Hey guys Ive been working on my car for the past few days and at first it wouldn't start then i unflooded it and it starts but as soon as i put my rx8 in D or R or any gear really it turns off immediately....i have a AT 05 RX8 can anyone help?

Hey guys Ive been working on my car for the past few days and at first it wouldn't start then i unflooded it and it starts but as soon as i put my rx8 in D or R or any gear really it turns off immediately....i have a AT 05 RX8 can anyone help?

Hey guys Ive been working on my car for the past few days and at first it wouldn't start then i unflooded it and it starts but as soon as i put my rx8 in D or R or any gear really it turns off immediately....i have a AT 05 RX8 can anyone help?

Hey I have the exact same problem with my AT 05 RX8 i just hit 100k and whenever i put my car in Drive it turns off immediately can anyone help please
I already changed spark plugs checked my coils replaced air filter car starts fine but when i change into any gear Reverse drive etc it powers off....a bit redundant but im really irritated

Flooding is caused by a parts failure. Either plugs, wires, coils, battery, starter, or engine compression. Of those, coils, plugs, wires, and engine compression problems could also result in the car dying at idle in drive. There are other failure which could result in a stall at idle, but they typically don't cause a flood.

Coils, plugs, and wires need to be changed regularly, every 30,000 miles is the recommendation. How old are yours?
If they are new, then I'd recommend going and getting a compression test to see how healthy your engine and starter are.

I changed my plugs last week I also checked my coils during the plugs and everything was working properly...I think the flooding was my fault because I just moved my car out of the driveway and didnt let it warm up properly before turning it off, I also know my starting is working well and the problem was with the battery, I'm just stumped with the whole "car shutting off whenever its in any gears other than neutral or park".
....so right now im down to getting a compression test...and by the way what "wires" are you referring to?

A) Unless you tested the coils individually with a timing light or a spark tester, your coil check meant nothing. The only failure method that is visually apparent for coils is if it is defective out of the box and literally slags it's housing in melted plastic. The presence of white spots or not has no actual bearing on the condition of the coil.

B) The "wires" are what connect the plugs to the coils. Coils on the upper left end, plugs on the lower right, wires are the colored lines in between.
https://www.rx8club.com/attachments/...rder-coils-jpg

C) Yes, it flooded because you shut the car off cold, but there is still an underlying failure. You can shut the RX-8 off cold without flooding if everything is healthy. Being unable to shut it off cold without flooding is simply a symptom of a deeper problem.

D) You state: "and the problem was with the battery", so I'm guessing you have had battery problems? This is the first mention of it. Do you have a new battery? Is it known to be dying? A battery problem won't manifest as a stall at idle though.

So in summary: Yes, it's time for a compression test IF your coils and wires are pretty new. Otherwise, you will need to replace those anyway.

What RPM is it running at in Park?

Okay I have an update, so I was able to start my car fine and put it in reverse and it worked as long as i maintained at least 2-3k rpm. (and the battery problem i had earlier was because the previous owner never changed it.) when i did put my car in reverse it almost had no power and as soon as i lifted my foot off the gas it stalled on me. So i THINK im getting somewhere now because it did not stall immediately and i was able to move backwards and forwards ... by the way thanks for all of the help riwwp do you have an idea of what the root problem might be? well the way i tested the coils was by seeing if it arced when disconnected and one person tries to start and the other places it near some metallic object and i double checked to make sure that the plugs were L1,T1,L1,T1.

Coils and wires OR compression test. Do one, if it doesn't solve it, do the other.

It runs between .9k-1.3k rpm in idle

Thanks RIWWP I plan on taking it in to the shop on Monday I'll keep you updated though

Thanks for the input

If it's jumping that much, I'd guess coils/wires before compression.

Yeah I'm thinking going to autozone and picking up some coils and seeing if that works before compression though i thought if you see a spark that meant the coils were working?

It takes more charge to spark in an air/fuel mixture than it does in clear air, but even then it's spark consistency that matters. The ignitor inside the coil tends to fail and provide inconsistent spark, as the charge hasn't gotten strong enough by the time the call for it to be discharged occurs.

replaced my coils today and it feels slightly better but still cuts off when in drive or reverse not neutral though, also could my MAF have anything to do with it stalling like this? because I read somewhere that this could also lead to hard starts and stalling and i did add too much oil the week it started crapping out...

A malfunctioning MAF could indeed cause it to stall while running. The MAF has zero impact on starting however.

Did you replace the wires too? or just the coils? If you haven't replaced the wires, at least do an ohm test on each wire with a multimeter to check resistance. New coils don't mean much if the charge can't get through the wires to the plugs.

If they test fine, time for a compression test.

So I cleaned my MAF and still have the same stalling problems...then a friend came over with a compression tester and it hit 30 psi instead of between 90-125...tell me there's hope for my engine other than complete replacement or rebuilding...

no i have not change the wires i guess i will though my friend said its pointless since it seems to be the compression...I still hope that we did it wrong or something but this guy seems very confident...im just getting aggravated with troubleshooting. can anyone tell me the average price of a rebuild or replacement and if putting a rx-7 engine is a sound idea?

Rebuilds can be as low as about $1,500, or as high as $5,500+, depending on how much is damaged inside. Each housing is $1,100 by itself, as an example. And you can't know that until the engine is taken apart.

Your two cheapest possible options is to contact rotary ressurrection for a rebuild, or Mazmart for a reman engine for around $3,800 + labor and shipping. (Assuming your factory 8yr 100,000 mile warranty has expired). The cheapest an RX-7 swap will cost you is about $12,000 if you pay someone else to do it. The engine doesn't quite physically fit, the electronics are all different, and the cooling/oiling/exhaust/intake stuff requires a bit of customization.

the engine wouldn't run if the compression was in the 30's, rerun the test properly before moving on to the next major step.

if the test was done with both schraeder valves removed(an improper test IMO) then the numbers will be quite lower than expected.

Thank you very much I'll look into it

So I was wondering can you put a newer rx8 engine in a older car?
like a 2008 engine in a 2005?

I explain the differences and compatibility in this post: https://www.rx8club.com/new-member-f...4/#post4533721 (should jump right to the correct post)

Thanks for the quick response, but do you know what the best thing to do when a engine fails, whether it should be rebuilt or replaced entirely. Also pricing is something that I cant seem to find as far as labor, rebuild kits or engines is concerned. Everyone seems to have a different idea as to the prices, Im just looking for a total price after parts and labor. Even a ball park estimate would be helpful at this point.

Yeah, pricing is all over the place. A reman from the dealer will cost at least $3,300, plus tax and whatever dealer markup (which can be as high as 150%, depending on the dealer). A reman from Mazmart will cost $3,800 or so, plus your old engine back (and they hold $1,000 deposit as a core charge until they get it). Rebuilding an engine can be anywhere from $1,500 to $10,000, depending on what kind of rebuild you want, and what is damaged. If just the housings and seal bits all need to be replaced, then you would be looking at somewhere around $2,500 to $3,000 from a reputable rebuilder, go cheaper than that and it probably won't be a reputable rebuilder.


This is all for the engine itself. Labor to remove and reinstall can be all over the place, but if you are paying someone for it, expect $800 to $1,500 in labor. And then there is the shipping to and from the rebuilder or engine seller, which usually can be in the $300 range, each way, depending on distance and shipper.

So here's a update, I started my car the other day and it started fine, then I revved the engine around 7-9k rpm and started hearing a small popping/ticking sound not really sure how to describe it. Though it felt like it was pushing/clearing something out of it (now it just may be me in my hopeless dream of wanting it not to be a complete loss of my engine) but after doing that for a couple of seconds I switched it into reverse and the idle remained stable for a little bit then it died...... so any takes?

thanks Karack for the answer, now I got another problem, can u answer this, why may car oil pan its had color like milkcoffe, I don't understand that, I was asker someone they said my engine had gasjesket broken is this true?, and how I fix that?