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Mazda RX-8 Recalls
I took my wife's new RX 8 in for installation of "speed" accessories by an authorized speed dealer, where in, I also found out that the car needed 2 recalls corrections performed on the car. We had not received any notices in the mail from Mazda to bring in the car and one correction was an important one.
They said one of the recalls was to increase the amount of oil pumped into combustion chamber because the prior setting was determined to not be enough. To me this is not an acceptable error for the amount of money paid for the car. No wonder as reported below up to 10% of new RX 8's are still getting their motors replaced.
Perhaps this is why the car had over heated twice on a trip. I had suspected this because the oil stick had never indicated it needed any oil added, so to be safe I was adding a small amount of 2 cycle oil to the gas with each gas fillup.
In addition the "Mazda Speed" parts cost as much as the labor for installation. If Mazda wants to sell these accessories the labor should be included in the part price because $90 per hour for a total of $800 labor would have killed the parts order, if the dealership had disclosed the expected labor cost before the parts were ordered.
The dealership staff are nice but not $800 worth of undisclosed pre-parts order labor cost, with out even being kissed.
They said one of the recalls was to increase the amount of oil pumped into combustion chamber because the prior setting was determined to not be enough. To me this is not an acceptable error for the amount of money paid for the car. No wonder as reported below up to 10% of new RX 8's are still getting their motors replaced.
Perhaps this is why the car had over heated twice on a trip. I had suspected this because the oil stick had never indicated it needed any oil added, so to be safe I was adding a small amount of 2 cycle oil to the gas with each gas fillup.
In addition the "Mazda Speed" parts cost as much as the labor for installation. If Mazda wants to sell these accessories the labor should be included in the part price because $90 per hour for a total of $800 labor would have killed the parts order, if the dealership had disclosed the expected labor cost before the parts were ordered.
The dealership staff are nice but not $800 worth of undisclosed pre-parts order labor cost, with out even being kissed.
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I've never known of any car dealer that will include the installation price with the parts. I usually ask how long they think it will take (and that's not an exact science) and multiply that by the labor rates (posted in every service dept) and, VOILA, estimate to install parts!!
I've never heard of the oil flow adjustment recall. Mazda executives have now said they are going to give the "white glove" treatment to the RX-8 owners. It seems like a full disclosure of all the known issues in a nice neat document would help.
My dealer phoned me about the last recall for the vacuum test, rather than waiting on a Mazda letter. I've had no symptoms of power lose. Oil consumption has been very consistent. I did think my dealer over filled by .25-.3" inches on the last two oil changes though.
I noticed after the dealership installed an RX 8 Mazda cool air intake system that a screaming whistle developed under the hood. The Dealership claimed it was a vacume sound but it sounded like a scream from a small electric motor the was cavating instead of pumping. They said the sound was normal...duh ???
With respect to the labor cost issue, it should not take $800 of labor to just install a dual exhaust system and a cool air intake system. They should have indicated for my information when ordering the parts that they were going to charge $800 to install different mufflers and air intake.
If the labor was just going to be only around $300 to install $1300 of "Speed" aaccssory parts, then no big deal. But any one that knows about cars would never expect diffrent fresh air intake and mufflers to cost $800 labor.
For this reason there should have been some hint to the excessive labor cost at the time of ordering the parts from the dealerships. This amounts to 9 hours to install a fresh air intake duct and mufflers which is robbery without a gun. These kinds of inflated hours and cost per hour will only cause the car owners to start taking their car some where else for service.
Mazda owners will begain to order other than Mazda parts and go some where else for service .....for which Mazda/Ford will loose big time in the log run !!!
I think my dealer's labor charges are highish as well, but they are very good at telling me and they print their labor charges on the sales pamphlets. They seem friendly and they get the job done when they say they will. Here in Boston, that's worth gold baby.
Mazda Speed includes 2 bottles of filter cleaner with the accessory but does one have to take off the front bumper assembly to clean the filter. To put on the cool fresh air duct the mechanic had to take off the front bumper assembly.
Cleaning the filter could get very expensive if this is the case. Just something else the dealership should have informed me of before they sold me the part. The mechanic at our dealership admitted he had no idea how to clean the filter because this is the first one he has ever installed.
What ever happened to sales or service at the dealership telling the whole truth instead of just enough to collect the money ???
I was disappointed in the fact that their smiles were not ingenious although my money was real and I was polite to not challenge their double-talk.
Since I'm at 70,000 miles my extended warrenty is already of no use. Not only did I have to replace my two sun visors (they shredded up on the ends and would no longer stay in the up postion...even due to the fact that I rarely use my driver side one and I next to never carry a passanger or use the passenger side visor. they were quite expensive. The dealer came back and told me the "computer" unit for my ac was broken. with the replacement and labor...I was out a little over $500 to fix the a/c button.
Here's the kicker....I've always had horrible a/c output. I've taken it in to Mazda over a dozen times while under warranty...and they always said they hooked it up to the computer and it was under Mazda's set peramaters. Well this time when I left the dealership...the technician had left a thermomater in the a/c vent. It looks EXACTLY like a meat thermomater. It had a metal pole going into the vent about 6 inches. I had no idea that when the check my a/c output...they are testing the air 6 inches WITHIN the vent. Not actually testing what the temperature is that's coming OUT of the vent. I'm returning the thermomoter this week...but I must admit I'm pretty disapointed with my experience with my problems. Trispec....is this a typical way to test AC output?
They should also test the coolant level and pressure, using standard A/C tools (dual gauge device with hoses).
There have been lots of complaints of the A/C system on the RX-8 being weak. Mazda did come up with a replacement computer that was supposed to address this.
No problems to report, but I was not having any either. They did replace the two leading spark plugs per Mazda's suggestion and they were pretty clean. They advised me that the engine will likely use a little more oil than before and to check it more often till I get used to it.
A lady waiting with me had an 05 AT in for the recall and she got a "healthy" report as well. Mine is an 04 MT with a build date of July 03.
Also, regarding the squeaky brake TSB--I have this problem, intermittently, and told the mechanic (Thousand Oaks Mazda, LA area) about it. Not only could he not replicate the problem, which meant he wouldn't do anything about it (grr--do they think we make these things up?), but he said he couldn't find any TSB on the issue. I found it with google in about 30 seconds. You would think that dealers charge higher prices because they know what they're doing...
My car caught on FIRE! I was driving and all of a sudden my car died and when I turned on my car, the check engine light was on.When I saw that, I just headed straight to the dealership.I was parked at a red light and then this lady yelled " GET out of your car, your cars on fire!" I was terrified. I got out of my car, and ran and when I looked back my two exhaust had ACTUAL flames on it, melting away my bumper! When I saw that I was shaking and crying. The fire department and EMS came and aided to it.
A car should NEVER catch on fire like that. Even if you take poor care of the car, which by the way, I took pretty good care of it ( It was my dream car). Also the exhaust is RIGHT next to the FUEL tank. It would have blown up. I took my car in to the dealership and got them to look at it. They were saying something about the fuel injector went bad and it's about $1500 to fix. Plus the bumper and all this other stuff. I told the service man that something like this should never ever happen with a car, and ASKED him if their were defects or recalls on the car. He said NO. I kept arguing with him and saying this isn't right and im not going to pay for it. I also had TWO other people call and see if their was a recall and all got the answer NO.
So I went to a different mechanic place and got everything done and payed out of my pocket. I didn't even want to drive the car anymore and wanted to get a new car, but I had just bought the car and still owed alot on it and at that time I didn't have any money to put down on another car. So I just kept it and every month I have a problem with it.
Well just recently about 1 year and half later I'm looking for a new car and GUESS what? I stumble across a RECALL page for cars. I found that there was a recall for 2004 engine and engine cooling. And in the description it says that cars at high RPMs some parts around the exhaust can melt and produce problems. So due to this heat problem, it could RESULT in a fire. I couldn't believe my EYES! I never got a letter to bring in my car to check to see if I had that defect and when I had myself and two other people ask about a recall they LIED!
Anyway, I would like some advice on how to get my money back. Well really I just want them to give me ALL the money that I've put into that car or the money in the car itself and getting a RELIABLE car. My life was almost taken away from me that day and I just want some justice. please help!!
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"Must replace engine. No charge." That was very nice. However, as they were moving parts to the new block, the intake manifold either broke or was broken. "Due to carbon build up." That is a $700+ part. Does this seem to be common or am I just unlucky? The staff at the dealership has been very nice to us and we have bought two new vehicles from them, but this just doesn't smell right.
Check the Internet for RX8's ... you will see this is a COMMON problem!! Especially in warm climates! So here I am stuck with a $6900 engine replacement bill (rotaries cannot be repaired) for a car that is basically a 3000 lb paper weight... interesting fact, the engine they will replace mine with is a 2007 or newer!! What does that tell you?
DO NOT BUY AN RX8!!! You will regret it just as I have.
David Gjertson
ClaireS, Host
Automotive News & Views | Coupes & Convertibles
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Sorry I couldn't be more help and best of luck. The best thing I ever did was got rid of that damn car and got myself an acura
10w40 regular motor oil has been tested and proven to produce optimum results for the RX8’s rotary. Because this oil is thicker, it does not heat up as quickly as 5w20 and keeps your engine cool. This is imperative!!! Rotaries can run very hot because they redline a 9000 rpm. Many issues with the RX8 are caused by overheating and the RIGHT oil will decrease the chances of overheating.
Unfortunately, you will lose a few MPG using 10w40. However, if you are so concerned with gaining just a few MPG instead of keeping your car running healthy long term then you should have bought a Prius. If you cannot afford the few extra bucks for gas then you cannot afford to properly care for the RX8.
Typically, the catalytic converter is the first to be effected by use of wrong oil. Almost all RX8 owners notice that their oil has to be topped off constantly. This is because the oil is too thin. It will clog the catalytic converter. This is where your carbon buildup probably first started.
Catalytic converters are covered under the Emissions Warranty for U.S. cars 8years/80k miles. There is no sure way to know if your catalytic converter is going bad unless your CEL (check engine light) is on or you gut it (which is illegal so shops won’t do it).
The first sign of it starting to clog is a huge amount of smoke coming from your exhaust and a little loss of power (but these are symptoms for many other problems too). With the RX8, these signs are usually caused by the catalytic converter going bad from the use of the wrong recommended oil. If your CEL is illuminated, check your o2 sensor FIRST (not nearly as expensive and they can go bad).
If the issue is your catalytic converter, and the warranty has expired, you are looking at a $1,500+ part, and that doesn’t include labor. Some places like auto zone have a cat for around $2-300 but they are complete junk, do not bolt on so you better have a welder if you’re going to DIY and 6 months later you will be back to square one.
You have 2 options at this point: 1) Pay $1,5k for a part that’s only purpose is to appease the tree huggers (yes, the catalytic converter’s ONLY purpose is to filter out excess carbon and only hinders the cars performance) or 2) Pay $270- $370 for a catalytic converter replacement pipe and NEVER have that issue.
Racing Beat offers 2 (one is resonated, meaning it has a quieter exhaust tone) and there are a few others out there but I suggest researching each one first to find what best suits you. Personally, I have Racing Beat’s non-resonated cat replacement pipe and have never had a problem since.
Technically, it’s not “legal” for street cars so unless you have a friend who owns a shop, you probably won’t have any luck finding someone to do it (some shops will “check it out” to make sure there are no leaks but they will not install it). However, there are many that bolt on. I know Racing Beat’s does because I did it myself and it came with instructions. All I needed was a jack and torque wrench.
The only down side is that your CEL will more than likely come on because the o2 sensor will recognize that the catalytic converter is missing but there are several ways to take care of that, one being the Cobb Access Port. This is an AMAZING little device. With it, you can even improve your MPGs. Do some research, there is too much for me to explain but if you own a RX8, definitely check it out! This kind of technology is only available for model years 2004-08 (I believe).
Not only is a deleted cat an upgrade by giving you a few extra horses, your motor will last longer and stay healthier. If you have strong opinions on how deleting your catalytic converter is going to make a huge impact on the environment then you’re probably the type of person who would use the wrong oil to gain a whooping ~3 MPG. When your cat clogs and suffocates your motor making you lose power, blame yourself and your ridiculous views for environment... not the car.
The best way to check for recalls is to call the make of your cars dealership and provide them with your VIN number. They are able to pull up EVERY recall on your vehicle and if it has already been taken care of (just in case you bought a used car).
It sucks that you did not have a good experience with your RX8. Since Mazda discontinued the RX8, I have noticed an increase in value personally. I predict they are going to slowly grow in value, just like the RX7 did.