coils goes, you will definitely feel it. With 76k I would imagine that all four are on their last leg. Search "coil test" and do the recommended procedure.

 

OP, did you end up resolving this problem? If so, what was the issue?

I originally had the exact same symptoms during a lapping session at Watkins Glen. I drive the car home for 4 hours not sure if I would make it home and the symptoms continued during the entire trip. The car just ran out of breath at 7K and I felt a huge power loss.

I took it to Mazda and they cleaned the MAF and throttle body. The tech also said that I had a small leak in one of the small hoses around the intake(can't recall which one). That seemed to fix things for about 3 months. I took a 5 hour road trip past weekend and now have the same problem. I get this intermittently now with the car running well in the morning and then losing power later in the day. I have BHR coils which have less than 10K km in them so don't think it's that. I am starting to suspect the fuel pump as the symptoms seem to be less severe when the tank is topped up. I have had serious issues with fuel starvation when on track with less than half tanks, so is it possible that this is the issue?

 

Been on that stretch of road since then - I think I hit the rev limiter in second & didn't notice. Posted 45 mph, but I wasn't paying attention

 

I would be checking your Fuel Pump, although S2's are obviously the later and better unit and far more reliable they also come with a removable (and new replaceable) fuel filter (sock).
There is a possibility that over the years you have collected lots of muck in it and or from pre-mix residues.

LFB6-13-ZE1 Filter, about $20, cheaper than a pump....?
(same replaceable Filter is ONLY used/available in S2 RX-8, NC MX-5, CX-7, CX-9, CW CR Mazda 5, DY Mazda 2, BK BL Mazda 3, and GH Mazda 6 + GG MPS 6, GG Mazdaspeed 6)

 

ASH8, thank you for the info on the S2 fuel pump. I'm going to give Techron a try first to see if it addresses it. If not, it's off to Mazda to have the pump & filter checked. I will update the post once things are resolved.

 

I don't know why, but I have a feeling I am going to get flamed for this, but here goes anyway...

I had that problem too after my last track day. I was having a particularly good afternoon, having finally unlocked the secret to a set of linked turns on the back side of the track. I can normally come out of them in 3rd and quick-shift to 4th. On this day, however, I was driving fast enough that I needed to straighten the wheel and upshift right before the last turn. Problem is, I kept forgetting that shift due to years of experience on this track and muscle memory, etc. So, I hit the rev limiter twice during my last session. I had to leave the track after the second time, because of power loss at 7K. On the 2 hour drive home, I tested it a few times, and it was still acting up. I thought I may have damaged something.

The first thing I did when I got home was disconnect the negative battery cable. I left it that way while I unloaded and cleaned everything up from the track, then reconnected it. It has been fine ever since.

So, without having any emperical knowledge of what happened, I surmise that after hitting the rev limiter hard twice, the ECU went into some sort of mild limp mode that can be cleared by disconnecting the battery. I have no idea. Really just guessing here.

You might try that. It's free.

I know it sounds iffy, so flame away.

 

Wow, this is the first I've heard of this. I've had the dealer and a rotary mechanic tell me it's integrated. I'm going to see if I can get this part ordered. Kind of important since I was just about to pull the trigger on a new pump assembly...

 

Steve not a iffy conclusion at all..
Mazda over the life of any car make incremental changes on many parts/software the ECU being one of them including S2, unfortunately they never tell anyone (including Dealers) what they have exactly done.
It is quite possible they have altered config to protect engine.

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I have posted many times before and have a spare fuel filter, buy cant be bothered pulling it out and taking a pic..
S1 OEM Fuel Pump Filter is not detachable, probably where the confusion lies with Dealer?.

 

I'd say yes. I bet you can count with your fingers number of people that have replaced fuel filter at the dealer on SIIs. Also the service reps appear to not know anything about RX-8s any more. I did confirm the part # with the local dealer parts guy. Thank you Ash, you might have just saved me $275 (roughly) !

 

I might not too..?

If you really want to know about the 'physical' in your car you should always go to a good parts guy.

To be fare to Service Advisors most are not techs/mechanics, they are smiling pen pushers, they don't see enough of many of the issues associated with aging cars and have a high staff turnover in some dealerships where they are worked to death, and I did it for 18 months and was awarded ''the best Service Advisor'' by stooges who came into our 4 dealerships with old **** box Mazda's for a ''scheduled service'', I recall and thought it was strange receiving a 27 year old car for a service but they played the part well, I happened to get a nice lady who gave me full marks (aren't I lucky) in her 1975 Mazda 808 Wagon, the recognition was all sprung on me after this test many months later and was an embarrassment in front of my other colleagues...I hate this sort of attention, the event was like a 'this is your life' gotcha moment at a State Dealer event held by Mazda.
I just happened to know the product extremely well as a former long term Mazda parts guy.
After many years in the game you get tired of the BS...I like to do my job well and treat customers how I would like to be treated, and I expect it, I am becoming a grumpy old man..lol.
Real retail Customer Service in Australia died decades ago.
Sorry for the rant...

 

UPDATE: So after having similar issues as the OP, I ran a bottle of Techron through the car and disconnected and reconnected the battery as one of the previous posters suggested. This seems to have addressed the issue and the car is now revving freely to over 9K - LIKE NEW!

I'm not sure which did the trick, but it's been over a month now and everything seems to be working perfectly.

 

UPDATE: I got the code read and it came back with P0420, P0410 and P0411. I replaced the spark plugs, coils and wires, and the problem didn't go away (I didn't think it would, but it had to be done anyway.) I know P0410 and P0411 have to do with the air pump, and after reading around, it doesn't affect drivability. P0420 however is saying there's an issue with my Cat...again. Was able to get to 7000 RPM before, now I'm barely getting to 6000RPM. The videos below pretty much explains whats going on.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...4keL4G6H2mpi0L


Unfortunately, my cat is out of warranty, but I'm getting my cat replaced tomorrow. Hopefully this one last longer than a year, and the problems go away. If not, I'm checking the fuel pump tomorrow, but judging by how the car is acting, and the fact that the exhaust is more quiet than usual, I'm going to say my cat is clogged, and replacing it tomorrow should get rid of all the problems.

UPDATE 2: So my Cat was 110% clogged. As soon as they took it out the insides spilled all over the floor. New cat is in, works great.