Hello everyone

[DocSpano]

I was trying to find the right designated place to post this.

I'm brand new to the forums and I wanted to introduce myself a little.
I drive an awesome (but not feeling real awesome right now) RX-8. Been driving this great car since Sep 2009. It was a fantastic switch from a Honda.

I've been to Iraq twice so far, OIF 05-06, and OIF 08-09. And I'll probably be seeing an AfganiLand tour within the year and some change. I'm a Medic in the Army National Guard here in Arizona. I love my job.

Anywho, I wanted to join the forum and show my support. And as well as get great information from the FAQ's which I got to read. Quite informative. Thank you for those who've taken the time to post information like that.

And please forgive my ignorance for the question I'm about to ask.
It ponders me a little, being from a V6 and a V4 user.. my RX-8 when its in drive and I sit idle (lets say at a stop light), the RPM drops a little below one, and I can feel and hear a sound change as if it's about to cut off (like a stall). Then it jumps back up to one and continues operation.

This seems to happen every now and then. Is this the rotary engine's usual function, or is this a possible problem? If it helps, I have a 2005 RX-8.

 

[BradW]

Welcome to the forum. You will find alot of very good information on here about your RX-8. Thank you for your services to our country!! (usa)

 

[DocSpano]

No problem Thanks for the comment!

 

[ms6acton]

welcome aboard!!! any pics?

 

[solidtrance]

If you have not changed the coils and plugs int he last 30K then I would do that. If your hesitation at idle is not fixed there are a few other things that could cause this. Did you read all the way through both the thread that are hotlinked in my sig?

How many miles? How many when you got it? Any mods done to the car? What kind of gas do you use?

 

[DocSpano]

How many miles?
Currently sitting at 62000~
How many when you got it?
59000~
Any mods done to the car?
NONE
What kind of gas do you use?
91 Octane Rating, I get the BEST gas mileage! 250miles.. 87 Octane I get 180.

I'll look at your signature right now and start reading information.

I sat in the driveway with my car, Rev'd it up, and put it in drive... It didn't do it.
I believe it starts to do this hesitation after I've driven for a little bit of time.

 

[solidtrance]

Coils, plugs, wires for sure. Clean the MAF sensor when you do it. There is a good chance that this will solve your problem. Let us know if it doesn't. These cars are notorious for having a rough idle anyhow, so you may just be noticing the difference compared to a normal piston engine. Regardless, the preventive maintenance that I am recommending is a must. The job is pretty easy and can be done in an afternoon. You have to take the intake off all the way to the throttle body to get to the coils, and you have to take the front left wheel off to get to the plugs. Make sure you get the right plugs (see the maintenance thread). OEM coils and plugs are fine. My recommendation would be that you make this a weekend project and do the following in order.

1. Seafoam (there is some disagreement about how effective this is, but I did it recently and recomend it)
2. Oil Change
3. Change Trans and Diff Fluids
4. Plugs, Wires, Coils
5. Clean MAF sensor
6. Let it warm up and drive it like you stole it

Let me know if you need a link to some DIY's for all this stuff. BTW I find that my car runs better when I use Shell 93 octane gas. Might be in my head, but I try to use Shell when I can.

 

[DocSpano]

Fantastic, when I start selling some more drugs (just kidding), or selling my body at various corners of Phoenix (kidding), get some $$$$$ I will definitely follow your advice.

I'll start getting a budget together and see how much total its gonna cost me, then I can save and get my car to 110%.

Thanks everyone for posting

 

[MattP]

Hey Doc,
Good to see another local! I'm in the valley as well. I'm not sure if you have heard of Turblown Engineering but they are well known rotary specialists here in AZ. I've visited their shop a few times and they have a ton of great projects going on. (3 rotors, turbo rx-8's, ect.) Give them a call they will fix you up.
http://www.turblown.net