With these cold mornings, I have to crank it about 3 or 4 times before it starts and let it idle for about 5 - 10 minutes before it's even drivable. Getting on the road before then will misfire like crazy. Even before the Interceptor, I always did let it warm up a little bit before driving (and never go under boost until normal operating temp) just to be safe. But I never needed anywhere near as much time to warm up as I need now.
Granted, I didn't have the turbo last winter, but I had no start and idle problems whatsoever.
Is anyone else experiencing similar issues with the Interceptor now that the weather is cold?

(I have made adjustmensts to the Water Map but to no success)

 

I dont have the interceptor, my car is still NA cus im saving money for labor of the turbo but no starting problems so far.

PS. I have the 05 RX-8

 

The starting on myne is horrible when the weather is below 35 degrees. It takes several minutes of cranking for it to start. It never gets that cold were Scott is so he didn't have a chance to dial in the cranking map. You just need to adjust it. I think its too rich because I've tried adding fuel to it and it got worse. I haven't tried taking fuel out yet.

 

good luck, its already snowing here in Oregon. Its about 32 degrees or so. I dont have the interceptor but im glad that I havnt purchased it till he works the bugs out

 

Your right about not having the cold weather down here and the mapping was done in the spring/summer. Connect to the system with the engine off and ignition on, toggle to the temp. closest to the actual water temp and adjust the Cranking and water temp maps values. I would suggest free reving the engine (gently) and make adjustments as the engine/water temps increase. This will take a few cycles to get everything where you want it. After the fuel values are done you can also make ignition advance adjustments based on water temp. This is usually only a few degrees and only when it's very cold, these changes will affect the timing_rpm map and the timing_map so keep in mind the overall value. Rotary engines are know for being grumpy in the very cold but since you have the ability to adjust your engine management system and it will stay tuned this process will only have to be done this once.

 

Thanks for that great advice Scott.
I took what rkostolni said about the Cranking MAP possibly being to rich, and adjusted all paramaters of the map (60c and colder) 10% lower, then tried starting the car. This time it only took 2 cranks, and the RPM only went to 1500 instead of the 2000 it usually idles at until it warms up.
The temperature outside was 32 degrees and would have been a typical day where it would have taken much longer to start.
It will be much colder tomorrow morning so I will test it out again then. I will also try making a few carefull adjustments to the T_wat map as you suggested to smooth out the sick sounding idle.

 

Car started just fine again this morning after 2 cranks in 29 degree weather. I adjusted the t_wat MAP while it warmed up (gently reving) but it made no significant difference so I set it back to default. However, I saw an improvement in decreasing the Water MAP about 5%, stopping at the 82c field.
After letting it sit all day up at work, at the end of the day I was able to drive it out without even letting it warm up first, in 34 degree weather.
Perhaps the Cranking MAP and Water MAP were too rich for me after all.

I never want to discourage anyone from buying the Interceptor. It's a great product and has opened up incredible potential in the RX-8. It just WILL need to be tuned, and having no prior experience tuning myself, it is relativly easy to make simple adjustments.

 

Any chance you can post your values for the Cranking MAP and Water MAP?
It was 30degrees here last week and my car had issues cranking.

 

No prob, I will post them when I get home tonight.

 

This isn't a "bug." It's a climate variation.

 

Well fabulous, my laptop crashed today. So I'm posting my "prior to Sunday's editing" screen shots.

1) On the Water Map, I adjusted everything starting at -25c down 5%. For example: the -25c field is now set to 74%, the -17c field is now set at 65%, the -09c field is now set at 58%...and so on until 82c, where it zero's out

2) Same thing on the Cranking MAP, but I decreased it by 10% instead. Zeroing out at 68c.

 

Thanks for the info.

 

I recently began experiencing starting problems as well, untill finally my car would just crank and not start. I had it towed in to the dealer, who informed me that there was a new service bulletin about this exact issue.

When all was said and done I received a NEW cold crank battery, NEW high performance spark plugs, NEW fast crank starter, and a PCM reflash.

The starter made a world of difference, you can actually hear how much faster the rotor cranks now. Hope this helps others, I know how dealers don't like it when customers know about these bulletins before they do.

 

I know its not a bug, but i mean...my friends have had a few technical difficulties where it makes tuning slightly difficult or so. But its nothing then, nevermind

 

I say save yourself some tuning and change your plugs back to stock for the winter. I had the same Denso plugs as you and also had the misfires after cold start. I went back to the stockers for the winter. Voila: no more misfires after cold start.