Twice now, in the 5 months I've owned the car, it's taken as long as 6-7 seconds to start. Every other time it fires right up, no problems at all. 6-7 seconds is an eternity when you're waiting for it to fire up.

Once it did start, it was fine... no coughing or rough idle or fuel smells. It simply took awhile before deciding to fire up. It didn't sputter during the starting process at all either - it just took 6-7 seconds before it got spark.

The car was definately warm for both hard starts (driving for 30-60 minutes). First time was 90 degrees out, second time was around 60. I did nothing unusual, and waited the usual few seconds after turning the key part way before actually starting it.

I see a few threads regarding this, mostly from long ago when people were still waiting for the M flash... or suspected a weak battery, etc.

I also believe the manual mentions it might take longer than usual at times.

I'm just curious if it's still happening to people occasionally? Nothing to worry about?

 

it happens to me every now and then, I don't think its a major problem...rest easy little buckeroo

 

Happens to me occasionally as well, usually after a little aggressive driving

 

Happens once in a while, my heart skips a beat, but then she's ready to go.

 

the manual says it may take up to 10 seconds to start her up...worry after 10 seconds not a moment less.

 

10 seconds sounds like a long time. The manual actually says that? That's strange in my opinion. In many cars a hard start time after warm up may indicate a faulty starter. Does the starter crank and crank and no change in starter speed or noise? Is this in a hot climate since today most of us have cooler temps. not sure since we are dealing with a rotary engine.

 

i have had it sputter during a warm start but it starts up after 3-4 seconds never longer than that.

 

yeah it does...please tell me you've read it.

 

LOL, yea, the first incident was after some VERY hard driving, just after passing break-in period.. so I KNOW it was quite warmed up

Second time was last saturday, coincidentally right after leaving a local RX-8 meet... left and drove for 30 minutes, shopped for 15 mins... and it took forever to fire when we went to leave.

Starter sounds fine. It's more like the computer just gets stubborn and decides to not supply spark for a delayed time.

But OK, thanks, I was hoping to hear a bunch of ME TOO!s for peace of mind

 

group hug

 

Me too. I was wondering whether it was a problem but then I remembered the 10-second comment in the manual.

 

One wonders how different the group activities might have been had Flatso managed to make it to the saturday meet in Flemington...