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Mazda RX-8 Problems and Solutions
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About same for me in Chlt, NC....30 mle day driving....its definitely a hurt on the wallet.....I been tossing it around with the DTC off to fend off gas price blues...same MPG it seems.... :confuse:
sstbaby - is it a AT or MT?
The last tank on my S2000 returned around 21mpg, which is way low for it. So maybe they are giving us WEAK gas and over-charging us for it?
Dennis
I had my pads replaced-- updated to a better pad--covered by Mazda-which is supposed to solve the squeak. A TSB was issued on the pads (according to the Mazda Tech.) My squeal began at about 4600 miles and I had the pads replaced at 6000.
Gas mileage: My best avg was about 17 mpg @ 220 miles on 13 gallons used. Thats my best. I usually get about 185-210 for 13 gallons used,--but I drive fast-Actually -I drive like an idiot.
86 degrees in Chicago on Wed. and now its 50 degrees a day later. Winter is coming. I spent close to $850 on 4 Blizzaks and I am having them put the tires on in two weeks. I heard about some of the horror stories of people trying to operate the car on snow and ice-and I took their advice. The car runs great --I'm at about 7500 miles since my April purchase/ and I refuse to be bothered by the gas mileage. My attitude and obnoxious driving habits may change when gas hits $5.00 a gallon.
Use Supreme Gas!! Yes, it does cost more, but it is supposed to help
Put an oil and fuel additive in your car every 3000-5000 miles (Prolong, etc.)
When available in your area, replace the air in your tires with NITROGEN. Yep!! It's the new thing. Airplanes and Nascar uses this in their tires and it's just as safe and leaks out less. It will cost about $30 to get this done once it comes to your area. Costco members get it done free (I think) and alot of your big name automotive shops will soon start offering this. This will help out with about a 10% improvement on your mileage.
Good luck to us all!!
chessie
Someone posted earlier that production on the 2006 won't start until November and they'll start showing up on lots in December or January (posting from memory here so I may not be exact) - pretty good reason for not seeing any yet.
I don't think Ford owns enough of Mazda to call the shots on what they choose to produce or don't produce.
There have been quite a few problems for sure with the really early build cars, but in general the cars seem to be working out OK. The later your car was made the fewer problems, it seems.
Any car model and company can make a bad car, a guy I know paid big bucks for a BMW 5 series and in the end BMW had to buy it back since they could not fix it. Another person had a Nissan Titan in the shop so much they brought in engineers from Japan and the plant in the USA to fix it. In both case it was a first year car or a totally new design - like buying an RX-8 in late 03 or early 04 (or getting an early built one at any time).
Dennis
I think the problem these days is the fact that competition is so stiff in the car business. These companies have to be constantly cranking out new models to keep people interested and buying. Unfortunately, the folks that have to have "one of the first ones" ends up being the tail end of the R & D session. It does lead to some unhappy customers!!
Linda
I think if you look back through this thread and some of the other 8 threads, you'll find some good advice about this issue. Pathstar and some others really have the rotary nailed down.
No matter if you are "hot rodding around" or just cruising you need it. I hit a patch of black ice one morning in a 330i I used to own and before I could THINK about correcting the skid the computer and fixed it for me. Ditto hitting a bunch of gravel mid-corner in a C5 'vette. COULD I have corrected and not wrecked? Maybe - but I didn't have to since the DSC systems did it for me.
It REALLY is needed in a RWD car since so many folks have little or no RWD experience. With FWD you get in a corner too hard or something is in the road and all you need to do is lift. With a RWD car lifting in a corner can be a bad thing. With RWD you need to slow down so you lift, the back end feels like it is going to come around so you lift more and oops around you go. Happens a lot to S2000 owners and RX-8 owners who said "I don't need DSC".
Really kills the value on the used market too - and only saves < $1k at purchase time.
Dennis
I don't see where turning OFF DSC would make a noticeable difference in fuel economy.
on a side note...
When I first was looking at the 8, I actually considered buying a base model, but I realized really quick that I needed at a minimum the Sport package, then, when I started reading what the packages have, I KNEW the only way to go (for ME) was GT. (I really wanted the heated seats and mirrors)
It was raining this morning - maybe the first time in about 3 weeks (and you know how slick that first rain can be). Pulling away from a stop sign in first gear (6mt) the rear tires turn over. I keep my foot in it as I am in a straight line, no traffic around, and I want to see how the TCS would work - it never did. I think I held the spinning tires for several seconds and no light lit up and no loss of power or other sign it was doing ANYTHING. The light does come on when I turn the key on, then goes off - and comes on solid if I bypass the system with the switch.
This has to be either the least intrusive system I have even tried or it does not work properly....
I am planning a parking lot test sometime soon to test it more.
Dennis
I do plan on some more "testing" when we have another nasty day and I have some time.
It was in the 30's a couple of mornings this week (we just set a record high last week near 90) and the GT seat heaters are pretty poor compared to what I have had in the past. One temp and it takes them about as long as the coolant in the radiator to warm up. I guess it will be more noticeable when it REALLY gets cold....
Still love the car, just not EVERYTHING about the car - like I got a little over 13mpg on the last tank
Dennis
Blast to drive.....I put that TCS to test often and like it off in dry safe road conditions and love to have it when wet or slick....
Good Luck!
I did have the regular tire rotations a couple of times and replaced a tire on one side up front. Can this be related to a tire issue? Almost feels like a tire steel belt is loose and shifting...
On another note, I washed my car yesterday and pulled it into the garage. I went to start it this morning and it won't start. I found this website today and read about the flooding, but we replaced the spark plugs and it still doesn't start so it got towed today. Mazda is closed today so tomorrow hopefully I will have answers. Does anybody know of any additional issues aside from the floodingthat could cause that?
I opened my hood after washing the 8 and discovered the DIP STICK missing ???
A few days before this I heard a metallic noise ( like a metal coat hanger hitting the floor ) when I started it up to leave for work. I got out and looked around and found nothing.
After several deep breathes and almost dead flashlight I located the stick just laying behind the radiator next to the left front fender.......to my amazement no oil had been lost. Now two things may have happened, #1 the dealer left the stick out laying on the inside fender after the oil change I had 2 and 1/2 months & 1,200 miles ago , OR #2 Is I heard the dip stick being blown out of the tube holder a week or so ago ???
Any thoughts or ideas ?!? I am thinking of tying a cord to the sticks handle.
Yes I agree with all of you that the engine flooding is a real pain in the rear. Mazda is down plugs, a battery, and a starter. Roadside assistance has a coffe mug with their name on it at my place.
If you did not let your 8 fully warm up before you shut it off then it is likely flooded. Did you get the DVD in the mail from Mazda? They cover this and how to de-flood it ("in theory"). With the puny OEM battery most of us would drain it to nothing before we could get a heavily flooded 8 to start.
Dennis
Also, a clutch disk slipping at high speed creates tremendous heat, and this can 'burn" or fracture the flywheel, or create "hot spots" that require re-surfacing. In extreme cases the bell housing will explode (people slipping the clutch at very high speeds to get out of a ditch, snow, etc.).
So, the short answer is that if your clutch starts slipping, stop driving or further damage may result.
One other issue people might find of interest is the smog check required in CA or other States that have similar requirements. I just moved to CA from RI and by law the car has to be smog checked despite only being a year old. I went to 4 different smog station in SoCal and none could communicate with the OBDII box, it is a new CAN? type and many shops do not have the revised software. Even the Union 76 station the Long Beach dealer uses all the time could not just plug the computer in (this was the first RX8 they had seen). They had to "jury rig" the spark pickup to get it to work (they could not even use the inductive loop). 45 minutes later it was done but it seems that only shops with the CAN version software or a thorough understanding of the system will get it to work.
I filled up tonight - 14.64mpg . It probably would have been over 15 or even 16 if I had not had such a bad commute this morning. It is around 12-14 miles one way with part of it stop and stop and the last few miles freeway at 45-55mph. Normally this is 20-25 minutes but today was 50 minutes with a LOT of sitting at idle.
I do drive the car in the spirit for which it is intended - so I rev it up, but not when crawling along.
When I drive the S2000 on the SAME route, with the top down, and in a similar manner I get 23mpg. Both the S and the 8 have about the same miles on them.
Dennis
This is the standard rotary engine operating procedure since the first rotary engine was made. Consider it a privilege. All my neighbors think I'm showing off. I just let them.
Also, there is a service bulletin for a newer, larger battery. If you have trouble all the time no matter how you treat the car then you may just need a new battery.
A copy of the bulletin is here - in PDF format.
Dennis
And this pdf: http://www.finishlineperformance.com/rx8/docs/pdf/01-042-04-1429.pdf
I can not find in it where Mazda is recommending a larger battery due to starting problems. It appears to only be warning techs about not blocking the cooling vents on the battery compartment that direct air around the battery if a larger one is installed and doing so will effect reliability of battery.
Other issues fixed 11/3/2005 : Fog lamp failure - faulty connection, exhaust rattle - ?? fixed after recall, exhaust recall, ball joint recall
I assume the turning on the key and pausing lets the electric fuel pump build up pressure prior to trying to fire the motor. I was complaining on another 8 forum about how hard my 8 was to start when hot (hot out, and when just driven). I would come out from running and errand and would have to C-R-A-N-K to get the car re-started. Several folks replied to try this tip - and it worked like a champ.
I would suggest you TRY it and see if it works for you as well. Makes 0 difference (that I can tell) when my car is cold, but gets my 8 started quicker when it is warm/hot than trying to just fire it right up.
Dennis
We can speculate all we want here, just try it and if it helps then the problem is solved!
The result is the car doesn't want to go straight down the road - it wants to dart left and right.
Here's the test. Go get a normal American made sedan, SUV, or truck and drive over the suspected section of the road. You should be able to detect the left and right pull, but just not nearly as much as in the RX-8.
I had a frontend guy glance at my RX-8 when I was alarmed by the same strong pull left and right. He went into this long description or how bad the American road system is compared to the Germany Auto Ban, i.e. eight feet of road bed in Germany verses eight inches in the US.
Oh well, my RX-8 costs way way less in the States than it does in any EU country, so I'm happy with my crappy roads.