RX-8newbie

I have this problem...I was driving home one evening and I heard a loud THUD and I pulled off the road and was looking and the car just shut off...I tried to start it and it acted like the battery was dead but all the dash lights and radio and headlights and such were bright and loud as ever, but it still would barely roll over...we changed the sparkplugs along the side of the road(quite a feat in my opinion) and it finally started, and dad drove it home and the CAT was glowing cherry red...so I took it off and knocked all the stuff out of it and I could tell some of the catalyst material was melted together and such, so after I knocked the rest of the junk out I put it back on the car, andnow it still wont start and there is a yellow light that looks like a steering wheel with an"!" next to it. I have no idea what that means. it is a 2004 MT with 180000 miles...alot, I know...but it is/was in imaculate condition at the time of purchase...a week ago!


can somebody please help me!!!!

shaunv74

Well it's good you cleared the cat. out. It's a common problem. The steering wheel light means you need to reset your steering angle sensor. Just turn the car on, turn the wheel all the way to the right, then all the way to the left, then back to center. Turn the car off and back on the light should go off. This typically happens when you disconnect the battery or it dies. I would have the battery checked. Also while you're at it I would recommend you replace the ignition coils and wires once you get the car running again.

You can purchase new coils online for about $30 each (4) and they're pretty quick to replace. It's a pretty weak system that is prone to premature wear. If you want to upgrade the ignition system contact Charles R. Hill at Black Halo Racing. He makes an excellent complete ignition upgrade kit that will last the life of the car. But get it started first.

You'll most likely get a CEL now from your empty cat. Nothing really to worry about until you need to pass emissions.

Let us know if it's just a dead battery or if it still won't start once you get a good charge.

RX-8newbie

question, what is a CEL? also, thanks for all the other info!

shaunv74

CEL=Check engine light. it's the orange light on the dash in the shape of an engine. Did the owners manual come with the car? If so I would read up on the dash warning lights as they aren't particularly clear. The manual is pretty good at telling you what they typically mean and how to go about figuring out what may be wrong.

a CEL will typically turn on steady when you have an emissions system related problem such as, a bad sensor or dead cat. converter, or loose gas cap. If it blinks that means you have a problem with your engine right now and should pull over immediately until it goes away. Then get it checked out.

You can go to your local auto parts store and most of the time they can plug a code reader in to your OBDII port and download any stored codes. You can write them down then search them on this forum to find out what they mean and how to fix them.

Hope that helps.

heyarnold69

iTrader: (1)

clooged cat

RX-8newbie

yeah, that helps alot actually, thanks!...I think part of it is the battery...cause I have had a battery charger on it for about 3 hrs now and it wont gather enough charge to turn over the motor, and it wont last very long at all...so I think the biggest part of the problem is the battery...

shaunv74

Yeah if it's the original battery you're long overdue to replace it. Start there. Also did you totally clear out your cat so it's empty or just clean out some of the melted element? If you've totally cleaned it out and it was clogged before the car should feel much stronger and rev freely to redline.

But, as I mentioned, you'll have a CEL for a dead cat. Because it is.

RX-8newbie

I got the car started and it didnt run for ****! the idle was in consistent and it kept stalling out...ignition coils?

shaunv74

Maybe. First take your intake tube off the intake manifold and look to see if there is any oil or crap in it. You may have a dirty MAF sensor.

Then I would suggest coils and wires if everything looks good.

RX-8newbie

ok, I will give that a shot, THANKS

RX-8newbie

MAC screen is clear...any way to check the coils before I sink $450 into new ones?

Razz1

Its not worth the effort to check the coils as they can read good butt. break down when they get hot.

Just save of for a new system.

Sounds like your car is running fine now. Just save up money.

Your gonna have to get a new CAT some day.

RX-8newbie

it is running FAR from fine...its flooding itself out and I have no idea why...

shaunv74

In case you're wondering how oil would get in to your intake tube:

There is a hose that runs from the top of your oil fill tube to your intake. It's made to deal with overflow or too much oil in your crank case. In theory, if there is too much oil in your engine it will overflow in to your intake and get sucked up when you drive the car. In reality it runs down in to the airbox, gets your air filter all soaked with oil, and coats your MAF with oil making it ready improperly.

shaunv74

Why would you spend $450 on new coils? They're $30 each and an hour or so of labor on your part to do them yourself. If you can take your cat. off the car you can do the coils. There are some good DIYs on the site.

RX-8newbie

the aftermarket set that was recomended to me was around like 435 on black halo racing...

shaunv74

Yes thats the best way to go. But if you're short on cash or not sure what the problem is you're better off just getting the stock coils and seeing if they work. You can always take them out as a backup set when you go the BHR route.

Last thing: have you tried getting a code reader and seeing if there are any error codes to pull? That may tell you what might be going on. Your local autozone should have them available for you to borrow or use.

RX-8newbie

actually...the car lot I bought it from is sending their mechanic to my house tomorrow cause the car wont run well enough to get to the car lot and he is gonna hook up a computer up to my car tomorrow...

Cyderman

Glad to see this post in that I am having a similar problem to RX-8newbie. I also have a '04 MT but with only half his mileage. Never a problem except for flooding a couple times in the first year or two. Yesterday, a very strange noise and slight vibration on my way to work, during a rainstorm, then it went dead just like RX-8newbie. Bright dash and headlights, but wouldn't even turn over.
Had it towed back to my house and once in the garage I looked underneath and the Cat heat shield is dragging and had damaged the wires to the O2 sensor. I patched the wires and the engine would crank but not fire.
Can't get a new O2 sensor for a few days, but replaced the plugs and went through de-flooding procedure just in case. Plugs were in rotten shape, I'm sure one of trailing plugs could not have been firing in its state.
Still, engine will crank but not fire, but battery is getting weak, so have it on a charger while I type this.
Could a bad O2 sensor keep the engine from starting? (I thought it would at least start, but then run rough if that was it). Or could something have been shorted out when the wiring was damaged by the heat shield?

RX-8newbie

with mine, I found out that 2 of my ignition coils were bad...I am going to replace all 4 and as far as ur O2 sensor and CAT. I would remove the CAT and knock all the **** out of it, and replace all of the ignition coils...at the advance auto near my house they are $21.99.

also for all you other rotary gods :-p they got another code on the computer...it said that something was stuck open...they cant get the code figured out and the guy isnt there to give me the code so that I can try to look it up myself...any ideas?

shaunv74

Probably your Secondary Shutter Valve P0270 I think. It can get stuck open or closed if it not exercised on a regular basis (opens at 7500rpm).

When you get the code search on the forum and you'll find a bunch of threads on how to fix the issue.

RX-8newbie

actually, I found out what it was...blown motor...and...since I have to start over, might as well do it right ;-D so, what can you tell me? I have to get a new motor, and what can I do to it to make it better, any engines to make it better and so on and so forth...

Cyderman

RX-8newbie, did you learn anything more than "blown motor"? As you suggested for my problem, I replaced the ignition coils (and plugs and battery). One of the coils was definitely bad. The other three tested ok by the resistance across the terminals, but showed those white arc burns on the bottom. Unfortunatel, no joy. Car cranks but wont fire ... I'm thinking the seals are bad and there is no compression. Even went throught the procedure in the service bulletin to add oil directly to the chamber, but still nothing.

Think I'm going to have to give up and have it towed to dealer. :p

RX-8newbie

thats what we did, hopefully its not the same result as mine...no I didnt learn anything other than "blown motor" I wasnt there, dad took it in because I had to work...but I plan on finding out more.

Cyderman

My problem is solved ... a bad fuel pump. The compression was OK, so it wasn't the seals, but there was no fuel pressure. Still had to pay for it to be replaced at the dealer, as removing the fuel tank is a little beyond me.
Unfortunately your issue is probably not as simple (mine wouldn't start at all, but once the pump was replaced, everything runs fine ... better than before, actually, as I had replaced a bad coil as well). I wish you luck and let us know what they tell you beyond "blown motor".