Hello. I have a question. My car does not have any power. I parked it in my yard, tried to go somewhere and nothing. no lights, no nothing. I checked the 120 fuse but it looks fine. What do I do now?

Battery V+?? If you have a good battery it could be your connections......after that it is a fuse

Persistent Misfires Under Load / High Rpm
 

Hey all, I recently began experiencing some misfires at WOT, usually near the top end. Around 6k - redline I get a flashing CEL, no loss of power or any other indicator of a misfire besides the CEL. I've pulled the code and I know the misfire was on the front rotor but I don't remember if it was the leading or trailing plug.

Coils, plugs, and wires were all replaced less than 4 months/2,000 miles ago, so I don't think its that. Motor only has about 20,000 miles on it, so I don't think its compression. I've done a 20-brake stomp to reset the NVRAM which seemed to help for a few days, but the misfire still comes back under load. My cat is toast, ("cracked" from an unfortunate intimate encounter with an unmarked parking lot drop-off in the dark), but not clogged as far as I can tell so there's a possibility that might have something to do with the misfires?

At this point I've been dealing with this since about January, maybe once or twice a week. I've done all that seems obvious to me to try and resolve it, but no luck. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks :icon_tup:

Have you seen this thread?

https://www.rx8club.com/series-i-tec...t-here-222280/

Cooling System--- birthday present??
 

Hello,

So this is embarrassing, I really don't know much about cars but I want to buy my husband something nice for his birthday. I know that he wants to continue upgrading his cooling system... but I am trying to surprise him because every other time he tells me what he wants.

I just bought him a new radiator, hoses, and a metal tray to separate something... so now what's next??. I know there are some gauges that he told me about, and then some other types of fans. If anyone could give me some ideas I would appreciate it!

Budget is around 500-600ish

Thank you :)

I'll let others chime in for the fans, as that is something I'm not versed in. For the gauges, there are two options many members go for:

Complete Gauge Panel Kit for 04-08 RX-8 - Racing Beat
3-Gauge Dash Panel for 04-08 RX-8 - Racing Beat

This one replaces the ash tray in the center console area and can include the gauges, at the expense of your entire budget. Also:

http://www.gaugepods.com/rx8.html

This solution from Lo-Tek, which replaces the center dash panel. It does NOT come with gauges, which gives him the freedom to pick what he wants.

Obviously there are more options out there if you search the forum, but these are by far the two most popular choices I've seen.

Oh perfect, thank you so much!

I have never heard of the ones for the center dash panel. With that would he just have to get the gauges separately and install them there?

yes. the lotek is in a better viewing spot than the racing beat (i have that the rb). the lotek requires you to cut the top dash tho

Oh cool, I'll look into that too then... as for fans.. or maybe intercoolers?.. I can't remember what he was telling me about haha.. what do you think would be best?

I think it would be best for you to ditch that guy and marry me!

As for upgraded fans, people have used the Flex-a-Lite 420 with good results.

https://smile.amazon.com/Flex-lite-4...a-lite+420+fan

Haha he does get pretty spoiled. Although I like driving it too so its kind of a win-win.

Thank you all for the help! I'm lost when it comes to this stuff

How to turn traction control back on?
 

I turned off traction control but now I'm unsure how to turn it back on again.

Many thanks.

Just push the button again. Otherwise, it will turn itself back on next time you start the car.

So I have an '07, 50k miles or so, but it's not my DD. I usually only take it out on the weekends. Bought it a few years ago and the only consistent problem I have is it won't start after not driving it for a few days. It came with a trickle charger (previous owner had installed), but sometimes I forget to plug it in.

Compression is good.
Newish cables, plugs, and coils.
New Battery (Optoma red top)
I doubt it's flooded, I always run it a few minutes before shutting it down.
Virginia weather.
No persistent trunk light.
Pretty sure it's a newish Alternator, not at home to check my car work document.
Oil is good.
No check engine lights
Can't think of anything else that would affect it.

When I start it up, depending on how long it's been since I've driven it, I'll get some or all auxiliary power, but as I turn it over I only get a couple turns, then no more power and just clicking. When it happens, I just plug it back in for a few hours then start it and go.

EDIT: Fuses are good, too.

Try a different battery, make sure the battery terminals are tight and clean.

On my 3rd batter in about 4 years, brand new terminals and made everything as clean as possible in that area.

Optima batteries aren't what they used to be, you wouldn't be the first with an issue. Other then that, electrical drain from something, any aftermarket lights or something along those lines?

I'm assuming it's some sort of drain, but I can't figure what from. Car is bone stock except for the cooling mod. What are all the possibilities of things that cause drain, because I must be missing something. Depending on how many days it's been, it takes longer and longer to start before just not starting at all, which usually happens around 2 weeks.

Dear Leet,

1-Disconnect the battery ground terminal
2-Connect a multimeter between the terminal and the clamp
3-Set the meter to DC MilliAmps - a reading over 100 milliamps is a drain
4-Pull fuses one by one until reading drops
5-Check the circuit the fuse powers, a diagram is here - Electrical




.

A longshot, but I've accidentally popped the trunk with the keys in my pocket a couple of times and the trunk light drained the battery overnight.

Mine stays on a trickle charger any time I am not driving it. It has always drained the battery within 2 weeks if it is not driven. This seems to be common in the GT trim level, due to the keyless entry, alarm, and all that.

This. Optima spends more money on marketing than technology.

The "spiral cells" are flawed and intolerant of deep discharge. If you've ever completely discharged it (sounds like you have more than once), odds are good at least one cell will go "soft" (high internal resistance). It will appear to recover to full voltage, but that cell will drop to 0 Volts under heavy load.

Many years ago I bought a red-top. It went dead and wouldn't recover. When I took it in to collect on the warranty, the store gave me the run-around, insisting on extended testing. When I asked why, they said because they had so many Optimas returned for warranty failures. They were trying to stem the tide. Hours and many tests later it still failed, they gave me another, and that one failed in just over a year.

If you want a quality AGM battery, get an Odyssey. If you want a quality AGM and are cheap, get a DEKA. I use both and have no problems with either. My '8 has a small DEKA in it that's 5+ years old.

That's my opinion. Your mileage may vary. No warranty expressed or implied...

^ Yep. I went through 2 red tops in 2 years. The 2nd one left me stranded about a mile from a Napa store, which made for a fun walk of shame. I have been rocking a 45lb Napa Legend 24F for the past 2 years, and it is still strong.

I just replaced my front two shocks with Bilstein B14's. Intended to do the rear tomorrow. After installing the front two shocks I now have a pretty bad clank/squeak when moving over bumpy surfaces. There are two potential issues I'm seeing. But I am outright retarded when it comes to suspensions, so any advice would be appreciated.

The first is that I did not install the top hat nut correctly. I was told by someone in the shop I was working in to just impact gun the thing on ("That's how you're supposed to do it"). Now I'm reading that I could've blown my strut right then and there. How likely of a possibility is this? I don't see any oil leaking from the struts themselves. Should I loosen the top hat nut and "screw" the damper back the opposite direction using the hex screw?

The other is that I do not believe I set the ride height correctly. It is much higher than it should be. To the point where the smaller lighter top spring is almost completely compressed. Obviously, I should lower the ride height. I'm a little unsure of how far I should be moving it down though. They are advertised as a 50mm drop, but I never had a good point of reference to begin with. Is there a general rule of thumb regarding how low to put the car?

^ Noise like that is not normal, but it could be other things, like a missed nut or bolt that was not tightened after installation. This is the most likely situation. Another possibility is that your sway bar is upset due to your lower ride height. It could be that you just need to lube its bushings. It could also be in a bind, if your ride height is uneven from one side to the other. Depending on how much you lower the car, you may need to install adjustable end links to properly set the preload on the sway bars. An unhappy sway bar can groan, squeak, pop, or click.

Using an impact can be OK. I use a lower power electric impact and hit the nut a little at a time, while holding the shock rod to keep it from spinning as much as possible. I only tighten it enough to deflect the bushing a few millimeters. But, the safest way to do it, is with a hex key and wrench. Using a torque wrench really isn't possible, which is why I watch the bushing instead.

"Screwing" the rod back does not accomplish anything. You can visualize what is on the other end of the rod as some washers with holes in them and some rubber seals. There are no threads or anything like that. The rods spin normally, but probably should not be spun with any amount of speed that might generate heat or otherwise cause wear to those seals. Billy shocks are tough. You are probably OK.

The easy way to set the ride height on Bilstein coilovers is to set them to the maximum height per the instructions. I have found that to be the best place to start for street use.

A good height for general street use is 13.75" from the center of the hub to the bottom edge of the fender on all 4 corners.

.