klepto

HELP!!!!!!!

Well I bought my 8 this January. i've only owned it for 6 months. and I'm experiancing the weirdest ****....I need some ideas thoughts on what it could be.

HELP!!!!!!!

so yeah...my 8 is all kinds of screwed up like i told you guys yesterday (chris & dave).

I have been experiancing this issue since the weekend. My car stalls when I brake at high speeds - mostly when I'm in 5th or 6th gear.

Yesterday I decided to push it when i was closer to my girls house (exit 57 on the LIE / Suffulk county) . I was on the right lane put it into 5th and guned it to about 80/85 start braking and loss of power (the gas is cut off all the warning lights come on) and the car stalls. I pull over to should restart and continue to go on.

I decided for ***** kicks n giggles to see what would happen if I push it in 4th as soon as I hit 85/90 started to brake and it stalled again but this time I was in the left lane. Luckily for me there was no traffic in the HOV lane so I cut across 1 lane to the HOV shoulder. Restarted and went to my girls.

As I was driving to bank w/my girl in the 8. Doing 30ish at most in 3rd....as I braked it stalled for no f00king reason. Didn't happen again though.

I may have to strongly consider bringing in my car before rotorjam and miss the show all together :o( (If they can't fix it like ASAP status.)

Lets brain storm and see what we can come up with.

Before we start I am going to put the stock air box back in.

Now I'm thinking it's the following issues and in the order of most likely.

1. ECU
2. Electrical (since my car only shuts off when I brake at high speeds / doesn't the ecu control braking?)
3. Motor (maybe there is a leak or soemthing not right causing the loss of power / stalling?)
4. Fuel injectors or spark plugs?
5. Tranny (dunno how but maybe?)

So what do you guys think it could be? HELP!!!!!!!

elysium19

iTrader: (1)

First, as brilliant as the Northeast is, there's more brainpower available on the general forum, particularly the tech garage section, so you might want to post this there.

Second, having to do an emergency-pull-over on the highway sounds dangerous... If you have a MT car, you know you can just put it in neutral, clutch in, and re-start the engine while coasting along the highway or wherever.

That said, this really sounds like an ECU problem. Considering it is confined to times when you are braking, it seems very unlikely that is' a mechanical component like injectors/plugs/transmission/etc. Also, stalling under braking is a common thing following an ECU reset, while the car is re-learning fuel trims and other things, but it usually only lasts a few minutes or a drive cycle. So it makes me think this is somehow related to that type of problem. If this continues happening, then that is definitely strange.

Are you still under warranty? I'd clean the MAF sensor, reset the ECU (just hit the brake lights a few times with the negative battery terminal disconnected), make sure your air filter / intake is clear, and make sure all vacuum hoses are securely connected. If the problem persists, take it for service, although they will probably have to "verify the concern." Good luck...

snipaz2420

dont step on the brake problem solved

klepto

LOL Yeah we are pretty brilliant, lol...but I'd figure I'd ask local first to see if anyone else experianced what I am going through.

Yeah I tried to press the clutch and restart as it was rolling but it didn't allow me to do that.

I'm gonna check the MAF tonight. I've checked the CAI and everything seemed fine. I will disconnect the negative terminal and try to reset the ecu as you suggested.

I most deff have warrenty...unless they dicked me when I purchsed my 2008 in January of this year, lol. I'm gonna have to take it in and see what they say....just hate the fact they are gonna keep my car for god knows how long and RotorJam is right around the corner...and on top of that I'm supposed to drop my car off to Kenny this coming Tuesday for front end work. Grrrrr.

klepto

Yeah funny man I've tried that by down shifting from 6th to 5th or 5th to 4th gear so on and so forth to slow down didn't work....

snipaz2420

dont drive the car problem solved . dude why dont you try pming kevin(wayne tech) and see what he thinks

SideOfBacon

/waits patiently for a klepto part out post

klepto

Just sent him a PM.....

And Dude I only drive my car maybe 3 days out of the week...so I barely drive it as it is...f00cker...talking about don't drive it then, problem solved....m0f0ker, lol.

klepto

LMAO No dude I just got the f00king car....if I trade in now i would be upside down something wicked.....lol. i'd have to pourchase a hyndai just in order to offord my car note monthly from a massive hit i would take, lol....

give me at least 3 1/2 years more when my bumper to bumper runs out. lol...then if i run into a "chris" issue then i'll be parting out, lol.

klepto

thread started in the technical section as well.

https://www.rx8club.com/showthread.p...wpost&t=149334

CnnmnSchnpps

iTrader: (1)

It should work.. I barely ever use the brakes on the highway. Obviously it takes longer to slow down but if you downshit to, say, 3rd on an offramp you lose speed pretty quick.

Dude they registered your car 5 years ago as a demo model.

Need some more info to properly troubleshoot:
- When did this start and did you do anything crazy right before (around the same time as the lake expedition?)
- Does it also stall if you tap the pedal just enough to get the lights to come on but not enough to actually brake?
- Does it stall when cruising if you just clutch in without touching the brakes?
- Does it stall when cruising if you shift it to neutral without touching the brakes?

maxxdamigz

iTrader: (1)

My brother had a similar issue on his car after installing an aftermarket intake and ecu. Similar, but different. On his car, if you hit the clutch at high RPMs, the car stalled. He didn't tell me about this when he lent me the car to pick people up from the airport and I learned with some surprise while downshifting during a turn in an intersection.

So, your stalling is tied to engine rpm or car speed? Do you have an aftermarket intake? Does the car stall if you brake while not hitting the clutch? That's how I drove my brother's car. I'd leave it engaged in gear until I had it slowed down to maybe 15 and then hit the clutch. That'll make the car driveable for now if it works for you.

Not being able to restart in a roll is also an issue. Did the car crank while rolling and not start? Or would it not crank? Have you touched your intake lately at all (vacuum lines?).

chrism

the only thing i can think of on the intake would be the filter that was changed but that shouldnt affect his car like that....otherwise it would do it in all gears not just the top 3

klepto

I have the RE intake. But I have had it on the car since like the 2nd week of owning the car. I had a mid pipe but that is off. So that isn't the source of the issues. Thats all the engine type work ive done.

I havent tried just pressing the clutch while cruising. I'd have to try that. And in terms of pressing the brake I mean litterally as soon as I press the brakes all the lights go on gas is cut off car turns off. I am forced to pull over to restart and continue.

I have been driving around in 4th and no more than like 65ish to be on the safe side but that is eating my gas like a starved peson eating at an all you can eat buffet.

klepto

The car won't even crank. As if the car is like wait a minute m0f0ker....something is wrong adn i need to pull over.

All the vacum hoses are fine. I seriously doubt it is the intake or even the HKS filter I have put on the RE intake.

CnnmnSchnpps

iTrader: (1)

Sounds like some electrical craziness to me..

When did the problem start?

elysium19

iTrader: (1)

OK that is more severe and different than what I thought you were describing earlier. Definitely not mechanical in nature, especially if it's confined to certain gears. If I remember correctly, for the '04 and '05 models, the ECU has certain settings for gears 1+2, for 3+4, and 5+6, therefore it would be possible to just have problems with things in just one "set" of gears" But the later model years it changed to 1+2+3 and 4+5+6. Or maybe it was the other way around, I'm not sure.... Either way, this definitely sounds isolated to the ECU, and you'll probably have to take it in.

One other possibility is that it sounds like engaging the brakes is somehow initiating a fault with the entire electrical system. Check all the relevant fuses (not sure what they are exactly, but if they have to do with ECU, pumps, brakes, etc, then check them). You could be tripping something for whatever reason, although in that case it'd be unlikely that you could fix it just by stopping and re-starting the engine....

maxxdamigz

iTrader: (1)

Hmmmm. HMMMMM. Hmmmm. That's strange. Does the car know what gear it is in? I don't think it does. The fuel/spark at X rpm is the same whether you are in 3rd or 5th. The car does know how fast it's going, but that's unlikely to be tied into much at all since you can still do 65 in 4rth but not 5th or 6th.

So, when you are running your car at fairly low rpms (high gear) at significant speed (highway) and hit your breaks, your ECU flips out. If I was guessing, I'd say the abs/traction control unit/system is fried. Or, maybe the whole ECU is gone. Look for the ABS block (can't say off hand where it is) - does it wire into anything? I wonder if pulling your ABS system relay in the fuse box would effect this malfunction.

Then again, it could be something entirely different.

klepto

The problem just started this past weekend. it happened Last Friday to be exact. I was driving on the LIE. There was traffic around the mid 40's. Bumper to bumper crawling status. There was a detour to the Northern state so I took it. Was driving at fair speeds w/everyone else. I switched to the right lane (Nothern state is 2 lanes) I went to brake to slow down for a second as a car decided to switchlanes as well and then poof....alll of the above symptoms started.

it happened 2 more times friday night on my way to pick up my gf to head to NJ for dinner. I ended up taking the civic.

Then Saturday when i went to help Chris demod it happened once. And Don't remember if it happened again on Sunday. All I know is I pushed it yesterday to see if the problem would go away and it didnt.

I conteplated it being the CAT but even the mechanic said that was out landish. I didnt remove the CAT due to the issues but becaue I had to get rid of it because of my gf being pregnant and couldnt withstand the smell at all plus it probably isnt good for the baby gorwoing inside of her.

klepto

Originally I had though I had over heated. I checked the radiator fluids and my oil and everything was a ok. I even topped off for just in case...

elysium19

iTrader: (1)

It does. The ECU needs that info to calculate load and lots of other things.


The ABS system/fuse is a good guess, because the problem initiates only right upon braking, you should visually inspect those. Otherwise, some more complex failure within the ECU. It's almost certainly not a mechanical thing like the cat or radiator or spark plugs or anything like that.

Do you get a CEL among all the other lights? Do you have a code reader?

klepto

I had checked the fuses in the engine bay and they all look fine. None really look fried or smelled fried.

I'll have to check to check the ECU then I suppose.

alz0rz

iTrader: (41)

Definitely sounds like something confined to ABC/DSC since it only happens when you brake and since they are tied in with the ECU.... Could be that your relay/module is fried, rain?

To answer someone elses question, yes the ECU knows what gear your car is in.

alz0rz

iTrader: (41)

Jeff. try this.. turn off your DSC by holding the button down for 7 seconds until both lights come on. That should turn off any electrical assist that needs to be run by the ECU while braking. Try to replicate the problem afterward.

elysium19

iTrader: (1)

Good idea. Although if the failure it doesnt happen, we dont know if it's because he turned off the DSC or because it just doesn't happen every time.