sparkswa

Guys,

Need your help guys, been using this forum for a while for information never needed to post till now.

Last week i got pulled over by the cops for a "routine license check" (third time this month) and one of them noticed i had alot of condensation in my right taillight. They theatened to yellow sticker me but i managed to convince them not to using my charm and personality or they didnt want the paper work. Probably the latter, but i digress...fast forward two days to last weekend and i had some spare time on my hands so i decided to remove the offending taillight to fix it. i got most of the water out first, bloddy hell i swear there was about 3 cups of water in there :s and used a tissue to get the rest. I then used one of those moisture bags to get the rest of the water out. on sunday night appx 48 after removing the headlight i replaced it back in put it all back together and then went to go for a drive. car wouldnt start all the electrics and accessories work fine, so i thought maybe i pluged the wrong wires back into the taillight..nope..next thought was maybe i was a little flat, hooked it up to another car...nope...next thought was that i maybe had flooded it...nope...did all the right things to get around that. so i started to trace it and found that there was no spark going to the plugs, i checked all the fuses and none of them seem to be broken.

I'm really at a complete loss, i am a weekend warrior and i fit into the a little bit of knowledge is a bad thing category, but i need your help guys . Is there a chance that i have tripped a switch somewhere? like an automatic immobilizer for when something disrupts the electics? i would take any ideas at this time. I need my baby back

I8U

iTrader: (1)

Check all your fuses, the ones inside the cab and under the hood...sounds like one popped. Maybe the main ENG fuse under the hood. Had that one pop on me once.

Check the one circled especially, this is the likely the culprit.

sparkswa

Yeah i checked all the fuses in the engine, the ENG was the first i checked, but alas it wasnt so simple. forgot about the ones in the cab though. Is there anything else it could be?

I8U

iTrader: (1)

If it's not making a "click" sound what so ever, it's either the fuses , a dead starter, or maybe the immobilizer has gone bad. Have you tried a different key? Does the immobilizer light flash on the dash real fast when you turn the key to "ON"? And you put a test light to all the fuses to be on the safe side?

sparkswa

the car tries to start, there starter motor keeps turning the engine over but the engine just wont start up. Ill double check the fuse again when i get back to WA. I dont think it would be an immobilizer or dead starter cause the car tries to start
Can't remember wether the light flashed fast but its a possibility, what does that mean?

i will try a different key and try to get a light on the fuses

DeViLbOi

iTrader: (1)

Did you flood it?

JinDesu

iTrader: (2)

He did say he checked it for flooding...

911SC

When you solve the problem please let us know what it was. I hate it when people come asking for help and never come back with the solution once it's fixed.
Oh by the way, I have no idea what might be the culprit.

DeViLbOi

iTrader: (1)

No...he said he "did all the right things to get around that" which doesn't mean it wasn't flooded. How does one check and find no spark to the plugs as well? Pull them and have someone try and start the car?

I8U

iTrader: (1)

Well, you should have stated that from the start. I thought you weren't getting anyting at all. Well, then it's most likely not a fuse issue since you are getting power.

It now sounds like an ignition issue or flooding issue. Pull the plugs and check to see if they're wet, if so FLOODED. Then do the un-flood procedures in the DIY section. If they are not wet, it really could be anything from there, from a dead fuel pump, bad coils or wires, clogged fuel injectors...who knows?

I would start with the de-flood first and get back with us.

rx8speeddmon

iTrader: (4)

Who the heck gets pulled over for a "routine license check"? Not once have I ever had police pull me over for anything other than legit causes. Actually thought this was illegal as they have no visible cause to pull you over... does this happen often to people? I have heard some lame excuses used by police to pull people over, but seriously can they just use a routine license check and that is all?

rodjonathan

iTrader: (6)

^ i read about that recently and they can in some states and have been doing it routinely too!

ken-x8

They can pull you over for no reason. Not sure what the logic is, but at sobriety checkpoints they're allowed to pull over every car or every tenth car, but they can't pull over ones that they suspect might be a problem. I cannot understand why it's that way. The Fourth Amendment was put in place because the British used to just go into everyone's house looking for rebellion stuff.

When I was young I used to get pulled over for no reason other than being young and driving an old car. That was before they invented probable cause.

Ken

Zerotide

iTrader: (1)

Another thing... never heard of anyone getting in trouble for having a little condensation in their tail lights... wtf?

Mazda shouldn't have made such SHITTY tail lights... they are horrible. Only way I got it to stop was actually caulking the gaskets.

I8U

iTrader: (1)

What you may think is no reason has nothing to do with it. By the 4th Amendment LEO's can pull someone over for "reasonable suspicion", it's called an investigative stop and that's all. And most states have laws that allow police to do random license checks...I only say this because I am a cadet in LE academy.

But that's beside the point, I hope the OP figures it out and gets back with us.

ken-x8

One time, when a stop by a NY State Trooper had ended and he started to turn back to his car, I asked why he had stopped me. His answer was "No reason."

IMHO, he had a good reason: checking out someone who didn't seem to belong in the neighborhood.

Right. Besides his plight as a fellow RX-8 owner, what happened may be of wider interest as these cars get older and age-related issues arise.

Ken

New Yorker

Mazda fixed it: http://www.finishlineperformance.com...05-09-2055.pdf

911SC

Hey Sparky, did you get your car started?

sparkswa

Yeah the propblem is in Western Austalia there are alot of people that are driving and riding without a licence, so now they can stop you if they think you are driving badly to check if you don't have a licence. This has become the default law that they use to pull over people to hassle them

Update on the progress of the car:

I Have managed to be able to start it a couple of times. This was after i pulled the plugs and they had all crap all over the end. I got a friend of mine with a torch to get the rest of the carbon off. Once i put them back in i can start the car again but its not that reliable and takes a couple of tries, but it will still start, so i think i have found the problem. I am waiting for some new plugs to show up, i nearly had a heart attack when i found out the price AUD$ 113 each but i need it, and my baby is hurt so i need to look after her!!
I think this was all caused by me, i had my car outside my house and i moved it into the garage to clean it, then i moved it further inside again then turned it off and left it for three days, whilst i worked on the taillight. So if i did flood it a bit from the short trips and left if for three days it would have fouled the plugs a bit.

rotaryifidel

Just fixed the same issue i had but for a different reason. "check your 10 taillight fuse".
My rear 02 burnt out the harness and blew the 10 taillight fuse and my 8 just would not start.