This weekend after about 5 minutes of driving I got a flashing CEL. The car started running real rough and when in gear it would move but very slowly and the tach would bottom out. I had to rev to 5000 rpm , let the clutch out, etc. for the 1/4 mile home. Once home I had the "coils are burnt" smell and a bit of smoke

The service dept. says I have 2 burned coils. I thought they would also replace the spark plugs but they say big daddy Mazda won't pay.

My question to the rx8 gurus is - how important is it to replace spark plugs when the coils have been burnt?

Thanks,
Brenda

 

They're probably mildly fouled as a result of the partial combustion. I'd just take them out, clean them, and reinstall them.

 

I'm having all the coils replaced on mine. the service rep said that the plugs didn't have to be replaced but they are going to replace them any way for me. i've got a pretty good service dept though. they are also replacing a that got a scratch in it durning shipping. I didn't even see it until I had the car for 4 months and they are still taking care of it for me.

 

How many miles do you have on your car? I think cleaning plugs should be fine.

 

I have 49,000 miles on the car. The plugs were replaced at about 35,000 miles.

Thanks for the help everyone.

 

I would think if you were to drive your car real hard for a little while combined with the new coils should clean the plugs up. They should be almost self cleaning to an extent.

 

Excellent , another excuse to drive it hard

 

Yep just clean them(carefully) and if you really want to fix it --run individual coil ground wires to the neg post(ground) of your battery.
olddragger

 

I would be worried about your clutch, depending on how many times you had to slip the clutch on the way home..