thanks guys i guess I'll check in with the dealer

Well guys, after I came home from school today (I walk), I was planning on taking my 8 out with the guys to lunch. The car hasn't been driven in about 1 week....I've never experienced start-up problems before. I went to turn it over and it would just wind and not fire. Repeatedly. So I called Mazda and they said everything is covered under warranty just call this number and get it towed to us.

So I did, as I type this I'm waiting on the tow-truck guy. What could be wrong with it? I know its not the battery? Fouled plugs? Please dont tell me its flooded. I dont want to have to get rid of this lovely machine.

Please help. :(

I bought it on February 6, 2004. It only has 5,800 miles on her. Last time I drove it it was driven, not just taken out and shut off.

did you try doing the flooded/no start procedure in the manual? why would you have to get rid of it because of 1 no-start? is this a high school you walk to?

If it's flooded just push start it or pull it behind a friends car to start it. Forget the flatbed trip.

I would only get rid of it if these things kept happening repeatedly, not the first time. We'll see what the problem is diagnosed as...Its not the cost I'm worried about because these things are covered under warranty and wont cost me.

And yes, High School.

don't worry about it. did you get the "m" flash? they redid that program because it was causing more problems then it was solving (like flooding on cold starts). don't take any crap from the dealer! the engine is incredible but needs to be treated differently then a piston engine as i am sure you already know.

FWIW: I flooded my stock Honda Civic last week. A friend of mine commented that he didn't even know it was possible to flood a modern fuel injected piston engine. Yep, it's possible. It's not only limited to rotaries.

Mine does this too if I let it sit for more than a week. Its usually really hard to turn over.

It might be low battery, or low oil causing a rough start I imagine. But those are just my guesses.

Does anyone know if the 8 can just flood itself while sitting around for long periods of time?

Mine did the same thing last week for the first time at 22,000 miles . It flooded after sitting for over a week. I tried the no start procedure several times then sent it off to the dealer. From my experience pulling/drying the plugs and clearing the motor is the best method. The plugs were much easier to reach on 1st and 2nd gens.

yeah well i guess i'll know whats wrong with my car in the morning when i call the dealer, i couldnt get through tonight. its killing me. hope nothing is seriously wrong with her.

SDRacer87,

Did the battery seem a little weak when you tried to start? Then afterwards the motor cranked but sound was a little raspier than normal when turning over. If so, it's a flood and the dealer will have it back to you in no time. It's funny, I've actually tried to flood mine thinking flooding was a myth. I can't flood mine with the classic short run and turn off scenario. But trying to start it with a weak battery seems to be another method of flooding. As I said in another flood post I am investing in a higher quality/capacity battery and a storage charger and don't expect this to happen again.

Cool, thanks for the info DosDog.

And yes, the engine did seem raspier than normal when I was cranking it over. Sounds like a flood then I guess.

You might want to check your air box. I noticed fluid under the air box, opened it up and my filter is soaked in ATF.

ATF? automatic transmission fluid? You got an auto?

Well, I must say, after driving my beloved baby for a year and a half, I thought I was immune to flood problems. This leads to complancency, and careless disregard for warm up procedures. Thus after moving it out of the garage one morning, than changing my mind about which car to take to work, I brought it back into the garage (ran about 2 minutes). The next day......Flooded.
Not only am I the new president of the Flood Club, but now, I am also a member :o

havent heard of an oil in the filter problem in awhile. probably since fall of 2003. did you get your MAFS cleaned guy?

Do you have the latest flash? I never had a flooding issue with mine and was under the impression from Mazda and many folks on the boards that the "M" flash corrected the problem. I admit to being forgetfull and have started cold, backed out of the garage and shut it down several times without flooding. If you have the current flash and are still having flood issues, I guess I better start paying more attention.

my car came with the m flash and never flooded.... (knockin on woody)

Abbid,

No.. they put ATF in the combustion chamber to regain compression.. it all has to come out somewhere :)

Zoom,

Not yet.. it's FREEZING outside (45 here today!) I'll clean it when I put in a new air filter.. The stock filter runs $50 bucks so I think I might get a K&N drop in or something..

OH they being the service dept?! make them clean the MAFS!! and you do know that freezing is 32f right? silly floridians:)

Cebat,

So you started, backed out, turned off, then started, pulled in, and turned off?

If that is the case, I think the flooding is a possibility. The way the M flash prevents flooding would not a predictably prevent it for multiple cold starts/short drives.

Did you take it to McCurly, or what did you do with it?

Trevor

I'd rather just do it myself :) I kinda wish they would pay for the air filter.. but I'm pretty sure it will be listed as a mantenence item and not covered :/

well, it will be 32 tonight!! :p

OH they being the service dept?! make them clean the MAFS!! and you do know that freezing is 32f right? silly floridians:)

Cebat,

So you started, backed out, turned off, then started, pulled in, and turned off?

If that is the case, I think the flooding is a possibility. The way the M flash prevents flooding would not a predictably prevent it for multiple cold starts/short drives.

Did you take it to McCurly, or what did you do with it?

Trevor

No, I think he started, pulled out, pulled back in, idled for 2 mins, and then turned off.

Personally, I don't think idling 2 mins is sufficient to warm up the car, now if he reved the engine to 5k and shut off, it would be a better way to prevent flooding.

Abbid, No.. they put ATF in the combustion chamber to regain compression.. it all has to come out somewhere :)

Never heard of ATF being used for that, but in any case, where do they inject the oil? It's my understanding that they're supposed inject oil through the spark plug holes. In which case I would think the oil would be partially burned or at least "pumped" out into the exhaust system, not into the intake system. Seems to me that doing that enough times could kill the cat converter.

But then again, what do I know. :)

Abbid,

...
Not yet.. it's FREEZING outside (45 here today!) I'll clean it when I put in a new air filter.. The stock filter runs $50 bucks so I think I might get a K&N drop in or something..

Ala Croc Dundee... that's not freezing I'll show you freezing... we were down to -25 C (-13 F) last night :D

There's a vaccume hose you can use to let it suck in the fluid.. OR you could introduce it through the spark plug hole.. Depending on how much they used I guess some could come out the intake? Some people have had oil in their intake box.. so I could see it happening..

Never heard of ATF being used for that, but in any case, where do they inject the oil? It's my understanding that they're supposed inject oil through the spark plug holes. In which case I would think the oil would be partially burned or at least "pumped" out into the exhaust system, not into the intake system. Seems to me that doing that enough times could kill the cat converter.

But then again, what do I know. :)

Yes, Yes, Yes...I do have the latest M flash, had it for a while...when I took it to McCurly mazda, they said that they fixed the flooding and reflashed it again... with the latest m flash type upgrade...I guess its what all the recent talk is about on this board. Oh well.
I did start it, pull out then went back in, idled, then turned it off (2 min).. Keep in mind, this is my first flooding after owning this car, and have been careful in the past.
I will have to be more careful I guess. I hope (wont hold my breath) that this latest reflashed, M flash, flash updated flash flash, will do the job.

Two weeks ago my car was flooded. I only moved it 1 minute two nights prior and when I came out that Thursday - nada - what a pain.

I shut my 8 down cold when I wash it and shut it down cold again after I park it back in the garage. I've been shutting it down cold this way for over a year now and have never flooded it. However, I rev it to 3K RPM before shutting it down. Also, I've been using the same cold shut down procedure on my FD for years and have not flooded it either. The closest i've come to a flooded engine is a strong gas smell from the exaust after the third start up. I know that I am pushing my luck but then again I am also prepared to unflood the engine myself if I ever have to. :)

I don't see it listed on Tommys site but there is a bulletin (just released) to upgrade the battery to 640 cca..

Hopefully this will prevent some of the flood issues by keeping the cranking RPM high on cold starts.

P.S. Sorry for your bad day cebat.

Hey rick, better go find some wood and start knocking. That is the same exact thing I would have said before a few days ago before I joined this club and became president.

Hey rick, better go find some wood and start knocking.

I already did that :) Besides, we live in the same city and are members of the same forum so the odds of my 8 flooding too must be near impossible ;)

I've not had a flood problem but thanks to this forum, I am very aware of getting the car warmed up if I start it up. So, when I pull it out of the garage to wash it, I roll it out without cranking. Then, I'll leave it out untill I have to go somewhere or take it for a short ride before pulling it back in. My car came with the M flash.
This forum has been invaluable to me and I am sure to many other RX8 owners.

My gauge seems to read three positions:

completely cold
approx 1/4 from cold to warm (partly warmed up, I guess)
approx 1/2 between cold and warm (normal position when operating)

The time it takes to reach #2 and #3 varies with ambient temp and how long car had been off. cebat, had your engine temp gauge moved at all when you shut down before it flooded?

So, when I pull it out of the garage to wash it, I roll it out without cranking. Then, I'll leave it out untill I have to go somewhere or take it for a short ride before pulling it back in.

I can't be the only person that lets the car idle and warm up as I wash it? :p

As usual snap-on's point is dead on. The battery is a key part of this equation. If you don't want to flood, make sure you have the latest flash, that you have sufficient battery power and that you don't have fouled plugs from excessive slow driving and short trips. The battery is very important. I think they all come with the 640 now. You don't want to know what the old one was rated at.
Paul.

well, uhhhh, no my temp gauge didn't move Deslock...my car is flood proof remember? Yea, I know I am an idiot for not allowing it to warm up. Now I know. Kudos to everyone who is more deligent about this than I.. You are saving yourself a lot of hardship and embarrasemant. Mazmart, very good point about the battery, I never looked at it that way before.. My hope as others read this thread, who are becoming lazy about warm up procedures, is that you will stop and think...and say to yourself, "Do I really want to join Cebat in his stupid club?"

Sad to say ... I am a member of this Club ..

Had to have it towed in - All new plugs ..

Major Pain in the Azz .......


Made the mistake - short move - Short warm up -- NEXT day - Wouldnt start PERIOD/

I just got back from a 6 day vacation tonight and went to drive my 8 and it flooded. I live in Indiana and it has been relatively cold here and my 8 was sitting outside while I was gone. Before I left for vacation, I had driven it home from work, about 15 miles, so I don't think it was that the engine wasn't warmed up. I believe that it was the battery issue. It cranked very very slowly and would not start. I had to get my wife's car and jump it, it took me about 10 minutes using the dechoke procedure to finally get it started. I have had my car since Feb and never had a problem with flooding. Well I take that back, the dealer flooded the car when it was on the lot. It starts fine now, do you guys think I should take it to mazda and have them check the battery and/or the plugs? I have the M flash.

Thanks,

Boilermaker

well, uhhhh, no my temp gauge didn't move Deslock...my car is flood proof remember? Yea, I know I am an idiot for not allowing it to warm up.LOL. Well, I wasn't saying that with my post... I've been in the situation where I wanted to shutdown, but my temp gauge had only moved part way and I didn't know if I still needed to rev it at 3k RPM for 10 sec or not.

Has anyone flooded with M flash when the temp gauge had moved? (not counting instances of a dead battery)

I have never had mine flood and most probably never will because I have never (even with my piston engined cars) started my car moved it a few feet then shut it down. I have always let all my cars warm up before shutting down, this prevents condensation buildup in the oil on ALL engines. I might spend a few more minutes with my cars running a burn a bit more fuel, but I have never had an engine failure in 30 years of car ownership. In light of the rotary's ease of flooding, I would say my habit will most likely be a true benefit (after 30 years - lol)

6speed8, Your next..........

Last summer, I thought it would be fun to drive my 8 through Rocky Mountain National Park. The idea of "snarling" over those mountain roads really appealed to me. I was driving in 3rd gear at 4000 RPM and the engine quit. According to my GPS, I was at 11,400 feet. There was a strong smell of gasoline. I managed to get it started in about 10 minutes. This time I ran at 6000 RPM in second gear. I had to slow down to 4000 RPM for traffic and it quit again even in second gear. Again after about 10 minutes, the engine started and I ran in first gear at 7500 RPM until I got to the top at 12, 400 ft. Obviously, at that altitude the"snarl" became a whimper. The engine flooded because it was set too rich. I took it to the dealer and they did an M flash. I have had it at 10,500 ft since and it ran well. It had good throttle response which it didn't have just prior to quitting the first time. Has anyone had a similar experience?

My gas mileage increased from 23 to about 24 on the highway after the M flash.

they shouldn't give u the M flash... isn't that flash suppose to be on hold cause it causes other problems?

New member here! I've had my 8 for a year, never flooded, but today was the day! Did the following as recommended: foot on the floor, crank for 10 sec. wait for 15 then repeat for a total of 4 times, then foot off gas, crank... started right up. An awful stink of gas out the exhaust, but otherwise no lasting problem. The car has M flash, but that doesn't make you immune. It is important to repeat the de-flood foot on the floor procedure 4 times, less did not work!

Happy holidays!

New member here! I've had my 8 for a year, never flooded, but today was the day! .....

Mine's never flooded in over a year ...... I hope my day never comes :D. Any idea why it flooded (short trip)? Glad to hear you were able to start it yourself. Happy Holidays to you too!

My car was flooded last night. I am aware of making sure it is properly warmed up before shutting off, as well as no very short "move the car from the driveway to the street" trips. I also know about the rev it at 3500 for 10 seconds.
My question is: Can flooding ONLY be caused by the turn it on and shut it off quickly deal?
Last Saturday the car was out for a few hours, washed, and parked. The next day I drove my wife to work (5 minute drive), followed by a 15 minute drive before parking.
The car was then parked and not driven until my wife tried to start the car yesterday. It has been cold (-30ish) but the car is parked in an attached garage with a temp of about -9.
I was at work and did not witness the starting proceedure.
She claims that the car "made the starting noise but wouldn't start....it sounded funny".
Now I know sometimes it takes longer to crank than a regular car, and she may have let go of the ignition before it fired up, or perhaps she even pushed the pedal down a bit when cranking.
Is there anyway she could have flooded it? I thought it had to be running and shut off too soon for that?
Anyway I got home in the morning, and sure enough after about 10 seconds of cranking no go. It really did sound funny. Turning ober and not catching.
3 rounds of 10 second cranking with a floored pedal, and a few normal 10 second cranks (needed to boost while doing this) she finally started.
The check engine light was on until the smoke cleared.
A nice 45 minute drive on our perimeter highway (100-150 km_and all seemed good. I stopped for fuel, and drove another 10 minutes and the light came on again. I will recheck the fuel door. Usually a fuel door will give the engine light up right away.
So, basically did she flood it while starting, and what about the engine light?
Due to the flooding?
It boggles my mind. I knew about the flooding problem, and feel that everything was done right on my part.
I love the car. I can deal with bad gas mileage, and needing winter tires.
Having to deal with the flooding deal really is enough for me to sell the car.
We can put men on the moon, baboon hearts in humans, but my car cant be started by a "soccer mom".
Who knows, maybe there is a problem with a sensor or something.
I dont want to come across as sexist, but most of my car problems that involved a female, were usually a result of the female. (an old girlfriend drove my car and put a litre of oil in it simply because she thought you had to add oil after you drove a car for a bit!)
Of course it had to happen while I was at work.

Any thoughts?

Merry Christmas/Festivus!

http://www.rx8club.com/showthread.php?t=48001

After several attempts to find a flood thread...behold

Lets discuss it there.

Please?

You sexist.. :rolleyes:

http://www.rx8club.com/showthread.php?t=48001

After several seconds to find a flood thread...behold

Lets discuss it there.

Please?

You sexist.. :rolleyes:

I edited your response to correct a typo!

Thanks for the link to one of the many useless threads I have already read.
As stated above, my car was not in a situation that typically causes flooding.
Is it possible to flood the car by doing something different than shutting it off too quick?
None of the flood threads cover my situation.

Several seconds eh? As I said, I searched. My situation was not covered in the many threads about flooding.
The flood threads cover "I heard the car floods, is it true? I was gonna buy one but the flooding.... how long should you warm the car up?.....m flash, ya got the m flash?....will the m flash stop flooding?.......
Your 2 posts suggest how easy it is to search, and the implication that I did not do that.
I am very dissapointed by that.
Why respond at all if you really cant contribute anything usefull?
Combined posts of around 1600 and thats the best you can come up with?

It's not the best we can come up with..

Fixing your car is the best I can come up with. I just seem to answer the same questions over and over. Please don't take it personally.


You are not the first cold flood issue we has seen this winter. I have posted recently there is a TSB addressing the CCA of the stock battery(310) and how they are upgrading all the replacement batteries to 640-690 CCA. This will be an attempt to ensure a high cold weather cranking speed and reduce the issues you have posted.

I think it was a quick start/stop that caused the flooding. The car was moved cold for a wash and not warmed up. It started again and was moved into the garage, no problem then. About 4 days later, went to start - flooded! Guess the flooding was from the second cold start on wash day and the gas just hung around till next time. I'll be more careful in the future. Yep, I was glad to get it started myself, almost called roadside assistance for a tow! Having a battery charger with a 50amp boost helped, the battery would have run down before starting without it.

It seems pretty stupid that for the same amount of time you spent typing your 2 non helpfull posts, you simply could have given an answer.
I did search. I did not find a cold flood issue. I found all the other flood threads. I thought this was clearly laid out.
Sometimes this board is helpfull.
I guess all the helpfull people are on holidays.
Thanks anyway.

I guess I must be pretty stupid.. :(

I hope the helpful people get back soon so we can really fix this problem.

I only thought us Yankees where rude????

Well no arguement there, yanks are rude.
I dont think I was being rude.
Like I said, thanks anyway.

No, only defensive when somebody takes a jab... :D

Mr. Bean, I think the best thing you can do is teach your soccer mom the dechoke procedure, and ask Mazda to check your PCM flash, your spark plugs (to see if they are the hot ones or not), and your cat. In doing that (excluding the bit about your wife), your case will go on record at MNAO and will hopefully contribute to research by MC into a foolproof starting procedure/software program.

I sympathise with you, I don't think being a soccer mom, or a woman should be the reason for a car not starting in this day and age, but at the same time, a rotary engine does require a little more pampering than a reciprocal engine. That is not good or bad, as I'm sure you know, it is just the nature of the beast.

If you have driven the car with no problems, but when your wife got in the car and it flooded, I think the solution is obvious. First, win her over again, because I'm sure she is absolutely pi##ed at that damn car! Get some friends to compliment you on the car in front of her, go for a nice long drive in the mountains where the scenery is beautiful, you get the idea....

Then let her drive a few times, with you in the passenger's seat, coaching her a little. Then maybe go into a little detail about how the rotary engine works, how Mazda stuck it in the faces of the big-buck Le Mans teams in '91 and won with a rotary, even though the opposition had them banned from the next year. Tell her about the RX7's and how much better the 8 is than them. Then tell her the dechoke procedure...

And the answer to your question "Can flooding ONLY be caused by the turn it on and shut it off quickly?", No.
The engine floods because it doesn't fire first pop and the excessive fuel in the engine washes the oil off the rotor walls, causing a loss of compression (making the engine sound different). If there is already a lot of unburnt fuel in the engine, like after a stop-start when the engine is cold (less vaporisation of fuel, plus richer mixture) it makes the situation worse. But the root cause is the engine not catching on the first crank, or half catching, and excessive fuel being present. That can be caused by lots of things. Most of which are under investigation by Mazda - so please report this to your dealer.

Sorry for the novel... ;)

Well, I had a similar problem. I am also fully aware of flooding and to the point where I will be late for work because I've been sitting and waiting for the car to warm up. (Or driving around) But one night it was the coldest it's been so far this winter, about 0 farenhiet and I cranked it once, didn't start. Cranked it much longer the 2nd time, still didn't start. So I started looking in the manual for the de-choking procedure but I couldn't find it and it was so damn cold that I just tried to start it again a 3rd time, and then a 4th time, and then it finally started. (and I'm even a woman!! but not a soccer mom, definately)

So I've read a lot about RX-8's flooding....but tonight (for the first time), my RX-8 did not start! I thought it may be because of the cold weather, but the neighbor's cars started up fine. And the weather is nothing compared to other Forum member's flooding experience (it is 40 Degrees F tonight).

BUT here's the twist!!! My RX-8 was not the only car that did not start! My sister's car and my older brother's car did not start either! What's the chance of that? I checked all of the tail pipes just in case of some 'banana in the tail pipe' prank! Does anyone have any ideas what happened? I'm pretty sure it was sabatoge!! I'd appreciate any positive feedback! Thanks!

So I've read a lot about RX-8's flooding....but tonight (for the first time), my RX-8 did not start! I thought it may be because of the cold weather, but the neighbor's cars started up fine. And the weather is nothing compared to other Forum member's flooding experience (it is 40 Degrees F tonight).

BUT here's the twist!!! My RX-8 was not the only car that did not start! My sister's car and my older brother's car did not start either! What's the chance of that? I checked all of the tail pipes just in case of some 'banana in the tail pipe' prank! Does anyone have any ideas what happened? I'm pretty sure it was sabatoge!! I'd appreciate any positive feedback! Thanks!
Did you try the emergency start procedure in the manual?

Unfortunately, I'm at my parent's house and I left my manual at my apartment....can you give me the gist of it? I'd appreciate it!

p.s. i talked to some friends, they're convinced that someone put sugar in my tank.

they're convinced that someone put sugar in my tank.
how'd they come to that conclusion?

Three marks in the same driveway? Time to get into the witness protection program..

Sugar in the gas won't ruin a car, it is an urban legend.

http://www.snopes.com/autos/grace/sugar.asp

weird, my 8 started up fine yesterday, under the same weather conditions. I doubt its anything in the tank unless you left all your cars unlocked. This is strange indeed.

So how cold WAS it?

Well, I had a similar problem. I am also fully aware of flooding and to the point where I will be late for work because I've been sitting and waiting for the car to warm up. (Or driving around) But one night it was the coldest it's been so far this winter, about 0 farenhiet and I cranked it once, didn't start. Cranked it much longer the 2nd time, still didn't start. So I started looking in the manual for the de-choking procedure but I couldn't find it and it was so damn cold that I just tried to start it again a 3rd time, and then a 4th time, and then it finally started. (and I'm even a woman!! but not a soccer mom, definately)

The dechoke procedure is cranking the engine with the accellerator pedal FULLY depressed. Don't worry, the engine won't start. This cuts the fuel supply, so that by cranking over the engine with the starter motor you are pumping any excess fuel in the engine out the exhaust.

Out of 30k miles of trouble free, I finally joined the flood club! When I took out the spark plugs, they look very bad; no wonder it's easily flooded. It give no symptom, it's just decide quite one morning and it took me half a day to get the engine fire up again after the plugs were cleaned. To make the story short, brought it to the dealer next morning for th 30k service, they re-flash the ECM with the latest version and I will have to wait until my 35k service to get the new plugs replacement since I have the free maintenace service :D

was flooded last night, did the deflood procedure (cut fuel, crank, rinse, repeat) and got it started this afternoon. i didn't want to just submit to the dealer tow, but im brining it in to change the oil and filter due to the flooding.

a war vetran i am now, truly a rotary owner.

.02$

was flooded last night, did the deflood procedure (cut fuel, crank, rinse, repeat) and got it started this afternoon. i didn't want to just submit to the dealer tow, but im brining it in to change the oil and filter due to the flooding.

a war vetran i am now, truly a rotary owner.

.02$

Part of the dealer de-flood procedure is to check for damage to the Catalytic Converter and a couple of other issues. You may still want to get the dealer to do those checks.

FWIW

foot down to crank the flood out. then foot off the pedal to try starting. your foot should always be off the pedal when starting.

foot down to crank the flood out. then foot off the pedal to try starting. your foot should always be off the pedal when starting.

When does "crank the flood out" end and "try starting" begin? Don't I have the key turned to start in both cases?

Out of 30k miles of trouble free, I finally joined the flood club! .........

Sorry to hear that ........ are most of your trips short? What version flash did you have before the upgrade - to the new M I presume?

Damn, that spark plug looks nasty.

Can anyone tell me if this is typical looking spark plug for a rotary with 30k miles ?

sorry-
a.hold the accelerator pedal to the floor- this cuts off fuel.
b.crank for 8-10 seconds.
c remove foot from pedal, crank for 8-10 seconds to try to start.
d. if car fails to start go back to a.

after trying this a few times (the printed procedure has a specific amount of times) if you still cant get it to start call roadside assisstance.

if you are mechanicly inclined you could also pull and clean the plugs,reinstall them and try again.

Well after 1 year, no real problems, and a great overall experience with my RX-8, it finally just didn't start today.
The car in kept in the garage, and I haven't done anything abnormal or unusal except the car hasn't been driven for about 5 days. I went out this afternoon to take it out and bammm, it just wouldn't start. I noticed something wasn't right almost instantly as the engine sounded different?? Regardless I tried the emergency start procedure for flooding, checked the fuses and even added some more gas since it was on the low side, but to no avail.
Mazda roadside service just took it away (they took 3.5 hours to get here!).

I callled the dealer and he suggested maybe I got a buggy flash but I guess I will find out in a few days what went wrong. The last flash I received was due to a noticed I received from mazda, I think it was the 04 flash or something like that.

Anyone else had an experience like this? Since I don't really think it was flooding, it will be curious what the dealer finds out.
The car was also given "hotter" plugs during it's last service, but honestly it seemed to run smoother for the first two weeks, but the gas mileage also decreased by about 2-3 mpg. It could be just the colder weather... so it will be interesting to see what this is all about.

you might get the new higher cca battery out of this. there have been otehr reports of cars sitting for 5 days or so and then not starting. most i think were low batteries. the flash you got may have been the buggy on ebut i dont think it has anything to do realy wiht your no-start.

Yeah - sounds like your battery might just have been low... could try charging it and giving it another try

I bought my baby in April and i have NEVER had a single problem. Today of all days, i went to start he up as i do everyday and ...nothing. She wouldnt even cough. After following the flood instructions in the users manual, still nothing. Does anyone have any tricks up their sleeve i could try? I relly dont want to call "Camel Tow." :p

Please ... someone help my baby....

P.S. I am awaiting the arival of my CZ 1 computer tommorow!
Just my luck

Just keep doin what is say. if it doesnt start,, Depress the gas and start hold for 10 secounds if it doesnt start then release gas and start liek noraml. Keep doing that off and on liek that,. It should eventually start....

It took me 20 min to get mine started last week. Was sitin in the garage for 3 days and very cold like 10 f... I had to hook up the bat charger to it to keep the juice up to have it crank over faster..

Good luck


She'll start

The dechoke procedure is cranking the engine with the accellerator pedal FULLY depressed. Don't worry, the engine won't start. This cuts the fuel supply, so that by cranking over the engine with the starter motor you are pumping any excess fuel in the engine out the exhaust.

This should help--no doubt.

Also for the real cold guys, may want to try a dipstick block heater. What happens is the oil gets so cold the OMP has difficulty pumping the oil into the rotor chambers. This results in little or no sealing of the chambers while cranking.

Do you guys with 8's have the sub-zero starting assist system that was installed on the Rx-7's? Hopefully not--everyone I know of removed the useless system. What this system does is injects glycol (yes radiator type coolant) into the chamber to help seal up the rotors for good compression.

An alternative to this is to use 2-stroke premix oil in your gas, 6-8 oz per fillup should do it. This will insure you have good sealing for startup--even if it's cold and has extra fuel.

Here's a thread that talks about premix: http://www.rx8club.com/showthread.php?t=41024&highlight=OMP

And yea, the bigger battery would help too, higher cranking speed = more compression for starting.

HTH,

Scott

Sorry to hear that ........ are most of your trips short? What version flash did you have before the upgrade - to the new M I presume?
with 30k miles ?

Most of my trips are over 5 miles, except a few time just a block or two away which I used to warmed up about 15 seconds and drive. When it's too cold I tend to warm it up more and never turn off the car when it's just been started; I do have a few occation stall the engine in the early morning when it's cold where my foot still sleepy when releasing the clutch, but never had experienced any engine starting issue. I had the M flash back in March that ran flawlessly untill now and the temperature wasn't much different that never go below 50 F.

However, last week I took out the eManage and run the car stock since. Maybe that cause the engine to run too rich and carbon build up too fast? :confused: Definitely the plugs need to be replaced soon, if not sooner.

ps: If it's not because of the free service, I would of replaced the plugs already :D

Out of 30k miles of trouble free, I finally joined the flood club! When I took out the spark plugs, they look very bad; no wonder it's easily flooded. :DYipes! That spark plug (http://www.rx8club.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=37422)looks more like a drain plug :eek: On second thought, drain plugs are cleaner than that :rolleyes:

New member here! I've had my 8 for a year, never flooded, but today was the day! Did the following as recommended: foot on the floor, crank for 10 sec. wait for 15 then repeat for a total of 4 times, then foot off gas, crank... started right up. An awful stink of gas out the exhaust, but otherwise no lasting problem. The car has M flash, but that doesn't make you immune. Hi RX8MN. I'm also an M flasher and I think I had a near-flood-experience today (maybe there is a reason for John Edwards and he could look into this) that resuled from a short lunch trip earlier in the day. When I left work it took several loooonnnggg cranks to get the thing going. There was lots of black smoke that blew away from the car when it finally started, so I don't know if there was a gas smell.

Out of curiosity, did you have lots of black smoke?

Rare photo (http://indiabroad.rediff.com/news/sep/16fire3.jpg)of two flooded 8s simultaneously starting in the distance. Probably had the spark plugs replaced later in the day.

Do you rev it before you shut it off, or just shut it off

....
Rare photo (http://indiabroad.rediff.com/news/sep/16fire3.jpg)of two flooded 8s simultaneously starting in the distance. Probably had the spark plugs replaced later in the day.

LMAO! That's too funny ....... with all that smoke, they must have followed the unflood procedure where you pull the spark plugs out and put some transmission fluid in.

I tried it all.....ah well. The car is on the way to the dealer right now. The dumb @$$ tow truck driver was about to tow it with a wheel lift truck not knowing that u NEED a flat bed. I didnt know either till the manager of the towing company called to tell him to stop. Thank god or else it coulda got messy. I am waiting for the car to be ready now.... Just another member of the flood club i guess. Oh well, i still adore this car :p

I tried it all.....ah well. The car is on the way to the dealer right now. The dumb @$$ tow truck driver was about to tow it with a wheel lift truck not knowing that u NEED a flat bed. I didnt know either till the manager of the towing company called to tell him to stop. Thank god or else it coulda got messy. I am waiting for the car to be ready now.... Just another member of the flood club i guess. Oh well, i still adore this car :p
Ok, I must be stupid... Why MUST you tow it on a Flat Bed? I've had mine towed on a lift once, a flat bed twice, behind a truck twice, and pushed it once. None seemed to hurt it anymore that it alread was.

Part of the dealer de-flood procedure is to check for damage to the Catalytic Converter and a couple of other issues. You may still want to get the dealer to do those checks.
FWIW
i brought the car in to get the oil changed, since the oil getting gas in it is probable. while i was at the dealer they gave me a new flash for the hard start issues, told me about a new battery that mazda is providing (higher cranking power) to help with the hard cold starts. said that would be about a month off and to come back for it.

as for cutting off the fuel, i just pulled the fuel relay.

.02$

Ok, I must be stupid... Why MUST you tow it on a Flat Bed? I've had mine towed on a lift once, a flat bed twice, behind a truck twice, and pushed it once. None seemed to hurt it anymore that it alread was.
dude, you tow your car alot =p.. what the heck are you doing?
.02$

Oh, trust me, I don't do it on a Saturday afternoon when I have nothing else to do. It's just been broke down too many times. Towing it off the street, then to the dealership, then to another dealership, then driving it for a while. Then back to the dealership, then towing it home from the dealership to the Apartment Complex, then push it in the driveway. It's not over yet. :Puts Head Through Wall:

There's no such thing as an RX8 that won't flood. If it hasn't happened to you yet it's just a matter of time. It's gonna get ya -- oh yes it is!!! I'm thinking I'm up around 5 or 6 times in 13K+ miles.

I can't imagine Ford will put up with the tow bills on these things too much longer before they kill this engine once again. I don't think there's a way around this. If they don't flood the engine with gas upon start-up, there's no way to seal off the rotors.

Make sure you have a GREAT battery charger on hand with an 'engine start' mode. Keep your cranks to short 10 second bursts with at least 30 second rest periods. Eventually (20 minutes seems about the normal) she'll start to kick over for you.

I love the car -- I love the rotary engine. The gas mileage wouldn't suck if I kept the RPM's down, but I'm not going to!

We've got heated seats -- I think we need heated chambers so this @#$%doesn't happen anymore! I drive 4 vehicles routinely -- only the RX8 is twisted (warm up REQUIRED) and even that doesn't ALWAYS work...

Tinkerer

I never had a single problem. 14K miles on it, and every time I warm it up COMPLETELY. When I shut it off, I rev to 6000rpms, and kill it at 6000rpms, do not wait on it to go back to idle...
The car has NEVER been down, never been to the deralership since new... I guess I am lucky

15000 miles...no problems

The dealer called today and said the car was flooded. They said they reflashed the reflashed flash again! :) You just have to love it. It will be interesting to see what difference there will be with the car this time when I get it back. They want to keep the car overnight and try and start it again in the morning to make sure it doesn't do the same thing again.... Seems like there should be a more definative way to determine if the flash was the problem...
I will update you when I finally get it back.

you might get the new higher cca battery out of this. there have been otehr reports of cars sitting for 5 days or so and then not starting. most i think were low batteries. the flash you got may have been the buggy on ebut i dont think it has anything to do realy wiht your no-start.
Irish had the exact same thing happen to him. Car sat for a few days and bam, wouldn't start. They replaced the battery.

12000 miles and i treat it no diffrent than any other car i have owned and no flooding.

thanx to this board I was able to start it without a tow. I did the start with the gas pedal fully depressed a few times and it finally kicked. I had to charge battery with jumper cables because i really drained it. The reason I flooded is the same as we have all been warned.........started it to take out CD and shut it a minute later.

Sorry to hear about the Flooding. You should have your car checked out at the shop though.
But for future reference, you can remove cd's without starting the car or even using the key. Most cars will let you eject cd's that way.


Takashi 7

Lucky the 8 wasn't out of commission.

Takashi ... as far as I'm aware our 8's REQUIRE the key to get the CD player working ... just turn the key to the "ON" position though.

Don't know about the 6 disk changers...but if you only have a single cd stereo you can just push the eject button without the key even in the ignition and the cd will pop out.

I just went out to the car and tried it.
It works as I decribed. I just got in the car (no key in) and pushed the eject button. The last cd i was listening to ejected.
Trust me. It works.

Takashi 7

I regularly empty the changer in my '8 without a key - simply pressing the eject button repeatedly - with appropriate pauses for CD's to change).

Every car I have used a CD player in does the same.

....... while i was at the dealer they gave me a new flash for the hard start issues, told me about a new battery that mazda is providing (higher cranking power) to help with the hard cold starts. said that would be about a month off and to come back for it. .........

Are they going to give you a free new higher CCA battery or do you have to pay for it?

Maybe he was heading to the bank to change a Certificate of Deposit and then changed his mind.

Maybe he was heading to the bank to change a Certificate of Deposit and then changed his mind.
lmao :D

flood club sux

thanx to this board I was able to start it without a tow. I did the start with the gas pedal fully depressed a few times and it finally kicked. I had to charge battery with jumper cables because i really drained it. The reason I flooded is the same as we have all been warned.........started it to take out CD and shut it a minute later.
yues

Well the Mazda FI rotary cars have had flooding issues all the way back to the 84 GSL-SE, then the second gens, third gens, and now the Rx-8. Damn--think they would learn a few things. I have some good advice that may help some of you.

First, when starting the engine, the ECU primes the system with fuel for start-up. It may be too much, especially if you don't have enough compression to burn it. The lack of compression can be from several things: very cold, low rpm during cranking, little or no oil being injected into the rotors. A very common work around is to install a fuel kill switch. Leave the fuel off for about 2 or 3 seconds during start-up cranking, then turn it on. On shut down, turn the fuel off at the kill switch with the EGI system still on. This will tend to consume any fuel left in the rotors. You may be able to do the same thing by cranking with the gas pedal all the way down for three seconds then let off the gas. I know you have the deflood option but I'm not sure it disables the fuel priming during start-up.

Second, you may want to try premixing your gas with about 6 oz of 2-stroke (TCW3) oil per tank. This will help provide lubrication when the oil is too cold to get pumped instantly into the rotors. Remember it takes a finite amount of time for the OMP system to actually get some oil into the chambers--especially when very cold. Premix avoids this problem by putting in some sealing oil with the gas. Even when you get flooded the premix will hang around to help seal. Worth a try. (note: lets not get into the premix debate here, I'm sure there are at least 10 other threads that debate it).

I know you guys don't like to hear about band aid fixes for your new 30k car, but it seems you have the same problems earlier generations have had. I've had two FI rotaries and have never had this flooding problem--maybe cause this climate is very mild even in the winter.

Oh and DON'T use automatic transmission fluid (ATF) to rebuild compression after flooding. This was a very old way of regaining compression after a flood. Use the 2-stroke oil instead, it will do the same job and was made to be burned in a combustion chamber, ATF was not. The ATF can destroy your cat, trust me they are very expensive and nothing good will come of it.

HTH,

Scott

:eek: 3,000 miles 2 trips to the dealer THIS WEEK no end in sight. My baby spends more time on a flat bed truck then in my garage. The service manager just shakes his head when I walk in and tells me to take comfort because he has four more in the shop just like it! For those of you that have not had this problem I am happy for you, extremely jealous, but happy for you. The update the dealer performed has not resolved the problem and Mazda wants to offer me free dealer services for the inconvenience, I want a car that starts Mazda! Has anyone gotten a better response from Mazda, a showing of Goodwill maybe?

I know you guys don't like to hear about band aid fixes for your new 30k car, but it seems you have the same problems earlier generations have had.

Before using band-aid fixes one should:

- Get the M-Flash
- Follow Mazda instructions to avoid short trips
- If the car floods use the published "de-choke" procedure
in the Crank-No-Start TSB.

My sense is this ALMOST completely eliminates having to use a band-aid fix or getting towed to the dealer. The drop-off on flooding posts in this thread, when the M Flash came out, was amazing.

However, that is small consolation to people with a chronic problem like HOLLYFROG. For some reason there are just some RX-8s prone to flooding just like there are some RX-8s that get consistently terrible gas mileage (8-10 mpg). Wierd huh?

Before using band-aid fixes one should:

- Get the M-Flash
- Follow Mazda instructions to avoid short trips
- If the car floods use the published "de-choke" procedure
in the Crank-No-Start TSB.


Yea that's what I said about the "de-choke" procedure--I'm with ya on that. But the part about avoiding short trips is total BS. I can't believe Mazda would say that.

Cool icon msrecant, and yea let's get NASA to do a due East flight to save hubble.

I can't believe Mazda would say that.

Neither can I but they have been saying it since the first RX-8s hit the street. I think it goes back to what you originally said about FI rotary engines and flooding. While Mazda has improved things, in 20 years they have yet to develop a complete fix for this issue.

Is it normal to have the Check Engine Light come on after the engine gets flooded?

I was told by the dealer they wont replace the plugs with the new spec spark plugs. They did that earlier but not any more ... and also since I have the latest PCM flash I shouldn't have to replace the plugs.

No idea. Sorry. Zoom???

- Irish :cool:

Is it normal to have the Check Engine Light come on after the engine gets flooded?

I was told by the dealer they wont replace the plugs with the new spec spark plugs. They did that earlier but not any more ... and also since I have the latest PCM flash I shouldn't have to replace the plugs.


It may not be "normal" It is not uncommon.. :(

How long ago did the car flood and did you get the CEL code yet?

I've seen many post-flood cars with bad converters popping up lately. Zoom44 posted a pic in one thread of the front converter is pieces. The car had set a P0420 code.

Thanks snap-on. Hmm.. I haven't taken my car in to the dealer yet so I've no idea about the code. The car was flooded a week ago but I haven't driven it a lot after that as I wanna have it checked first.

Bad catalytic converters after being flooded !!! that sucks. I hope mine didn't 'pop up' :) Is this something thats covered under warranty??

Finally found the thread with the pics..

http://www.rx8club.com/showthread.php?t=47525&page=6&pp=15


And yes.. the entire issue should be covered under warranty

Please remember to post what the code was after the visit.

Thanks

or at least i think it did. I washed it on Saturday, so i pulled it out the garage into the drive way. i washed it and pulled it back in. then today, it wouldn't start. i turn the key and hear sounds like its trying to start, but the engine won't turn(thought it sounded like maybe the starter wasn't working right, but i'm guessing it's flooded). i'll be calling the dealer monday to tow it in and get a loaner. i've had it for a year and it has about 13000 miles on it. i wash about every week and its never done this before. this summer i got the flash that was supposed to prevent this.

I have never had a flooding problem, but I always make sure the needle is in the operating range when I shut the engine off. I wonder when you say, "...the engine won't turn". Do you mean it won't turn over, or that it turns over, but won't fire? If it turns over, but won't fire, it is probably flooded. If it won't turn over, that is likely something else.

I got the reflash, too, but was told that it wouldn't totally rectify the flooding situation. I like to drive my 8, so I just make sure it is warm before turning the ignition off.

the engine turns but doesn't fire... it goes right to the point of where it should start but just doesn't....

it's funny that after a year, 13000 miles and many car washes, it floods..... i kept reading about everyone else's flooding problems and thought maybe i was lucky..

I got an Drivers Guide Insert with my car that has a de-choking procedure...did you get this or try it? I have had mine for about a month and I havent had any problems yet, and its been cold at times here in Atlanta. I am worried about this problem too..but I havent been victim to it yet. All it says is:

1)Depress and hold accelerator pedal to floor and crank the engine for 7-8 seconds (This will clean out any unburnt fuel from the combustion chamber)

2)Release the ignition switch

3) Release the accel. pedal and start the engine. If the engine starts while performing Step 1, the engine will rev up. Immediately release the ignition key and remove your foot from the accel pedal.
*Do not keep holding the ignition switch in the start position for over 10 seconds if the engine doesnt start. This may result in a weakened or dead battery
*Avoid racing the engine or suddenly taking off right after starting the engine
*If the engine still fails to start following the de-chocking procedure, have your vehicle inspected by a Mazda dealer.

tried dechoking, couldn't get it to work...

waiting on tow right now... the service tech just told me that the flash i got this summer was stopped being used in Nov and mazda will be coimng out with a new one .... there were problems with the last one i got in the summer(great!).....

My 8 flooded yesterday as well. My dad moved my car the day before and didn't warm it up. I'd like to blame it on that. It's at the dealership right now. Let's hope this is the one and only time. It was in the 70's yesterday so I can't blame the cold. Tried the deflood procedure including the removal of the fuel pump fuse and still no go. I am M flashed. At least they gave me a mt miata.

Oh yea, there was another dead red 8 at the dealership.

Lord, there must have been something going on this weekend to do in RX-8s.

Like kidcas, I washed out RX8 Friday--the weather warmed up into the 50's in OH--let it run for a few minutes and shut it off. Have done this same procedure atleast 4 times before with no problems.
Crank but no start; did the dechoking method to no avail. The car was reflashed in October.

At the dealer now--how strange.

The dealer told me today, that there's been in a rash in the last week or two of 8's flooding.... he said the rotary engine can be funny, in chooosing when to flood and when not, given that i've had it for a year and it hasn't flooded til now...

flooding is caused by not warming up the engine all the way. short trips and pulling it out to wash it are the times when it is most likely to happen. since its generally colder thru out the states right now there is a larger chance that you will flood it doing these things. congrats kidcas- you chose to do the exact thing the manual states is not a good thing to do. its not bad luck that it happened now its good luck that it didnt happen to you before. if you have done it a lot in the past i suggest you go play the lottery:)

i got my car back today, it didn't take them very long...... they said i could try the dechoking method of pulling the fuel fuse and cranking it, but its not guranteed to work and i may still have to pull the plugs..... when i was looking at the 8, the sales person never mentioned anything about flooding and short trips, i had to find out on here.... i was told the flash i got this summer was supposed to have taken care of the flooding issue, but now that flash has been stopped and they're awaiting a new one....

Okay, so I'm finally a member of the flood club. I did get it to start after a few minutes of playing around with the gas pedal and ignition though.

My question is should I take it to the dealer and have it checked out? How can I tell if I've fouled a spark plug. Everything seems to drive normal, except for the fact that right afterwards, the engine was a little louder than normal, but seems to be getting back to normal the more I drive.

As some of you know, this is my first rotary, so I'm not too experienced. I just want to know what to look for right after a flood.

I got mine back today. Changed plugs and they said they did the deflooding procedure A+B+C 1hr 30mins service time. I noticed that they did not change the oil though which I thought they did on some flooded 8s. Not trying to get a freebie as I changed it last week. When I told the tech this he said it didn't require it. How do they know which ones do and don't?

Weird.. 5 of ours just flooded the past weekend. See tech section. Tried all the deflood procedure to no avail.

Mazda recommends having it checked out at the dealer to play it safe.

shaolin,

What was the situation? How did you flood it?

I flooded it by allowing my brother to bring it into the garage when it was raining yesterday. I forgot to tell him to let it idle until it reached operating temperature. The car had not been run all day, except for that brief 20 seconds from the driveway into the garage, and it was probably about 40-50 degrees.

Got our's back this PM. Went through the standard fix for flooding--change plugs, clean combustion chamber and supposedly put ina new flash--ours was the M flash from October.

We had our Miata serviced at this dealer years ago and they are one of the few Mazda Speed dealers in Ohio--a first class outfit. Having said that, I've never seen a more closed mouth group of guys when discussing this problem--the service manager kept looking down at the floor and describing the new starting procedures on how to prevent this. I had the distinct feeling that these guys really didn't know what was going on with this problem and that the "flash" versions weren't a real fix.

BTW, we didn't get any paper work for this whole deal when we left. They said they'd put it in the mail; their computer system may have been down but this is the first time I've left a car dealership for a warranty repair and not gotten one bit of paper work.

Stay tuned..

I got a Check Engine Light after my car got flooded. Got my car back from the dealer. They cleared the CEL light. Here's what i have on my invoice:

===========================
CK Engine Light On
Code P0300...random missfire
Advised customer to use 87 Octane fuel and let engine idle for 60 seconds on cold engine starts before moving the car
F0008XDX///0.9
F0010XFX///0.3
===========================

Whats with the 87 octane?

you should have the plugs pulled and cleaned.

it burns easier so they are hoping that no more misfires will occur with the easier to burn fuel and hoping that the lower octane fuel will not allow any knock or that the pcm will adjust the timing to deal with the knock:(

Is flooding still a potential issue with the 05s? Cause my manual has zilch to say about the subject. All it says about starting is to lay off the accelerator initially in extreme cold.
One more question. Does the RX8 find happiness with remote starters?

I have an 05, and have not had any floods. You will be receiving an updated manual with 'flood start proceedure' in the mail(i got it last week).
You should always let the engine warm up prior to heavy use, and as long as you have an automatic I don't see any reason why a remote start wouldnt work.

There are people who have done a start button mods etc.

Many shops will also install remote starts on manual trannies--I wouldn't advise it though.

I bought mine in December, but I've been very careful after all the postings here about flooding. My dealer also warned me about that when I bought the car.

Many shops will also install remote starts on manual trannies--I wouldn't advise it though.

Does it just mechanically engage the clutch or what?

Does it just mechanically engage the clutch or what?

Actually the alarm shop will bypass the clutch, so you will be able to start the car without having to depress the clutch pedal. Just don't forget to leave the car in neutral, if you leave it in gear it will move when the remote starter turns on.

I just got my 05 and my manual had the "flood" steps??? Maybe I'm dreaming here, but I just ran through it and I thought I read about it. ????

Actually the alarm shop will bypass the clutch, so you will be able to start the car without having to depress the clutch pedal. Just don't forget to leave the car in neutral, if you leave it in gear it will move when the remote starter turns on.

I figured that might be the case- but what about parking on inclines? Not leaving the car in gear could lead to some serious issues.

I figured that might be the case- but what about parking on inclines? Not leaving the car in gear could lead to some serious issues.

You'll have one of two options, one do not start the car by remote if you are on an incline and in gear or two make sure that you pull up hard on the E-brake.

All the '05's will have the latest ECU flash. This should eliminate the flooding issues. Now, with that said, you must warm up the 8 prior to driving it. Never cold start and cold shut off the car, this will increase your chances of a flood. Also, when shutting the car down after a spin, rev her to 3500rpm, turn the key to off, remove key from ignition slot, open door, step out, walk away, STOP, turn around, open mouth, admire, say the words "goodnight baby" then simply walk away...if you can!! :D lol

- Irish

I've seen all kinds of people suggest reving the engine right before shutting off the car. I understand the point, but it seems kind of counter productive to me. Here's why: All of the major gripes about this car have to do with the ecu right? Ecu controls fuel mixture. We know the mix is as rich as cotton candy. This car is very fuel inefficient. Inefficient to the point where I have to believe that at least some amount of fuel is left unburnt. If I'm correct about this, then would it not be wrong to assume that by injecting more fuel into the engine immediately before shutdown you are increasing your chances for a flood?

Please weigh in all. Having come from a turbo car to the 8 I'm already in a habit of just letting the car sit there at idle for a minute or two. Less fuel in there - less chance of a flood the way see it.

I kinda think you advocates of the pre-shutdown rev just like to hear that sound ;)

I've seen all kinds of people suggest reving the engine right before shutting off the car......

I only rev my engine before shutting it down if it's not warmed up ......... no flooding in 15k miles of ownership.

Actually the alarm shop will bypass the clutch, so you will be able to start the car without having to depress the clutch pedal. Just don't forget to leave the car in neutral, if you leave it in gear it will move when the remote starter turns on.

If you get Car & Driver, in this month's "Winners & Losers" section, a guy at an auction remote stared his Countach, forgetting it was in gear. It fired up and then rolled into an Austin-Healey. Just thought I'd share. :D

~ Matt

my rx8 seems to flood out alot. the car dealer says it is my fault, that i have to let the car warm up to normal temp before driving. and also if i start the car i also must let it warm up to temp before turing it off. hell, i can't any pull it out of the garage unless i am willing to let it set and run.is this right or is something else wrong ... the car is an 04 2 months old

You need to let it warm up before you shut it off. A quick trip around the block to let it warm up should be enough. You don't need to let it warm up too long before driving, as long as you take it easy for a bit.

had my 8 towed to the dealership yesterday for flooding (cranks won't start - followed by smell of gas) tried the proceedure listed in the owners manual before calling towing service. Tow truck driver told me that mine was the 4th one that he had towed in for the same problem that day. Still waiting on word from the dealership on this. The only thing that I have a problem with is that my 8 has 53k miles on it now.

had my 8 towed to the dealership yesterday for flooding (cranks won't start - followed by smell of gas) tried the proceedure listed in the owners manual before calling towing service. Tow truck driver told me that mine was the 4th one that he had towed in for the same problem that day. Still waiting on word from the dealership on this. The only thing that I have a problem with is that my 8 has 53k miles on it now.

NYT-OWL, have you had the M flash? Is your an MT or AT?

I have the MT and had the ECU replaced a few months back for the check engine light being on. I am assuming that the new ECU would have the M flash already. I read on the forum where some others have had this problem and was able to get thier car started after removing the fuel pump fuse. I didn't try that, I wish I would have read that first before getting her towed. Just the thought of her on that tow truck is sickening and I wouldn't wish that on anyone here.

This poll shows that winter/cold temperatures is the problem.
No wonder why during summer the 'NO' option was close to 76%. Now look, it has dropped down to 72.6%

Never flooded mine but I could see it myself. In summer the car started up with problems at all. Now it takes longer and more effort to bring the engine to life...

yes it is easier to flood the car in colder weather. the flooding is from shutting off before the engine is fully warm. in colder weather it takes longer to get fully warm. same thing with tpms lights coming on and people getting cels at 6500 rpm. as far as flooding - the newer battey that is comign with 640 cca's should help lessen the amount of trips to the service depts. for flooding. the battery will be strong enought to crank out the flood and still start the car.

Will we have to pay for the new battery, or will they pro-rate the cost against the time/milage on our existing batteries?

With the 93-95 cars, and I admit that it's apples and oranges, the starter spun at 250rpm. Under ideal conditions that's great. I'm guessing that the renesis spins in that range. I want the mongo battery and a starter that will sping at 400 plus rpms. Cold temperatures have always increased flooding. Mazda should have know better. In fairness, it might have been the *Blue Oval* bean counters that cheaped out on the battery. It's definately Mazda's fault on that slow spinning sucker of a starter. You oldies might remember the top mounted Rx2 automatic horror stories... :cool:

I got off of work Friday, started my car, drove 2 blocks and the engine light came on, car chokes and dies. Final verdict... it FINALLY FLOODED!!!! :)
You may ask, "OK psychotic, big teeth woman.. WHY would that make you happy?"
Well I'll tell 'ya. I've always felt left out when it comes to that Poll about people whom have flooded. It always felt like a part of my life was missing because I couldn't check one of those little boxes. WELL NOW I CAN!!!! :D

I'm so glad to know I still have this to look forward to after 10mos of ownership

Somebody please crown the lady with her Burger King tierra :D

You know, Jen, you're just a little bit warped.

I'd say that she's rather well adjusted. :D

did the first time hurt? i've never been flooded :D :D

You deserve to get credit for this thread- moving it to general Discussion :)


aww you moved it right after i made a very loungesque double entendre...lol :eek:

I got off of work Friday, started my car, drove 2 blocks and the engine light came on, car chokes and dies. Final verdict... it FINALLY FLOODED!!!! :)
You may ask, "OK psychotic, big teeth woman.. WHY would that make you happy?"
Well I'll tell 'ya. I've always felt left out when it comes to that Poll about people whom have flooded. It always felt like a part of my life was missing because I couldn't check one of those little boxes. WELL NOW I CAN!!!! :D
Just be carefull, you dont' want to join the transmission polls, do you? :D

Congrats anyway and good luck!

OK OK, first it is a little strange to be happy about that...but on to my question:

I thought flooding only happend when you turned on the engine, then off too quickly. You said you turned it on and started driving...THEN flooded??? How did that happen? I don't understand???

Give us more details...

Thanks!

aww you moved it right after i made a very loungesque double entendre...lol :eek:


It still works- you're just getting credit for the post! Take it where you can get it ;)

THANK YOU THANK YOU!!! :D
And poolside, I'll take that BK crown with grace.. grace I tell 'ya!!! :)

All you can do is laugh. Really. Crying doesn't seem to help when life throws lemons.
I have her back already.. got the plugs replaced ($120 if out of warranty). Seems to run a bit peppier too.

In 2 weeks I would have had her a year. So don't think it won't happen to you! I follow every procedure possible and always warm it a couple of minutes before driving. Also, I'm here in the South.. so it isn't like it's frigid here.
Considering this is only the second problem I've had really (TPS wasn't working at DT. I had a leak in my back tire and was at 19psi whipping through corners :( ) I am still very happy overall. :D

YAY! Welcome to the club!!!

Im a member of the flooding club, the rebuilt tranny club, the bad airbag club, the bad O2 sensor club... Well that's about it for now!!! =)

OK OK, first it is a little strange to be happy about that...but on to my question: I'm off my medication today.

I thought flooding only happend when you turned on the engine, then off too quickly. You said you turned it on and started driving...THEN flooded??? How did that happen? I don't understand???
Give us more details...
That's the strange part... I thought my gas cap was loose or a fluid level was low because everyone that I've read about flooded theirs upon start up.. AND weren't able to drive them afterwards. This is where it surprised me when the dealership said 'flooded'. I had started, warmed for 1 min. and drove a block and the light came on. Shortly after the light came on, I had to stop at a light. Car started hesitating/shaking, more low percussion popping was very apparent, and grey-ish smoke started rolling out of the tailpipes (VERY embarrassing). I checked fluids, gas cap, etc. said "forget this", parked it and had a beer.
Got up Saturday to screw around with it. Couldn't find anything wrong and started very hard. Grey smoke, popping, and finally died. Eh, dealer time.
Monday morning, got up and had her towed. Dealership said FLOODED.

Gee, as someone who has only had their 8 since August 2004, I have something to look forward to! Besides, I wanna be warped like Meow :D

Doesn't sound like the classic flooding problem to me (I've had 2). Sounds like the fuel injection is pumping in too much fuel and has a sensor problem. Probably not a big deal, just a pain and very embarassing.

Doesn't sound like the classic flooding problem to me (I've had 2). Sounds like the fuel injection is pumping in too much fuel and has a sensor problem. Probably not a big deal, just a pain and very embarassing.
Runs just fine after the 'deflood procedure'/changing the plugs though :confused:
It would still be problematic if it were the FI Pump, wouldn't it?

Welcome! Maybe we, the RX8 elite, should strike a badge of honour, something like: M-flashed, flooded and loving it; naw... Meow, no doubt, will provide 'enhancements'.. :)

Mine flooded yesterday morning, hooray! I'm having it towed as we speak. 18k miles and 1.5 years of ownership with absolutely no problems then "WHAM!" And I even had to miss the meet yesterday in Pensacola because of it.

Meow, I was like you for a moment, wanting to be part of the super special flooded club, but now I want out.

YEAH JEN!! YOU GO GIRL!! Way to "take " one for the teamWOOT!!!:) did they tell you the actual cel code?

I wanna be warped by Meow :D
:eek: Maybe it's time to move this back to the Lounge... ;)

Regards,
Gordon

:eek: Maybe it's time to move this back to the Lounge... ;)

Regards,
Gordon

Awww, geez. That'll teach me to post early in the morning. I meant to say "LIKE Meow". Mea culpa.

^ freudian slip^ :D

I got off of work Friday, started my car, drove 2 blocks and the engine light came on, car chokes and dies. Final verdict... it FINALLY FLOODED!!!! :)
You may ask, "OK psychotic, big teeth woman.. WHY would that make you happy?"
Well I'll tell 'ya. I've always felt left out when it comes to that Poll about people whom have flooded. It always felt like a part of my life was missing because I couldn't check one of those little boxes. WELL NOW I CAN!!!! :D



If you still feel left out you can join me in the "I just had my engine replaced" club.

TTIWWP!!!!



YAY! Welcome to the club!!!

Im a member of the flooding club, the rebuilt tranny club, the bad airbag club, the bad O2 sensor club... Well that's about it for now!!! =)

^ join the fucked up tranny crew....

How about the 1500 degree cupholder club?

How about the 1500 degree cupholder club?
That's the secret name for RX-8 Club. :D

Congrats! I am still a no flood virgin! My day will come!

Yikes. I was kinda' hopin' yellows were immune to the flooding thing, you know, bein' a hot color and all they should ignite better! :D

Sorry for both of you, I guess 'M' is not all it's cracked up to be. :(

I couldn't get the M flash because it had been halted when I asked for it. They are looking into it right now but I haven't gotten a call back yet.

I'm off my medication today.

LOL, you’re not serious right…? If so I aplogize…

But, I agree with you…no worry, stay happy and it will make the hard things in life SO MUCH better no matter what happens!

OK…so you drove it acting weird and turned it off. The “next” day you tried to turn it on and it flooded…right? That is still strange and I’m still a little confused about your flood. I never read anyone having a flood like that.

One thing I can tell you is that the manual actually states “NOT” to warm up the engine for long periods, or extended time. They say to turn it on and drive. Yes, you have to keep the revs low until it’s warmed up but you don’t have to sit in the car for a minute waiting for it to happen. Humm…???

I’m happy you are taking it so well!

Off topic note: No one told me that RX8 spark plugs cost $120…what da heck!!!!! Since when???? Why???? I know you don’t change spark plugs often but $120 for spark plugs is 4 times more than a standard engine. Say it aint so…that would be the ONE NEW thing I was never told about!!!

You know, if mine flooded after warranty and I did everything I was supposed to do to keep it from flooding…I would raise up a STINK with Mazda about it because that can’t be considered OK for an engine to leave you stranded.

Awww, geez. That'll teach me to post early in the morning. I meant to say "LIKE Meow". Mea culpa.

:o Um, actually you did say "LIKE Meow"! I just edited the quote in my post to make it more interesting... :D

Regards,
Gordon

I couldn't get the M flash because it had been halted when I asked for it. They are looking into it right now but I haven't gotten a call back yet.

the new flash is out and the halt should be lifted. make sure the service center's WDS is at level 35.2. i made a sticky thread in the "known problems" forum.

Off topic note: No one told me that RX8 spark plugs cost $120…what da heck!!!!! Since when???? Why????

The electrodes are made out of Iridium. None of that cheapo platinum stuff for our cars ;)

I'm off my medication today.
That's the strange part... I thought my gas cap was loose or a fluid level was low because everyone that I've read about flooded theirs upon start up.. AND weren't able to drive them afterwards. This is where it surprised me when the dealership said 'flooded'. I had started, warmed for 1 min. and drove a block and the light came on. Shortly after the light came on, I had to stop at a light. Car started hesitating/shaking, more low percussion popping was very apparent, and grey-ish smoke started rolling out of the tailpipes (VERY embarrassing). I checked fluids, gas cap, etc. said "forget this", parked it and had a beer.
Got up Saturday to screw around with it. Couldn't find anything wrong and started very hard. Grey smoke, popping, and finally died. Eh, dealer time.
Monday morning, got up and had her towed. Dealership said FLOODED.This doesn't sound like flooding to me.. at least not what caused the car to die the first time. The flooding probably came when you tried to get it restarted. Personally, I'd get your dealership to determine what caused it to die in the first place, and not accept the flooding explanation. Just my 2 cents. :)

his morning, it was about 10 degrees and my car would not start. The engine would just turn over but the car never started no matter how long i cranked it. Does anyone know what i can do to fix this. Is something frozen? I know the flashes are suppose to give better starting but i have not had any problems with my car starting up untill today. The car has about 18700 miles on it. I did bring it to the dealer a couple of months ago to get re flashed and oil change, but they said they were having problems with the new flash program and that my car did not need it done. I charged my battery and tried starting the car again but still nothing. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Before you shut your car down, did you rev it to 4000rpm for about 5-10 seconds and then killed the engine off? It was 10 degrees here, and my car fired right up..

i do usually give my car a quick rev before shutting down. Not for 10 seconds though. The car was sitting from saturday night until tuesday morning. I think this may have made it worse. I dont no what i can do to get this thing started. Im hoping that it will start up once the temperatures get above freezing level.

De-choking procedure (from the manual)

1.) Hold accelerator pedal to the floor.

2.) Turn ignition key for about 6-8 seconds.

3.) Release ignition key.

4.) Release accelerator pedal.

5.) Depress clutch, and start car as normal.


I just went through the procedure for the first time this morning myself (was about 10 here, too...). Started right up!

I agree with ^^^^.

Flooding was not the root cause, as you would not have received a CEL. Something else be happening here....

De-choking procedure (from the manual)

1.) Hold accelerator pedal to the floor.

2.) Turn ignition key for about 6-8 seconds.

3.) Release ignition key.

4.) Release accelerator pedal.

5.) Depress clutch, and start car as normal.


I just went through the procedure for the first time this morning myself (was about 10 here, too...). Started right up!
I actualy tried this procedure this morning, and it still did not start. :(

Call a tow truck, or you can be a real man and find the problem yourself. ;)

Look at it like this, you need fuel, spark, air and compression for the motor to run. Lets assume you still have compression.

1. Pull off a plug wire and put it close to something metal, have someone crank the car for you, did you see a spark jump? If so, proceed to step two.

2. Pull one of your spark plugs, is it wet with gas? If so, your car could be flooded. Try this, pull all plugs, clean and dry them, put them back in, pull the EFI fuse, turn the car over for abouit ten seconds to blow out the housings, then put the fuse back in and try to start it normally. Still don't work?

3. Still doesn't work, spark plugs weren't dripping with gas, and you have a good spark? Time to check fuel pressure. You could use a gauge and tap in to the fuel rail but I'm guessing that would be to much for you. Instead you can just get your ear real close to the fuel tank and have one of your buddys turn the ignition key to the "on" position, you should hear the fuel pumps prime the lines for a few seconds then turn off. Chances are if you hear the pumps, than fuel pressure isn't your problem.

If you find the problem, get on here and we can try and walk you through it. If your still lost than I think it's time to call the dealer.

BTW, I would bet your car is badly flooded. Assuming your car is not out of gas, I would start with step two and pull/clean the plugs. Thats your best bet. If that don't work, you can always call the dealer and have it towed.

Mine would not start either and it was 13 out. It was my fault as Sunday I started it to move it up 10 ft in the driveway. I reved it to 4000 and turned off the ignition. The car was cold and not warmed up. Today I went out to start it and it just cranked. I put the pedal to the floor and cranked it about 10 seconds and nothing. I then released the pedal and it fired once or twice and quit. I went thru this procedure until the battery almost died. I then sat there for a few minutes and tried again. The pedal to the floor and cranked it. One rotor started firing and I had to feather the gas to keep it running. Finally the other rotor kicked in and it ran like crap for the 1st couple miles and then returned to normal. I guess one is not a true 8 driver till you have flooded the engine.

I've not experienced any flooding with my Rx8 yet, but I was a master of choking and starting my 86 and 87 Rx7's - similar procedure with them except you had to pull a fuse, then crank, then replace the fuse, and usually it fired one rotor first, ran like crap and smoked hell till the gas was purged. I'd definitely say you're not a rotary owner till you've dealt with a flooded one.

Hey Guys!!! Ya, I was boggled just like you guys. Flooding hadn't even entered my mind. Few clarifications though:

1. Yes, I really was out of my anti-depressant I've been placed on :(
2. The car started just fine, little extended.. but not that hard. I only got 2 blocks and when it went to idle, it was 'missing' so bad that it died. VERY hard to restart. Sounded like it wasn't going to but after a huge puff of grey smoke.. she went.
3. Dealership said that the plugs were fouled and were so 'gunked' that they weren't firing, hence flood.
4. I was perusing the ticket as I waited for her to come out of her bath, and I was astounded by $120 for the plugs. I asked and they said, "yep, those are the ones that they are now installing." All I could think was.. this is going to be expensive out of warranty :p :D
5. After the plugs, and ONLY plugs were replaced. She runs better than she has in the past 4 mos. When you drive something almost everyday, it was hard for me to notice it wasn't as 'peppy'.
6. I think my car ran better BEFORE the M-flash. I didn't even want the latest flash but they automatically did it when I took it in for maintenance in the fall.

Morale of the story... never eat yellow snow! :)

:o Um, actually you did say "LIKE Meow"! I just edited the quote in my post to make it more interesting... :D

Regards,
Gordon

Lol :D

Well, I managed to flood mine to the point where the purge procedure (Pedal to the floor method) doesn't clear it. I have a very recent version of flash (M I think - Not the very latest), and I did the stupid thing of starting it up, and shutting it down after only a minute of running, then letting it sit for a few days.

I called Mazda, and they sent out AAA to tow it, and they scraped it against a wall. I've only got 1300 miles on it, and have had it to the dealer once before for the low gas mileage problem.

I'm really starting to think it's more trouble than it's worth :(

Don't get me wrong - It's fun to drive, but I don't know all the logistical problems make it worth while. :(

I'd definitely say you're not a rotary owner till you've dealt with a flooded one.

Sad, but true. Still a great engine though.

Definitely not frozen...10 degrees is like a heat wave in Calgary and I've never had a problem starting...

we just got some more snow here on Long Island tonight. I havent had a chance to check the plugs yet. I will be doing this this weekend when i have some time. hopefully the weather warms up a bit soon, but i think that were suppose to get more snow this weekend.

So, finally got my car back. The tech's write of of what he had to do was amazing. The TSB for "engine cranks, won't start" describes 3 procedures. A, B and C. A is the regular purge. B is disconnect the secondary air intake pump, and C is the vacuum hose reroute.

None of those worked. They said the oil had gotten gasoline into it. They had to change the oil and replace the spark plugs before they could get it to run.

Anyways, I have N flash now, and just am always getting into the habit of revving it to 3k before turning it off. We'll see how things go.

Pardon my ignorance in this question but let me just set this up for you guys. You have never failed me in the past so please try to help me out of this one. 2 days ago I washed my car and as I dryed it I left the keys in the ignition and had the ignition turned foward as I blasted tunes. As always after I do that I started the car and made sure I did not drain the car battery. I didn't so I locked up the car and went 1 1/2 days without using it. Today I tried to start her up and nothing. No purr, no start, just a nasty dying whine. I figured I indeed killed the battery so I used my wife's car and on the way home today from work I bought a new battery and replaced it this evening. Guess what? No start up and now a loud whining sound and the nasty smell of gas; after every attemted turnover I heard the fuel pump loud as can be in the rear pumping away. Well after about 20 tries I got it started and it barely ran and sounded like doo doo and black soot liek smoke kept blowing out and the more i reved the engine the more normal it got. It seems to be running fine now but the navigation screen is dead and no functions work on the gps. Again, forgive my ignorance but I'll leave it to the pros like rotory god to chime in. What the #$% happened? :confused:

take to the dealer
and ask for them to replace the plugs.

two different problems. definetly a flood. the other is dead battery related. cant help you on that as i dont have the nav.

Did the plugs go to crap after the flood?

Did the plugs go to crap after the flood?

You may have just had bad plugs and THOUGHT you flooded. At least, that was the case with me. I got in my 8 for my first drive in 2 weeks (was on a business trip) and it wouldn't start! :mad: My first thought was that it was flooded since I heard so much about it on this site. I had it towed to the dealer and they fixed it up (including latest flash), and they said the plugs were dirty. It does make sense, at least in my case: I got a buggy M Flash back in Oct and everytime I was about to reflash, word from this site said HOLD IT, THAT FLASH IS BUGGY, TOO. Which irked me since I could tell the performance was down from my original setting (for example, my AT would tend to upshift earlier than before the buggy reflash - I'm guessing this could account for improper mixing of gasoline and air and would result in dirty plugs). So hopefully that helps.

Kern

I have heard about the flooding issues, and even the cars at the dealers have a sign in their window talking about flooding. Basically what I get from this is you cannot start it up and then turn it off. You need to go in N and rev it at around 4500 for 10 seconds and then shut the car off? I am also wondering, what if you start the car, and you go in R to backup, and your foot slips and accidently lets the clutch out and your car stalls, will that cause a flood?

HardHitter...the flooding issue is over hyped IMO!! I have owned my 8 since Feb of '04 and have not had any flooding issues. Here's the deal...the rotary needs to be treated differently than piston engines. The 8 should be allowed to warm up prior to driving for best performance, cold starts and quick cold shut-offs should be avoided. When shutting off the car it is recommended to rev the engine to 4k RPM's and then shut off, this is to burn off any excess oil in the rotary chambers. The "M" flash has remedied many of the flooding ossues, however, I recommend the above rules are followed always.

I hope this helps. Don't worry about this stuff. The car has so much to offer that is very, very positive and priceless.

- Irish :cool:

Word!

OMG another 'flooding thread' read people read :) to bad there isn't a 'search the forum' video game damn I only have no patience for more flooding threads

Yes it was flooded.
I suggest you read the starting procedure and flooding prevention procedure in the owner's manual.....that's what it is there for.

If the engine is not warm yet, probably. I was aware of the problem, but in a moment of stupidity after starting the 8, the fire siren sounded, and I instinctively shut it down to get in my other car containing my fire gear, you guessed it, had to have it towed when I returned.

here is another thread that shows a TSB regarding new redesigned lead spark plugs that are supposedly supposed to help alleviate the flooding issue to some degree its on the forum http://www.rx8club.com/showthread.php?t=51837

Thanks for the brilliant info. I took it in to the dealer like Puma said, they are working on it.

"OMG another 'flooding thread' read people read to bad there isn't a 'search the forum' video game damn I only have no patience for more flooding threads"
.. Keep up with the grammar studies my good man, it will be to your advantage... On a slightly different topic.. Is this a partial reason that the *8* sales have fallen from over 2K in the fall to just 1K the past two months? Sure, there must be more than one reason but the constant drone of the flooding issue hasn't helped sales. The poll numbers, if correct, say 1/3rd of the 8's have flooded. Some would say that folks here are the most *aware* of owners. I wonder what the real numbers on *mainstreet USA* are? Does the little lady that got her *8* towed from Bloomingdales parking lot post here or does she just trade the thing for a BMW?

I got off of work Friday, started my car, drove 2 blocks and the engine light came on, car chokes and dies. Final verdict... it FINALLY FLOODED!!!! :)
You may ask, "OK psychotic, big teeth woman.. WHY would that make you happy?"
Well I'll tell 'ya. I've always felt left out when it comes to that Poll about people whom have flooded. It always felt like a part of my life was missing because I couldn't check one of those little boxes. WELL NOW I CAN!!!! :D

Sorry to report that I finally had it happen to me! We were out of town and it really sucked! All is well now, but I am now a member of the "FINALLY FLOODED" club!

Final meeting notice:
The "I've had my car for over year and it still hasn't flooded" club.

Keynote Address: "Preparest Thou for the Coming Flood"
Attendees: Oranje (everyone else has been forced out - club rules)

Hey Guys!!! Ya, I was boggled just like you guys. Flooding hadn't even entered my mind. Few clarifications though:

1. Yes, I really was out of my anti-depressant I've been placed on :(
2. The car started just fine, little extended.. but not that hard. I only got 2 blocks and when it went to idle, it was 'missing' so bad that it died. VERY hard to restart. Sounded like it wasn't going to but after a huge puff of grey smoke.. she went.
3. Dealership said that the plugs were fouled and were so 'gunked' that they weren't firing, hence flood.
4. I was perusing the ticket as I waited for her to come out of her bath, and I was astounded by $120 for the plugs. I asked and they said, "yep, those are the ones that they are now installing." All I could think was.. this is going to be expensive out of warranty :p :D
5. After the plugs, and ONLY plugs were replaced. She runs better than she has in the past 4 mos. When you drive something almost everyday, it was hard for me to notice it wasn't as 'peppy'.
6. I think my car ran better BEFORE the M-flash. I didn't even want the latest flash but they automatically did it when I took it in for maintenance in the fall.

Morale of the story... never eat yellow snow! :)

Bet ya never red line her, right? The best way to keep the plugs clean is the redline every once in awhile, especially when it starts to run a little rough. Blows all that "gunk" right out the exhaust port. ;)

Chuck

ummmm.......

dont give milk to Cats. !

:P

If the engine isn't in normal operating temp. then you are supposed to rev it up to like 6000 rpm for 30 sec. before killing it. I do the same thing when I wash mine, but I drive it around the block and make sure the engine temp is up to normal before I kill it. That is the way I took what the cold start procedure said to do.

If the engine isn't in normal operating temp. then you are supposed to rev it up to like 6000 rpm for 30 sec. before killing it. <<SNIPPED>> That is the way I took what the cold start procedure said to do.

Where on Earth did you get that???? The engine is cold, the oil isn't flowing and you suggest we rev it to 6,000 RPM for half a minute? I don't think so. Mazda recommendsthe following if you are just moving the car a short distance [My bold]
:

1. Turn the ignition switch to the START position and hold (up to 10 seconds at a time) until the engine starts.
2. After starting the engine, let it idle for about 10 seconds, then move the vehicle.
3. After moving the vehicle, let the engine idle for about 5 minutes.
4. Rev the engine to 3,000 rpm, and then let it return to idle.
5. Turn the ignition switch to the OFF position.

Source: Mazda RX-8 Drivers Guide

The procedure I've read in this forum has you revving to 3K briefly then switching it off, WHILE revving. Then, I assume, as it spins down the vile gasoline is expelled or evaporated from the chambers. True, false, more internet propagated BS?

True!

Ok, I know there have evidently been lots of posts on here about flooding. But, there are not a lot of people telling what they did to cause it or how they fixed it. I thought I would share mine for future readers.

I have had my RX8 for almost two weeks now. It was a 2004 CPO vehicle with 19k miles on it. The dealer told me to let it idle for 8-10 seconds before I touched the accelerator. I have been very aware and done that.

I drove my car home from out of town. It was a 100 mile drive solid with no break. I parked it in the drive way. The next day, I needed to move it from our upper circular drive to the lower driveway. I went out, started it, let it idle, put it in drive and moved it. I put it in park and turned it off. Total time running was probably 1-2 minutes. That was around noon that day. At 7PM, I went to get in the car. It would not start. It sputtered at first. Having not read the manual or any advice online about a flooded engine, I tried to crank it several times.

After freaking out, then being pissed off I went online. I came here first, but really found no solution. Most people here either called Mazda or claimed that this car does not flood.

I turned to Google. After much searching I found a comment somewhere about the instructions in the manual for starting a flooded engine. (sidebar for those that claim this engine does not flood: if the manual tells you how to start a flooded engine, chances are, it can happen. Most cars don't have this instruction).

I read the manual. The process to "unflood" the engine was to depress the accelerator and hold the starter for 10 seconds. If it did not start, you then remove your foot and start for 10 seconds. That is where the instructions stopped.

By this time I had flooded it good. Now this is where my upbringing came into play. My father is a career motorcycle mechanic. I have been around many a flooded engine. Of course, those had a carbourater, not EFI, but I knew the drill.
I repeated those steps about 8 times until my car started. 10 on, 10 off with a break of 5-10 between attempts.

Now, when the car started, it was smoking something terrible. Again my experience being around flooded engines helped me not to panic. I drove it around for 10 minutes or so and the smoke cleared up.

I am lucky I did not foul the plugs. I still may have it checked when I take it in for the next oil change. Flooding an engine can allow gas to get in places it is not supposed to be and can foul plugs.

Just thought I would share my experience.

And hey, not everyone knee jerk posts about their problems without searching.

good post about getting out of flood siutation. like you said, I definitely get it checked on your next visit to the dealer.

And you didn't say which flash you have, but you should get the latest N flash, as it is supposed to help with the flooding situation.

Good post.

And I think you're the only newbie that Mugatu hasn't flamed. There should be an award for this.

yeah - a newbie with something constructive to say. that gets high marks in my book. :D

no need to flame him because he didn't bring a question or comment that hasn't been discussed to death.

And you didn't say which flash you have, but you should get the latest N flash, as it is supposed to help with the flooding situation.

Is there a way to find out which flash I have other than the dealer telling me? I have no idea which I have. That is on my checklist of things to ask at my first oil change.

I called a different dealer w/ my VIN.

Well, I will be going to a different dealer for service. It is closer and my father (2004 Tribute) says their service is better than the dealer I bought it from.

In fact, I will be using Trussville Mazda who has banner ads on this site for RX8 parts. Anyone bought from them?

Is there a way to find out which flash I have other than the dealer telling me? I have no idea which I have. That is on my checklist of things to ask at my first oil change.If your car has a build date of April '04 or later, it was built with the M-flash to help prevent flooding. Otherwise, check for a sticker under your hood or engine bay that says MSP04. If you can't find a sticker, call the dealer with your VIN to verify.

Moving a cold car, even after idling for a minute or two, and then quickly shutting down is one of the classic ways folks have flooded the RX-8. To be on the safe side, I always make sure the car is warmed for about 7-10 minutes before shutting down.

Good for you on getting it started though, I bet most of the folks give up after a few tries of starting their flooded car. I recall years ago on my first gen RX-7, took me about 8-10 tries to get it fired up after it flooded (similar procedure, but it had a choke back then). Same thing, big cloud of smoke, but after that it ran just fine.

Mine is an 06/03 build. There are 3 labels under the hood. Two are similar and have something on them about a port code. 030A or something like that. The other says something about modifications made that meat EPA guidlines and then a hand written 10 character code of some kind. That is all I see that looks post production.

What does the hand written code say?

Ok, the two similar labels Say:

Rework: 03F04 Port OA (or DA)
and
Rework: 03F02 Port OA (or DA)

The other has handwritten: N3Z1-18881-L and a dealer number.

Looks like you have the L flash

from page 72 of This Thread (http://www.rx8club.com/showthread.php?t=25613&page=72&pp=15&highlight=PCM+Flash+Code)


davefzr

I only have two numbers on my car. Guess I cant get the file name that they used.

N3H6-18881-M

SW-N3H60M000 I think..

Reply by
Zoom44
the first is the part number for a flash with the last digit being the level

second is the actual file name except after H6 it should be an E. letter after the E is flash level. that number is for the original Mflash. new part number and file names have replaced the H with a Z and the number after the H for auto/manual has changed.

I guess the last owner never bothered to get the new flashes, and the dealer didn't bring you up to date

Well, I joined the mass of "floodeds" this week. I came back to my garaged 2004 "8" AT after a winter vacation of 8-9 days. The starter cranked, sounded like it was going to catch for about 1/4 second, then just spun. All the clearing stuff of foot to the floor didn't help. Charger overnight boosted battery but to no avail. Off it went this morning on a flatbed, thanks to Mazda RoadSide service call. Car has 14 months on it and 17,237 miles of trouble -free driving pleasure. I have no idea what Flash my ECU is but suspect that the battery issue is the key in this case.

i have had the 8 flood twice now ....and both times it had to go to dealership ...this really aggrivates me, i have tried to remove fuel pump fuse ...petal to floor... nothing works.....there is nothing more embarressing than my car on a tow truck, without a scratch on it....exactly what works other than the damn dealership.....and one other thing its not that i dont follow instuctions, cause i do... HELP....forget the fuel milage...that is the only thing i hate about the car

tell me what i can do beside having car towed to dealership ....there is nothing more upsetting to me than my car on a tow truck ...without a scratch on it.....ive tried everything ....fuel filter fuse ....petal to the floor...... i know how to crank it ....well i thought i did ....but this is really bothersome...forget the fuel economy ..this is the only thing i hate about the car..it seems to me that mazda should work on this ....i cant even let girl friend drive the car ..afraid she might flood it..............HELP :cool:

dont touch the gas pedal when starting it. if you have a MT park on top of hill (if possible). hey if youve flooded it more than once maybe you should let her try lol. have you read the manuel? ask your sevice guy for other tips i guess

ghostman, Any idea why you flooded? Short trips without letting the car warm up, maybe?