My flooding experience
 

HOW IT HAPPENED:

I woke up about 5:30am to take my girlfriend to work. I walked out to my car at started it up and saw that my tpms said i had a flat. Still groggy i turned my car off(big mistake) to see which tire had a flat. My mazda air compressor was stolen awhile ago so I walked to the nearest store and bought a small air compressor for about $10, WHen i get back to my car and try to start it and of course it doesnt work.

HOW I FIXED IT:

I crank on it for a little while but got nowhere, then the battery died. POS mazda battery. I searched online for a few hours to find out the easiest way to get my car started. Since the mazda battery was toast i bought a new duralast gold battery. I dropped it in and began cranking some more, A few sputters and it almost caught a couple times. So after about 10 minutes of cranking it finally caught and then died 2 seconds later. Another 3 minute crank and she started, really groggy at first and blew the thick white cloud of smoke for about 4 minutes and then lightly for another 5 minutes. After that she seems to be working like a champ

I never did pull the plugs and clean them, but now that i have the car up and running, when i have the time i will

Not bad. If it happens again, tow or push starting it (assuming you have a manual) is guaranteed to resurrect a flooded rotary.

we actually did try push starting it but i was unsuccessful

You need to tow it at 10-15MPH....pushing it by hand won't do it if it's flooded...unless you have a big hill to go down

PS: If it's running, you don't need to clean the plugs...they will be OK with a spirited drive. If they are old...replacing them would be good insurance

when i flooded my car i ended up having to replace the CAT a few weeks later

deuse why not leave the car running and do a quick inspection?

also curious what happen with the tire and tpms?

it will happen if u use Mazda's method to deflood

i can work anywhere from 8-16 hour days so i can get really groggy in the morning(only had about 3 hours sleep that morning) and i was just out of it and not paying attention. i hooked up the compressor and re-inflated my tire so i could drive it to the tire shop and have it repaired, nothing to crazy there lol

What year is your car? Have you had any thing done to plugs/starter/battery?

2004, i didnt do anything to the plugs or starter, idid have to replace the battery to get the car to start, the stock mazda battery was no good

Just curious. It seems like this always happens to '04 models. I think the dealer was replacing the original plugs and or battery in some of the early RX-8's to correct this.

I'm curious about two things.

1. If it floods and you get it running, why do you need to clean the plugs afterwards? Doesn't everything burn off after it's run?

2. How do you clean the plugs? I remember sandblasting plugs in the old days, mostly to get lead deposits off. What's the drill these days?

Ken

so the key is keep crancking it???????????????as long as you still have power?
also by speaking crancking? do you mean holding it on the crancking position? or keep turning it on and off?

i would do it for about 20 to 30 seconds and then wait 5-10 seconds and try again

It works... do it.
 

FOLLOW the de-flood method in the owners manual. IT works :) I even tested it after plug and a new Optima red top. It shouldn't take 10 minutes.

1. Turn to acc, then start (hold for 10 seconds) If it doesn't catch within that time. Wait 10 seconds.

2. turn key to acc, DEPRESS GAS PEDAL. While Gas Pedal is depressed, turn key to start for up to 10 seconds.

As long as you don't have the original flash "Looking at the older threads, the original shipment in 03/04 didn't have the fuel pump switch off setting". So Gas depressed + start = no fuel being fed during cranking.

a) This allows the flooded engine, which is mainly fuel that has soaked th spark plugs to get sweeped out the exhaust port.

b) oil pump (OMP) still delivers, so this also helps provide better lubrication on the walls to help the apex's seal.



3. On second attempt, and waiting 10 seconds from the last start interval. Start normally. If it doesn't catch within 10 seconds, stop then repeat step 2.


Eventually the rotor chamber will heat to a degree to assist the fuel to atomize better.

Key Factors:

1. Old plugs (30k miles - ish) replace if nearing this point.

2. Old Battery - Even a slight decrease in turnover while starting will make it near impossible. Mazda addressed this in the No START TSB campaign which is still valid. During their diagnostics, they will determine if you need a new battery, starter (revised for stronger turnover since 05+). Worse case scenario if they can't start it up, is to add oil into the intake ports..... prepare for a smoke show.



Summery:

I think the 'add oil to intake' port solution is unnecessary, and will cause more harm then good longterm. (Cat, plugs) With good plugs, and a strong battery. you should still be able to self de-flood your car without the 'oil to port' step Mazda does even if you don't have the revised starter.

reason for the 10second duration, is so you don't overheat your starter. Kill that? then i hope you live on a hill and have a manual.

Best of luck!

if you've replaced plugs, wires, battery. and still experiencing startup issues, you may have a faulty coil. a CEL light should indicate a mis-fire.

Alot of people on the board replace their fuel pump when nearing the 100k odo mark. Or notice performance lose when the checklist is done. the filter is a sock filter that is attached to your fuel pump that sits in the fuel tank... so there isn't a fuel filter to replace along the delivery line.

If you really flood it...the standard "manual" deflood won't work.

If you have a stick...you can tow it...it'll start easily

If you have an auto...you have to hope and pray a little more ;)

Fine, Worse case scenario is to pull the fuel injector fuse (NOT THE FUEL PUMP RELAY). Then crank for 10 seconds, put back in and repeat process.

It does work. I've flooded my 04' 8 5 times on cold startup back to back to test. Seeing your join date dannobre, i'm guessing you have an 03/04 also? (Marketed as 04 i know). What battery have you replaced yours with?