Worrying recall of RX8\'s in the states.....

[Ianmcurtis]

Found these on http://www.rx8club.com/  under thread Issues & Problems.

Hmmmmm.....Ford/Mazda.

[Ianmcurtis]

Dave,

Sorry, but I don\'t know how to insert previous quotes! Be grateful if some one could let me know though.
 
Anyway, the only advice on the VIN range I can offer is to contact your dealer with your VIN. I expect they would then be able to tell you if your 8 is affected or not, in the same way my dealer told me.

Ian.

 :wave

[zevans]

Annon / Ian, I agree as well - I\'d have done the same. If Mazda have forced that choice on him, then shame on them, I say - that\'s what I was driving at.

Dave, how do you find your manufacture date? Couldn\'t see anything obvious in the usual ID places...

I\'m pretty certain UK VINs are out of sequence, unfortunately.

I\'m going to phone my dealer about the self-levelling headlight warning coming on and off anyway, so I\'ll be sure to get to the bottom of this at the same time.  Meanwhile it\'s one more reason to make sure the rear wheels are doing the work through corners!

[DaveCollins]

Zack,

I got the manufacturing date from initial delivery paperwork advising dealer of shipping, and it also appeared on documentation affixed to car windcreen on delivery to the dealer.

As yet my dealer has heard nothing from Mazda UK on this, and are checking technical bulletins to see what they can find out.

Dave

[zevans]

Ta!

The car in the owner\'s club with a similar problem turns out to be just that - similar, not actually the recall fault.

There\'s only a few parts worldwide which may be affected, but the problem is finding which cars they\'re on, hence the big recall!

[zevans]

And... the reply from Mazda! (Yes, I have checked I can post it here. )

Mazda UK will be issuing a recall to 15,000 Mazda RX-8 owners shortly This is a precautionary recall that affects 15,000 for heat insulation around the exhaust and of those just over 4,500 will have the lower arm ball joint inspected.

For your information there have been no instances of failures in the UK associated with either of these concerns, worldwide there have been no lower arm ball joint failures and only two instances of components being affected by excessive exhaust heat build up, any potential issue would only arise through very extreme circumstances but as part of Mazda\'s policy of continuous improvement this recall has been issued.

For your information the suspension inspection and the additional heat insulation fitment will require 90 minutes in the Mazda dealers workshop. With regard to the lower arm ball joint, this is due to the component supplier identifying a forging concern and Mazda decided to issue a precautionary recall. There have been no failures worldwide of this component, just 90 right hand side arms and 80 left hand arms worldwide need to be replaced, it is just a case of identifying those 170 components from the global markets.

Any malfunction associated with these recalls will only be experienced in very extreme circumstances, for instance the ball joint is only likely to fail if forces more commonly associated with racing are put through the component on a regular basis. With the excessive heat around the exhaust, this only affect components if the car is sat stationary with high RPM for an excessive amount of time. The Mazda RX-8 racing in the Production S1 series has run now for two seasons, first in Formula Woman and this year in the endurance race series, and not had a problem despite numerous friendly taps from other competitors.

Letters will go out soon and we would ask that, as this is advance warning, you do not book in with your dealer until you receive your letter notifying you of the recall as we have to ensure we have sufficient parts in stock prior to booking customer appointments.

[DaveCollins]

Zack,

Thanks for posting that up.  I will wait and see what my dealer tells me.

Dave

[DaveCollins]

Details of inspection procedure have just been posted up at:

http://www.finishlineperformance.com/rx8/docs/pdf/RepairProceduresRecallBJ.pdf

Dave