Apollo1317

Okay so long story short I bought my friends rx8 because he is now wheelchair bound and only trusts me to not destroy it. Before being in a wheelchair he said he got in a massive accident breaking a lot of parts and that his car got vandalized and overheated and he thinks the car is done. I brought it home today and charged the battery which had some pretty bad terminals. The negative was okay but the positive looked like a sand castle. I checked the fluids and the oil looks and tastes fine, at a fine level with no broken oil pan or leaking. Same with trans fluid but it was a bit low. The coolant reservoir was empty so I put water to see if it would leak and nothing came out. When I tried to start the car with just it's battery, only the key car lock light came on in the dash. I'd step on the brake cause it's just habit to turn on the car and that pulled too much energy and the light shut off. I tried jumping it and it would sound like it was trying to start, I would hear air coming out of the exhaust but it was just air sounds, not gas being ignited sounds. Almost like a dog breathing really heavy really fast.

Now the gas is VERY low in the car but I would assume I'd at least hear it try to ignite. If the car has been sitting for about a year would that logic track or no? Note, I can hear the starter spin so I know it's getting power when being jumped. Also I'm not sure if it's cause his car was modded or all rx8 need this but he always added premix to the gas tank. Is this a normal thing? Is it brand specific?

Edit: I totally forgot like the main reason I posted this. I had the car in accessory mode to check the lights and all, and when I put the car in gear to play with the shifting, it only went up to 2nd. It'd be perfectly responsive doing into drive, I to manual mode, up to 2nd and down from there but never went higher. Could it be cause the car is off or do you think it's an actual shifting problem? The only code is a U0100 code for miscommunication with the ecu because I believe it has a tune in it

Red line envy

If it was front end crash then the ecu could be damaged.

Loki

iTrader: (1)

There appears to be a bunch of stuff going on here. A year old gas isn't doing you any favours. You need new gas. It could just be flooded if prior attempts to start it were unsuccessful (even your own). The U0100 is at least a code, but given the crash who knows what's compromised.

Premixing is applicable to any rotary, whether you choose to do it or not, you'll have to decide for yourself.

Pull the plugs, see what they tell you, clean them off and attempt to deflood. You can google for the procedure.

What all was damaged in the crash?

jcbrx8

I agree w/ everything that's been said. I'd also suggest that you could also try push starting it. Obviously, this won't work if you have ECU, faulty wiring, ignition (coil, plug, or wires), etc. issues, but it could overcome low battery, poor starter, low compression issues ...so you could perhaps get it started to diagnose further.

Edit: Whoops missed that this is an AT.

Apollo1317

I got about two gallons of premixed new gas in there to see if it would help and nothing changed. Still same symptoms as last night. I'll attach a video so you can hear it. You can't hear the air being pushed out very well but if you look close you can see a bit of dust being pushed out. I'll try and see if it's flooded today and get back to the forum with my findings.

And in terms of the crash, it's possible it happened but I see no physical evidence of it being more than a spinout. I see no bumper damage(it's a fiberglass bumper so it would have definitely shown) and the fenders are borderline perfect. I don't even see any suggestive scratching.

Apollo1317

I just checked and each of the spark plug wires are getting spark, and the fuel pump is priming properly. It's definitely getting power and I'm 99% sure fuel although I'm not sure how to check at the engine side.

I tried pulling out the spark plugs and letting whatever fuel squirt out, but after connecting them back it still didn't start. The fuses all seem fine as well.

Loki

iTrader: (1)

Deflooding takes longer than you would think. Look up the proper procedure and repeat it for half hour or so. Clean the plugs off too to help it along.

Spitting out gas is not a thing, you need to dry the plug, put them back in and hold down the gas pedal to the floor while cranking at least 3 times for 5-8 seconds with 30 second breaks. On the 4th time release the gas slowly while cranking. If it starts to catch, modulate the gas to keep it alive. Repeat and repeat especially if it's starting to catch.

rx8help.com is a good read for all new owners.

Apollo1317

Good to know. I was reading another thread and I thought it said to leave them out and let the fuel shoot out the spark plug holes but I've also seen the method you explain too. Does it have to be 30 second gaps or can it be more? I'd rather safe than sorry. And if the engine isn't flooded will this hurt it or would it just have started right up? And I'll check it out, thanks!

Loki

iTrader: (1)

30 or more seconds is fine. It's just to let the starter cool down. It won't hurt anything of it's not flooded.

MincVinyl

Can you see what rpm the engine is spinning at when starting? It sounds rather slow which could point to having the dead battery with probably a slow starter. Otherwise there's a good chance its flooded considering the history. Getting new plugs once you get it running again wouldn't hurt either.

I assume you already put more gas in it, but i'd suggest waiting to premix until it is running again. Personally I've run into struggles with running premix in one of my rx8's that had starting/compression issues. I believe that the poor combustion or lack of would foul sparkplugs quickly, with black gunk, only making it harder to start. Otherwise as stated above its your own preference, boiling down to: how well do you trust your Oil metering pump? I'd say if you have a 120k mile engine dying to be rebuilt it is probably pointless to premix as you cant prevent seal wear that has already happened.

I havent looked into the automatics as much, but on any manual car first mods/fixes I'd suggest the upgraded 2.7hp starter and new battery.
->Followed by LS ignition coils and new plugs.
->Followed by checking the Catalytic converter or going with a midpipe.

Apollo1317

I've been trying again for around 20 mins. I first took the spark plugs out and dried them(only the top two were wet) then put the gas pedal to the floor and cranked it for about 7 seconds with a 50 seconds of rest. I put a stopwatch on my phone so it was easier to just turn it every minute then try and calculate 30 seconds and remember where it would be next time. It never sounded any different when I turned the key.

The battery could be an issue. The one that came with the car idk about it's reliability but I have it jumped to my running car every time I've tried so it wouldn't die after 10 seconds.

Rpms hardly moved at all. If you don't watch the video close enough to you might miss it.

Loki

iTrader: (1)

That starter sounds like it's turning very slowly which would make it harder to start/easuer to flood. Either the battery isn't giving you enough amperage or the starter itself is worn out.

You can confirm with an OBD reader what rpm it's getting to. Should be at least 230-250