Went to the Mazda dealer today to order a new $38 heater knob.
 The car wash guys broke it.

 They had a 2005 RX8 in with a blown engine. Apex seal problems.
 It is well known the early RX8's had an inadequate supply of
 apex seal oil. For that reason I premix 1/2 oz of 2 cycle oil
 with every gallon of gas in my 2004. Mazda were supposed
 to fix that around 2005 to 2006 with what was rumored to
 be a third oil injection port per rotor housing.

 The interesting thing is they do not put a new $1500
 metering pump in there. The pump still has only 4 nylon
 lines coming out of it. That means the replacement engines still
 have the two apex seal oil metering  ports per rotor. You can
 also see that by looking at the new rotor housings.

 Perhaps they merely reprogrammed the computer controlled
 apex oil metering pump. That does not affect us as most of
 the A/C guys are premixing anyway.

 The other thing is people are still flooding the RX8 engine
 on a regular basis. Apparently nobody reads the manual.
 When you flood an RX8 it will no longer start.

 Happened to me within a week of owning
 the car. The flat rate mechanics always come
 up with the quickest  way of fixing anything. What
 this mechanic does is squirt high pressure shop air in
 the spark plug holes to blow out the raw fuel.
 Not too much as the engine will rotate. Make
 sure both plugs are out.

 This probably won't happen with a p-port RX8
 engine as the raw fuel has a way out through the intake
 port.

 Paul Lamar

Paul,
          I bought a 2006 RX8 back in December 2009. Great car, I love the
way it can accelerate. I was warned numerous times by the dealer, the
manager of the dealership and by a mechanic about how easy it is to flood
the engine. Knock on wood, I have not flooded the engine yet but I have been
careful about shutting the engine off and then re-starting it in less than 2
or 3 minutes. One day I forgot and was close to less than two minutes before
doing a re-start and thought I really screwed up, which was my last thought
just before it cranked up. I was wondering though, is there any other things
I need to worry about concerning my new used 2006 RX8?

James Ealey

I have not flooded mine since 2004.
I don't think so but I would still add a 1/2 oz of 2 cycle oil
unless your dealer can confirm that that problem has been fixed.
He should be able to look up the VIN number in his data base.

Paul Lamar



Does an OBDII car like an RX-8 get a sniff test while getting the
emissions checked?  I wonder if the 2 cycle oil would have any effect
on it.


Matt-

It does but 2 cycle burns clean. You get some warning before you
must take it in for a check so forego the 2 cycle oil for a tank
or two.

Paul Lamar