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Hi there I am new to the rotary world and to this forum
after selling my mr2 turbo I have just bought a 04 231 rx8 from the UK (114000 miles with a rebuild at 100000 ) the seller said it had a remap but no proof of that. It now lives in France
and i'm already having a little trouble with it and would really appreciate a little help from some experts !!
(i dont know if i am on the right thread or not??)
please let me know if I am not !
so here goes..
im having a hard time starting it (cold or hot) very unusual for a 8...
from cold starts i need to turn it over about 6 to 8 seconds for it to start (sometimes get a bang like a shotgun from the exhaust) then it starts
idle doesnt sound quite right and the car sometimes vibrates.
once warm it drives well with plenty of power.
when it comes to a hot start sometimes it will start after about 5 seconds and other times it takes about two 10second attempts.
the engine light came on with the Po 420 code = Catalyst System Efficiency Below Threshold (Bank 1)
it has the N3Z1 starter on it, new plugs i have just ordered new coils as no proof of last change
I cant bear to think of compression
any thoughts?? or tips would REALLY be apreiated
Thanks.
Last edited by mr2 turbo to rx8; 06-30-2015 at 12:59 PM.
It sounds like flooding from bad ignition to me, just my first impression. I'd do coils and wires. Then clean your plugs.
Try puling your plugs and seeing if they are wet. That would confirm it. I would guess it migh not have a cat if it is turbo, but check that out quickly. If the cat is there and bad it will kill your engine very quick.
Do you know what turbo kit is in the car? If not could you post a pic or 2 of it. Also a picture of your mid pipe and we might be able to tell you if it has a cat or not.
Hi thanks for the quick reply it is a na (i have sold my Toyota mr2 turbo) and bought a na rx8 will take spark plugs out tonight and have a look it does still have a cat on it (would be louder without compared to you tube vids) a mate has a spare decat that will probably end up on it
have taken the coils of and they all have the white marks underneath some worse than others
the wires look new but thinking i might aswell replace them so that all ignition system is new.
do you know what the stock cat looks like? A proper midpipe really does not make it louder. Unless you are comparing it directly to the sound of another rx8 with a proper cat you probably would not know the differance.
White marks on the coils really means nothing at all. I would replace the wires just to be safe.
If you do have a cat and a bad ignition system then you are killing the cat very quick. So try not to drive it at all until you get the coils and wires.
Where are you in france? I'm kind of surprised you're driving a 8. Crap that would get expensive quick. I'm sure you know, but especially with a turbo use the best fuel you can.
Last edited by logalinipoo; 06-30-2015 at 01:41 PM.
crap I read that wrong. I thought you said mr2 to turbo rx8. That looks like the stock cat without the heat shield, but I am not positive. I've never seen one without the shield. I would unbolt the front of the cat and check to make sure it is not clogged.
That one plugs needs a good cleaning or to be replaced. I'd guess it's a bad coil that has it black. That might be your issue right there.
I like the sound of that !! the coils are on there way i ordered a set of class C / c series OEM ones
the spark plugs are new only done 400 miles good clean up and back in i think !
just thinking about the wires is there any way of testing them (ohms) or should i just scrap them and go new?
since you do not know about the wires I would just go with new. Ignition is probably the biggest problem on these cars. You should swap coils wires and plugs every 30K miles just to be safe. and just about any engine problem you have the first thing you will be asked/recomended is the ignition.
I think most spark plug wires are 200-300 ohm's per foot. You can google it though. Maybe use a OHM meter and make sure they are all about the same. If one or 2 is bad it should be obvious I think.
Last edited by logalinipoo; 06-30-2015 at 02:45 PM.
Bienvenue
I had a very similar problem.
I bought my '04 nearly 3 years ago.
I got the P0420 code right after that.
I had a fouled plug from a bad coil, killed my cat.
I got 4 new plugs, coils and wires, and a new midpipe
Cleaned the MAF and ESS, did the
20 brake stomp, ran great after that.
It looks like you have either a an aftermarket cat, or an aftermarket resonator.
My bad cat, almost the whole front half is gone.
This is the OEM cat, the cat (under the heat shield) is on the right with the resonator on the left.
I am going to take the cat of this afternoon to have a look
whats this about the 20 brake stomp?
i checked the resistance in the ht leads they look really new
from shortest lo longest : 2.42 2.77 3.05 3.23 should i still relace them ?
what would you use to clean the MAF and ESS ? brake cleaner ?
Thanks
The 20 brake stomp is a procedure used whenever the ESS is cleaned or replaced;
Turn the key on, tap the brake rapidly 20 times within 8 seconds, the oil gauge needle will sweep to confirm it on most 8s. (It doesn't on my '04)
There is a MAF cleaner, use that if it's available.
Bon Chance!
The wires all have roughly the same resistance. I'd keep using them since 3 plugs look good. As for the cleaner try to use MAF cleaner, if you can't get it I'd just use brake cleaner.
so took it of and it turns out there is no cat...
should receive my coils middle of next week will let you know how it goes
i'm guessing there is no chance it will pass emissions as is ?
I will try and pick up some maf cleaner today
yeah, that's gone. Looking at the flange it does not look like the stock midpipe. I don't know what you have to pass for emissions, Do they stick a probe in the tailpipe? If not a flash tuner is cheaper than a cat and that can hide the codes and let it pass.
right so here is the update (the coils took ages to arrive) anyway put the new coils on her (gen C mazda) cleaned the bad spark plug put on a stock cat then went to start her up but she didn't want to turned out she was flooded so did the edal to the floor / crank / reppeat etc... then she started ! a little smoke out of the exhaust but guess what...
nothing has changed the idle is still a little rough althow a little better it moves between 1k and 800 rpm with some vibrations
still needs approx 3 to 4 seconds cranking to start from cold
but when warm/hot really hard to start with occasional good start
but apart from that the engine runs really well with plenty of power never stalls etc...
going to take the plugs back of to have a look at them and see what they are like
I was having idle issues for months. I cleaned my grounds now it idles almost flawlessly other then initial start up when hot it drops a little low at first but then pegs right back up to normal idle.
06-30-2015, 12:56 PM
