New rx8 owner here from NB Canada
 

Been lurking for a bit on on thursday i bought my 2004 RX8 GS, so i finally signup to the site. It's in pretty good shape with low KM's so i'm pretty happy with it!

Are there any other NB canada folk here?

I've been reading allot on here and i've already learned so much!

I've been reading allot on the flooding/no-start issue, and i understand allot of it, but a bit of clairification would be great! I've seen a few different recommendations as to how long to let it warm up/or what temp... what should i go with for a baseline right now? 5 minutes, 10 minutes, a couple of ticks on the temp gauge?

also, i havent seen this much, but say i've ran the car for 15 minutes, and i run into a store. when i come back out and start it up again say 5 minutes later, do i need to run it longer again, or is it good now?

And like, is it just if the car is cold say first start of the day, or if the car has been running within the past say 3 hours, do i still need to take it up to a higher temp, or is it good?

Sorry for the questions, i'm searching allot on here, there's just allot to dig threw and i dont wanna mess it up right off the bat :D

Thanks!

When it's hot outside and or when your engine is warm/hot flooding should not be an issue.
If your car has the newer starter, battery and flash, flooding should not be an issue.

Your car won't cool down enough in 5 minutes to cause a flooding issue once it has reached normal operating temps.

I would think that 5 minutes is enough time to get the engine hot enough to help keep it from flooding HOWEVER I don't know if there is a set time frame because if it's hot in the summer I think 5 minutes is overkill but in the cold winter it may not be long enough.

I don't know if I helped you any but welcome to the RX-8 club.

Welcome to the addiction!

As far as flooding, it helps to understand why flooding occurs.

Flooding occurs when there is too much fuel in the combustion chamber, and your spark is being drowned before it can ignite. The common "don't turn off when it's cold" is because when your engine (all engines actually, including piston engines) is still warming up, the ECU dumps more fuel in. This leans back to normal as the engine gets to normal operating temperatures.

BUT, there is 2 sides to flooding. One is too much fuel, the other is too weak ignition. With the reflash changes, the too much fuel while cold problem has faded dramtically, and now most of the flooding we see is a direct byproduct of a weak ignition. Either coils, plugs, battery, or starter are weak/failing/dead. Normally coils. They tend to fail first, about every 30,000 miles. And generally when there is a flood due to coils, it fouls the spark plugs as well, and often destroys the catalytic converter, compounding the repair costs. If you also have severe carbon buildup, then you also run the risk of carbon lock, which generally requires an engine rebuild or replacement. Sometimes you can avoid this, but not common.

The early 2004 models had a weaker starter and battery than the late 2004 and later models, which made them more prone to flooding than normal, which was enhanced/compounded by shutting off when cold. Most owners that didn't know what they needed to pay attention to, often compounded their own problems, by not keeping carbon clear, not watching their ignition, and not observing the 'let warm up' guideline, and the issues would just chain together.

So it doesn't matter which year you have, if your ignition is dying and you don't fix it, you run a greater and greater risk of flooding, warm or cold.

If you keep your ignition healthy, then your only remaining flooding risk is shutting off when bone cold, and with the appropriate reflashes, that is still minimal. (Still not worth risking, but really not a danger either) To eliminate this risk completely, just don't shut off unless the temperature needle is pointing at least straight up or slightly to the right of straight up. (If it is moving far over to the right, definately shut down, you are overheating :) ) Doesn't matter how long it has been since you turned on or last drove or whatnot. Just check the needle.