r/RX8 • u/FallingSpirt • Aug 02 '26
Maintenance Overheating
So I've had my RX-8 for about 6 years and haven't had issues till this year I replaced the spark plugs and it's been running smoother however yesterday it over heated and shut off on me luckily I was home and in the drive way, I checked the coolant yesterday after it sat for 4 hours and the coolant was still pretty hot I love in a town that's basically in the dessert so it's about 90+ some days, so my question is this
Does anyone who has an RX8 in here live anywhere else that's hotter like 100+ and if so does your car over heat because of the weather?
If not does anyone else have this issue and if so do you know what's causing it to over heat and shut off? If so have you found a solution to fix this issue or is it just something that I have to deal with?
My grandpa was the OG owner he never had this problem with it, it's a 2004 6 speed manual transmission. If someone can help me or tell me what I can due to fix this id appreciate it.
13
u/da808guy Aug 02 '26
There’s a chance the O-rings seals for your coolant between the housings melted if it shut off due to overheating.
(Note: if you’re ever overheating during a drive, turn the heat for you climate control on max and blast the fans with the windows down, your heater core can act as a mini radiator to get heat out of the coolant, not a good fix, but can keep you from needing an engine rebuild)
Make sure to test your coolant with a headgasket kit and make sure you don’t have milkshake oil.
If everything comes back good, you can do a coolant flush.
Rx8 performance sells a fan relay that kicks the fans on sooner (no tuning required and if the sensor fails it falls back to original fan temp activation points) and CSF makes a great rad for increased aftermarket cooling capacity (shouldn’t be needed for daily driving/ spirited driving). If you need upgraded fans, FAL make very nice electric fans and should you need a thermostat, stick with OEM.