Car won't start....is it flooded?
 

I got into my car this morning to drive to work, and it started for about 4 seconds and then died. I have tried repeatedly to re-start it, and it is whirring (so I know it's not the battery), but have had no luck so now I'm waiting for the tow truck to bring my car to the dealership.

Are these the symptoms of a flooded vehicle? I never started my car this wekeend to move it, just to drive around.

I tried to search, but putting in "flooded" came up with 6,000 responses, none of which seemed to help.

Thanks for the responses! (p.s., this better be covered by warranty....)

it is covered by warranty. do you have the new starter, battery, and plugs already?

BTW, which dealer is it being taken to?

sounds like you're flooded. You might have fouled plugs, bad wires or maybe a dirty MAF sensor.

Remove the fuse of the fuel pump then hit it then plug the fuse back on and start it with no throttle

did u just buy a 2004 recently or somethin? u went three winters and THIS is your first flood? thats some good luck i guess.

yes its warranty.

all u need to do is put the biggest jump box on the battery and crank it a billion times for 6 hours with the gas pedal DOWN and itll clear out......


dont actually do that i was kidding.

have it towed!

Sounds like its flooded.

DO NOT FIX IT YOURSELF. As painful as it is, have it towed to the dealer and have them do the "Engine cranks no start" service bulletin. That should get you the latest PCM update, upgraded battery, upgraded starter and upgraded leading plugs.

Some dealers won't do the upgrades unless you have actually flooded so take advantage of your good fortune (sort of ;) ).

do you have a stock battery?

(just curious)

Thanks for the replies all!

My car got towed in and was fixed within 20 minutes. She said it was flooded but it was an easy fix (I'm not really sure what they did to it....I'll get back to you later when I know what happened).

CTrx8: My dealership is Partyka Mazda in Hamden. They've always treated me well, and while they're always packed, they have like 30 mechanics who work there so typically they can fix whatever it is quickly.

RoXanneBlack8: Just bought the 8 in August, so I haven't had it for one winter yet.



So weird that this happened....this weekend I had to move my car, but I was so worried about "not letting the car warm up to operating temperature" that I didn't even start it.... I just put it into neutral and let it roll to where it had to go. Fat load of good that did me.

Don't know....I'll get back to you on it when I pick the car up.

Make sure you have the 640 CCA battery and upgraded starter. If not, pitch a bitch! No RX-8 should be without these two items.

call them before you pick it up to make sure they replaced the battery, starter, and plugs under the TSB. you don't want to find out they just did the dechoke procedure when you go to pick it up without having gotten the 'goodies' that come along with the TSB. if you don't get them you may be going right back to them when it floods again.

You sound like you have a weak (not dead) battery. You can jump start it using another car - trying to do it with a portable battery charger will be hard as you have let her run a bit - turn off all the bells and whistles - like the heater fan, seat warmers, amb display etc,
What you need is a new battery with higher cold cranking amps - this happened to my 8 as soon as the cold set in. If you have a open trunk or leave her for a couple of days and did not set the security (horn must beep) battery can drain. Don' t panic - call triple A first for a jump.

Thanks for the knowledge, Winfee, but it was flooded. The dealership just dechoked it which took them like 1 minute to do. Luckily, it still qualifies as a warranty procedure so the rental car / tow truck was paid for.

Regarding the battery / starter / spark plug change, I asked them if there were any open recalls on my car regarding this and they said no. They also ran a report on my car and printed it out for me. I think it was replaced....I will attach a copy of this report tomorrow so you guys can tell me what you think.

it's not an open recall, it's part of the engine no crank TSB. if it's already been done you're good but if not, make sure you get it especially up here in CT where it gets bitterly cold.

You will get free starter, battery, and plugs now.