Just bought this 04 rx8 from my buddy's mom. He passed away 2 years ago. This car was his everything he took great care of it. He actually owned 2 of them i bought this one it was in much better condition. Im having trouble with starting. For instance it cranks up in about 1-2 minutes cold but hot takes it 5-10 minutes. It drives very nice once it does start. Ive changed the coil packs, battery, and clean the MAF sensor . It idles at 1000 rpms from the cold start 1000-750 cold start the car sat most of the time after his death. Ive ran fuel injector cleaner through it have gone through 2 full tanks. Any ideas what i am experiencing? My next step is to change the starter its the original starter that was tbs. <br/>

 

Hot start problems are usually associated with loss of compression.
Get a rotary specific compression test before you start changing parts.

 

Its just as hard to cold start tho and the engine runs amazing. Still think i should get it tested? I plan on completely gutting it out and replacing everything. How much is a comp test

 

Along with a rebuild or new engine i figure re doing its all is going to run 8k-12k but im willing to do it cause of the significant value the car holds

 

If it's cold and hot start issues, might be starter. Probably not but there's a chance.

You can do a really sloppy compression test by taking the schrader valve off
a standard comp tester and having someone crank the engine for you, rotor by rotor.

 

Mazda charges around $200 for a compression test. I would do that anyway to see how the engine is doing

 

Its acting like its flooding everytime you start it up.

 

Welcome.

You are describing classic worn engine behavior.

Post your location. A member with a tester may be in the area. Or, you can look on line. There are companies that sell them.

If you need a motor, there are places around the country that do very good work. You can get recommendations from this group as well. And, there are sponsors here that do exceptional work. Some you can even ship the car to.

Let us know how the test goes.

And, again, welcome.

 

Definitely get a compression test before doing anything else. It looks like you've addressed the typical failure areas already.

BTW, have you thoroughly warmed it up and then redlined it a few times? The apex seals might suffer from carbon deposits and those don't help with compression much either.

 

How many miles are on the car and is the engine original?