Recall work & other news

[Ianmcurtis]

My 8 had the fuel tank insulation fitted today and the lower conrrol arms were inspected also and found to be from the affected parts batch. May I just add that I have not yet received any letter from Mazda regarding the recall work, I made the arrangement directly with Milcars, Watford.

My 8 also had the latest PCM? flash thingy - its only been out three weeks.

OTHER NEWS!

I mentioned corrosion on my wheels, rusting brake discs. When I collected the car I was told that the wheels would be replaced and the discs re-painted at the same time. (See pics).

ALSO........

I mentioned a US service bulletin regarding damage to the back of front seats, caused by the seat belt buckles striking said backs. This was the first Milcars had heard of this. More good news when I collected the car, they had contacted Mazda, who supplied them a cd with all the service bulletins and sure enough this fault is on there! Replacement parts are now ordered, including modified seat belt buckles (not sure if that means the whole assembly gets replaced). It turns out that I\'m the first owner to report this and to get the work ordered - at least at Milcars. Result! :wiggle

See pics of what I\'m on about folks - if your buckles hit the seats its likely your 8 needs this work too.

Lastly, if it were not for Rosenthal Mazda, USA, making the bulletins available to all, I would have just put up with the buckles hitting the seats.

Hope this all helps other owners.

Ian. :wave

[Ianmcurtis]

Errrrrrr not proof read! should say NOT from the affected batch !

[Ianmcurtis]

Wheel corrosion pics - as you see not a lot, but they are being replaced.

[mattmaclennan]

Good to hear that Mazda are not putting up a fuss with all this recall work. The Rx8 must have cost a fortune to market and support. Thanks for sharing your experience and pics Ian... top man.

[Ianmcurtis]

Cheers Matt. The least I could do. Just happens to be one of the main reasons I joined the club - information and good people.

[cjr]

what do you mean by disc\'s repainted? I can see wheels getting reapinted and disc\'s replaced.

[Ianmcurtis]

Not very well described, so bear with me on this. Maybe best called \'hubs\'? Its the bit the wheels are bolted to and probably the discs too - if you know what I mean?
Check out one of the corrosion pics, it may help.

Lots of 8\'s suffer from this, so I guessed folk would know what I meant - sos.

Ian.

[Ianmcurtis]

Pos a better pic of the rust.

[BlueAdept]

I got fed up of waiting and checked the casting number on my lower arms against the recall notice myself...

Am not so worried about the fuel tank insulation, if it\'s needed then I\'ll wait until the service...

[EZZY]

some of us aussie 8 had the battery, spark plugs and starter motor replaced under warranty  

[cjr]

I see what you mean now. Still it doesn\'t look like all off the disc is getting used!The outside edge is rusty. okay if the got the rust resistance wrong I would expect it on the inside like it is. But that looks like a good 5mm of disk not getting used on the outside

[DaveCollins]

Looks like the seat belt buckle issue may be confind to cars with leather seats.  I do not have any evidence of this type of damage showing up on cloth.

I also checked one of my arms and it is NOT from the affected batch.  Still haven\'t looked at the other one.

Ian you also mention a new PCM flash which has only been out a few weeks, do you have a reference for this or any Mazda campaign reference.

Dave

[Ianmcurtis]

CJR - maybe the angle of the pic is showing the \'innere area\' of the disc also, it doesn\'t look as much at the lower part of the pic. I\'d need to measure.

Dave, I asked for the pcm/flash details but they couldn\'t OR wouldn\'t tell me - only that it is only a few weeks old. TBH I\'ve read on US forums that there is a flash done when the insulation is fitted. //www.rx8web.com   and //www.rx8club.com  

Ian.

[DaveCollins]

Ian - Thanks mine is going in soon for the insulation/lower arm check so I will ask when I book it in about the PCM version.

Dave

[esey1]

I am a new owner (and new to this forum) and with only 5k on the clock had the recall work done last week. Dealer confirmed the heatshielding on the exhaust and the software upgrade on the management system as being done. Couldnt tell me what or why the software was being upgraded. Car too new to see if the front arms have been done.
I now note that performance at the top end is noticably reduced with slower acceleration to the red line above 6k - still fast but not so eager to rev. Tick over is smoother but I wish they had left it as it was!
Have Mazda turned the wick down on these cars in fear or them running too hot or will the car settle down once run on the new settings for a while (like the improvements in running in over time).
Anyone else suspect their car isnt running as freely as it did and any info on what the mod was intended to do would be appreciated.