Mazda To Recall EVERY RX8 Ever Made!

[Prey521]

WOW! http://www.nissanclub.com/forums/images/smilies/owned.gif

Mazda plans a voluntary recall of all 2004 and 2005 RX-8 sports cars along with some 2006s because of damage to the catalyst resulting from oil leaks in the RX-8's rotary engine.

Mazda is preparing to replace the engines in many of its top of the line sports cars as a result of the recall. Any engine that does not pass a specific vacuum test will be replaced according to Mazda.

Engines prone to failing the vacuum test are mostly in hot climates and use synthetic oils, according to the automaker.

Earlier this month Mazda, in an attempt to soothe intense dealer dissatisfaction with the RX-8 maintenance record, promised dealers that it would no count RX-8 owners' opinions in its internal customer-satisfaction scores.

Mazda dealers complained that problems with the RX-8 were unfairly lowering the Mazda customer-satisfaction results.

A video of the dealer complaints was leaked to a Mazda owners' web site and caused an immediate uproar.

In the video, a member of the Mazda National Dealer Advisory Council states, "Mazda is well aware of the negative impact on the scores caused by the RX-8 surveys. They agreed with us that the situation had to be changed. And so, effective July 1st, RX-8 will be continued to be included in the survey, but the scores will no longer be included in the results."

The engine recall is the latest in a series of problems for the RX-8. Mazda will also check each RX-8's battery and starter, which tend to fail in cold climates.

Mazda has already issued service bulletins on such trouble spots as squeaky brakes and engine flooding. Squeaky brakes on the RX-8 are the subject of three Technical Service Bulletins, according to owners. RX-8 owners have also repeatedly complained of engine flooding to failure.

Mazda executives promise to give the RX-8 "white glove treatment" to finally deal with the problems associated with the sports car.
The automaker has a remanufacturing plant in North Carolina that will rebuild faulty rotary engines and return them to service.

Zoom, Zoom, Zoom.................... back to the dealership!! :D


Edit, damn, forgot about the Auto forum!! :o

[CableDude]

Edit, damn, forgot about the Auto forum!! :o

Heh. :D

[YARDofSTUF]

Oh, just all of them? thats not bad :p

[Cerberus1027]

I've yet to see any good reason to buy a rotary engine.

[YeOldeStonecat]

I've yet to see any good reason to buy a rotary engine.


They are very entertaining to drive. Granted they're not the best on fuel, and they're prone to oil consumption and those apex seals...but they are turbine smooth, and willing to spin. Very unique and fun.

[Cerberus1027]

I'm just not seeing the advantages. Seems to me a 4 banger is just as good if not better. Maybe I'm wrong, but so far mazda isn't making the rotary engine look to appealing perhaps its just bad marketing on there part.

[YARDofSTUF]

I'm just not seeing the advantages. Seems to me a 4 banger is just as good if not better. Maybe I'm wrong, but so far mazda isn't making the rotary engine look to appealing perhaps its just bad marketing on there part.


Rotary engines are for people that want the same performance as a honda at twice the RPM.

The idea of a rotary engine isnt bad, its just that no one has put it to good use.

[Cerberus1027]

A stock honda?

[YARDofSTUF]

Well dont take my post as gospel :p

[Cerberus1027]

I'm just saying the preformance boost you get from those higher rpms are just a waste since you can't modify the engine in any way I know of and I don't see the advantage of buying one when other car makers have built there engines so well and easy to modify. Stock the cars might preform the same but I just don't get the advantage especially if they aren't as fuel efficent. I guess this is just one more thing that dosen't make sense to me.

[YeOldeStonecat]

True..the economy isn't there. And the aftermarket parts aren't really there...since the volume of rotaries isn't out there to drive a big aftermarket industry.

To me, it's a shame they never caught on more. The initial advantages were...engine size..both in capacity (small displacemeht), and weight (smaller..lighter), and fewer moving parts.

I guess because of some patents or whatever...nobody else picked up on making them...so I guess it was just Mazda. No competition lead to little improvement.

Back in the late 70's, and more into the early 80's when the RX7 was fairly strong in the US market...high revving cars with traditional piston designs weren't really that high revving. There were not many that enjoyed going above 6k....even 5k for that matter unless you got some European import from Italy or something like that. That's one of the fond things I remember of the RX7...the smoothness and willingness to dance that tach needle in the upper range all day long....with a unique canvas ripping sound coming out the exhaust. The mid 80's RX7s were, IMO, nice looking, clean lines, peaking with the 13B engine...towards the end of the 80's...along with most other more classic Japanese sports cars like the Datsun/Nissan 280Z models...started to get bloated.

[Cerberus1027]

True very true. A single rotar engine only has 2 moving parts which is a great advangtage as far as mantience but from what i understand the seals for the engines wear out very quickly. I've met a few people around here who have/had RX7s and the get owned buy little hondas with stripped interiors. Your right the competiton that drives the new ideas and concepts really isn't there for the rotary engine and if it were we may be able to see some good things come from it. The engine in concept is great from what I've seen but like communism it fails in practice. It's amazing that suburu can get something like 200 horse power out of a little 4 banger but mazda has a while before they can get there rotary engines to that point.

[YARDofSTUF]

True very true. A single rotar engine only has 2 moving parts which is a great advangtage as far as mantience but from what i understand the seals for the engines wear out very quickly. I've met a few people around here who have/had RX7s and the get owned buy little hondas with stripped interiors. Your right the competiton that drives the new ideas and concepts really isn't there for the rotary engine and if it were we may be able to see some good things come from it. The engine in concept is great from what I've seen but like communism it fails in practice. It's amazing that suburu can get something like 200 horse power out of a little 4 banger but mazda has a while before they can get there rotary engines to that point.


The Evo too, isnt that like 240 or 260? And the Atom has a 4 banger honda in it putting out over 200.

[Cerberus1027]

The Evo too, isnt that like 240 or 260? And the Atom has a 4 banger honda in it putting out over 200.

Sounds right. I'm not to suprised at what I hear about car HP these days cause with all the computers and new alloys and what not it almost seems anything is possible. Then theres the triton V10s they use for ford. complete peices of SHT. Friend of mine has one wishes he had bought the diesel. I hear WRX's blow trannys cause they can't take the horses and there making a new toned done STI cuase the current one is alittle to rally car and not enough street.

[David]

I owned one of the first rotaries, a Madza RX-2..... Nothing revved quite like it, nor emptied my wallet with repairs.

The RX-7 did have a turbo-charged model that was quite the stunner in the 90's

[nightowl]

True very true. A single rotar engine only has 2 moving parts which is a great advangtage as far as mantience but from what i understand the seals for the engines wear out very quickly. I've met a few people around here who have/had RX7s and the get owned buy little hondas with stripped interiors. Your right the competiton that drives the new ideas and concepts really isn't there for the rotary engine and if it were we may be able to see some good things come from it. The engine in concept is great from what I've seen but like communism it fails in practice. It's amazing that suburu can get something like 200 horse power out of a little 4 banger but mazda has a while before they can get there rotary engines to that point.

Even mazda's Mazda 6 speed gets 270HP out of there turbo charged 2.3L 4cyl and the up comming mazda 3 speed gets 230 out of the same engine.

[Unholy]

The only good thing about rotories is the exhaust sound and the smoothness of the ride.