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Mazda RX-8 Problems and Solutions
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Comments
Thanks!
Jake in Orlando
Mat
IS there an explanation for this. I figured PATHSTAR may have experienced similar issues because of the cold winters he has experienced.
Any advice or tips would be appreciated. I do not want to cause any engine damage. At least I have it on record with Mazda that this light issue has appeared. Other than that, car runs like a dream. Blizzak Winter tires make driving through snow easy.
On a side note: Ah, I don't know what to do! Stuck in choice between the Acura RSX-S and the RX-8!
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '08 Charger R/T Daytona; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '08 Maser QP; '11 Mini Cooper S
Past messages on this site have discussed issues with the automatic "suffering" from low revs and carbon build up. I am probably not making a lot of sense about this, but if you review earlier posts from late '04 and early '05, this topic is discussed in more detail. I feel terrible that you are experiencing this problem. I hope researching the earlier posts helps you out a bit because I recall several people with '04 automatic transmissions having this problem. Good luck.
I bought my 2004 red MT RX-8 last summer as used. It performs just as everybody raved about it. I had no problem and it seems that it had all the updates.
Just today, though, I finally ran into the quirkiness of RX-8. I let the car sit for about 5 weeks and the battery is dead. It seems from old posts that batteries in RX-8's are a little weak. In fact, when I first had a test drive at a Mazda dealership, the car wouldn't start! When I decided to purchase the car I had the dealer replace the battery with a new one. Living near and working in Manhattan, I use public transportation to go to work. Thus I don't drive the car everyday. Usually, weekend joy ride is when I take this red hottie out of the garage. It is a few weeks ago when we had a snow storm I hadn't started my RX-8 since.
Well, can someone tell me if 5 weeks are long enough a time for the battery to drain? Should I be worried about any electrical problem? I was a little worried since last time I drove the car I had to help my girlfriend with her car by jumping it with mine. It was dark and yes, I made a stupid mistake to connect the cable in reverse polarity. Funny thing is that it cured the problem of my girlfriend's car, which was having not weak battery problem but (in my opinion) some dirty relay (or something like that). My RX-8 didn't seem to be affected and I was able to stop and start the car later that night. Anyway, jumping my car (with my girlfriend's when it is bright tomorrow) will probably answer this question, but any insight from those of you who are knowledgeable would be helpful for future reference.
Thanks and Happy New Year/RX-8ing, everyone!
1. First I'd charge it with a charger. Disconnect it from the car when charging to make sure the charger doesn't harm the electronics - just the -ve terminal is fine - we always disconnect the -ve terminal first because we know we are human and can make mistakes. If you manage to touch a chassis part with the wrench on the -ve terminal nothing will happen. If you disconnected the +ve terminal first and touched a chassis part bad things would happen! Once the -ve terminal is disconnected you could ground the +ve terminal to the chassis and nothing would happen.
2. Once charged, you can start the car. Before starting, connect the voltmeter to the battery - right at the posts if possible. Have someone help you (let them start the car). When cranking, the voltage shouldn't go below 11V. If it goes to 10 or less you have a dead cell and need a new battery (the batteries Mazda uses are known to be of poor quality, and even a "new" one can fail quickly).
3. The car starts and runs. You should see at least 13.5V on the battery during fast idle. If you see only 11.5 to 12.5 Volts the charging system is fried. The regulator usually goes from reverse polarizing. It's in the alternator, so a new alternator would be in order.
Your description of the battery going dead in a month is indicating you got one of the poor quality batteries from Mazda. They should replace it. You may or may not be able to get an alternator under warrenty. I wouldn't give you one, but I would give you a good discount on one because it could be argued that the poor battery was partially responsible for the damage (and I like to please customers - but I'm not a car dealer so take that for what it's worth).
Good luck!
Let me tell you what happened. I jumped my car the next day with a spare battery lying around in the garage and she started with no problem. After driving around for an hour, it seems that the battery is recharged. Yesterday, I purchased a DMM and checked the voltage in all three situations you mentioned. The readings were all okay. It was 12.5 sitting still, 11.5 cranking and 14.4 fast-idling. The chargins system and the battery all seem okay though the battery went out quite fast (~ 1 month). Reading my previous post, I realized that it sounds confusing and figured maybe you thought I jumped my car while reverse-polarizing. My RX-8 was "giving" jump and she was running at the time. It seems to me the danger of frying the system by reverse-polarizing is lower when your car is on the giving end, is that right? Anyway, I am just relieved that there appears to be no damage to my car.
I guess that 5 weeks are too long a time to go without recharging for this puny Mazda batteries. I don't think I can ask the dealer for another replacement now that it seems there is no dead cell. Besides, they will put in the same kind again anyway. I panicked a little bit this time since from my previous experience with two Toyota Supras ('85 and '92 models) I could leave the cars in the open lot for about two months (in winter) being out of the country and still come back to start them with no problem!
I might have to leave RX-8 for a month or two again and I know that in an (way) earlier post you talked about how to keep the car without running for a while but here are my questions:
Are there any other brands of batteries that are stronger and fit RX-8? I saw on the internet an automatic charging system that can be installed in the car permanently. Is it any good?
If you want to be sure you take good care of your battery (the easy way), get a "battery tender". It's a low power well regulated battery charger. Keeps the battery from discharging. You can install it in the engine compartment and just leave the plug slightly hanging out of an opening in the grill. You just plug an extention cord into it. Those of us who live in the "great white north" know all about plugging in our vehicles.
There are lots of good quality batteries available. Usually, the ones with really good long life warrenties are well built. If they weren't, the company would loose a fortune replacing them all the time. The RX-8 battery is an unusual size, but I'm told a standard size (taller) will fit - though you may not be able to use the battery cover with a larger one. Mazda offer a larger "stock" size, but the dealer isn't the best place to buy a battery.
I hear the RX-8's are sorta cumbersome to work on under the hood, but it shouldn't be too hard to find the radiator, pop the cap, and put in some coolant. If you have to put in a lot, you got some problems. You can also check the overflow tank too. Do all this when the car is cold and hasn't been driven for several hours at least.
I bought the dent kit, "Ding King" product. Looks pretty logical how it works. Has anyone used this product?
Keeping RPMs between 2500-3800 gives me the results above. But I do let her run free when I can. With the RX-AT it's really easy to use the paddle shifters under full power to hold back on the RPMs. Of course I'm definitely giving up the higher end house power boost. But one can't really drive with the higher RPMs in Boston traffic.
On a 60F foggy LA evening I am stuck in slow moving traffic and within about 15 minutes the air coming out of the vents is about 75+F (Mode is fresh, not recirc), this coupled with the transmission tunnel temp gets the cabin to uncomfortable temps really quickly. I have a choice, open window and be deafened by traffic noise or put A/C on and get even worse mileage and power loss. I cant wait for summer! Has anyone else experienced heating of the fresh air vent air?
Thanks
I think the PCMs in the latest flash updates keeps the AC on when it's idling constantly.
My new job requires commuting in traffic where I will sit for upto an hour in stop and go traffic. I can live with the MT, but not roasting at the same time. I am aware of the weak A/C but didn't figure on the need to use it in such low ambient temperatures. That the outside air is being heated in excess of 15F in such a short distance, suggests it is being pulled from very close to the engine, not a happy proposition in LA in the summer!
As for my Group 2 2005 RX-8 AT sports package, I can't complain as there no heat problem at all after 7500 miles. We just did a 2000 trip down south and I can tell you I has turning the heat up via AC on the 60F days. Of course, there's not much idling in traffic in the mountains of western NC.
When moving at speed it is not an issue.
Thanks
Wondering if it's built this way so that the AC evaporator will constantly have hot air to defrosting it. Years ago I drove a VW Sirroco that would blow a fog during summer. The VW dealer said that there was always hot air passing through the AC evaporator in order to prevent freeze ups. They said the fog was a sign the design was working to melt ice build up in the system.
Sorry about the story. Middle age man disease.
That's OK, I suffer from the same disease! I think I have found the problem but would appreciate someone elses experience, especially if they are familiar with the fresh air ducting. With an hour or so to waste I decided to play with all the permutations and combinations of temp and mode.
With temp knob at full cold, if the mode is face & feet, or face only, the air is warm, if I select feet only or feet and screen, the air is cold. So, my thought is that if the temp knob isn't completely turning off the flow of coolant to the heater core, and in the first two modes air is directed over the heater core, the air would be warm. It doesn't explain however why when in the feet & feet/screen mode I can still heat the air. Does any of this make sense? I really dont want the dealer pulling the dash apart to research this because I will just end up with a bunch of squeeks afterwards. Thanks
I find that it is much more efficient to crack a window when it is warm in the car and cool outside than it is to turn the vent on cold. I would need to turn the AC on to get the temp through the vent as cool as the outside air.
Let me know if my assessment meets your experience.
Modock
This time of year I almost always have the "Defrost/Feet" mode selected so that I can control the fog levels on the windows and warm my feet. For this reason, I never really noticed the air temps that you were describing.
Theory: I've got to think the AC evaporator and the preheated external air are tied together as a unit much like a modern defrosting Refrigerator. I also think that non-AC routed air and dry cool air are linked. The evidence I have for the AC/preheated air linkage goes like this.
1) The AC evaporator collects humidity from the air at temps above 32F. I normally observe a blast of humid air that would fog my windows on starting up in the mornings. The AC would clear the screen shortly, but it was a pain to wait until I could see again.
2) Since doing your test of leaving the AC off all the time, little to no humid air is getting trapped in the AC evaporator. The last few mornings, there has been no window fogging even though it's been raining.
On the later link of non-AC routed air and the non-preheated air the evidence comes from this.
1) When a mode setting contains "Feet", the air blowing from the feet is cooler than "Face" or "Defrost" air without AC running and hotter than "Face" or "Defrost" with AC running depending on the temp setting dial. At least it felt so this evening driving in Boston traffic with an unusaully warm 45F external temp.
2) Air that would NOT normally want or need humidity removed or cooling added isn't routed through the AC evaporator so it isn't preheated. I noticed the "Feet" blower was much cooler just as you did and the "Defrost" switch caused the same cooler air to blast above.
The manual describes using the "Defrost/Feet" setting to de-humidify the air to the windows in order to clear fogging. And I definitely see the de-fogging of the windows happen when I turn on the "Defrost/Feet" setting with the AC running.
Reading the Climate Control section of the manual does not clarify anything else though. I'm still confused about the "Defrost" switch, but it seems to only override the mode settings by design.
Oh well, now that everything is clear as mud at least I'm not running my AC as much and the morning window fogging seems much better.
1) I used full AT only, no paddle shifting, over a little 207 mile trip from Boston to Cape Cod National Seashore via Route 3 to 3A through Plymouth, up 6A, then back on 6 and 3.
2) Through the little towns on the cape the speed was 20-40 MPH slow off season traffic.
3) On the highway I never exceeded 65MPH and tried to stay close to the posted 50-60MPH speed limits.
4) There was no punching take offs and RPMs stayed under 3000 over the whole trip.
One interesting side effect of driving the speed limit is that you can always use the cruise control because no one else stays in front of you as all other drivers are exceeding the speed limit by 10 or more MPH.
With the engine idling and the window open, I could hear what I assume to be the A/C compressor clicking on and the revs drop, when selecting feet/windshield and feet only. It would switch off when selecting feet/face or face only. Interestingly, the A/C light light does not come on on the mode switch.
Bottom line, I have to run on feet/face when not wanting to run the A/C but want fresh ambient air. This is to my mind a major snafu, at night I want fresh air on my face, if I do that I get warm air that is either heated due to the air being sucked in from right over the engine or, it is being preheated by the heater core. So...I have to run the A/C all the time, not fuel efficient, and it has a noticeable effect on performance.
Intake air heating has been with the rotary from day one. We think (it's been discussed for years on end) it's caused by the engine being mounted so far back in the engine compartment. This heats the firewall/dash/console, above which is the air ducting.
Has anyone experienced a loss of power at highway speeds in 6th gear while driving at 65-75 mph?
I've noticed this on several occasions while on cruise and starting up a gentle incline.
The speeds drops off the set speed and setting on the accelerator has no effect. Dropping down a gear stabilizes the speed but nothing more.
I noticed a thread on this on the RX8 club and some thought it was related to a stuck shutter valve. Any one here have a similar problem?
">link titlehttp://www.rx8club.com/showthread.php?t=52522
Do you mean that it will be more efficient because the mechanical load on the engine of the A/C running has less effect than the aerodynamic drag associated with driving with the windows open? An interesting hypothesis, has this been documented? How far open does the window have to be open before it becomes less efficient?
Or just that hwy driving will not be as inefficient as driving in the city? A fairly obvious conclusion irrespective of A/C use.
Certainly any extra load on the engine cannot result in better gas mileage.
It will not work in the city because the speeds aren't high enough for air drag to be much of a factor.
After months of searching online and after discussions with my dealer, there does appear to be some official confirmation of the sound by other owners of the RX-8 AT, but there does not appears to be any official response from Mazda.
Some dealers say it's very bad and replacing the engine is the only fix. Some dealers says it's a bad fuel pump, but there are no fuel pumps available currently to replace it. Some dealers says it's just bad gas. Some dealers says it's normal, but they don't say why.
My engine get 24.9 MPG on the highway and 14 MPG to 18 MPG otherwise. I think that millage is fantastic! I've never had a start problem nor a fading power problem at high RPM. And my RX-8 never produces the sound while revving the rotors in neutral.
So does an automatic transmission have a normal little rattle sound at low RPMs? Is it some kind of normal slippage until it's spun up over 4K?
What's so bad about a little bit of preignition?
I can remember every car made had preignition knock from 1970's through much of the 1980's. The engine designs and unleaded gas additives got worked out. In 1979 I worked for a nutty guy who paid $700 to some guy to rip out the Cat converter just so he could run leaded (no knock) gas.
I'll have them look on next oil change. Thanks.
On cold starts: 1) Tiny bit of knocking can be detected even with 2-3K revving while still in neutral/park. 2) On shifting to reverse, immediately a little knocking noise is there continuously. 3) Driving out of my drive way at home or the parking garage in 1st gear only, the knocking noise is there going up the hills or garage ramps, but the noise goes away going down hill or down ramps as I take my foot off the gas to coast down the incline. 4) On flat surfaces the noise comes and goes, but mostly seems loudest at low RPM acceleration.
After warmed up: 1) The noise seems to lessen considerably, and is clearly gone for high revving or constant cruise speed driving. 2) Comes back very slightly once I return to low speed, low RPM driving in traffic and in my neighborhood. 3) Is not present when stopped and in forward or reverse gears. 4) Is not present when revving in neutral.