So I recently got an 2004 rx8 just a few months ago and I had the fuel lines, coils, and spark plugs replaced at the dealership but now about 4 months later the car isn't starting. My first thought was that it flooded because that's happened once before and it sounded exactly the same but I tried starting it the same way as I did last time and it "starts" for about a second and immediately turns off no matter what I do. Tried bump starting it and I get the same result. When it turns off like this it'll blow smoke out of the exhausts and the cooling fan whirls up and dies with the engine as it sputters on and off. Any help would be appreciated.

 

Have you had a compression test done? Any stored codes?

 

How many miles on the engine?

Research how to deflood. The quick lazy way that dumps into your exhaust/cat is to just cut fuel by holding 100% throttle then turning the key for a few seconds. Repeat this a few times, remember not to burn out your starter or kill your battery. Keep in mind that dumping into your cat isn't good for the cat. Otherwise to deflood properly you'll be pulling fuses/sensors and sparkplugs.

If it is flooding you should be able to tell that the engine has more resistance and after a few start attempts that resistance should be gone. Issue that happens when flooding is that the spark plugs may get wet and may foul. If possible check the leading plugs. The smoke is just the flooded extra fuel, OR it may be flooded coolant. Flooding fuel might point to bad fuel injectors, Flooding coolant points at blown coolant seals(engine rebuild)

 

What colour smoke is it blowing? Flooding sounds likely, a tough flood can take time to clear, keep going at it (and charge up the battery). Also a healthy RX8 shouldnt flood, so this might be indicative of other issues. If you didnt get a compression test before purchase, it might be time to do that, so you know where you stand. What mileage is on it?
If the smoke is white and smells sweet, you might have lost a coolant seal and the chambers are filling with coolant while it sits. Is the coolant level going down at all?

 

the smoke its blowing out is white. I had a compression test done when I took it to change the fuel lines. Mileage is about 95k. I haven't checked the coolant level yet but now that you bring it up I will.

 

Could be a coolant seal failure. A block test would confirm. What were your compression results?

 

I checked the coolant and it's still pretty high I don't think it's dropping. I don't have the compression test results onhand I just remember they said it's good. People are saying it might be flooded still so I took the battery to get it charged and I'm gonna try to deflood it again with a full battery.

 

It would be better to know the exact compression numbers. "Good" is someone's interpretation of the numbers, which they may or may not have been qualified to make.

 

It was the Mazda dealership who did the compression test, but I'll get the numbers I'm just away for the holidays and the paperwork is at my house. I tried to deflood again with the battery fully charged and still no dice. I'll check codes next

 

For the smoke, it depends on how thick it is. If it's a thick white smoke like someone blew a puff out of a 150W vape, then that's coolant. If it's more like steam, that's just water in the exhaust, which is quite normal in cold weather.

I would try deflooding first, as others mentioned. After that, perhaps look at the fuses to see if the ignition system is working. That's my guess.

 

If you took the leading plugs out and turned the engine over by hand while it was flooded, you could directly see/smell what fluid comes out.

That mileage is up there though regardless, I'm sure you are already planning a rebuild within 10k miles.