Car wouldn't start this morning
 

I have an 04 Automatic. Was gonna take the wife to church in style this morning, but no such luck. The engine is turning over, but no crank. Any ideas? I am not a car buff, just love my Rx8. Either way, seems like I'm stuck until Tuesday to get it fixed since it is Christmas. Good thing it happened now when I am off of work. Should I call Mazda Roadside on Tuesday or just call the dealership?

Suggestions/Advice/Speculation welcome. thanks.

.... Is your battery dead?

I do not think so, since it is turning the engine over.

I had this SAME exact problem.. it turned out it was the battery... even though the battery was working fine inside of the car as far as radio etc... I took it to Mazda and it was fixed and home next day. -- Call and get it towed.. and youll have it back soon.

so the engine turns over and doesnt crank?
how does the engine turns over without cranking in the first place?

Just had this happen to me a few weeks ago on my '05. Had it towed in and they replaced the battery (though we did charge it) and the starter.

Well, I just took the battery to advance auto zone and had them test it and their machine said to replace the battery. So I spent the 80 bux, took it home, and installed it, and the car still won't crank! So it has to be something else.

So now, I am sitting here waiting on Mazda Roadside Assistance. They will tow it to the dealer, but the dealer said I may not get the car back today. I guess they are backed up due to Christmas.

Not quite sure what else could be wrong with it, if it wasn't the battery. Any guesses?

it was flooded... it's pretty common among rx8s actually

they flood easier when the battery or starter is weak -- which is why sometimes a new battery will help

happened to me for the first time not to long ago when a friend moved my car from behind his while I was asleep..

it's no big deal the dealership should tow and start it for free.. when i had to do that they also threw in 4 new plugs and a bigger battery and a computer flash.. sometimes they even give you a new starter depending on the one you have now...

The best thing to do to prevent it from happening again is to make sure if you start the car you let it run for at least 2 minutes before you turn it off.. and if the engine isn't warm when you turn it off to rev up to about 3.5 or 4 grand RPM when you turn it off.

there are alot of flooding threads on here.. do a search, you will learn alot like I did...

Just to help you out, it sounds like you may be confusing cranking and turning over with ignition not happening. Cranking and turning over generally mean the same thing, where you turn the key and the engine makes its usual noises, in a healthy car it usually takes 2-8 cranks for it to actually start up and run on its own.

If an engine is not cranking or is cranking slowly then you may just get a few low "RRRrrrr..... RRrr....." noises, or you may get some rapid "clicking" noises, or you may get no sound at all.

Here's a quick guide to some common causes of ignition problems: http://www.trustmymechanic.com/agnnostart.html

Your battery may have been low from cranking it for a long time while the engine was flooded with gas, so it may have actually been perfectly fine but just needed to be re-charged. Have Mazda check out the old battery for you if you can, though you may have already given it to the auto parts place as a Core return.

Good luck!

Just to add some closure to this thread:

The engine was flooded. I asked the manager what I could do if it ever happened again and he said nothing, that it took 2 guys to "deflood" it. Not sure if that is true or not. Anyways, I was really happy, because they put brand new front rotors on the car for free! The ones I had were warped so bad it was painful trying to stop.

try to jump start it with pressing the gas pedal all the way in

Had the same issue last week
 

Had dropped off my car at Dent Pro to fix a dent, and gave them instructions on how to keep the car engine running for 5 minutes after they start it and move it, so that it wouldn't flood. When I went to pick it, guess what, they claimed that the car wouldn't start after they moved it into their workshop. I knew what had happened. I gave them a reaming, and tried the de-flood procedure, which didn't work. The car would crank, but not turn over. I called Mazda Roadside Assistance, and had the car towed to the dealer. It being the Christmas weekend, they said they couldn't do anything about it until Tuesday after Christmas. They took until today to fix it due to some power outages in the area. They gave me a new battery, and a new starter.
Funny thing was, the service tech said that it failed some compression test even though I had the recall done and it had passed then. :shocking:
I will post the exact report tomorrow after I scan it in. He also mentioned that some cars had this issue after the recall had been done on them. :shocking:

Flooding can cause compression to drop if you check it right after de-flooding the engine. Flooding causes gasoline to "wash" all the oil from the inside of the rotor housings. The apex seals need that film of oil to maintain good compression, and as soon as the oil has a chance to coat the housings it should return to normal compression, unless you have some other problems.

Thought I'd add this:

When my dealer replaced my starter (recall related) they didn't attach it to the harness correctly. So the second time I tried to start it, it didn't crank at all.

Had to get it towed back to the dealer, where they admitted they'd screwed up.

I just deflooded one today myself ... :rolleyes:

Not sure - I have had similar problems but it was simply a low battery that required both a recharge to the battery and then an assist with a jumper to a running car - all the bells and whistles really drain a battery - your new battery may not have enough of a recharge.

I got to go to Mazda about a new battery monday - cold weather ate this one!