badinfluence

Going to keep this short till I rule out pre-dealer and insurance company problems before I ******* smash those ******* a new one, but here is the current situation and what I have tried.


Hard Starting.....YES I LOOKED AT THE THREAD AND DEFLOODED.

My RX8 has been my baby and I have learned, listened, and loved every inch I could. Every little quark, feature, plus, or improvement I have learned and tried to do myself or document myself, except I do not have a lift and this is a low car.

2009 Mazda RX8 R3 with 45k on the clock.

New Plugs at 42k LS2 Relocated successfully, battery relocated to trunk successfully, Supercap added to engine bay in place of hood battery (coils below, cap shielded with Kapton cap, no exposed pads for discharge....etc, Worked AMAZING till this event I will describe. The car has always fired on the second crank, and was an amazing improvement over a AGM FlatPlate overspeced 35 battery. (arguably close to the best you can get for a affordable price and without lithium problems.) even though it was not meant to be. So AGM FP Batt in the trunk, and Supercap in the hood. Improvements over stock starting and compression improved from 7.8 to 9, either by me taking care of the car or series of improvements like this

---New Brakepads and Rotors, 2 new rear tires, 2 new BBS rims from a moron hitting me, and Supercap/Batt trunk mod using 2 Circuit breakers and 4AWG silicon rubber wire. Stock to Supercap. (Circuit breakers are to prevent Cap to Body, Battery to Body, and/or blowing the main [alternator to ground]
-New LS2 coils, added 1 extra ground to oem wiring when added, added extra ground to coil rack body, new plug wires, new plugs, and negligible improvement since everything was ok, but that is ok since it was PM.
Again at 43k miles

Got laid off and moved states, drove the whole way twice and the only notable thing was O2 sensor reported a bit of a hot cat at 1700F after a few hours on 93 on the highway at 75mph. Texas Rural Speed Limit, HELL YEAH.

No problems besides tires did not like the move and had to be replaced in the back.





So July 2016 a possum made the area around the spark plugs its home, and I was only able to figure this out because I was driving and the car kept getting stuck in gear and the clutch went the floor and would not recoil nor could I get out of gear. This is the event I was talking about.

So according to a Mazda Master tech, the possum playing hotscotch while I was driving a few blocks, didn't have any effect on anything because they were "alll steal lines". BULLSHIT. Before it was towed the dealer it started and went into gear, it just made noise when the clutch was depressed every so often, but should have been covered so I got it towed the dealer since no one else would even touch a rotary......

Long story short......**** THE ******* *******...... Went to start the car acted the battery was dead. Well the Tech Advisor told me the battery was dead and asked me to come back tommorow. Well since I am not a ******* moron, I checked the battery voltage, 12.9! CAR IS NOT DEAD moron. NOW this is AFTER I bought a new ******* battery from them because they claimed my old battery was bad, then recycled it even though I asked to keep it since they are 200 bucks a pop, and they replaced it with a 200 dollar box of **** battery. So no way to test the old battery and rule out dealer fuckery.....
No matter what I did the car tried to crank, but acted like the battery was far past fucked. It dimed everything in the car and acted like it was struggling to turn the car over. (low RPMs, but crank pullys moving, a/c belt is not on, and alternator turning too)

Was cold, I am cronically sick, dealer fucked me, insurance fucked me, wanted to get out of dodge, had the car towed.



SO START QUESTIONS/HELP.

Checked the Starter, and it was missing the top nut. Completely gone. No effect...
Opened the Leading plug holes, disabled all fuel, followed Mazda deflood proceedure, no effect except maybe a small mini improvement.
Used a good battery, another higher voltage jumper car, 2 58F supercaps and I got the car to crank, but not any faster. PSSSHHHH PSHHH slowly the rotors turned meaning compression was good. (maybe 10 rotations, absolutely no improvement, so I tried to rule out dealer idling / flooding / hot start bullshit.

Took loose the Cat bolts and made a gap, no cranking improvement.

Pumped clutch with and without brake fluid cap on it to make sure it didn't have bubbles, but stopped here.

Plugs look a little rich, but looked pretty good compared to the ones I replaced.

So now I am into thinking the dealer somehow added a new bullshit problem, or the whatever the possum did somehow got worse from sitting 6 months till I was well enough to get to it.



So here is the question: How could (guesses?) the clutch be involved in a starting issue. Looking for guesses not related to worn engine since I feel that is ruled out here. (Dealer compression scores agree, and the fact the car was brilliant before possum.)

Getting ready to replace the entire clutch assembly, but I need the car to move 4 blocks on its own power so I can remove it from a relatives house. Suspected throw out bearing issues by a few opinions before it failed to start after the dealer.

Please no hazing, I am literally fighting for my life with my health and I swear not having my baby is killing me faster. I just have to know what is killing her, moreover how it happened and what is involved in healing her.

nycgps

iTrader: (1)

So, lemme see if i got this right

your car does not start

is that what you are trying to say ?

jesus, if so,

replace the plugs with new, try again

StealthTL

iTrader: (1)

If it's not cranking at full speed, address that problem first.

Not spinning well, even with a good boost is a major prob.

Plugs & clutch are irrelevant if it don't crank.....

Steve Dallas

Well, that was unnecessarily long...

A couple of thoughts:

1. Starting on the 2nd crank is not amazing. My S2 with similar mileage to yours starts within 1/2 second on the 1st crank and always has. All the stuff you have done with the battery and supercaps is unnecessary and has introduced several potential points of failure. Check that system over throroughly.

2. There is a rubber clutch line. If it has been chewed, your clutch may not be disengaging completely, which will prevent the car from starting. Does the car lurch or otherwise try to move, when you crank it? Inspect the clutch lines, bleed the clutch, and try again.

Where are you in Texas?

.

strokercharged95gt

If a tech at a dealer is telling you a battery is dead with out checking it with a multimeter, they should be fired.

Sounds to me like your clutch disc is damaged. Could it be from damage to the clutch lines/slave cylinder not allowing the clutch to be disengaged properly which may have accelerated wear, maybe?

When I blew my clutch at 100k miles, I pulled a ton of debris out of the bell housing to install a new clutch.

I guess it could be possible that you could have some bits jammed between the flywheel and pressure plate that is not allowing disengagement of the drivetrain so your starter is trying to move the motor, flywheel, transmission, rear end and wheels which could be responsible for your ultra slow cranking. Did they remove the starter and check inside of the bellhousing for any signs of damage/debris?

Just a shot in the dark.

badinfluence

I was in Houston, but I am back in IL now. Sorry for the **** poor details and description, I have had mono for a year and have secondary infection, so this **** is literally killing me trying to work on it myself.

I tested it in gear and out of gear with the wheels in the air, turning them with a buddy, and when the car was out of gear the belt didn't move on the front. When it gear it did. Was a little annoying trying to synch with that buddy to not trip the LSD, but all looked well. Also checked that there was no engagement or wheel movement when trying to start, so far looks like no, but I don't know the inner working of the transmission. I tried in 1st and Reverse just in case.

Tested the starter and it’s great.
Checked all Electrical connections <0.2ohm on an RMS MM, and 0.6 for Pos everywhere.
Top nut was MISSING from the starter, suspect dealer fuckery! Again the tow truck driver drove it on the bed and again started on the 2nd crank. When I say second crank I mean it just starts immediately, I consider a crank at a guess 1 rotor moving 4 cycles, not 2 moving 270. I usually don't even hear the injectors or TB it has been so fast. Your right, it was an experiment, not an improvement. It actually is some precursor work to an upgraded electrical system for an ESC I was developing or am developing assuming I don't ******* die or spend an extended pass at Mayos.

Checked and Verified Good
Plugs
Wires
Coils
Coil Signals
Starter Wiring
Starter
Caps
Power Wires and Breakers
Compression (3rd test, ~7.8 2014, 8.6 2015, dump ******* dealer didn't do it (3), but with injectors and ign disabled and leadings out a satisfying pshhh is hear from both champers without any bullshit shooting out of the hole.



Here is what I do not know:
The effect the possum had playing jump rope around the plugs/him standing on the feed line from the brake booster to CMC/CSC, pedal/hydraulic systems working correctly

If there is air in the CMC CSC (popped the cap and pumped the clutch for about 10 minutes, sore, switched feet and tried it with the cap on)

Why the car is cranking, but slowly, constantly after 20 attempts, but does not appear to have load on the accessory belts or in the engine itself.

If the Cat Converter is gone or not, BUTTTT slow the **** down mother *******, the exhaust pipe is open to air.



If the dealer hot started, flooded it, broke something, or has a general ******* clue on how to use the factory manual.

Here is what I have done so far since the 2nd problem occurred:
Charged Battery,
Cleaned Plugs,
Improved connections (fruitlessly, they were fine),
Tried different power locations on the car, (All power devices are connected with SB175 Andersons, so that is a piece of cake to move around.
Removed starter, added back the nut required that was just gone (top bolt, no nut, bottom is just a bolt)
Tested Starter
Opened Donut gasket in case of cat problems
Removed plug boots and reattached
Removed plug signal connectors and reattached
Pumped clutch and brake in random order/tried starting in several different gears
Tried starting with wheels off ground and in gear, and not in gear
Spun wheels just in case something is misaligned
Checked All fuses, Circuit Breakers, Relays and solenoids
Checked all hoses, wires, and housings around possum area. No chew marks, I think because he was a baby and he was more than likely getting hit with ignition coil corona when he was moving around. He had no intention of leaving, took me an hour of poking him with a stick to get him out, he just was a honey badger and wanted to sleep.
Replaced battery at dealer misdiagnosis with an inferior quality, but Mazda approved they forced on me
Hit starter with a rubber mallet just in case this car was made by British Leyland.
Deflood procedure just in case. Both the Mazda tech way and removing the plugs, pulling fuel and spark, and cranking.
Looked for black bullshit in rotor 1 from carbon welding. slight high pitched sound of making contact, but resolved after deflood + added a bit of 2 cycle oil just in case. No nasty scraping sounds coming from Rotor chambers


Here are somethings I might try next:

Examine air filter for dead animals
Make sure TB is moving and not just whining
Pull start with starter off? Leave it on?
Crank Car with OpenPort 2 and MazdaEdit open and logging
Reflash PCM with factory PCM image. (Factory now, but just in case....)
USB Borescope (already have it, just was trying to avoid lugging a computer around)

(?) Take loose hard clutch line either at top or bottom by clutch pedal.
(?) Remove, Examine, and reinstall clutch pedal just in case. (Eyeball looks good, not brokered)
(?) Examine shifter linkage from passenger compartment
(?) Deflood again?


Just looking for good advice like the last two posts above! Thanks guys

Clutch and assembly is getting replaced, just need to rule out everything else before it gets dropped. I would prefer to do it, but healthwise and timewise its out. Can't afford the work I have to get done while I am incapacitated, let alone a 2 grand diagnostic charge from a fair place I am taking it to. **** the dealer, they can't even use their awesome factory manual correctly or understand that possums jumping up and down in rubber hoses isn't approved by Mazda. THAT cost me 500 bucks and my insurance claim.

This is just bullshit on bullshit all from trying to be a minuteman DD for someone one Saturday night.


Dashcam caught the whole thing, but OBDLink was malfunctioning due to a bad crystal.
This is the ORIGINAL night the problem happened, predealer.