Computer Problems or end of line for my engine?
 

Hey guys, Im having a few problems with my 6spd 2005 rx-8 . Im going to give u a summarized version of the story. I dont have much experience with rotary engine so I wanna ask you gives for your opinion of what is wrong before taking it in to the dealership on monday. Okay here it goes. *note* I replaced starter about 1k miles ago, replaced spark plugs around 300-500 miles ago and changed oil+filter 200 miles ago.

I was driving down the road at about 40 mph, then I tried to speed up since speed limit increased when suddenly my engine light started flashing and my engine did not want to accelerate(sorta sounded like it was bogging down). I pulled over, parked my vehicle and turned it off. I looked at my oil level, everything looked fine. I started my car and drove away as my engine light turned off and it drove fine. After few miles i "red lined" 1st and 2nd gear w/o any problems... 10 miles later engine light started flashing and engine start bogging again.. after pulling over again and waiting for my buddy we decided to drive the car home. we drove a good 5 miles home. after we got there I popped the hood open and there was white smoke coming from the right side of the engine, right by the dipstick.

I was wondering what u guys think this could mean. My buddy told me it could be some sort of PCM problem bad sensor, but after I saw the white smoke could it be the engine just reached its end?

1.) Are you loosing any coolant?
2.) Did the smoke smell sweet?
2.) Can you go have the code read, it will be stored. Most Autozone's will do it for free. Must have a CANBUS II compatible scanner to read.
3.) I'm thinking it might be the o2 sensor code and you need a new CAT. (codes are P0037 and P0130, I think)
4.) You can pop off the CAT at the front, move it to the side, look in and see if it looks okay.
There are threads on how it should look with pictures.

If so, it's under warranty for 8 years, 80k miles!

Do not run it hard or for very long until you find out what it is. If you do run it for a few minutes, you can look under the car and see if the CAT is glowing, that would also be an indication it's bad.

But..............You also could have low compression and might need a new engine. Warranty on that is 8 year 100k, but must have oil change reciepts.

Girl in Texas just went through what you may have experienced..........not real sure.

read through this thread and all the bullshit, but don't miss about three posts from the end for what it appeared to be. I know what you said about the coils, but one never knows. She didn't seem to have any power loss, but it seems like you went into limp mode.


https://www.rx8club.com/showthread.p...69257#poststop

Grounding issue probably. Clean up battery terminals really well and pull codes.

Nah I am not losing any coolant or anything. The smell is definitely not sweet. I checked the battery terminals while I was there and they are perfectly fine. Ive been having a slow start issue for the past month or so which is why I replaced starter, spark plugs.. and I was gonna replace coils at the end of this month.. u think that had anything to do with it?

Looks around to see if the bag headed monster is lurking first :suspect: ........................."yes, I would go after the coils".

It's a real good thing it's not coolant!

In that other thread, I would've bet it was the CAT, but it did apparently turn out to be the coils.


Do a double-check and make sure all of you wires are in good shape and on securely on both ends!

And.....I think I would still try and get the code, and also check the CAT.

Are the coils and/or cat considered under the engine warranty?.. Thats the only one I had left I think, Power train just ran out last month.

Coils.....no.

Cat...yes, as it's a federal mandate that the CAT be under warranty for 8 years, 80k miles.....assuming of course that you are in the USA?

yes i am. unfortunately and ironically i am in texas as well... luckily dealership down here doesnt open on sat.

Hey i wanna update you guys, i took the vehicle to autozone to get my codes read, here are the numbers. p2097, p0302, p0300... it flagged cat and misfires in the chambers... when i got done driving it, i looked underneath the vehicle and my cat was glowing red... could all this problem just be my cat?

Your cat is bad, the misfires probably caused it.

Get new cat under warranty, replace coils after.

Happy rotoring and thanks for playing! :)

Awesome! its good to hear its nothing too serious and that its still covered under warranty. I was gonna replace those coils at the end of this month anyways so i guess after dealership is done replacing cat Ill replace those coils myself. Thank you for all ur help.

so i get a call back from the dealership saying that my coils and wires were causing the misfires and cuz of that my cat was potentially be damaged.. so they told me they'll charge me 435 dollars to replace my coils and wires.. im pretty much going to tell them to fuck off cuz i can do it myself for half the price..

my question is, my vehicle is running on limp mode at the moment, after replacing the parts does anyone know how to reset the PCM so it gets out of limp mode? or does the stupid dealership have to do it with a dumbass scanner?

If simply turning the car off then on again doesn't clear limp mode, then pull the battery cable for about a minute and replace.

I've gone into limp mode twice, both times I just turned the car off and back on again and it was clear.


Good call on your response to the dealer :) Just make sure they are going to replace the cat under the federal warranty.


Since your cat failed to, watch out in the near future for O2 sensor failure as well. Snowball effect on these cars, one thing triggering another.

well the dealership is charging me a 98 dollars diagnostic fee, which i can honestly understand. The labor for coils and wires is 98 dollars. so i talked to them and decided that i can bring in my own parts(i can get them online for a lot cheaper) and they are gonna do the labor. If they do the labor i dnt pay for the diagnostic fee.. either way imma pay 98 dollars... after they fix the misfires they r going to check the status of the cat.

i will definitely keep an eye out for those O2 sensors.