I don't know if this has been posted before... but anyway.

Today I went out to start my 8. I haven't started it since Wednesday and it's been around -20C to -25C here for the past 3 days. Last night it dipped close to -30C.

It started right up ( ), and then tried to idle. However it then began a cycle of throttling the idle from between 1500 and 2500rpms. I was alarmed at first but then realized it sounded like it knew what it was doing since the revving was very regular. It did this for about 5 minutes, and sometimes sounded like it would try to do a straight idle... then change it's mind and do the revving again. Finally it stopped... I guess it figured it was warm enough to idle at one rpm.

Has anyone else experienced this? My first thought is: cool! But could something possibly got "frozen" stuck?

I took it out for a drive and it was fine.

 

I get it occassionaly. It's called surging. Temps here are not even close to that, but it'll be below freezing when I start her up tomorrow.

 

Mine does that at any cool temperature, sometimes peaks at 2300 revs!
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doc

 

The "8" is so "revable" that even the computer wants to get in on the reving!

 

Mine idles that way in the morning and it barely gets down to 40 here. I read somewhere it's designed to do that.

 

I also see this type of initial idling at all temperatures, maybe with more up-down cycles the colder it is.

 

Mine barely starts, but that is because it is -45 F for the last few days. So she hasn't been driven in the last week. And when I did start it, it was at like 2500rpm.

 

Maybe a little off topic, but my 93 Miata does the same thing when it gets below about 35. Different engine type, but same phenomenon.

 

Mine also idled jumping between 1500-3000 rpm's this morining. I noticed that when I had the clutch in it idled at a constant 2300 rpm's but when I took my foot off the clutch it jumped up and down. It doesn't seem normal to me so I was going to ask the dealer about it.

 

Mine goes to like 2800 for like a couple minutes. Reminds me of my civic without an intake manifold gasket. Yeah, -55 last night Ronnie.

 

Mine does the same thing...no problem.

 

It's been about -35 in Winnipeg the last few days ...

Luckily, I park indoors in a heated parkade.

However, when I go to work, it sits in extreme cold for 8hrs and starts no problems. The RPM's cycle from 2100 to 1500 until the temp gage starts moving ...

A bigger problem I find is the doors and interior. It seems like the car wasn't built for this cold. I have to slam the doors to close them (or else they bounce open) - and the interior makes weird crackly type noises (almost like the rock hard plastic is cracking) ...

 

Don't all 8's jump up and down between 1500 and 2500 when you first start it up? Mine's been doing this since the day I bought it, although it's usally closer to 1500-2100. It's been discussed on here before, and the conclusion was that it's perfectly normal. Does it for about 30 seconds to a minute, and then stops. I always wait for it to quit before I take off, or else it tries to literally "take off."

 

I just went out and started mine tonight, at first it went to 2.5k, and then dropped down to 1.7k, after about 30 seconds, it went to 1.5k. It gradually dropped down to around 1k over the next 5 minutes. The ambient temp display was reading 4*F. The temp is supposed to get down to a slightly brisk -20*F overnight. I'll try it again in the morning, and post if anything anomalous happens.
-Doccable

 

Literatii and others:

I typed up the following before checking out the forum this morning, so please bear with me:

Has any one else had this happen? Last night, leaving work, (where the car sits outside) so far, the coldest start my car has had to experience. (the display on the dash read –3 degrees F, or ~-19 degrees C) The RX8 (6sp) started ok, but as soon as the engine started, it zinged up to about 3300 RPM immediately. It then dropped gradually to about 2000 RPM, then started cycling between 1000 and 2000 RPM; up and down, as though I was blipping the throttle, backfiring every time it dropped down to 1000 RPM. (it wasn’t serious “gun blast” backfiring, but louder than the puffing it sometimes makes during idling – I didn’t see if flames were shooting out of the exhaust, I was just sitting there, too surprised)

This “cycling” went on for about three minutes, then I noticed if I pushed the clutch pedal in, the idle would stabilize a little above 1000 RPM. Finally, after about five minutes the idle settled to normal. I was tempted to shut the engine off immediately, but I knew that wasn’t an option!

What worries me most was the high RPM start; I won’t even rev the engine above 3100 RPM until the temperature gauge shows normal operating temperature! The RPM cycling seems to be caused by the electronic throttle sensing the drag caused by the very cold transmission lube, and for now, I’ll consider it a fluke. Why it would cycle, I don’t know.

I’ve never had any CELs appear so far, and none last night either. The car seems fine this morning; it revved to about 2500 RPM this morning when I started it, and it quickly stabilized, but the temperature display showed +10 degrees F, so I’ll have to see what happens next time the temperature drops again.

 

KKM -- I don't think 2000-3100rpm is really that high for a rotary engine; even when cold.

jimsabo - yeah I noticed the door-shutting problem as well. It's a bit annoying but just requires a good slam. Repeated slamming might cause problems.. (?). Dunno.

Bigger problem is the emergency brake. It's very sensitive to cold weather (like most).

If you're warming your 8 up in cold weather (meaning it's in neutral) you might want to throw a block of wood under the back tire if it's sitting on an incline. My 8 rolled down the driveway to my neighbor's place yesterday. Bet he thought Santa brought him a late present

 

Despite great efforts to keep it clean, my car has been so covered with salt lately, if it rolled into the neighbors yard he probably wouldn't see it.

I know what you mean about that damn emergency brake handle. Did they use a cheap rubber band for a return spring or something? I haven't noticed the brakes dragging though.

 

That is the excess gas in the rotars burning off. It takes longer to burn off in colder weather. My MT does it sometimes when its chilly.

 

Its the oil circulating from the oil pan. It takes times for the oil to come up and since its cooler the oil is more condense. Engine works harder since there is less oil, after a few revs oil is back in to the main stream. I hope this helps

 

I also noticed that the e-brake sticks and when I tried to put mine down yesterday the plastic piece inside snapped. It was quite loud so I thought that something serious had happened. I was taking my car to the dealer anyway and they are going to replace the e-brake handle under warranty. I am not sure if they had the -20f temps in mind with this car.

 

You sound like a Winnipegger. -30C YIKES! Yes mine does exactly the cycling/surging thing yours does. Guess its supposed to be that way.

 

I also heard a loud "snapping" noise when releasing my e-brake after it sat outside for 8hrs (in the cold) ...

What plastic piece inside snaps? My e-brake still seams to work ...

 

-35 to -40 F gah you all need to move to warmer temps. 40degrees above freezing is still too cold for me.

 

I have the same problem with my e-brake snapping only the brake won't go down all the way and the light stays on!

 

Agreed :D The week before last I was driving around with the windows down. Gotta love Texas.