Education is a wonderful thing. It can help you with your every day decisions.

Below is an effort to help educate you if you are a second owner who may have bought an RX8 with low compression and with the muriad of Band Aids, then this may be very interesting.

Band aid #1 STARTER SPEED

Mazda has a TSB (Technical Service Bulletin) issued in 2006 in reference to the Starter for the 2004-On Mazda RX-8 w/MT.

"TSB#01-048/06 if the Starter Number on the Tag is "N3H1" (17917), the Starter needs to be

replaced. If the Starter Number on the Tag is "N3H1-A" or "N3Z1" (or Later - 17993),

the Starter does not need to be replaced. Cars with VIN #JM1FE173***150745 and below are affected. The result of the improved Starter is to crank the engine faster to help overcome a flooding / no start condition."

Basically this new starter has 13 teeth instead of 11 and has a kw rating (power) of 2.0kw instead of 1.4kw.

The manufacturer feels that a starter is cost effective and redesign of the Renesis is not a option. This reminds me of the 1969-1973 top start engines with a gear reduction starter that was the size of a small golf cart motor! This is a procedure that sometimes works . . . . . . for a few months to a year

BAND AID # 2 SECONDARY IGNITION

Many RX8 motors will often have brand new coils, wires and plugs. This is in an effort to give the engine a perfect secondary ignition to help overcome any undesirable chamber conditions. The factory coils can sometimes misfire as soon as 10K miles after replacement! This is a procedure that sometimes works . . . . . . . for up to a year

BAND AID #3 DECARBONIZING

If you can clean the chamber and maybe unstick (restore?) a side seal or corner seal then maybe that might buy some more time.

Now in the case of a tea toadler this might work. The common saying is a redline a day keeps the carbon away. But the average RX8 owner has more than blown the carbon out of her, in most cases they have worn the seals to the point of low compression. This is a procedure that sometimes works . . . . . . . for a few months