MEGAREDS

I hate to dominate the thread, but another person reported to me (again, in a PM) that Mazda told him in writing that the ATs are having a bigger issue with flooding than the MTs. My car was also flooded on a cold rainy day. It had been driven about 30 feet and may have been started by simultaneously pushing the accelerator with the key turn. In other words, it was the worst of all possible combinations.

lefuton

well, you can add me to the flooded list. wouldn't start this mornin. fired for about 3 seconds then died. =( i'm hoping letting it warm up in the sun and trying again this afternoon will cure it, else i'll have to get a tow. sigh

sferrett

auto/manual? Also what was the condition when you shut it off last? (just warmed up, been driven for hours, etc.) ? Also have you been getting good/bad mileage and what's your oil useage like?

JaegerNH

Will the people that have been saying this is an isolated issue affecting only those that don't know how to deal with this car's unique character please step forward.

sferrett

I think it's isolated to a few people. I do not make any assertations or statements about the owners or people that are being affected, however.

Like I said - I spent a week stalling and shutting my car off cold to see if I flooded - I did not. I believe there must be some other factors involved and could be as wide ranging as something do to with build issues, other manufacturing issues or possibly user behaviour.

I do think that there's a lot more paranoid and fear being rallied around than is warranted and people having chronic issues need to take it up with their dealers for a resolution.

boothguy

Sorry guys - but I think this flooding issue is way overblown. Some quick math just revealed that I've got ~290,000 miles in rotary engined cars, all of which I still own. I've flooded both my FC and my FD (not my 8) but have yet to break out the spark plug wrench or call AAA. And the only time I needed help in the form of a jump-start, it was because of a bad battery that happened at the same time as the flooding.

There's a simple procedure for re-starting a flooded rotary that's been covered in this thread and Lord knows elsewhere on this forum ad nauseum. It involves flooring the gas pedal and leaving it there, cranking the engine in maybe 10-sec bursts until you hear your compression come back, then releasing the pedal and cranking it again. We're talking a coupla minutes here.

Leaky injectors in my FC made the flooding problem a weekly occurrence until I installed a pressure relief gizmo from Mazdatrix which solved it permanently. But I have never been stuck or stranded by this problem.

I think that keeping your plugs clean, which is a fun exercise in itself, helps. If you're really concerned, always let your motor run until the idle drops to normal before shutting it off.

Like any car, it's a complicated machine with its own quirks that takes some understanding, knowledge and practice to use properly. If you're just not simpatico with machinery or don't want to be bothered, you're probably better off with public transportation. But I'm with sferrett: I think there's way more FAT (fear, apprehension and terror) surrounding this issue than is deserved.

Raptor

The last time I got my car serviced I ask the mechanics how many flodded RX8 did they serviced, he said about 6 out of 700 sold so far. I am leaving in southern California.

no_pistons

these are the solutions:

1. warn urself not to make mistakes.

2. keep screaming at Mazda to fix that damn problem.

actually i have a question... mazda understand/ know how the floodings occur since RX-blah, can't they "FIX" this problem? instead of repairing? is this the best they can do? can't they make something like "easy-removable-plugs" or "automatic-plug-cleaning-system" or simply re-re-design the engine? geez... btw, is this a serious matter in japan? (i'm a mechanic idiot:P )

no matter what, the flooding issue can't stop me from buying a RX8 since it has a lot more pros than cons. ofcox,it will be perfect if they can fix it:D

(err, after that, ppl will have other complains again...like MPG, aux input....)

shimZ

reading this thread...man.

i'm not a rx8 owner but the way you guys do to justify this car's problems is way beyond my understanding. It's not even peformance justification it's a justification of the method on rotary knowledge?

If that is the case then their should be rotary classes for those who purchase any kind of "Rotary engine" from the dealership. Or basic procedures on how not to "flood" a car? etc.

i don't care what car you have...it shouldn't be too complicated to start, use, take care of unless it's strictly for the racing scene i guess . my american 93 buick lesabre(180,000) and 97 oldsmobile cutlass supreme(130,000) are have never had this problem and i treat them like crap.

the only z problems that are of major concern WAS the transmission(nissan FIXED that problem) and the z recall(one hundred sixty something )which was the engine ecu-shutting down the z-did no engine/car damage(FIXED)...only damage was possibly towing fees... most of the z members are complaining about the "tire tread"

all of us(who purchase new model cars) will have minor problems and possibly major ones, but when you have to do more procedures then the basic "just start and go"... like warming up the car for five min....press the rpm to a certain level...that's alot of maintence which is unnecessary. most of the people seem to be from california?...where are the people on the east coast? are they "flooding" as well..

i love my z and fortunately my z has been an angel with 13,000 miles...no probs except the minor window grease. i really like the rx8 and i definitely hope mazda get's their act together.

so keep preaching to mazda. good luck.

p.s every forum will have a lemon....some will have more then others...and let's not forget the thousands who just drive and never come online=)

lrock59040

I personally don't think the flooding is that big of an issue. Of course I've only had my 8 for a couple of days but it doesn't take my car more than a couple of minutes to warm up and it takes me more than that to get wherever I'm going. Of course the first time mine does flood (hopefully never) I'll probably be raising holy he11 screaming for a fix. Also very true about there being lemons for every car and nobody comes on here and posts HEY, I drove to work and back today and nothing went wrong. So it kinda skews things to look a little more negative than they really are and this is true of any forum, rsx, 350z, rx8, even the accord forums probaly are loaded with complaints about certain defects. If you worry too much about every little complaint about a car on a certain forum, you'd end up riding a bicycle to work every day.

Squidward

LOL

well, it's not a big issue until it happens to you, dude.

Wow, I hope this doesn't happen to me! so far so good. Leaving my car on an extra few minutes then revving up past 4k has been a rule of thumb for me, however I've neglected it a few times without any affect. I doubt those guys at the dealership know this issue.. perhaps the mechanic, but i think those helpers that move the cars back and forth don't pay any attention or know about this issue. Or perhaps they do?

anybody have any factual evidence of this, regarding dealership mechanics and technicians heeding warnings about RX-8 flooding issues?

Speed-ER doc

My salesman, when I first looked at the car, drove it first for a few blocks presumedly to demonstrate the acceleration and driving characteristics. He then said that many people stalled the 8 the first time they drove it. I didn't know about the flooding issue then, but hmmmmm...

It makes me wonder if he drove it first to warm it up, so if I stalled it, it wouldn't flood. I've never had a salesperson drive the car first.

boothguy

Most dealer sales people, regardless of manufacturer, tell me they hafta drive the car off the lot. No one's ever explained why, and I frankly doubt that there's a real reason. It did give me an opportunity to experience the back seat in the 8, if only for a couple of miles, which turned into a positive for the car.

JaChTsai

I've also heard another good procedure to prevent flooding is to rev it and turn off the engine as the engine is still reving.

meeh

The mazda dealer did the same, they took the car out first, that was the first dealer that I've gone to that drove it around the block first before letting me drive.

lefuton

sorry it took so long to respond

manual, just got done washing the car after driving home so it was fully warm. by the time i was done washing, had to move it ~20 feet and temp gauge was about 25% but i figured it's close enough...guess not- anyhow i covered the car. 6 days later took the cover off started it, it fired up for 3 secs and died. not to start again.

mileage has been 18-22mpg and oil usage is a quart and a half for it's 6k miles it has.