Hi Guys, In new! (woohoo)
So I apparently have some serious problems with my beloved rx8 and could really use some guidance/advice.
I bought an 05 plate 231ps with 58k on the clock and FSH back in April last year. My pride and joy. She's never missed a beat and apart from a small reluctance to start when hot has given me no grief whatsoever until now.
She has barely a scratch on her and when somebody pulled of the headlamp washer jet I sourced a part from scrappy and took it to a local garage so they could drop the bumper and fit it. Cost in region of £140 as needed colour matching too. Despite my instructions and warnings on how special she was they managed to badly flood the engine.
After attempting the mazda de-flood procedure (disconnect fuel pump crank 4 secs, rest 2 etc blah blah) and failing We bump started and let sit for 30mins before I took on a 10mile drive opening up all injectors and parked back up at home. After allowing to cool I tried to start again and nothing. I checked one of the spark plugs and it was pretty fouled so purchased a new set costing another £120. Being parked up on a busy main road I couldn't do much else other than get a recovery to a local garage. Another £96...
The local garage changed the plugs and crank over with them out to de-flood and managed to get it started. When I got there they said I had another issue and that there was oil leaking from underneath the front bumper. After inspection they informed me that the oil cooler pipes had corroded and one had split. Mazda mechs advised that once one hose goes they would need to replace the lot and quoted around £800 for the pipework + 4 to 5 hours labour + oil filter and fluids all totalling around £1400. On top of that they say that the only way they can get it to start is by putting in a lot of extra boost through the battery. They are testing the battery overnight but are suspecting that I will also need a new starter motor. They have also read the diags and say that its throwing crankshaft sensor codes, presumably due to the worn out starter?
I only paid £2200 and from the numbers that the mechanics are giving me I'm wondering whether I'm better off cutting my losses and finding a new rx8? Although I feel obliged to keep this fantastic car on the road I'm not sure the numbers add up. Please somebody tell me I'm wrong and the mechanics have made a horrible mistake?
Hi matey were are you based? Rotary garage is what you need. Pipes can get corroded but id suspect disturbed by bumper removal. Crank shaft aka eccentric shaft sensor could be bad but suspect covered in oil or crud.
And when where the coils last changed.
Hey boosted,
I'm in Calne, Wiltshire (Sort of near Swindon). Unfortunately I'm in the process of moving house so all my cars paperwork is packed (God knows which box!). I suspected the coils need changing and was in fact planning that as the first job once I move to the new place where I have an actual driveway!
Im in Westbury mate just down the road .
Well you have
Hayward Rotary Newbury.
Rx motors Salisbury
And Rotary Motion in Calne.
All know there rotaries mate and all will have spares and being able to get you up n running...due to your location prob best bet is Rotary Motion. If you can wait til weekend im maybe able to pop over and help you but i do not have a spare oil cooler pipe. But i would hold off spending any cash as a slow starter will not cause eccentric shaft position sensor faults that im aware off!
Also dont even think about taking to mazda dealership...theyll wipe your bank account out!
How bad is the leak? We talking drip or gush?
It can't be that bad, I check the oil religiously and after bump starting and taking for a run the oil level didn't appear to have dipped. I of course wasn't aware at that point of any split hose.
Looking underneath briefly at the garage it appeared somewhere between a drip and a gush ;-) .
Funny thing is that as far as I could tell (by no means a mechanic) the starter was running like the clappers. The guy I bought it off said he had replaced at some point with the uprated starter.
Myself and Mrs are sharing a car at the moment so I can get around for now. I'll give rotary motion a buzz in the morning and see what they say! Thanks ;D
Cool. Did you change plugs 1 at a time? So as not to mess up orientation? Also what colour where the ht leads? And leading sparkplug...marked with an L went in bottom and Trailing in top
Yeh leads were labelled and all out at once but they went back in the same orientation. I think the leads were all black but can't remember.
RE8's in lead and RE9's in trail. The old ones that came out were RE7's and RE9's.
Ok just checking. Well see if Chris from RM can help you tomoz if not as short notice i might be able to pop over for a look at weekend.
Sweet cheers!
I'll give Chris a buzz tomorrow and go from there.
I was well down in the dumps - so glad I posted here. Had no idea there was any rotary specialists nearby. Legend.
Cool no worries.
don't buy second hand ones don't buy mazda parts get a set of these half the price work very much better takes less than two hours to fit and only 3 hoses to fit not the 6/7 mazda parts that fail all the time I had mine on almost a year there very good and half the price of mazda originals and unless you know the perteck fitter in your area very well don't buy from them either cos there hosing an,t no dam Good.
http://www.mazdarotaryparts.com/bracing-beat-rx-8-oil-cooler-hose-set-b-1768-p.asp
If i lived nearer I would pop over to give you a hand the crank sensor can be a fickle thing only take 5 mins to take off clean and put back check the crank sensor tooth end plate make sure thats not had any teeth bent as well.
Hears some one that might be able to help he sells good second hand parts and is a trusted supplier he could point you in the right place if your on a budget until you can get a new part click on the link below
http://www.rx8ownersclub.co.uk/forum/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=16453&sid=2d7e17cf352eaa8452293bc6f42fc3d2
Wow thanks that's somewhat cheaper!
were here to help any time ;)
Any news mate?
Yehman just spoke to Chris. Not been able to get through all day.
I've told local garage not to touch another thing and rotary motion going to pickup from them tomorrow.
I'm well cuffed. The prices and amount of labor rotary motion were qouting are actually affordable.
Will keep you posted. Thanks so much for the help!
glad your getting it sorted ;)
Well ill keep my fingers crossed nothing to serious or expensive.
Please report back what he finds always good for the knowledge and get some piccys of car up and have a look around the forum...you could also bring it to Japday at Castle combe.
Also have a look around Mazda Rotary Parts website for shiny go faster bits!
So they've ran a compression test and I'm looking at a rebuild. The rotary guys say the starter is absolutely fine and they can fix the oil cooler hoses for a fraction of the price of the other garage.
News I could have done without. :-X
Shiny go faster bits will have to wait a while after stumping up for a rebuild but I'll be at Castle combe this year for sure!
Oh dear..you did mention the relunctance to hot start. So everything is else on ignition is good? With a rebuild you defo want good coils.
I was hoping it was coils or a dirty e shaft sensor.
Oh dear..you did mention the relunctance to hot start. So everything is else on ignition is good? With a rebuild you defo want good coils.
I was hoping it was coils or a dirty e shaft sensor.
They're going to check the coils (and rest of ignition) at the same time and change if needed.
At least after all this work I'll have in theory a decent motor with a warranty on the engine.
Funny thing is it's around the same price as that other place wanted for fixing the oil leak and replacing a starter motor that didn't even need replacing. I guess I have that to be happy about at least!
Ok its just depends how your funds are.. a low comp car can go on for a while so if it is an ignition prob then you dont necessariy need a rebuild but the non starting problem sorting.
But if your happy with price quoted and warranty then ok.
If youve got a really fast spinning starter the previous owner fitted to cure hot start.
Would be nice to know the comp fiqures.
Also when you where driving it where you getting a flashing engine light?
They said 'no' compression. I wouldn't know how to make sense of the figures so didn't ask but he offered to show me if I could pop down.
Engine light wasn't on no.
Could do without spending the money but on the other hand it is very appealing to have the reassurance that would come with it.
Thats not very specific is it.
So spoke to the garage again and and it's below 4 bar. Couldn't get a reading on digital meter. That's cranking @ 280 I think they said.
They're going to re-run the test to double check. Hopefully the meter was just misbehaving.
I've asked them to fix the oil leak and check/replace any ignition issues for now while I figure out if/how/when I can afford a rebuild.
Sucks :(
Fingers x mate does sound like like coils/ flooded to me . Was running fine before bumper taken off. If you can get back to state before non starting and then save for a rebuild.
Just picked up my motor, started hot. Oil leaked fixed, oil change and new filter. More powerful starter motor fitted all for 1/4 cost that local garage wanted. They checked ignition and said all fine. All things considered pretty happy!
Comp test results @ 291 rpm Rear 5.2, 4.9, 5.4 Front 4.5, 4.1, 4.3. From what I've read that's not great and I'm looking at a rebuild pretty soon right?
At least I can get from A - B in the meanwhile ;D
Maybe shiny bits are not completely out of the question. For now at least I have a pretty tidy std 05 model rather than a non-runner.
Pleased you have an up n running Rotary :)
Far too much emphasis is placed on compression readings, all the time it starts hot and cold and goes OK-------------- Just Drive it :00123101:
Excellent news hope the house move goes ok.
might be time todo some premixing.
2 stroke engine oil thats designed to lubricate the inside of the engine and burn. works very well in a rotary engine as lubricates the apex seals. These are what wear down and you lose compression.
by introducing a small amount into the engine with the fuel its gets where you need it.
personally i use 100ml added first so mixes and then fill tank to pump stop from empty.
track use i go 150 ml.
The better quality stuff is termed as ashless so burns clean and does not leave any deposits.
there are lots of different makes out there and i spent aday googling and learnt alot about oil classification.
jaso FD is the highest classification for 2 stoke oil and there are lots of different makes to chose from.
Castrol A747
Royal Purple
Idemitsu etc (used in the Lemans 787b)
i use this stuff as its jaso FD and cheap! used in about 10 rotary engines with no issues. and in an engine that i stripped with no discernable carbon build up.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/High-Quality-Two-Stroke-Engine-Oil-2T-Racing-Fully-Synthetic-5-Litres-5L-LT-/371549698907?hash=item5682167b5b:g:~qcAAOSwUuFWt61y
Thanks Guys....
Been absolutely manic. B***tards randomly took their house off the market so back to full on house hunting. Sigh - I get all the luck haha.
I'll pickup a bottle of two stroke.
Had a good chat to Carl Hayward the other day - good guy. Probably going to look to save up and get a proper good tune up done.
Got stranded at Halfords the other day and had to wait 30mins for engine to cool off before it would start. Other than that been running great ;D
:P the bridgeport is well worth the extra cash!
Been absolutely manic. B***tards randomly took their house off the market so back to full on house hunting. Sigh - I get all the luck haha.
happened to me on day of exchange after 2 months, no reason just pulled out...7 in chain all left hign n dry....My wife has yet to bump into him out shopping... :))