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

I'm starting the 4th month of ownership of my '06 new/used RX-8 myself...
and I'm already seeing the engine oil overheat light coming on any time I
sit at a red light for more than 20 seconds without getting air over the
oil coolers.... the temp today was upper 70's and I'm wondering if there
is any type of flow valve I need to open up to allow more oil to circulate
through the cooler... other than taking it to the Mazda dealer so they can
just remove the offending light bulb, what are the other measures this
group knows of to help cool the oil in the '06 beast??

Gary Buster
East Texas    (and it's gonna get MUCH hotter 'round here!!)

There is something wrong there Gary. Is it a stick or auto?
It could be a bad sensor.

What weight oil are you using? It calls for 5 weight
but check the owners manual. I would put Idemitsu Rotary
Engine oil in it.

Have you downloaded the RX8 service manuals from here:?
http://foxed.ca/rx7manual/manuals/RX-8FSM/

I would get OBD II software as well.
Just put this in google: "OBD II software companies"

Paul Lamar