RX-8 Owners, How Are Your Engines Holding Up?

lateapexer wrote: Been playing with cars since 1964 and Porsche owners still haven't developed a sense of humour. I had the same sort of conversation about British car reliability and irritated the Porsche crowd the same way by suggesting that my Cooper"S" was at least as reliable.

Sometimes humor just doesn't come across on the internet. I actually thought you were serious and just wondered what era model 911 you thought was unreliable. Also, my garage is pretty much a melting pot, so I don't consider myself a Porsche person anymore than I consider myself a Chevy or Husqvarna person.

Both my 944 turbos were DDs (snow and all) while my 911 is a toy.

I think we all use the same playbook when it comes to cars. Just don't get me started on Matchless motorcycles.

lateapexer wrote: I should clarify the Porsche comment. People don't often buy Porsches to use as everyday, drive through the snow and sleet, go to work appliances; They buy them for the driving experience. I think RX8's should be purchased for the driving experience as well. Kind of like Alfa Romeo's and Lada's.

While a 911 and an RX-8 are much different beasts, I thought it was a good analogy. If you really love a car, then faults become features and unreliability becomes character.

Sure have owned a lot of cars with character! Life lesson, you always need one that's colourless and runs.

hmm I guess I've owned a lot of cars and bikes with "character" too. "It's not a bug it's a feature."

Cotton wrote: ..I actually thought you were serious and just wondered what era model 911 you thought was unreliable...

Aren't the early 70's (2.7L ?) 911's considered "not so reliable" because of the head stud pulling and chain tensioner issues?

Also, the 70's turbo and the RUF Yellowbird might go there also since they seem to do their best to be rolled into a little ball! (does that count?)

Agreed. Character rules. I believe I've found the ultimate vehicle, my 1987 E-150. It has plenty of patina, it's extremely useful, people notice it as unusual, and it always runs. You can have character without getting stranded. Sure, stuff goes wrong from 27 years of use, but when it does, It still works. Right now I don't know where coolant is slowly going. Is it getting purged when it gets too hot on start up before the thermostat starts working (may also be a wonky gauge)? Is it leaking out of the 'new' radiator? is it burning the fluid? Is the radiator cap not sealing properly? I don't know, but I do know after sitting for almost 2 months, it fired up in single digit temps the other day better than my wife's much newer car which sees daily activity.

That being said, I'm not giving up my RX-8. I want more rotary in my life, actually. An old RX7 would be pretty sweet IMO, unreliability and all.

Tyler H wrote:

RX Reven' wrote: I brought the engine back on line with the old ATF down the spark plug holes followed by extended cranking on the starter motor trick. I burnt out the starter motor in the process but they aren’t that expensive and I get a really good understanding of what’s going on just by listening to it crank. ... So, starter be damned, trust-n-crank, naysayers be damned, trust-n-crank, and as always, they eventually come to life with a celebratory cloud of blue smoke.

I thought the standard procedure in this case was to fire up another RX-7 from your collection or call a buddy with a tow rope? A mile of spirited towing beats changing a starter, right?

I’ve got a long, heavy gage tow rope and I have used it with success in the past. However, you won’t get nearly as much understanding of what was wrong as you would with a starter. The starter provides a consistent and appropriate amount of crank allowing you to discriminate between fowled plugs, one chamber apex seal stick, two chamber apex seal stick, etc.

One time, I left my FC with ~220,000 miles sit for two weeks while I was in Europe. When I got home and tried to start it, it turned 1,600 rpm’s on starter!!! OK, we can definitively conclude that we’ve got two chamber apex seal stick.

BTW, I had all seven of my smoke detectors stored in the garage at the time as I was in the middle of a home remodel. SWMBO was standing in the garage when I got my FC to fire up and I’ll never forget her running around with her ears covered as I backed out to go to work.

I thought she was providing commentary on the hair metal I was blasting but no, all seven alarms had been set off by the “blue cloud of victory” rotary engine make.

…Good times