Josh Estes

Good evening everyone!

So, i am the proud own of a 04 RX8 as of yesterday evening. Is red in color and looks oh so good sitting in the driveway. New to the Mazda RX8 world and rotary engines but not to the forum world.

SO here is my kicker. I bought the car knowing it doesn't start. The gentlemen that i bought it from parked it in the fall and didnt drive it for the winter and it wouldnt start this spring. We got it off the trailer and the first thing i noticed is the Positive battery connector is loose even when completely tightened. I am going to start by fixing that, i am also placing an order for new Plugs, Wires and Coils. I am hoping to have this car up and running in no time!

any recommendations what could cause the car to crank but not start up would be a great starting point!
pics to come soon!

RX8Soldier

iTrader: (24)

Welcome.
Read the new owners stickies. They'll fill you in on all you need to know regarding the quirks of the rx8

Flayr

I would get a compression test done ASAP, prior to everything else. You can likely find a local guy who will bring one by your place and do one with you for like 80 bucks or so, or you could take it to a Mazda dealer... but that might be in the 500 dollar range after towing both ways and stealership pricing.

Namely because if you have no compression, no matter what you do will make it start. No point spending the 500 bucks on a nice new ignition and installing it if you need an engine rebuild.

Josh Estes

The guy i bought the car from did a compression test before he parked it for the winter or so he claims. I have a buddy i might call and see if he can come down and do one for me. Im going to start the process of pulling the plugs off, can tell a lot from the condition they are in on what might be going on.

Thanks for the replies! I'm crossing muy fingers it's something simple and not am engine rebuild Thats needed.

Josh Estes

tried the deflood procedure yesterday and it didn't change anything. going to order plugs wires and coils this week along with considering getting an upgraded starter and replacing the battery and the positive battery connector. first thing I noticed was the connector was tightened all the way but can easily be removed with almost no effort. bought this car knowing it was going to take a bit to get running. hopefully one of or a combo of what I'm looking at replacing with get it to fire up. I have a buddy who has a compression tester who I'm gonna have come down and test to make sure the compression is good. cranks over but doesn't start.

I've belonged to a bunch of forums and so far this has been one of the better ones in regards to replies and the help or advice being offered. I can't wait to get this car on the road and just drive it!

UnknownJinX

For the battery cables, make sure the connectors are pushed all the way down. If they are not, then they may become loose. I had this issue before, and the connectors popped loose when I was driving...

If that doesn't fix it, then you can grab those battery post shims to solve the problem temporarily.

And when you say a compression tester, do you mean a rotary-specific compression tester? An analog one for piston engines will give you meaningless numbers. Only a rotary-specific one will give you and us useful info. Your results should look something like this:

Josh Estes

yes I mean a rotary specific compression tester. thank you for the advice, my positive connector is indeed loose. was one of the first things I noticed. I'm going to replace the connectors possibly today. I realized yesterday that the car has almost no gas in it, and who knows how long that last bit of gas has been in the tank. that's the other thing I'm planning on fixing today, I plan on being on this forum a lot and will definitely accept any help or advice given cause I'm completely new to even the concept of a rotary engine.

Been on the search for a upgraded stater and my immediate short list is, plugs wires and ignition coils. would also like to replace the battery and starter at some point soon down the road.

UnknownJinX

Good! I remember someone actually paid for compression results from an analog compression tester. Just checking.

With the battery, you don't have to replace the connectors right away. You can buy a pair of shims and get away with that temporarily.

If you want, you can get the BHR ignition kit. Those are said to last much longer than the OEM ones and give off better sparks.

Josh Estes

Yeah i mean eventually i think im going to do the BHR upgrade but i want thw car running and to get the compression test done and know that i can spend the money on the upgrade vs having to replace the engine. Replacing the engine is the last and worse case scenario.

So i was going over things the other day and came to a realization. The gas light is on which means there isnt a lot of gas in the tank. Ive read a couple different posts about difficulty starting below a certain point due to the fuel pump. This is the first thing im going to address( just adding gas) and then swapping the plugs, wires and coils over. Also looking at replacing the air filter and eventually ill be replacing the stock intake with a cai.

Plenty to do and plenty of things to buy gonna take time but i cant wait to get this thing on the road!

Josh Estes

ordered my ignition coils yesterday and hopefully plugs and wires today. really hoping that solves the problem, my boss and her husband are convinced that it won't and I'm wasting money replacing them.

so here is my question:
I get the new plugs, wires and coils all on and in proper order, jump in and still have the same issue, where do I look next? the fuel pump does prime when you try to start it so I don't think it's the fuel pump. I want to add a couple gallons of gas just as a peace of mind for me.

what's the next thing to look at? the starter? I know the 04 and 05 have the weaker starter, could that be the issue?

Loki

iTrader: (1)

If that gas is a year old, it's going to have all kinds of problems. Give it a few gallons of fresh fuel, not just a little.


The level itself doesn't affect starting.

The starter should still be able to start it, but the higher speed starters do better when the engine is low on compression.

It could also just be flooded. Deflood it after you add gas, or when you change the spark plugs, check if the old ones were wet with fuel.

Josh Estes

thank you the advice!

Josh Estes

so I ordered ignition coils Wednesday and they arrived yesterday. going to pick them up in the morning, I'm going to try to get the plugs and wires ordered today (friday) and hopefully they will arrive the first half of next week. I'm going to pull the coils off and bench test them today (maybe) and replace them, if they aren't bad at least I have a new set waiting. once that's done I'll pull the plugs and see if they are fouled or wet with fuel. I'm gonna get a 5 gallon gas can after work and fill it, I'll put that in the tank so I know it has plenty of fresh gas. I'm frustrated because my boss and her husband who is a mechanic doesn't think anything I'm going to do, minus replacing the engine is going to fix the issue and that I'm wasting money on coils and plugs and wanting to upgrade to the newer starter. I'd just prefer to spend a little money now instead of replacing an engine that doesn't need to be replaced. if I can get it running I can get a compression test done and then I'll know if the engine has low compression or not. just assuming that's the issue because it cranks but won't start isn't a mistake I want to make. especially if it's something as simple as it had bad fuel and the coils were bad or some combo of low or no fuel and low spark or no spark

Josh Estes

ordered plugs wires and ignition coils, next will be the upgraded starter and maybe a better battery (possibly a red top 35).

after that, if Ithe still doesn't work I'll look at the fuel system. hopefully it doesn't come to that tho!

Loki

iTrader: (1)

I don't get it, didn't you order the coils and wires last week? I don't think it's a battery problem, leave that till you have it running.

Simple things first: have you added gas and tried to deflood it?

Josh Estes

I ordered the coils Wednesday and the plugs and wires saturday. picking them up today along with a gas can so I can put fresh fuel in. I tried deflooding it once but it didn't even attempt to fire which is what made me notice the gas light being on and wondering what the actual level of the tank is.

as far as the new battery, that's just one of the planned things. I don't think the battery is an issue but I do plan on having subs in the trunk so having a better battery is never a bad thing.

I'll update with some pictures and how the plugs, wires and coil install goes later today or tonight or tomorrow assuming I get to them today.

Josh Estes

so, added some fresh fuel this morning jumped in it and tried to crank it over, cranked for about a second and a half and then nothing. I think I discovered the issue! A weak starter would certainly cause an issue with it starting.

the great thing is replacing the starter is easy, and I can still swap out the rest of the ignition system so I know everything is solid and good.

Loki

iTrader: (1)

If you mean the starter stopped, it could just be the battery is drained from all the cranking.

A slow starter certainly isn't helping, but it should still try to start, especially cold. Put that ignition in, charge up the battery, full tank of gas and give it another shot before throwing more parts at it.

You'll need to purge the old gas in the fuel line before the fresh stuff goes in. That will take more than a couple seconds of cranking. Actually, have you verified that the fuel pump turns on? You should be able to hear it.
Have you actually pulled the plugs to see their condition? There could be some thing else in play like a blown coolant seal that has flooded the engine with water.

Josh Estes

yes the starter stopped and no it wasn't from a dead battery, I had the jumper hooked up when I tried to start it. in regards to the fuel pump yes it turns on you can hear it when you turn the key.

the current plan is to put the starter I bought in thursday, replace the plugs wires and ignition coils at the same time while the battery is out on the charger. I think that covers everything, have to disconnect the battery to do the starter so I figure I'll pull it and get it on the charger. my battery tester should be here by then so I can verify the battery is 100%. more updates Friday after I can get all that done.

Josh Estes

removed the old starter today. nightmare and a half. going to get a new long bolt and nut to replace the rounded ones. also going to pick up some anti seize compound to prevent issues later on. one thing almost done and checked off the list!

Josh Estes

so an update
I've done the following things
replaced the clutch starter safety switch
replaced the starter relay
finished installing the starter
checked all fuses including the main 120 amp fuse to find none blown.
removed the battery and charged over night
replaced the positive battery connector although it seems on the light weight side so I may be looking for a better quality connector shortly.

so nobe of those caused any change in the starting issue. this is what it does: open the door and all the interior lights and dash back light comes on, you put the key in and turn it to just before on and you hear the fuel pump kick on and all indications light up on the dash and the center console display comes on. turn the key to start it and the center console display cuts out and from the fuse box you hear a click. the starter doesn't turn over. I checked the voltage at the battery as a buddy turned the key and that was when I noticed the click and there was no change in voltage across the battery.

my thoughts are it's something in the ignition. maybe the ignition switch? no change in voltage tells me that the signal from the ignition to the battery isn't reaching the battery to send voltage to the starter. what's everyone think? I'm not wanting to tear my steering column apart to replace the switch if that's not it.

zrock

I'm by no means a pro and am facing some issues of my own at the moment lol. Unless I missed something though, the issue you have now is that the starter doesn't turn over at all right? Was that always the issue? If so, does the security light flash rapidly? There's a list of codes on the forums if that's the case you might want to check them out. I recently didn't have one of my PCM cables connected completely and the symptoms were very similar to what you're describing.

Josh Estes

yes the current issue is the fact im getting no power to the starter from the battery when i turn the key. I here a click in the fuse box and there is no change in the voltage at the battery which there should be SOME draw. I bought a new relay and im guessing if its not just the relay i have either a bad ground which is most likely or i have a bad ignition switch.

So who can tell me where the ground point in the starter circuit is or point me to a source to find it?

AF-RX8

Josh, any updates on your car ? Hopefully you got everything going well with it.