trevor74702

Hello all,

I am having a little problem with my 2004 RX8. I am pretty sure that the wife flooded it on Sunday afternoon. I got in it to move it Sunday night and it would not start.....just cranked and cranked. I have never had flooding issues with the car previously. Today I followed the instructions from the Mazda Bulletin and removed the spark plugs. The first plug I pulled out (front leading) had alot of pressure behind it because it shot a bunch of muddy goop out when the plug finally unsealed. Upon inspection the end of the plug looked like it was covered in thick brown wet mud. I could not believe it!! The other three plugs were the same in apprearance. I got them all out and cranked the car to try and clear it out. I did this twice for about 7-8 seconds each time. I cleaned the plugs with B-12 Chemtool and put them back in. Reconnected everything.....but it didnt start. It acted like it wanted to, but nothing. I have ordered a new set of plugs that will be here in the morning. Just wanted to see if any of you could give me any additional help that might get this problem solved. If the plugs dont fix it or you all cant tell me anything I will just have to have it towed.
2004 GT...Auto....35,000 miles.

Thanks in advance for any help.
Trevor

DarkBrew

Did you happen to take pictures of the plugs?
Did you put a bit of oil into the plug holes to re-establish compression?
Did you get the plug wires back in the right places?

Rootski

iTrader: (1)

Push/tow start it. That'll do the trick.

chancejat

iTrader: (2)

........+1

EdwardsB

^ what he said works great, then when it starts up you get a nice white smoke screen out the back

nycgps

iTrader: (1)

Use a Strong wet vacuum cleaner (industrial grade) to suck it all out.

Just kidding :P hmm actually u can try that ... whatever

You should've shot some pictures for the plugs. but anyway get some new plugs.

Another hint : do NOT let your wife touch your car. Give her a Civic or something, if she messes it up, tell her to fix it herself lol

Juice

iTrader: (1)

You can't push start an automatic transmission.

Razz1

Revvittupp

MOst sane posters assume all 8's are stick... the way god intended them.

trevor74702

No, I didnt take any pics of the plugs. I was kinda pissed about the whole thing so taking pics wasnt on my mind. I wish I would have now though. I didnt put oil back in the plug wholes, but from what I could see there was plenty of it already in there. I made sure to get the wires back just like they were. The two colored trail wires on top and the two plain lead wires on the bottom.

Thanks,
Trevor

Startl_Respons

I would encourage you to read some of my recent posts regarding my own recent deflooding experience in which I went all the way to Procedure C (the last one) of the Start No Start bulletin. Don't need to push or pull start. If you do what I did, you will start your car.

Clean your plugs, they're probably just fine. Make sure they are DRY before you start the car. If you got to Procedure B or C, for the PURGE THE GUNK OUT process, make sure you crank your starter (foot OFF the accelerator pedal) 10 seconds at a time with a short rest between cranks over and over and over until NO MORE GUNK comes out of the leading holes (bottom holes). Purging until ABSOLUTELY NO MORE GUNK comes out is critical and probably explains why I was unsuccessful in starting my car the first time around. You may be worried about wearing out your starter or battery but the rotary mechanic I called for emergency help told me do not worry, just keep cranking and purging, that he oftentimes cranks for 2 to 5 minutes! If you purge correctly, I'll bet you won't even have to go to Procedure C, in which you have to inject oil into the intake or directly into the combustion chambers via the leading holes.

If your battery is puttering out, then use another car as a jumper.

However, if you must get to Procedure C, you will have to reclean and REDRY your spark plugs. The rotary mechanic told me to make sure the spark plugs are ABSOLUTELY DRY, so I used a hair dryer on them. Then REPURGE over and over and over until no more gunk comes out. When I did Procedure C, I found the intake vacuum plug (I have a 2004) very hard to get at and pull out. I'm sure needle nose pliers could get the plug out but I just felt it would be easier to directly inject oil into the combustion chambers, especially since the leading plugs were already out. I used a syringe for injecting stuff into turkeys I bought at Walmart.

Make sure you have disconnected the secondary air injection pump. And for all PURGING processes, make sure you have disconnected the eccentric shaft position sensor, which is a BITCH TO FIND AND DISCONNECT using one hand (PM me if you need help with this).

For any bulletin Procedures (A, B, or C) when you have put back the spark plugs and you are ready to crank the engine, DO NOT FOLLOW THE BULLETIN INSTRUCTIONS. The bulletin instructions tell you to first crank for 10 seconds with your foot off the accelerator pedal, which will inject fuel. Don't do this first. The rotary mechanic I called said he initially cranks with the accelerator ON the pedal 10 seconds at a time with the obligatory rests inbetween over and over and over, then at one point finally crank with the foot OFF the pedal to finally inject fuel. I cranked with my foot ON the pedal about 7 times (10 seconds each time), then the next time I finally had my foot OFF the pedal and my engine started immediately.

BTW, when you are ready to crank to try to start the engine (as opposed to cranking to purge), make sure the eccentric shaft position sensor is connected back up.

You do what I have written and I guarantee you won't have to push/pull start or even buy new spark plugs, assuming your spark plugs are not over 50,000 miles. Yes when you flood your engine, the spark plugs get a ton of gunk mud on them but after you clean them, they're ready to go. A lot of people look at the gunk and immediately say you need to get new spark plugs, which isn't true. You need to feel confident that if your spark plugs aren't too old AND you cleaned them well AND the car still won't start, then it wasn't the spark plugs but rather you didn't do one of the other procedures that I have described above correctly.

Startl_Respons

Don't need to tow it and spend more money having a Mazda dealership do the job.

At 35,000 miles, I bet your spark plugs are fine. Don't be shocked by the enormous amount of gunk/mud on your spark plugs. Clean and dry them and they'll be fine.

According to you, during PURGING, you cranked the starter only twice. That's not even close to enough. You MUST purge until NO MORE GUNK comes ouf of the leading holes. You might even have to crank for 5 min (yes I said 5 min) continuously (with the obligatory rests inbetween cranks), this according to a Mazda rotary mechanic whom I credit for my own finally successful deflood. I am virtually certain this is the main reason why you couldn't start your car back up. After you have cranked for some time, get out of the car and wipe the leading holes clean with a rag or paper towel, then get back in the car and crank some more, then check the leading holes again. You know you are done purging when no more additional gunk is spit out around the leading holes.

Read my post above (#11) carefully. Also read some of my recent posts elsewhere on deflooding. YOU WILL START your car by yourself, I guarantee it. And yes, I now consider myself the resident expert around here on deflooding without a push/pull start.

chancejat

iTrader: (2)

hes right ........too bad

Startl_Respons

He won't even need that. Because if he follows what I've suggested to a T, he will start his car. I was going to wish him luck but I decided not to. Because he won't need luck.

EdwardsB

Yeah I missed that part also, but towing it works great for the manual.

Startl_Respons

Oh, one last thing that is very important I forgot to mention. When you are finally ready to crank with your foot OFF the pedal (to inject fuel), do it only ONE TIME for 10 seconds. If the engine doesn't fire up, continue cranking with your foot ON the pedal (ie., do not inject anymore fuel or you will flood it all over again and have to clean the spark plugs and purge all over again). I repeat, DO NOT crank again with the foot off the pedal. From this point on, you continue to crank 10 sec at a time with the foot ON the pedal for as long as it takes, even if it takes you 5 min of cranking.

Rootski

iTrader: (1)

Juice

iTrader: (1)

^ What?

Rootski

iTrader: (1)

Auto FTL once again.

Startl_Respons

A forum member directly PM'd me about flooding his RX8 and was fed up with trying to deflood himself that he was about to call for a tow to the dealership. I'm happy to report that tonight he successfully restarted his car on his own!

I predict that the next time Trevor posts here, he will report success. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if he has been celebrating his success and that is the reason we haven't heard from him.

Startl_Respons

Well Trevor, what's the news?

Rooster_Poot

?????? Come on Trevor, I cant be the only winner here. Life is great again with the 8 back on the road.

Startl_Respons

Hey Rooster!

I'm sure one way or another Trevor got his car started. A lot of people never come back to the forum once their problem is fixed.

But I want to know if Trevor was able to do it himself.

Rooster_Poot

I called a friend who's wife has an 8, and told him what happened. He had his towed 90 miles to a dealership a few months after he bought it for the same thing. They covered it but said "not again". Now he's been educated.

Again thanks for the help.