How to fix your flooded engine
08-29-2007, 06:32 PM
#1
How to fix your flooded engine
So this past weekend i had my first flooded engine experience. It had been moved out of the driveway to get another car out and back in its spot. i walked out to start it up (thank god it was on a saturday) and got nothing. cool!
I spoke with a friend of mine who used to be a mechanic at a local mazda dealer and he gave me very specific instructions on how to purge the motor and get it running again.
This whole process cost me 0 dollars.
and about 2 hours of my time
You might have to shell out some money if you dont have basic tools, but for anyone even slightly mechanically inclined, this shouldnt cost you a thing.
Heres how to do it.
Step one:
pull the engine, battery, and engine bay fuse box covers off. Pull the two blue relays seated next to one another (closest to the front of the car). They should be labeled as "fuel" and "circuit" on the inside of the fuse box cover. This will prevent the fuel pump from activating. You need to have both relays out.
Step two:
Jack up the car and set the front end on jack stands. From the underside of the car, you can see the two sets of spark plugs. Remove the plug wires and remove the spark plugs using a 13/16 offset, box end wrench a ratchet and socket will work on the rotor closer to the firewall, but the 2nd rotor is right above the motor mount and you don't really have room to get the socket in there. I found it best to use this wrench instead. Heres a picture of one if you're unsure of what they look like.
Its a little tricky getting them out but after you have to do it 3 or 4 times, you get pretty good at it.
Step three:
Hook your battery up to either a trickle charger, or another car's battery via jumper cables. Keep the 2nd car running to keep the battery in your RX8 charged during this process.
Step four:
Clean the spark plugs. Mine looked AWFUL. there was all kinds of corrosion on them. get a tiny screwdriver or somthing thin to sort of chip away at any carbon buildup or corrosion on the plug end. use some carburetor cleaner or engine starting fluid and spray off to clean any fuel that might be soaked in there.
MAKE SURE NOT TO BREAK THE TIP OF THE SPARKPLUGS. these things are pricey!
with a proper cleaning, you should not have to replace them. put about 15 minutes into cleaning all 4 plugs and prepare yourself for step 5.
Step five:
Get in your RX8 and prepare for boredom. Get some good music going to keep yourself amused. This might be a while.
Step six:
this can be a lenghty process if you have to repeat it, so be prepared to be back in the car to do this again.
Press the gas pedal to the floor and keep it there. Dont take your foot off or you'll have to start all over. Turn the key in the ignition and attempt to start the car for 10 seconds straight through. let the motor crank away, it wont start. This is going to allow the rotors to push the excess fuel out of the motor and clean everything out. after 10 seconds of trying to start, let the motor rest for about 15-20 seconds. repeat. repeat. repeat. Do this for about half n hour. at this point you should not smell fuel coming from the engine bay anymore. You will for a while when you start. If after half n hour you still smell gas, keep going. in the mean time, rock out to your favorite music but pay attention to the time intervals of 10 seconds on, 15-20 off.
after you feel like the motor has been cleared out, get back under the car, put the plugs in, plug wires on, and the relay's back in the fuse box. Get in the car, turn the ignition to on, but dont start the car right away. let the car sit on for about 1-2 minutes to let the fuel pump prime and pressurize the fuel system. after that 2 minutes, crank the car up and cross your fingers. if you did it right, it should fire up. be prepared to give it a little gas when it begins to start just to help it along.
if it dies, try try again. It took me 3 tries to finally get the motor cleared out enough. Totaling about 2-2 1/2 hours. It was worth it to me not to have to leave the car at the dealer for the weekend and have them try to tell me about the different things they had to replace, such as $30 dollar spark plugs.
Hopefully some of you out there find this useful.
I spoke with a friend of mine who used to be a mechanic at a local mazda dealer and he gave me very specific instructions on how to purge the motor and get it running again.
This whole process cost me 0 dollars.
and about 2 hours of my time
You might have to shell out some money if you dont have basic tools, but for anyone even slightly mechanically inclined, this shouldnt cost you a thing.
Heres how to do it.
Step one:
pull the engine, battery, and engine bay fuse box covers off. Pull the two blue relays seated next to one another (closest to the front of the car). They should be labeled as "fuel" and "circuit" on the inside of the fuse box cover. This will prevent the fuel pump from activating. You need to have both relays out.
Step two:
Jack up the car and set the front end on jack stands. From the underside of the car, you can see the two sets of spark plugs. Remove the plug wires and remove the spark plugs using a 13/16 offset, box end wrench a ratchet and socket will work on the rotor closer to the firewall, but the 2nd rotor is right above the motor mount and you don't really have room to get the socket in there. I found it best to use this wrench instead. Heres a picture of one if you're unsure of what they look like.
Its a little tricky getting them out but after you have to do it 3 or 4 times, you get pretty good at it.
Step three:
Hook your battery up to either a trickle charger, or another car's battery via jumper cables. Keep the 2nd car running to keep the battery in your RX8 charged during this process.
Step four:
Clean the spark plugs. Mine looked AWFUL. there was all kinds of corrosion on them. get a tiny screwdriver or somthing thin to sort of chip away at any carbon buildup or corrosion on the plug end. use some carburetor cleaner or engine starting fluid and spray off to clean any fuel that might be soaked in there.
MAKE SURE NOT TO BREAK THE TIP OF THE SPARKPLUGS. these things are pricey!
with a proper cleaning, you should not have to replace them. put about 15 minutes into cleaning all 4 plugs and prepare yourself for step 5.
Step five:
Get in your RX8 and prepare for boredom. Get some good music going to keep yourself amused. This might be a while.
Step six:
this can be a lenghty process if you have to repeat it, so be prepared to be back in the car to do this again.
Press the gas pedal to the floor and keep it there. Dont take your foot off or you'll have to start all over. Turn the key in the ignition and attempt to start the car for 10 seconds straight through. let the motor crank away, it wont start. This is going to allow the rotors to push the excess fuel out of the motor and clean everything out. after 10 seconds of trying to start, let the motor rest for about 15-20 seconds. repeat. repeat. repeat. Do this for about half n hour. at this point you should not smell fuel coming from the engine bay anymore. You will for a while when you start. If after half n hour you still smell gas, keep going. in the mean time, rock out to your favorite music but pay attention to the time intervals of 10 seconds on, 15-20 off.
after you feel like the motor has been cleared out, get back under the car, put the plugs in, plug wires on, and the relay's back in the fuse box. Get in the car, turn the ignition to on, but dont start the car right away. let the car sit on for about 1-2 minutes to let the fuel pump prime and pressurize the fuel system. after that 2 minutes, crank the car up and cross your fingers. if you did it right, it should fire up. be prepared to give it a little gas when it begins to start just to help it along.
if it dies, try try again. It took me 3 tries to finally get the motor cleared out enough. Totaling about 2-2 1/2 hours. It was worth it to me not to have to leave the car at the dealer for the weekend and have them try to tell me about the different things they had to replace, such as $30 dollar spark plugs.
Hopefully some of you out there find this useful.
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heyheyheyhey (01-10-2022)
08-29-2007, 06:51 PM
#2
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You might have wanted to do a search before posting this...there are plenty of deflooding instructions on here that are a lot easier to do. Good thorough post, though
08-29-2007, 06:59 PM
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yea, I seen a how to take care of your mazda video.. and it mentioned the part about just putting the gas pedal down and turn the ignition to clear out the gas.. then wait a few.. and it should start
08-29-2007, 07:17 PM
#4
its going to take more than just one turn of the motor to clear the gas out. i smelled gas for about 20 of the 30 minutes while i was doing this.
i did a quick search and didnt see anything so i figured i would make a post.
i felt like this should be somthing that every rx8 owner should read through since it happens so often.
i did a quick search and didnt see anything so i figured i would make a post.
i felt like this should be somthing that every rx8 owner should read through since it happens so often.
08-29-2007, 08:54 PM
#6
I hate to ruin a good idea, but when I flooded mine, I just pulled the fuel pump fuse, cranked it for 10 seconds, then re-installed the fuse and voila, it fired up. Took about 30 seconds to clear out, but it cleared out nonetheless.
08-29-2007, 09:00 PM
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this works good, happened to me once and did this out of reaction.
08-29-2007, 10:25 PM
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My couisin works at a body shop, and they flooded an 8 that was in for repair driving it from one part of the shop to another. Flipped it over; drove it five feet; flipped it off. Classic way to flood an 8. So here is the shop brain trust trying to figure out how to deflood a wankle engine without paying any money or having to do any real work, and they came up with a classic body shop answer. They put the car in a paint booth and turned on the driers. They left the car in 160 degrees for a couple of hours then got in, and it flipped right over. Now, most of us don't have our own paint booths with electric driers, but shouldn't we? That's all I'm saying.
08-30-2007, 08:48 AM
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Or you can just step on the gas fully as mentioned above... then you don't have to pull any fuses...
08-30-2007, 08:48 AM
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its going to take more than just one turn of the motor to clear the gas out. i smelled gas for about 20 of the 30 minutes while i was doing this.
i did a quick search and didnt see anything so i figured i would make a post. i felt like this should be somthing that every rx8 owner should read through since it happens so often.
i did a quick search and didnt see anything so i figured i would make a post.
i felt like this should be somthing that every rx8 owner should read through since it happens so often.
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