Quote :

"MONTEREY, Calif. -- After suffering a black eye from disclosing that it won't count RX-8 owners' opinions in its internal customer-satisfaction scores, Mazda says it may have to replace the engines in many of its flagship sports cars. The voluntary recall of all 2004 and 2005 vehicles, and some 2006s, is expected to be announced this week or next. It involves damage to the catalyst resulting from oil leaks in the RX-8's rotary engine. Any engine that does not pass a vacuum test must be replaced, said Robert Davis, head of product development and quality at Mazda North American Operations. Engines prone to failing the test are mostly in hot climates and use synthetic oils. Mazda also will check each RX-8's battery and starter, which tend to fail in cold climates. "We're going to give these cars the white-glove treatment," Davis said. "We would rather replace the engine than have the dealer crack them open." Davis would not disclose the projected failure rate of the engines or the cost to replace them. Mazda has a remanufacturing center in North Carolina that will rebuild faulty engines and return them to service. The recall comes after a video Webcast by two dealers who attended the July 11-13 National Dealer Advisory Council meetings in Newport Beach, Calif., was leaked on the Internet. In the video, dealers said problems with the RX-8 were unfairly lowering Mazda customer-satisfaction scores. Mazda informed the dealers that RX-8 owners would continue to be surveyed, but that the responses would not factor into dealer customer-satisfaction scores. See story here Mazda has issued service bulletins on such trouble spots as squeaky brakes and engine flooding."

http://rotarynews.com/node/view/822

8/23/2006 9:02:12 PM

free engines for lots of ppl - that sucks

8/23/2006 9:05:47 PM

somebody in NC is about to get a shitload of business...

8/23/2006 9:11:26 PM

I thought the new renisis was supposed to be a reliable rotary...did I hear wrong?

8/23/2006 9:24:23 PM

8/23/2006 9:30:25 PM

those side seals were a dumbass idea...
unable to handle boost + tons of wear = BAD IDEA

8/23/2006 10:05:32 PM

^^ so true.

8/23/2006 10:17:36 PM

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"somebody in NC is about to get a shitload of business..."

It's gotta be Bruce Turrentine. I know 5 different local turbo rx-7s with his engines... two 3rd gen, 3 second gen. He is one of the very best there is. His shop is in Fuquay. He makes his own custom apex seal and is pretty much a rotary genius. A friend of mine with an FD who got his motor built from him said that Mazda wanted to buy his apex seal but Bruce refused b/c Mazda wouldn't let him sell those seals himself as well.

I'm sorry to hear this as a rotary guy. The Rx-8 guys in my club are very satisfied and have never had oil leaks. I know one person who has had a cat replaced on warranty. The flooding problems were fixed within like 3 months. The Renesis engine displaces the same amount as my car does but puts 55-60 more to the ground (120ish in an 88 vs. 175ish in a Renesis) with slightly better gas mileage, due to a very well engineered manifold. Most of these problems people have had are in extreme climates (like I've heard of some overheating engines in hot parts of Texas and Arizona) because the idiots at Mazda didn't test thoroughly enough.

Mazda just basically sucks at product launches. 20 years ago, when the second generation of the Rx-7 came out, there were only two TSBs: relocate coolant reservoir and improve the ground for the pressure sensor. It's been all downhill from there. Since the 3rd generation they've fucked everything up if it's rotary. In this case most of the problems are honestly nothing serious for most people that are somewhat into cars and have a little patience (I've still had less problems with my 18 year old rx-7 than my mom's brand new 2001 Kia did), but there's enough quality problems and quirks that you can't recommend one to a lot of people who couldn't give two shits about maintaining or working on a car.

8/24/2006 12:55:25 AM

Quote :

"those side seals were a dumbass idea... unable to handle boost + tons of wear = BAD IDEA"

do you even know what you're talking about? The side seals are not a failure point on the Renesis. You might be somehow mixed up with the exhaust ports being located on the side housings. This is a vastly superior design for emissions. The old style rotaries will never be made again because they don't burn as cleanly. I think this oil leak thing is just a manufacturing defect, as opposed to a fundamental design flaw.

The whole thing about Renesis engines not taking boost well... they are 6 port engines, which are designed exclusively for nonturbo applications. You don't turbo a 6 port engines. It's a pointless custom job on the earlier n/a rotaries like the one I own. Nobody makes big power on a 6 port--the port timing is all wrong. It just won't work. If I turboed my car, which is a 6 port like the renesis, it would probably be able to make about as much as the renesis can. The ports and manifolds are bad for boost. 3rd generation Rx-7 engines have a very, very different design for the manifolds and the ports themselves, and that's why they can make power so much better.

Oh and about this recall:




The 5w-30 thing though is EPA mandated bullshit though (lighter weight=slightly better mileage). Rotaries run best on 10w30 or 20w50.

[Edited on August 24, 2006 at 1:10 AM. Reason : .]

8/24/2006 1:08:33 AM