I've never had this problem before. Today I woke up to the wife having a hard time starting the car. Not sure if she was on her phone and cut it right as it started and flooded.

So, I did the whole Mazda deflood trick. Got it to a point where it sounds like it's turned over and the engine is running but as soon as I let go of the key, it dies immediately. What could be causing that? I know it's flooded but what do I do as the car starts? DO I let it keep cranking a second or just start over?

 

You are not burning off enough fuel to start it. You have to go a lot longer for that method to work. Every time you crank over the car you have to start over again.

Personally, it sounds like the flood is bad enough to warrant a pull start.

 

Ya but I don't have another car. Using my Mother-in-law's truck atm but I don't trust either myself or my wife to pull start it without either ripping off the front of my 8 or crashing into the back of the truck.

 

Pull the plugs. Clean and dry them. Pull the 20A fuel pump fuse in the fuse block in the engine bay. Ensure the the plug wires are laying on the top of the engine and wrap a towel around them if you want for added safety. Crank the engine over a few times and blow the gas out of the engine. Wipe off the excess fuel drippage if there is any and reinstall the clean dry plugs, wires, and fuse and the engine should start. Pull the plugs through the driver's side wheel well after removing the tire. Easiest way to get to the plugs.

 

Do what mazdaverx7 says ... i just replaced my injector o-ring's and the engine was flooded badly. Tried for a day to get it started using the procedure it would JUST begin to start then die as you described. But it was SOOOOO close i kept trying , kept recharging the battery and finally i said enough. I pulled the plugs they were badly fouled. I didn't pull the fuse, just put the pedal to the floor prior to turning on the key in order to shut off the fuel pump and injectors. Did the turn over thing a few times until i wasn't seeing a cloud of vapor coming out the side of the car. Cleaned the fouled plugs, put everything back together and it fired up.

 

hmm, only issue is no tools and a bad back. Not sure if I can handle getting under the car to do that.

 

Then find someone that can pull it for you 😎

That's assuming it's a MT.....