Crazy Rx-8 Driver

so last night after coming home from the club around 3am, I stopped over at my friend's home.

Her driveway is slanted up hill and it was around 38-40 degrees (F) outside. I had the rx-8 parked out there for no longer then 2 hours and when I hopped back inside to start her up, it took literrally 15 seconds for it to turn over...

Now, my concern is or question(s) that is. Is my starter going to ***** on me? or my battery? or is this a first sign of a possible flooding due to uphill parking ?

I called up Morries Mazda up here in Minnesota and they told me they wont do a damn thing unless the car did not start at all, or it was flooded. Was I a little bit upset about that comment? yes.

SO has anyone experienced this long start up situation where the Rx-8 just takes forever to turnover when you crank it ? And if I bring it in to Mazda, will it be under warranty?

QBallz

I had the same issue, the dealership said the same thing but added that it's probably build up on the plugs and to go run the car really hard.

See this thread: https://www.rx8club.com/series-i-tech-garage-22/run-piss-out-fix-hard-start-80942/

czr

iTrader: (3)

You can run her hard and see if that helps but hopefully it is a one time hard crank. In the manual it says it may take 10 seconds, so if it takes longer again next time I'd complain to your dealer. Also, I was under the impression that dealers are reimbured 1 hour of diagnostic time so your dealer is being hard to deal with, threaten that you will call up Mazda North America or call Mazda NA directly and let them know.

zoom44

of course if you PAY THEM for the diagnostic work then you can find out what the issue is

czr

iTrader: (3)

No, my dealership says Mazda reimburses them. All I have to do is report what issues I am having and they check it out.

Tigster

I complained of having a hard start and just had a new starter, battery, and pugs installed no problem and no charge.

StewC625

This has been a constant issue on my car since day one and my Mazda dealership has noted that "partial cold" starts can be a long crank. The key thing you said here - that the car was parked for two hours - is the key. What's happening is that the engine hasn't cooled enough to cause the ECU to call for a full cold start procedure, but, the engine IS cold enough where if it got the full cold start procedure, it would be happy.

This consistently happens with my car when it's been run to full operating temp and then shut down for between 1 and 2 hours and the temp outside is lower than 40 degrees (obviously, the colder it is outside, the less time it takes the block and water jacket to fully cool down, and above 50 degrees, it hits this between 3 and 4 hours of parking. Doesn't seem to happen when the temp is above 60~70 degrees) - the car partially cools, you hop in, turn the key for what you think is a normal start and it cranks for a solid 10 seconds or more before it hoarsely sputters to life.

My Mazda tech (the ONLY knowledgeable guy at my dealership by the way) replaced my battery with the high-CCA unit (as allowed by a TSB), and has checked my starter, plugs and injectors. All are normal. He confirmed that at that state of cooldown, the ECU is calling for a standard warm start. His view is that the reason they ECU is programmed this way is to cut down on flooding - the cold start is much richer and could be much more fuel than what the engine would need to start - so it cranks for a moment until the ECU discovers the engine isn't firing yet and adds a bit more fuel to the mixture.

At least that's the story I've been told.

Mine's been doing that for 20 months and 18000 miles in service and is fine - hasn't flooded ever, and hasn't failed to start. Just that long crank is alarming and annoying.

agoodcave

Like Stew, I get the long cranks at partial cooldown. But, what seems to reduce them is to:
1: run it a little harder if I have a long crank.
2: blip the throttle on shut-down - This one helps a whole lot. It fires right up. It's just hard to remember until it becomes a habit.

Mike

NgoRX8

iTrader: (1)

Were you actually cranking for 15 seconds?

Go to the dealer and get a new starter and battery.

StewC625

I be able to do that and it's because my dad used to scream at me when I did that to his 442 Cutlass - I'd give the engine a good rev and shut it off, and it would burble down and then give a large WHOMP! backfire out the tail pipes as it's last gasp. My dad would scream at me "You're washing the oil off the cylinders!"

If I rev the engine before shut down, I automatically duck!

UFGator12

This same thing happened with me. Did the gauges jump all over the place? If so, it is battery related. I took it to Rick Case Mazda in ATL, and they gave me a new battery, but charged me $42 because it is "in it's second year." But, I haven't had any trouble since then.

Columbus

Got the same fix at my local dealer today. Runs great and starts right up.

Tigster

I have had mine for 1 1/2 + years 23K miles and they replaced the battery no charge, along with the plugs and starter.

designerman

Here's my take. (First-time writer, long-time reader). The car should start normally, conventionally, first time, every time, period. I've had hard start problems, but no flooding yet. This is a defect. This board is laden with this problem. It's a well-documented issue and Mazda is aware of the problem. Unfortunately they don't have a fix for it. They have issued a TSB (Technical Service Bulletin) that is no more than a workaround to the problem. Furthermore, not everyone is having the problem which complicates things. The TSB calls for the driver to hold down the accelerator pedal while cranking for like 7 seconds, then releasing the accelerator pedal and continue cranking. Not sure if that's exactly the sequence, but whatever it is, it's unconventional and we rx8 owners should not have to deal with it. I've had my car in 4 or 5 times on this issue, the last one they replaced the starter, battery and plugs (time before only the plugs and that didn't resolve the issue). So far, it's been starting right up, first time every time. My thoughts are for you folks with an rx8 under warranty, the dealer absolutely must handle the problem. Don't take no for an answer. If they persist, you absolutely should contact Mazda. And I'm sure Mazda people are monitoring these boards....to you I say, come up with a fix or look for lemon lawsuits and perhaps class action lawsuits in the not-too-distant future!

drogers5

I have had the same problem with parking on down hills and up hills. The dealer said nothing is wrong. When i go tho crank the engine it turns over but will not start, if I give just a little gas it will start up. Something is wrong but I have a dealer with no trained techs.

Crazy Rx-8 Driver

Thanks for the helpful information, I almost had a minor heart ache there. im like aww maann! but it hasnt done that since, so i am glad.

thanks again to everyone, it was very helpful