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Mazda RX-8 Care & Maintenance

104 messages,  Last post on Dec 03, 2009 at 2:18 PM

You are in the Mazda RX-8 Forum. Your Host is claires

What is this discussion about? Mazda RX-8, Auto Body, Engine, Fuel System, Interior, Oil, Paint, Coupe


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#26 of 104
WaterPump by cheezeboy
Nov 16, 2004 (5:32 pm)
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16,000 miles and the water pump "cracked"....under warranty, no charge...took 2 days.....car is back to running like a dream.....first sign of a problem was the coolant light came on at startup and stayed on for about a minute. But all is well now. If you see that happening, take your 8 in!.....
#27 of 104
Oil Slime by zoomzoomx8
Mar 13, 2005 (4:59 pm)
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Does anyone notice oil residue when they check their oil? Or when you open the oil cap to add more oil, do you see creamy brown sludge, like oil goo? I have never seen this in any other car? Is it unique to the rotary engine?
#28 of 104
Re: Oil Slime [zoomzoomx8] by mugster1
Mar 14, 2005 (10:21 am)
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Replying to: zoomzoomx8 (Mar 13, 2005 4:59 pm)

Not to worry, pretty normal stuff. Apparently its condensation that's got into your oil. Nothing to worry about.
#29 of 104
current oil specs by tjjjr2
May 11, 2005 (3:51 pm)
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Manual calls for SAE 5W-20 API SL (ILSAC GF3)
June 2004 a better SAE 5W-20 API SM (ILAC GF4) was introduced
 
Does anyone know if using the newer SM GF4 will effect warranty?
harder to find the SL these days
#30 of 104
Tire Update by cheezeboy
Jul 09, 2005 (10:45 am)
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Had to prepare for a trip to Disney World (!!!).....and needed new tires....
 
I purchased 4 new Portenzas - $225 each....from the dealer.....plus got an alignment. The rubber has made the car 'feel' like new again. I had gone 30K miles on then 1st set - including a 5700 mile trip around the USA!......my observation is that these are great tires!
 
The old tires had worn in a nice even pattern across all 4 tires - basically almost bald. With my South Florida location, all this rain was making for some slippery driving!
#31 of 104
Re: 10,000 update and issues [cheezeboy] by bonnieb1
Sep 02, 2005 (2:37 pm)
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Replying to: cheezeboy (May 17, 2004 3:49 pm)

Did you ever get a diagnosis on your brakes? Mine squeal 80% of the time too & I have a service appointment in a week.
#32 of 104
bonnieb1 - brakes by cheezeboy
Sep 03, 2005 (6:48 am)
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yes I did find out what it was......2 things really
1) slight rotor problem with the back right wheel, in which the dealer 'shaved' the rotor
2) since my "tour de usa", I've warped my front two rotors!
 
to solve the second problem, I have to bring in car for a complete brake job - which is fine because I DID the damage driving like a nut-case!! but it's hard not too in this lovely machine!! also, I am gonna see if I can wait another month and a half before I do this - I want to send the $ to the hurricane relief fund....I can live with this for awhile!....
#33 of 104
Re: bonnieb1 - brakes [cheezeboy] by pathstar1
Sep 03, 2005 (10:07 am)
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Replying to: cheezeboy (Sep 03, 2005 6:48 am)

Rotor warping is caused by heating them up by braking hard from high speed, then stopping and sitting for a few minutes. The caliper cools off only one part quickly, and that warps the rotor. If you have to brake hard to a stop, try stopping 10 ft or so behind where you HAVE to stop, then allow the vehicle to roll forward a few feet every 5 sec or so. This will cool the rotor down more evenly.
 
A little trick I use to avoid replacing those "junk" too thin rotors manufacturers give us!
#34 of 104
Re: bonnieb1 - brakes [pathstar1] by dwynne
Sep 03, 2005 (11:41 am)
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Replying to: pathstar1 (Sep 03, 2005 10:07 am)

The #1 cause of rotor warping is over tightening or uneven tightening of the lugs. Pretty typical if you take your car someplace to have a flat fixed or tires rotated and the tire place uses an air gun to put the tires back on (and they all do). Even if they use a torque stick on the air gun they can still do it wrong and cause your rotor to warp.
 
I always try to take the wheels in via another car when I need work, or if I can't I loosen the lugs when I get home and re-do them with a hand torque wrench.
 
Dennis
#35 of 104
Re: bonnieb1 - brakes [dwynne] by pathstar1
Sep 04, 2005 (6:55 am)
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Replying to: dwynne (Sep 03, 2005 11:41 am)

Actually, the detailed explanation of this is fascinating. If you just went up to your vehicle when the wheel was already installed and the nuts properly torqued and overtorqued one nut it would not warp the rotor. The reason is the rotor hat is a flat plate under the flat wheel mount flange against the flat hub.
 
What actually warps the rotor is when they torque to full value the first nut, then do the next, the next, etc. The wheel tends to not centre properly on some vehicles, and when the first nut is torqued down, it holds the wheel off-centre enough that when they torque another the wheel acts like a wedge pressing against the edge of the rotor hat. This can slightly bend the rotor hat on one side on some vehicles - not all are suseptable, explaining one reason why some vehicles are more prone to warping than others. For those that don't get into this, the rotor hat is the part that holds the brake rotor to the wheel hub. Sometimes it's one piece with the hub, sometimes it's a separate piece.
 
The solution, or way to avoid rotor warping from this cause, is to hand tighten all nuts first. Then use three tightening passes, first at 10% or so final torque, next at 60% or so final torque, and the last at full torque, always moving across the stud circle to do the next nut. This is what I have always done, after noticing the wheel can get offset if you torque the first one without the others tight.
 
I've found that generally, differential heating and poor installation are about equal in cause of warping on suseptable vehicles. Not all will warp from poor installation, and not all will warp from differential heating, though, so the #1 cause will vary from vehicle make/model to vehicle.

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