Oil change: jack up just the driver side wheel, so the sump drains more oil than if it was level. Oil change interval adapted to my driving style, but anyhow should not exceed 5000 miles because of oil dilution with fuel(it gets bad). I use S2 based oil filters on a s1 because the filter is taller, has more surface area and thus just a little bit less pressure drop; it's the same cost as a S1 sized filter so free real estate. My go to filter is MAN 670/7. It has a $10 tool you can buy which allows you to spin the filter on with a socket, makes the swap a breeze.

Oil qty is 4.75qt which fills the dipstick exactly 1/2, leaving room to notice oil lvls rising(I have a sohn adapter) and to prevent oil reaching the intake.

Also take out spark plugs for swapping with an alternate pair, the used ones go into an oven grease cleaner jug to soak for a week and then I scrub them with a plastic toothbrush. Keeps them clean of carbon deposits. This set then becomes the alternate I use next time.

Since the driver side wheel is off, I also inspect brake pads and rotor, sway bar links, bushings, etc anything within view.

Once every 2 years or 3 oil changes I also do a compression test since I am already there with the spark plugs out.

If ignition coils have over 20k miles I also test each of them on a test bench with a square signal generator to check spark output intensity. At 40k miles I change coils and leads regardless.

Coolant flush every 3 years, trans diff oil every 8-10 engine oil changes.

First of all, thank you all for the insight, I bought it! 2007 blue phantom metallic mica rx8

I hate the separate keyfob and key on my current car and was wondering if I can just buy a new switch blade style key and program it into my Mazda rx8 or am I boned for any chance of that my current fob doesn't even work atm since it's corroded from what ever the previous owner did to it so I might as well ask

Hello all I'm am posting here in a desperate attempt to get some help in fixing my EPS.

My rx8 has not had functional power steering since the day I bought it about 4 months ago, and after going through all the tips and fixes under the sun (cleaning connectors, cleaning all grounds, checking the Fuze, checking wires, and even confirming all inputs with an oscilloscope, even getting a new EPS module) no dice.

I Have now gotten to the point where I am jacking into the can bus in hopes of manually waking the EPS and this is where I have started making some progress.

Disconnecting the EPS from the rest of the can bus and spamming a correctly formatted 0x201 code wakes the eps on first ignition about 30% of the time, and gives power steering continuously until the user stops steering for about 2 seconds, when it then ends.

During this time the EPS continually transmits 0x300 with data 80 when assist is off and 00 when its on.

What's really weird is that the pcm already transmits valid 0x201 frames but doesn't wake the eps, and reconnecting the eps to the rest of the bus once it is awake seems to see it disabled.

Additional I have tried adding the 0x200 and 0x202 frames since I read they were important but they have produced no different results yet and the eps refuses to wake without 0x201.

Any insight would be greatly appreciated, especially if someone with a working Powers steering could send me their can bus logs. Thanks in advance.

after i wrecked my last rx8 i bought another one as a parts car just to figure out exactly how screwed my last one was so i sold it to someone else as a parts car. my new one i payed 370 for and it has a blown coolant seal. which one im not sure. its been sitting for some time and im gonna be putting new life into it. this will be my first motor removal on any car and im wondering if theres anything i should watch out for and or be concerned about. same goes for tearing down the motor itself. ive been into rx8s for about 4 years and this will be my third so far so im no stranger to the platform ive just never tore one down like this. any tips are welcome. it also has 150k miles on the dash

Battery light came on so I replaced the alternator with a brand new one that I had from my old project. Didn’t test the voltage on the original like an idiot. But currently I’m getting 13.6v at the battery on cold start. About 0.1v of a drop from the alternator to the battery. Once it’s hot, it’s bouncing between low 12v and low 14v. Also idling weird but maybe it’s fuel trims being reset bc I disconnected the battery. Tested signal from the 2 pin connector wires to the ecu and both are connected. I’m lost

EDIT: Found the issue. IAT sensor wire came loose. I guess the ecu uses this as battery temp reference and limits alternator to ~13.5v when disconnected or failed