l_doggy

OK here's the good news. I just spent the last 2 nights Zaino'ing my RX-8 and it looks great! Better than showroom finish.

OK here's the bad news. I got home from work to rearrange my RX-8 in the garage and it won't start! I cranked it for awhile several times with no firing as far as I can tell. The temperature has dropped from 55 to 40 degrees in my garage but that shouldn't affect a modern fuel injected car.

The engine light is on but I think it's probably always on when you're starting up the car. The only problem I've had with my RX-8 was a brief time at 3600miles where the oil level light came on, which has been reported by others. I think I'm around 4600miles right now.

VIN# 0585 (Not sure how I got a low VIN since I didn't pre-order)
Build: 05/03
Bought it off the lot on July 31. Was told first one sold by dealer.
Silver 6SP GT black/red leather

I've been really happy with my RX-8 up to this point, but this has me really worried.

jtimbck2

You probably flooded it -- it's been happening to a lot of people (me included), especially as the weather has started getting cooler.

Did you start it up, take it in or out of the garage and then shut off the engine without warming it up for a few minutes? That's what I did, and mine flooded. Most people are able to clear the excess fuel out of the rotors and get theirs started again by following the procedure in the owner's manual. It took a while, but I eventually got mine started again that way.

It's just one of the few drawbacks of a rotary engine.

rieskame

ive scimmed throught the manual and couldnt find anything on flooded engine. what page is it on?

jtdwab

Page 7-20 of the manual

l_doggy

jtimbck2,

What you described is exactly what I did. I only started the car for a short period of time to move it into my garage to Zaino it.

Unfortunately I already tried to unflood the engine by holding down the gas pedal and cranking the engine. That was one of the first things I tried, especially when I smelled a lot of gas from the exhaust.

I re-read the owner manual and it says to do it for 10 seconds, which I did not do since it seemed like a long time. It also says to crank without the gas pedal pushed down, which I also already tried.

I'm going to go outside right now and try it again but this time I'm following the user manual to the letter. This time I'm going to make sure it's the full 10 seconds and try it over and over again with the gas pedal displaced and then not displaced.

If this flooding is common to a rotary, then maybe the large temperature swing in the past 24hrs is making it worse.

Dave Gotwisner

Having owned two RX-7's in the past, my bought back RX8, and my current RX8, I wouldn't say that flooding is a rotary problem. None of the four RX's that I have owned have ever flooded. Not in 20 years of driving them (all told).

l_doggy

Just a quick update. I was able to get my RX-8 started but the flooding may just be a symptom of another problem. Like some of the others on this forum even if you know it's flooded, it's extremely difficult or possibly impossible to get your car started.

I followed the directions in the user manual exactly for 10 minutes with only an occasional fire at around the 5-6 second mark. I finally did get my car started by continuing the process. The amount of smoke generated was scary in a 2 car garage even with the door open.

Now the flooding story deviates from what most other people experienced. My CEL came on for a few seconds and then went out after the first start. I drove the car for a test spin for about 10 minutes to clean out the engine. As a final test with a fully warmed up engine, I accelerated but not real hard. At 6-7k rpm, I lost power and the CEL came on and never went out. Maybe a misfire due to fouled plugs. The car seems fine now (except for the CEL) but it looks like I'm going to the dealer tomorrow, just to be on the safe side. This can't be normal, even for a rotary. I don't want to go to the dealer for a CEL every time I forget to warm up the engine. Hopefully Mazda is investigating a fix.

Habeeb

Unfortunately it is common, not necessarily normal, for the rotary to flood. The first thing to do after the problem is fixed is to get the oil changed. Gas has been mixed with oil lowering the viscosity. Change the plugs also. Welcome to the world of rotary. The positives still outweigh the negatives.

khoney

I have had an RX-7 for 17 years. All I can say is... lucky you

It is a rotary 'issue', maybe not a 'problem'. People need to be aware of the need to warm up a rotary before shutting it off again. That's not to say it will flood if you don't, but the possibility does exist.

khoney

The CEL may clear itself after a couple of start/drive/shut off cycles. You may want to try that before you head to the dealer.

red_rx8_red_int

I've never flooded my car or had trouble starting it, but I think my oil might be gassy. Last time I checked my oil I thought it smelled like gas. I was thinking of bringing the dipstick inside to ask other family members but instead decided not to worry about it. It wasn't a real strong smell and I'm not really used to checking oil, so I dismissed it. Now I'm wondering, it gassy oil something particular to rotaries? Or is i t normal for oil to have a somewhat gas smell? Either way, I'm due for an oil change and will not put it off any longer.

Habeeb

Bringing the dipstick inside to have family members smell it would definately be good bonding. More familys need something to bring them together. Change the oil, change the pulgs. Go drive your car.

Habeeb

pulgs?? I need a spell checker..

rx8daniel

easy fix: don't forget to warm it up. I stopped to get gas (at the gas station/convenience store where I work p/t) after work, so had to drive it 60 feet to the pumps. Just sat there for 5 minutes with it idling to get it warmed up a bit before shutting down.

As for this situation: it sounds like classical rotary flood. Do let us know how it ends up. The possibility that other things happened as a result of the fouled plugs/gas in oil/etc. does exist.

ALWAZL8

Hey guys! I don't know if this has anything to do with the problem you're discussing, but I was told tonight that Mazda knows that there's a problem with the spark plugs in some of our cars. They heat too low (???????). Not sure what this means.

Just thought I'd put the info out there.

8_wannabe

Where'd you hear that?

johnmans

hi guys this sounds like a typical RX8 flodding the way to clear it is to hold the throttle flat to the floor and crank the engine this will cut out the injectors and it wont allow fuel to be delievered
it may want to start whilst doing this if it does back off the accel pedal a little and it should fire but it is defintly flooding no two ways about it ive seen it before so try what i said and see how it goes but you must hold the accel pedal flat to the floor

ALWAZL8

One of my many jobs is working part-time for a company that does customer service calls for the Mazda dealership here in town and I happened to have a customer in the system who had his 8 in for service. When I called him I got him to tell me what happened with his car. Since I'm still waiting on mine to come in, I want to know what's going on with everyone else's cars so I'm not in the dark if something happens with mine. He said the dealership called Mazda corporate and this is what they were told, but only after Mazda tried to skirt the subject. The dealership apparently pressed the issue to get the info.

Has anyone else heard anything pertaining to the spark plugs?

Rick

There is another thread in this forum that mentioned Mazda installing hotter plugs.

White Comet

I have flooding problems occasionaly when the weathers hot enough . On the FC though, you can pull the injector fuse, crank, reinstall fuse and crank again and it'll start.

DMRH

Guys, many of you are first time rotary Mazda buyers. However, this is a common thing for the rotary & has been so since 86 with the series-4 Rx-7 (86-88)

It happens to most (not all) RX's so don't be alarmed & like most Aussies do, find yourself a cheap & easy fix.

Personally.......... I use a hotter plug combo 6+8 instead of 7+9. I almost always warm up the car even if its to move it a few metres.

If I do manage to flood them, I remove the fuel pump relay (Mazda call them a "circuit relay") & crank from there. Gotta love that white smoke cloud when it fires...lol. Some guys simply cut the pump power wire & wire in a switch. Have seen that on many a 2nd gen RX-7.

Don't bank on Mazda finding a solution, otherwise they wouldn't have needed to print a page about it in the owners manual. Plus you think they would have sorted it out from the series-4 days back in the 80's. Its just a rotary thing. Part of the character & not an issue for the RX lover

RX8by

I had a 97 Honda that would do the same thing. Start it up and drive it in the garage and try to start it again. I would have to put the peddle to the floor and crank and crank until it would start.

mist1006

Welll guys, I hate to say it but welcome to the world of the Rotary...

We've owned 5 7s and only one of them didn't flood and that was because of the oil control rings being bad and allowing far more oil into the chambers than should have been.

Unfortunately Mazda never really fixed the flooding issue with the 7s that i know of.

Several guys wired in a fuel cut off switch so that they'd flip the switch it'd cut the fuel and kill the car prior ot shutting it off.. thus making sure there wasnt any gas in the chambers.... good theft deterrant too..

i went for the pull the EGI fuse.. crank... put the fuse back in an start it again...

flooded my car once so bad we had to put oil in the intake to get back compression...

best of luck with the new rotaries... i want one.

Kerri

RX7FD3

i Had a similar problem with my FD but it was a blown coolant o-ring seal due to running lean in coolant and therefor resulting the engine to overheat once.
At first, what i did was to Add liquid glass with coper to seal the orings in the cooling systems, I also added smaller spark plugs, I believe they were 7or 8, from a second gen RX7(FC) and my car didnt flood or had problems starting ever again. Eventually i got a reman engine but just as an example... You might want to try warmer spark plugs Try second Gen FC plugs for the leading plugs only.
That fixed my problem on the FD

NEWireless

I guess enough people are having problems that my local dealer just sent me the recently published "Mazda RX-8 Driver's Guide" which abridged says:

1. Don't beat the engine until its broken-in.

2. Rotary engines sound different - It's OK.

3. Rotaries consume oil - check it & fill it.

4. Drive the car, or let the car run five minutes before shut-off.

5. Yes, there is no spare tire - call roadside assistance or goop it.

Look for yours in the mail.