json098

Alright here it goes. I have an '04 rx8, with 70k miles. I just got back from Iraq, so my car sat up for about 7 months. But my grandfather started her up every couple of weeks. When i got back i went ahead and changed the oil and changed the sparkplugs. She ran good for about 3 weeks. I got up one morning and started her up quickly because i was late for work. Alright understand my work place is like a 1/2 mile away from my barracks. When i pulled in and stopped i noiticed i had a pile of smoke following me. (And when i say pile i mean ALOT of smoke.) Alright i stopped and immeadietly turned my car off and popped the hood.
Appareantly the guy i bought the car from had taken the airpump assembly off the car before i bought it. And i have come to the understanding that the car can run without it. Well ok, whatever the guy did he didnt do a very good job. THe small pipe that comes up from underneath that holds the air regulator was completely open and smoke was coming out of there. At first i did not know that was where the air pump and stuff goes. Mostly because duh i never saw it there in the first place. ok and the smoke that was billowing out was white and oil was coming out of the exhaust. I have a racing beat exhaust and an aem cold air intake. But alright after reading all that here is my question. Is the reason the car is smoking is because of the air regulator pipe being open or what else could the problem be and how can i solve it? Any help you can give would be greatly appreciated.

json098

come on now guys get me some info please!!!!!

nycgps

iTrader: (1)

Can you take a picture of it ?

Jax_RX8

To many possibilties without more data - and possibly some pictures.

Is the smoke from the exhaust Black (gas), Blue (oil), or white (water)?

Whatever color it is may give you an indication as to what is leaking in and causing the smoke, but in all likelyhood, a major rotor oil or block seal has blown and is leaking oil, water, or both into the combustion chamber. If this is the case, rebuild is only option.

If the smoke is jet black, it is possible to be some kind of over fueling issue not related to the core engine itself, but this seems unlikely.

Any pictures or more details may help us help you.

json098

alright ill try to get some pics. But also ill addd this to the deal. the car still started when it first happened. the engine was noit knocking or making wny kind of weird noises. It was just smoking, and the smoke was white. I need info also on what i should do about the air outlet that is open from where the air regulator was. Should i just find something to seal it up and see if that works or what. And if i take it to a mazda dealership and get them to do a diagniostics check could they tell me if it is a major rotor oil or block seal that has blown.

staticlag

hmm, if the value was really open it probably poured hot exhaust gas into your engine compartment.

Likely it fried something.

Jax_RX8

The dealer can do a compression check, which will let you know if a rotor seal is blown.

Keeping a close check on you oil level and water/antifreeze levels may give you an indication on if you have a block seal that is blown - if one of these are going down really fast, this is likely the case.

Brettus

iTrader: (2)

you say the smoke is white ?
I think it is just condensation in your exhaust system 1/2 mile is not enough to get it all out of the system - take the car for a good thrashing and get it nice and hot . Now tells us if it still smokes after that ....

whitebeau

If your in a a cold area (North Carolina?) cold starts i believe kick on the air pump, as it runs rich during cold warmups. I'm surprised you didn't get a CEL for your o2 sensor.

worse case scenario, if it's a warm day outside, and it happens on initial cold starts (engine not warmed). And you also have your radiator fluid light come twice within a 2 week period. You may have my problem, which was a blown side seal in the 2nd (rear) rotor. But i also had mis-fire on the 2nd rotor due to coolant leaking and pooling in the 2nd rotor for 20 seconds during startup.. hence the mis-fire.... which you never said you had

so it's most likely cold weather, and running rich during warm up. I'm not sure if that hose should be left open though.... i'd look into seeing if it needs to be capped.

Brettus

iTrader: (2)

no it shouldn't . It can be plugged easily with a machine screw .

DOMINION

Welcome back and thank you for your service sir
OK well your car sat for a long time. So did my car at the car lot. What I did was;
When I got the car it had 1/2 tank of gas. So I ran the **** out of that.
When the car was on E I toped off with a full tank.
Then I placed a order for a case of pre mix from this site;
http://www.mazdatrix.com/q-supply.htm
where you can get a case or a few quarts
Use that and remember a redline a day keeps the car doc away
Hope that helps
-Gil

json098

alright i got the car to start over the weekend. And i took out for a good thrashing. And actually it did stop smoking. I still have to cover the hole up though. Because dam* it sounds like sh** with it open. But really everyone thqanks for the info. I know now this a great site for information. But i am still going to put up pics of the car up tonight when i get back to my personal comp. I took some of the actual pipe and while it was stilll smokin. I am going to put those up just fro reference. And also what is the best way to close that whole up and where can i normally get it?

jDt!

iTrader: (2)

This sounds exactly like the problem I'm having. Same symptoms and everything, only problem is that I just installed a turbo kit on it and it was smoking (white smoke) very, very badly. I didn't have any loss of power or bogging like a blown engine would usually do, but the car isn't turned so I couldn't run it in boost. I figured I would drive it around for a bit to burn off whatever is smoking, but I got pulled over! I had to have the car towed, so just to save an extra tow, I had it towed to the shop. Monday is when I find out about it. They are going to run a compression check and what not. The ONLY difference between the symptoms you have described from mine is that I checked the oil and it had gone down, but the smoke was pretty white, not so much blue. maybe the oil was still trying to get through the lines of the whole system? So you just drove it around and the smoking stopped?

Btw, I just realized this is a two year old post, but maybe you can still help me out haha.

Brettus

iTrader: (2)

/\ could be your turbo oil seals are gone ...

jDt!

iTrader: (2)

The turbo was just rebuilt, like I had it rebuilt, 0 miles.

Brettus

iTrader: (2)

did you check to see if there was oil in the pipes/intercooler before the turbo was fitted ?
Also : is your water level going down ?

jDt!

iTrader: (2)

The water level was fine, even after about 15 mins of driving. I don't think any of the turbo parts had oil in them before install, but they said that the car has run after the turbo was installed, like it idled for a few mins or they had to move it from parking spot to another spot. It was running long enough when they moved it for it not to flood, so I think all of that should have gotten the whole turbo system wet.

jsonrx8

well i know i havent been on here n a while. My car, now that i have a subaru outback sits up n my shop. It takes likes 5 mins just to start it and thats with another car hooked up to it via jumpercables because it takes so long to start. I rarely drive it now because it is embarrasing to be n a parkin lot with a sports car that takes forever to start. Plus the synchronisers in 2nd and 4th gear are shot, so i am lookin at a transmission rebuild and an engine rebuild but i wanna know if it would be betteer to just buy a new engine off ebay or get mine redone. because the last time i asked the seals kit for it cost 1100 dollars, and i can almost get a newengine for a little more and the 1100 doesnt cover installation, the car now has 76000, and i had heard the rx8s only last to around that time ud figure a sports car would last longer.......