No start, doesn't fire.
 

Hi,

I'm new here so excuse me if I am asking dumb questions. My son's 2004 RX8 died in my driveway last winter. I tried to start it this week, but it won't even fire. Battery has good charge. Car cranks easy (too easy?).

Read a bunch of posts. Changed plugs, wires, coils and cleaned MAF sensor. Removing a plug indicates it is getting fuel. Dealer had previously told son car needed a new rear HEGO sensor. Is that enough of a fault to not even get the car to fire? What would you try next/? 2004 RX8 with about 50K miles. Thanks.

I would confirm spark at the plugs. Also remove a spark plug and examine. If it's all wet then the car is more than likely flooded. There are a few DIY threads on deflooding.

Auto or manual?

Stale gas? Also could be if it died in driveway the seals may of let out. Read the threads on the extended eng warranty.

The 2004 RX8 no-start is an automatic.

I tried the de-flooding procedures before I changed the plugs, wires, etc.

Plugs really don't look that wet. I will try to look for spark at the plugs.

Don't know much about rotaries. Is there a way the timing could be off? I'm a little worried about how easily it seems to turn over.

Also saw oil in the air cleaner. Oil level was about a half quart low, so it wasn''t overfilled.
I notice there is a hose going from the side of the oil fill tube to the large hose going from the MAF sensor to the throttle body. Don't know if oil came in that way when my son added some or if the engine is belching it out.

Clean up the oil in the intake, but doesn't have anything to do with no start. You/he got some blow back which can happen on it's own, or by over filling the oil.

And as Easy said............really need to know if spark is getting to the plugs. I guess if you had a bad coil or two it could also maybe not start, but let's don't go there yet. See if you can verify spark.

I do like what was said in that it actually could be stale gas, so keep that in mind as well!

The one way I have had suscess(and there are a couple) with a flooded automatic is....................

1.) Take all the plugs out. Removing the drivers side wheel is best.
2.) Pull the fuel relay in the engine bay fuse box.
3.) Crank the car(with no foot on the pedal) in bursts of a good five seconds or so. Then let the starter cool off for about 10 seconds and then repeat again.
4.) While someone was doing #3, I was watching the spark plug holes and wiping off all the gas/oil that would drip out.
5.) After about 20 times of #3 and #4, when I saw no more drippage and no more spitting................we gave it about three more times.
6.) Dried the plugs really well......even used compressed air to get them dry, while 3, 4, and 5 were being done.
7.) Put the plugs back in and re-attached wires.
8.) I stood at the front of the car with the relay in hand and in the right orientation very close to where you would plug it in.
9.) Other person started cranking the car and as soon as it caught, I slapped the relay in.
10.) It ran rough for a little bit, but don't let it stall, then after it warms up, go run the piss out of it for awhile.

Good luck.

OK guys, I'm back.

Regarding the 2004 RX8 we were discussing, there is NO SPARK! The coils, wires and plugs are new. The mass airflow wire has been cleaned. Something is wrong upstream of the coils. Do you have any suggestions on what I might try next?

Thanks,
John

Check the Eccentric Shaft Position Sensor. (Crank angle sensor) It's located on the drivers side of the lower main front pulley. The sensor reads the toothed trigger plate just behind that main pulley. Make sure it is plugged in, clean terminal connection, check the sensor surface for grease/oil/metal, wipe it off with a rag.
This sensor dictates spark timing.

No start, doesn,t fire.
 

Good news and bad news. After a long time away from the RX8, I went back at it this weekend. Got my hands on a shop manual online and learned that the spark plug wires have to be put on with certain ones going to the trailing plugs. The aftermarket wires I bought had no markings of any kind, so I matched them up to the old wires by lengths.

When I tried starting the car, I got one pop, so I new that the engine was getting spark. After disconnecting the fuel pump relay and cranking a lot using jumper cables to a second battery, I got it to fire continually. Removed relay, cranked, replaced relay, tried to start, several times. Finally it caught and ran.

I took it out on the expressway and ran it hard for a while, then got it back home. Tried to restart, and got back to the firing but not starting problem.

So, where I am now is left with the amber light being on because of a bad O2 sensor(a), possibly stale gas. I did not clean the eccecentric shaft sensor because I was able to do the above first.

The car has a little under half a tank of gas. I'm going to fill it up with gas from several cans and see if that helps. If not, I'm going to replace both O2 sensors.

Any other thoughts from you guys would be appreciated.

John

I'm having a very similar problem! I took the car in for an oil change after only having it for two months and when i went to drive it away it wouldnt start. I've done all the de-flooding procedures- at first I could get it to fire every now and then but now there is no fire. I have pulled the plugs out and checked to see if there is fire- and there isn't. I've got new plugs and wires on the way but I don't think thats going to help. Any input would be muchly appreciated, would like to get it back on the road!!

Since my last post I got my son's car running well. Along the way I learned that there are leading plug wires and trailing plug wires. They must go to their respective plug. Also, you must make sure all the wires are put in the looms correctly along the way to the plugs. I needed to run jumper cables from a second car battery in order to get the RX8 cranking fast.
I also pulled the fuel pump relay when I started this procedure. I cranked in 5 second bursts to prevent starter overheating. The engine began firing, then finally stopped because it had no more fuel to burn. At that point I put the fuel pump relay back in and it started right up! At that point, I found an amber warning lights on the dash panel. It was the DSC warning light. There is a procedure you do turning the steering wheel all the way in both directions to shut this light off (this light will appear only if you had the RX8 battery disconnected).