Hfos

I have a dilemma, I went out of town for 3 weeks and when I got back my car wouldn't start. I called a tow company to come and jump the battery which didn't solve the problem. The car would rev but not turn over. I made an appointment to have it brought to the dealership to have it looked at. Before being towed to the dealership the company tried to jump it again and it did nothing but click this time when the key was turned. Mazda says it could be two things; the keyless entry got ruined during the jumping process (they think the battery terminals got put on backwards at some point) or the ECU got fried. They can't tell for certain and want to replace both, one at a time but no guarantees. I don't really trust them or have faith that they know much about this car. I've been reading posts on this forum all weekend about similar situations and everything seems to be applicable to what I'm going through. Can anyone help with some tests that could be done that would eliminate the ECU being fried as a possibility? As far as Mazda is saying all the power components inside the car work minus the keyless entry. I feel that these things they came up with are only part of the problem, if jumping the car caused more problems what was the initial problem to begin with?!? Ugh please help! 😩

9krpmrx8

iTrader: (46)

Jumping a car can do damage, I have seen it happen even with everything hooked up right on my old Z.

I would not trust a dealer though. Did you ever try a good healthy battery in it? A stock battery with a couple years on it won't last three weeks.

Hfos

I just replaced the battery about 3 months ago. It was a mid grade battery. They said it isn't holding a charge anymore either, could that have to do with a blown alternator fuse? I'm not sure if they checked all the fuses. They did however replace the main fuse because that one was blown.

New Yorker

Sorry to ruin your dramatic pronouncement, but my Bosch 35-640B is over 3 years old and my 8 has sat undriven for 3 or 4 weeks on numerous occasions. Starts right up, quick and strong, each and every time. Facts... ain't they a bitch?

Hfos

Not helpful

9krpmrx8

iTrader: (46)

Well sometimes they sit in stock for a while and you can get a bad one every now and then so it's always best to load test them to be sure. But if it is not holding a charge then it's bad. If it was working fine before then I would not think it's an electrical or alternator issue but you never know. Any chance of varmints in the car?

Cool story nooblet. I have stored two other RX-8's at my place aside from my own and one for two years while a local buddy was in Afghanistan and all three have needed to be on a charger or started after a couple of weeks otherwise they would not have enough juice to start.

So as with everything with your never driven RX-8, consider yourself lucky.

StealthTL

iTrader: (1)

If the 'main' fuse blew, that's a good sign that it was connected backwards at some point.
Or jumpered backwards, more likely.

From then on the 'crank but not fire' condition is all you'll get.

Sorry, but this time, it's NOT the battery terminals.

New Yorker

Except it is driven. Nearly 39K miles now. In what world is 39K miles "never driven"? 39K miles is 39K miles, whether it's over a year, three years or ten years. You do seem to have a problem with what are called facts. Oh well, seems to be going around lately.

Loki

iTrader: (1)

What is this thread about? Scroll back up to the top and reread what it's about. Is it about you? Can you point out where it became about you? No? Then why the f are you still talking?

(did I get the new york lingo right? )

Hfos, you said it clicks but doesn't start? The click is the starter relay, if it's firing then everything your starter or battery is fine. Can you confirm that's the case?

Then you said when first jumped it rotated but didn't fire. Could it be flooded?
What's the current situation since they replaced the main fuse? They will always want to throw parts at it as long as you pay for them, so just make sure you don't end up paying for something that turns out to not be broken.
Battery not holding a charge could be from being fully discharged. Even when new, each full discharge reduces battery life significantly and could kill a cell or two in one shot.

Hfos

So they replaced the main fuse and reprogrammed the two keys I have for it and they are saying that there is still only clicking when they turn the key. They believe that the anti theft is engaged and the car is in kill mode. They believe the keyless entry was fried and that's why they can't turn off the anti theft so they want to replace that first and said if that doesn't resolve it then their next "guess" would be the ECU. The first time it was jumped when the car would rev but not start refers to the engine trying to turn over but not catching. From what I gathered this could be from a flooded engine or low fuel. The tow company put fuel in the car that only had 1/4 of a tank to start with and that still didn't work.

I think the battery was probably completely drained from the car sitting for so long and not being driver. So that would make sense why it doesn't want to hold a charge anymore.

I'm just wondering if the ECU controls the keyless entry? Or if there is some way to tell the ECU is NOT fried and it is the keyless entry that's causing the problem.

wannawankel

Im not sure of the root cause but your description matches the symptoms of a 2011 I almost purchased in Ohio. Long story short - a 2011 GT owner sold the car not to me but to a dealer taking an even bigger loss (they didn't want the hassle for me to get a compression result). The car ended up in Northern OH at a dealership. I tried to purchase the car from this dealership - the dealer ended up having to jump the car to get it started. In the process (battery was dead) they fried the Xenon OEM light module and the keyless entry modules and ended replacing these and then sold it in a batch of cars at auction.

New Yorker

Actually no, most of us don't sound like Tony Soprano (who's from NJ, by the way).

I was merely correcting some misinformation. Someone said a 2-year old battery can't sit for a few weeks and provide enough juice to start an 8. That's simply not true. I think it's important that fake facts are not spread on a car forum, where people come looking for answers to their car's problems, don't you?

9krpmrx8

iTrader: (46)

3000 miles a year is not driving it and you wouldn't know a fact if it hit you in the face.

His battery sat for 3 weeks and is now dead. That is typical of an aging battery and you don't know your head from your ***, that is why you started a thread asking about the oil cap gasket. Now run along and play pocket pool.

9krpmrx8

iTrader: (46)

The ECU does not control the security system but I did have a bit of a hand is trying to diagnose a 2009 R3 that was water damaged and then ran fine but then died and never ran again. Before we got it a dealer had it and let me tell you, most dealers just don't know anything. The replaced the ECU and many modules and the car never ran.

My buddy (electronics specialist), the cars owner went thru the diagrams and everything checked out fine, we could never locate the issue so we decided to stop trying. It could have been any number of modules in the car and they all need to talk to each other for the car to run and many of them need to be programmed by the dealer to work.

My guess is that that the battery died and then the tow truck driver hooked the cables up wrong and fried something. The RX-8's positive cable being black throws off a lot of people, I have seen it happen many times over the years.

But hopefully your dealer has a competent tech that can figure it out.

9krpmrx8

iTrader: (46)

Hfos, where are you located?

Hfos

This is helpful and sounds like probably what happened. Although I'm not entirely sure about the tech at the dealership being competent. From my numerous discussions with them it seems like they are pretty unfamiliar with the RX8 and are in constant communication with the manufacturer.

Hfos

San Diego

9krpmrx8

iTrader: (46)

Hmm, I'm not aware of any members that live in SD, but I know Yoshi at Neptune Speed is highly recommended but he is in Huntington Beach.

Hfos

I might ask you to refer me if it comes to that, I'm in the process of filing a warranty claim. If it doesn't get approved I'll be taking my car elsewhere to get the repairs done.

wannawankel

Yes - sounds like the jump did the very same thing to a car I almost bought. Fried the lighting module and the security system on an S2 (2011 GT).

Hfos

Main fuse: $8
Battery: $160
Keyless Entry System: $750
Acquiring extensive knowledge about a car you love: priceless

We are fixed and will be back on the road tomorrow woo! Thanks to everyone who left a comment 👍🏻