Sigh.

The car. She's dead. Was weird though. Completely unexected. I parked it outside my building after driving back from work (30 minute drive.. engine was toasty and all was good). Then a few hours later, I go to start the car up, and I get NOTHING. :scratchhe no cranking not even an attempt to start up. The battery seems good, check the terminals n all and all the electronics have juice (lights, hi's, cd, sunroof, everything works fine, no dimming when I try to turn the car on). I checked the clutch switch.. that's still engaging when the pedal was pressed

So it's not flooded... I guess it could the starter. I'm not sure. I guess I'll take a look at the fusebox but... damnit! I was suppose to leave for Ottawa last night :rant:

Sigh.

The car. She's dead. Was weird though. Completely unexected. I parked it outside my building after driving back from work (30 minute drive.. engine was toasty and all was good). Then a few hours later, I go to start the car up, and I get NOTHING. :scratchhe no cranking not even an attempt to start up. The battery seems good, check the terminals n all and all the electronics have juice (lights, hi's, cd, sunroof, everything works fine, no dimming when I try to turn the car on). I checked the clutch switch.. that's still engaging when the pedal was pressed

So it's not flooded... I guess it could the starter. I'm not sure. I guess I'll take a look at the fusebox but... damnit! I was suppose to leave for Ottawa last night :rant:

Be sure to check and see if your security light is blinking when you attempt to start the car. The vehicle will not respond at all if it thinks the incorrect key is being used. Normally your security light will blink after attempting to start the vehicle if it fails the security check.

Be sure to check and see if your security light is blinking when you attempt to start the car. The vehicle will not respond at all if it thinks the incorrect key is being used. Normally your security light will blink after attempting to start the vehicle if it fails the security check.


hmm...im my experience, the fuel pump will not run if the key is not recognized and thats it. often, you can start a car with an unrecognized key and it will die as soon as the excess fuel pressure from the last time it ran is gone. I would suspect a wiring issue or a starter if the battery is definitly okay. pull the starter off and bench test it, or bring it to like a parts source or something, most places like that have a starter tester. in the mean time, you can just park on hills and bump start it whenever you need to get going.

Greg

hmm...im my experience, the fuel pump will not run if the key is not recognized and thats it. often, you can start a car with an unrecognized key and it will die as soon as the excess fuel pressure from the last time it ran is gone. I would suspect a wiring issue or a starter if the battery is definitly okay. pull the starter off and bench test it, or bring it to like a parts source or something, most places like that have a starter tester. in the mean time, you can just park on hills and bump start it whenever you need to get going.

Greg

Only reason I know how the PCM reacts is because I had my factory PCM go bad and it also lost it's security codes. The car wouldn't even crank over...it just sits there and laughs at you.

The key is whether or not you get a blinking security light. If the light is solid or not on at all I'd be out of ideas.

Thanks for the suggestions guys. I managed to get it push started and drove it into Scarborough Mazda. It turns out that the connection to the seleniod was corroded to the point where it wouldn't start. All that needed to be done was to file the corrosion off with some sandpaper (about 10-15 minutes worth of work) and problem solved.

Maybe this should be moved into the Issues section so people can refer to it for future reference when searching for one of the many reasons as to why an 8 won't start :)

Faded, which solenoid is this?

Faded, which solenoid is this?

seems like he would mean the starter solenoid. the one that actuates the plunger on the starter. basically it should be the part of the starter that the cables run too. I havent had a good look at the RX8 starter yet though.

As for the security thing, thats weird, ive never seen that before, ive delt with several mazdas that went sour as far as the security chip in the key goes or keys that wouldnt program correctly, and every one of them just had no fuel but they cranked fine. ditto for toyotas and my sisters nissan. guess your 8, or maybe all 8s, are the ones that brake the mold. lol.

Greg