i got my car back from the shop, and they said that it is probably running bad cuz the compression is low. it is running like the e-brake is on times 3. my guess is that the engine blew an oil seal or something when the throttle stuck and it revved to like 10, BUT it ran perfectly normal for 30 minutes or so all the way home. so that leads me to belive there is something else that is wrong that is making it run bad. the dealership said the coil was bad or something, and that is why it was running off one rrotor and ABSOLUETLY horrible. but now it starts (OK) and runs. what else should i check to see if nething else is wrong, before i assume the engine is done for.





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first: never let the dealer touch your car. they wont understand it and will just begin replacing things.



second: find a ROTARY mechanic. a specialist. he will do a much better job, and find the real problem...as long as hes decent.



kevin.

how would i go about finding a rotary specialist? im in colorado, anyone know of any here?

yes i am a rotary specialist. so you can drop your car off at my house tomorrow and i will steal it muhahhahahah

im gonna throw out a few things here.

could a bad TPS cause this?

vaccuum lines?

bad ignition or messed up one?

blown oil seal? :(

[quote name='teknics' date='Apr 28 2005, 03:08 PM']first: never let the dealer touch your car. they wont understand it and will just begin replacing things.



second: find a ROTARY mechanic. a specialist. he will do a much better job, and find the real problem...as long as hes decent.



kevin.


[/quote]



Yeah, the dealer doesn't even know what they are doing with the rx-8's...

Any time mine starts acting funny the first thing I check is Vac lines. I cant count how many times I have found a new leak somewhere. Matter of fact Im waiting on my new TID now

[quote name='cdaleracer669' date='Apr 29 2005, 07:07 PM']im gonna throw out a few things here.



blown oil seal? :(


[/quote]

You could rule that out, if you had a bad oil seal you would be producing a nice smoke screen behind your car.



You could have cracked a plug revving high for a long time. Take em out and look at them. Then check your wires and coils.

[quote name='RONIN FC' date='Apr 30 2005, 05:48 AM']You could have cracked a plug revving high for a long time. Take em out and look at them. Then check your wires and coils.


[/quote]





He is right, one of my plugs fowled and the car felt like it had no power. That could very well be the problem.

it has new plugs and wires since it started doing this. doesnt smoke or eat coolant so thats good. whats the best way to check for vacuum leaks?

the dealer said something was wrong with a coil and they replaced it, thats why it was running off one rotor. how could i check to make sure both the coils are right?



when it revved real high when the throttle stuck, culd that have lowered the compression so much it is running like this? engine has 160k on it and it ran pretty damn good, no big power loss compared to my friends with a new engine. so is it possible for the compression to drop that much? i wuldnt think so seeeing how many people rev theres high (with mods of course)

to see if there is a vacuum leak spray carb cleaner on the vac lines. if the idle changes while doing this thats where the problem is

[quote name='cdaleracer669' date='Apr 30 2005, 08:11 AM']it has new plugs and wires since it started doing this. doesnt smoke or eat coolant so thats good. whats the best way to check for vacuum leaks?

the dealer said something was wrong with a coil and they replaced it, thats why it was running off one rotor. how could i check to make sure both the coils are right?


[/quote]





To check the coils:



LEADING-



1) Remove the negative battery terminal.



2) Remove the plug wires. (Make sure you mark them or something so you know which is which when you put them back)



3) On the leading coil there is a single plastic cover underneath the plug connection ports. Remove it It has 2 standard clips one on each side.



4) Take an Ohm meter and measure the resistance between the primary terminals. (where the 2 wires are attached) It should read between 0.2 - 1.0 Ohm



If the reading is not in that range replace the coil



TRAILING-



The trailing coil is actually 2 coils so do the same as for the leading but there will be 2 covers to remove. 1 for each plug wire or each coil so you will have to do it twice. Everything else is the same.



Hope this helps you out.

this will probably sound idiotic, but which plugs are leading and which are trailing. i have no owners manual, or shop manual to know this lol. (plan to get one SOON)

trailing is top

Leading Coil is toward the front of the car. Trailing coils are near the firewall.

You can download the FSM here.



Trailing=Top

Leading=Lower



Thats how I remember.

the car is running better and better, slowly. still not right though. what else could i check? havent checked for vacuum leaks yet or the coils lol

[quote name='porsche4786' date='Apr 29 2005, 08:26 PM']Yeah, the dealer doesn't even know what they are doing with the rx-8's...


[/quote]



ROFL r u serious?? i thought mazda made some effort to get like more of their ppl to know what they were doing and all...btw anyone here know if same sorta thing with canadian dealerships??

they actually said that they "were going to call the hotline back to figure out whys its runing bad" they have no clue whats going on with them at all

[quote name='rotary_pwr' date='May 8 2005, 05:35 PM']ROFL r u serious?? i thought mazda made some effort to get like more of their ppl to know what they were doing and all...btw anyone here know if same sorta thing with canadian dealerships??


[/quote]



I was at the mazda dealer in my area and had a question about rotaries, then about the rx-8 and they only have like 1 rotary guy and he wasn't there.