Javy

Hello everyone, I'm new to the RX8 Club so I'm not quite familiar with how everything works but I recently bought a 2004 RX8 this year in September. Just yesterday my car randomly started shutting off while driving. Today I took my car for a test run to Boston and back home and my car shut off again just as I was arriving home. Thankfully I had help from people around to push my car tony street. It's quite embarrassing having such a nice car but it doesn't perform as good as Inwas hoping. I have read enough on the car when I got it to understand the car needs constant care and attention and believe me I've done just that. I put on a new starter to replace the older model that had a recall. I've changed the spark plugs. The oil has been changed on time roughly every 2000 miles. But yesterday it just decided to give up on me. Any thoughts on this? and if anyone has experienced this were you able to get it fixed ? I love this car despite the amount of trouble it's given me but I'm a RX8 fan at heart and want to get the car fixed if I can.

BigCajun

iTrader: (1)

Possibly the fuel pump.

RX8Soldier

iTrader: (24)

How many miles are on the engine?
As BigCajun said, possible fuel pump failure.
You mentioned that you changed spark plugs, but did you also change the coils and wires? Recommend to do those groups at the same time.
If you can, inspect the inside of your car converter to make sure there's no damage or clogging.

Lastly, make sure you read the new and potential owners sticky.

Javy

It has about 90,500 miles on it. I didn't change the wires or the coils. I'm considering doing an entire tune up to see if it helps. I'm not sure exactly how to go about fixing the fuel pump failure if that is the cause. I did notice my idle kept fluctuating between 1000rpm and 700rpm. I'm thinking it could possibly be a low compression but we all know that can cost a fortune to fix or replace.

RX8Soldier

iTrader: (24)

I can't stress enough that your read the new and potential owners sticky. Having a better understanding of this car will help you tremendously in your troubleshooting this (and future) issue(s).

As for the fuel pump issue, there are plenty of threads detailing steps to diagnose. Use this Google search feature to your advantage
Google search

Nisaja

Hello and welcome to the brotherhood! Good to have you aboard.

Does it die when you're driving it hard? Or does it die when you're idling? Like these guys said, could be fuel pump related. If it's the CAT, you should have trouble revving the car before it dies. Check the fuel pump pressure to rule out the fuel pump. Look it up man

Javy

Thanks everyone for all the help and suggestions. Just wanted to get back to everyone and let you know so far it seems like the problem has been solved. After doing further research I cleaned my MAF sensor with MAF sensor cleaning spray and I let it sit for 10 minutes. I haven't had any problem with the car shutting down since I cleaned it and I hope it stays that way. I'm considering getting my fuel pump changed also just for the sake of having a brand new one.

Nisaja

Glad you got it fixed. It must have been pretty dirty then. Keep us posted on the fuel pump swap

04Green

iTrader: (1)

Welcome.

The MAF is one of the things in the Congrats Thread, one of the stickies in my signature. The other was mentioned already. I suggest running through the rest of them as well. I just got a new 8, my Green one was totaled. Brandy will be missed. But, once I fix the fuel pump, I will do all the Congrats thread thing.

Javy

So I finally got the fuel pump swapped. Did it myself with my dad. It was pretty easy despite getting the dang thing out. The car has been running good and hasn't randomly shut off on me since I cleaned the MAF and now that I changed the fuel pump it should only help prevent the car from shutting off. However I'm still having problems starting the car when hot. Thinking maybe it needs an optima red top battery? Just hoping it's not low compression as nobody would want that but who knows... wishful thinking.

Nisaja

Hard starts only when hot is a classic symptom of low compression

R3Mike

hey man sorry to hear about your x8 shutting down. Did you read the thread they have in the new members area on car shutting off rendomly? Take a look at it. I'm sure it will get you looking in the right direction. Hope you get it fixed.

Yagami Kira

Hey man my car has been doing the same. I've taken it to two shops.. they've checked the computer, throttle body and fuel pumps.. apparently they said it's neither of those.. Im on your boat and I have no clue where or what to do now

Javy

So I was able to figure out why my car was shutting down. I put it up in an earlier post. I had to clean my Mass Air Filter (MAF) sensor with MAF sensor cleaning spray and it solved my problem quickly. My car hasn't shut down on its own since then. I did change the fuel pump to be on the safe side but I would recommend getting the spray for like 8 dollars at Advanced Auto Parts or Auto Zone. Make sure it says MAF sensor cleaning spray cuz some other sprays will leave sticky residue which could prevent the sensor form reading the correct amount of air flow going into the engine thus shutting it down. I'm no mechanic but 8 dollars saved my car.

Javy

So I'm back again everyone with more good news. I bought a new Optima Redtop battery for my car and now the car starts much faster than before. Drove it for a while turned it off and on and still started within 5 seconds. Before it would only crank and no start when hot. But now each time I turned it off and attempted to start it again it started with no failures. Just wanted to let anyone who reads this know about a problem I did have when changing the battery. After putting in the new battery the car started but it did die right away. I realized when I started it again to press on the gas pedal and keep the gas feeding the engine as the computer in the car has not fully recalibrated. I kept it around 1000rpm and held the gas pedal for a good 30 seconds and soon I let the car tell itself to keep the fuel flowing and it did. Hope this helps anyone looking for this sort of info.

Yagami Kira

This is what's going on with my car. It turns on them off after a few seconds

Javy

I would recommend trying out the steps I mentioned in my earlier posts startin with the MAF sensor cleaning procedure. You can find videos on how to do it on YouTube. If you still run into that problem it's either between getting a new fuel pump or getting a new battery which you can find the DIY videos also on YouTube.