Kel Rx8

Hello guys
I have read all the posts on cold shutdown,
stories of backing out the garage and stalling out.
my question is what about warm summer or spring weather
say 65+.
any one have these problems in that type of temp.
is it something to be aware of in those conditions also?
I have had over 7 rx7 and only had 1 flood problem
happened to be in summer in all my years.
it happened in my 91 conv.t2 :D
and that was because of leaky injectors.

Im really considering a couple of precautions
1.turbo timer(problem dealer will go nuts if i hack into the ecu for this)
2.remote start(manual clifford alarm for manual.)
3.change plugs more often and inspect once in a while.

Only problem im having with this flooding engine problem is mazda doesnt have a actual fix or any rotary company marketing products for the 8 on this matter.meaning a precaution or solution.
thankyou for your time.

wakeech

why is everyone seemingly ignorant to the throttle-blip recommended in the owner's manual (and a common practice with carburated performance engines)? try that.

apparently the turbo-timer idea "won't work".

Navybeardbb

Ouch, shut down. I have had a few "slow" starts in cali most always at night time 50 degrees. but sometimes in the day at 75.

Kel Rx8

why wont the turbo timer work
and im not using it for when i come back for a drv.
like the reason for a turbo timer.
more like how someone flood there car by letting there father
pull there car out or rearrange around the driveway and they shut it off.

secondaly no need for name calling
just asking questions

Navybeardbb im noticing the same in 30-50 degrees.

Positron

Its all about making sure the car is up to operating temp (or the temp gauge has a least moved to the 1st or 2nd tick) before shuttiing down. Obviously in warmer weather this takes even less time. And if you run the engine up to 3k rpm and then shut it down if you're worried it isn't up to temp, this is supposed to help flush out extra fuel.

Other than that, check your oil level and change it at the recommended intervals (or sooner if you want), check/change the plugs periodically, and exercise the engine whenever you can.

We are all learning the particular quirks of our cars. Happy driving.

mm

Reeko

If you have had 7 RX7s over the years, then you are used to this issue. The RX8 is no worse than RX7s for flooding. It occaisonally happens to some people. As long as you don't start a completely cold car, move a few feet then shut it down, you should be fine.

Kel Rx8

not really
rx8 is by far worse than the rx7 maybe not the fb
but compared to my fc's or fd

either way
my main question is so no one has had this problem in nice weather.
also ive kind of noticed people who have had there car flood the and the dealer changed/cleaned plugs and such that there havent been problems with the car again.
is this true anyone have this happen to them 2x ?
thankyou

Mr M

Shoudn't be as bad in warmer weather because fuel is easier to burn.

loco4rx8

Car will be quicker to warm up in warm weather, too.

Omicron

I timed it - my '8 only takes 2 minutes of driving (mildly) to warm up to near operating temperature, even in 30 degree weather. So FYI, there's no good reason not to warm up your car.

Kel Rx8

thanks guys
i cant wait to pull the plugs out this week
too take a look.some people on the forum have had
some horror after seeing there plugs.
i only have 500 miles i will post some pixs of them.

rx8cited

Would you recommend doing this even if the engine is completely warmed up? /rx8cited

Navybeardbb

can someone just tell me really quick what fb,fc, fd, fe mean. I see it all the time but i dunno what it means. i know weekel i could seach on yahoo.

sferrett

FB - first generation rx7 - '79-'85 (although pre '81 were SA22C)
FC - second generation rx7 - '86-'91
FD - third generatino rx7 - '93-'95 (in US)
FE - rx8

The nomenclature is (looseley) based on the VIN of the vehicle... eg: all '93-'95 rx7s were JM1FDxxxx as their VIN number.

MazdaManiac

iTrader: (3)

"L" PCM calibration solves flooding for the most part.

boarder

Really? How ? (looking for the technical explanation here, not trying to be condescending)

MazdaManiac

iTrader: (3)

It stops the PCM from going to cold-start injector duty cycles unless the engine actually starts.
The old programming started to pump voluminous quantities of fuel at a pre-set point after ignition. However, if the motor wasn't actually running yet (ie - slow start/hard-start/stall), that fuel just ended up pooling in the motor.
"L" calibration won't hit the cold-start fuel cycle until it verifies a certain amount of run time from the ESPS after ignition.

sferrett

Did you determine this by scoping the injectors during startup or something like that? Just curious how you have such definitive knowledge of such a change. It certainly sounds like a sane thing to do though, and would help explain some of the flooding propensity seen.

MazdaManiac

iTrader: (3)

I got a tip from Maurice that I had seconded by my "inside source", so to speak.

Then, I scoped it this morning after having the "L" calibration installed.

Mikelikes2drive

thats really good to hear and reassuring to know that Mazda is trying to work out all the kinks.

boarder

Thanks for the info. I figured Mazda wouldn't just let this happen indefintely and would use a PCM solution (if it was possible) as thats the easiest way to fix it for future. It had to be costing them some change for all the tows. And we all know what happens when the profit margin starts dropping...

As a side note, it seems the battery is kind of .. well ... uhhh ... weak. I am not that familiar with rotary engines as a whole, but it tends to labor the starts even with a full charge. The rating also seems a bit low. I could be way off here though. My guess is lower cost ?

md_guy

Jeff, did you get the reflash done at Gaithersburg Mazda? Did they give you any grief or just do it without question whan asked?

MazdaManiac

iTrader: (3)

I just told Mike Key (the service writer) that I wanted it and he said OK.
I kinda went on about hard starts and such (I never had one in actuality), but he was already typing in the line on the service req.

I got the oil pan, "L" flash, airbag wiring and transmission damper all done at the same time.

BTW - Absolutely no indication that they touched the car (no dirt, scratches, paper, miles on the odo, etc), except the fact that all the replaced items are present and the flash is confirmed with the brake pedal press routine.
They did a great job.

md_guy

Cool; that's good to hear. I haven't dealt with their service dept. yet, but it sounds like they're as pleasant to work with as the sales staff. Thanks for the info!

jerrymac

Yes, had the problem (flooding) in warm weather. I live in Houston, it rarely gets cold. The day it happend was 2 weeks ago, temp over 74. Totaly flooded out, 4500 miles on the car, thought I was in the clear. Try every scheme, manual, forum tips, even call the Mazda service dealership. Nothing worked, but having it towed to the dealership.

Just had the Mazda procedures done two days ago. I've moved the car from the driveway into the garage twice just to see if it would start. Yes, it started both times.

Seems from talking to the Mazda mechanic part of the fix is reprograming the PCM unit with several milisecond delay, enough to spin the rotor past the flooding point.

Only time will tell