Hey Guys, its been quite a while!
I came across an 04 rx8 for a great price, and I wanted to see what some actual owners can tell me to look for or look out for.
its an 04, 6mt.
thanks!!

It has a rotary engine.

/thread

Maybe you could tell me how many wheels it has too

Four.



Sorry, hopefully Jamie or Brian will respond at some point...

Give him a break, look at his avatar..

I cant figure out which one uf us dave is making fun of

Oh, the EVO driver of course.

Check out here: http://www.rx8club.com/forumdisplay.php?f=22

Actually, it has 5 wheels. You forgot the one you grab on to to steer the car


As for problems to look out for, make sure it had all of it's TSB's done.

A few ones:

Starter and battery upgrade- The 04's and 05's came with a weak starter and battery combo. Mazda released a TSB to get an upgraded more powerful starter. These came standard on the 06-08 models.

Vacuum hose reroute: The stock routing of the hoses on 04's and 05's run a vacuum hose from the oil fill tube to the "accordian" section of the intake right behind the MAFS. This leads to a little oil blow through that will gunk up the upper intake manifold and eventually work it's way down to the Secondary Shutter Valve in the lower intake manifold. The SSV controls when the ports open up in the higher rpms. If it gums up and sticks closed you basically will hit a brick wall somewhere around 5k rpms.

Tune: Mazda released several reflashes of the PCM. Make sure it has the latest. There will be a sticker underneath the hood by the latch saying giving the most recent flash update. If there isn't one there, then you probably didn't get the flashes.


Those are the major ones I would look for.

A few other side notes: Higher mileage cars will have a few other problems, such as:


Catalytic convertors: Due to the extremely rich tunes of the rx-8, the cats on these cars tend to die. If the car has a higher mileage engine and it's the stock cat, be forwarned. I've seen some go at 30k, and others last to 70k. Bad news, stock replacements are $1500. Good news, depending on original sell date and mileage you may be able to get one for free. There is a Federal emissions warranty that states the cat must last X number of miles or years. (I think its 80k or 8 years)

Front brake calipers: The slides have a tendency to stick/freeze up causing excessive inside pad wear. It would be best to take apart the caliper and grease the slides and put new rubber boots on them.


Flooding: This kinda has to do with the tune somewhat too, sorta. Basically remember this, if you start the car, let it warm up to operating temperature. If you dont' have time to, stab the throttle and rev the engine to 5k+ and kill the ignition while the rpms are still high. This will cut the fuel to the injectors and limit the chances of them leaking into the housings and flooding the engine.

Always wait untill the car is up to operating temperature before going WOT. This will give the car a chance to not onlyl warm up, but it will allow the housing to become fully lubricated and the apex seals to expand/rotate into position.


Other then that I really can't think of anything that you would have to look out for right now. If you are looking at possibly getting this car let me know, I have a friend that has a compression tester for a rotary engine and if he has the time he may be able to check it for you for a minimal cost. I know the dealerships charge somewhere around $100+ for this. And no, you cant use a regular piston engine compression tester.

Thanks a ton Brian!!
The one im looking at is a base model 04 with 46k.
He says everything has been taken care of. But, Im going to run the vin at the local dealer and see what comes up.

Oh yeah, Thanks for the compression tester offer, but I moved to Eastern PA, so I dont think that could work out.