nevets

Hi, Help urgently needed,
I had the flooded engine problem and have now read so much about it, I have tried all the tips and tricks to get it started. No luck Had a mobile Mechanic come out and take a look we found it was sparking and turning over and that indeed it was flooded as two of the spark plugs were soaked.

So cleaned plugs then removed fuel pump fuse and tried starting using the flooded engine guide which Mazda so helpfully put in the book and again no luck after 40 minutes of trying. Had the car towed to the nearest garage (not mazda they can’t touch it till the 1st of Dec!!).

Mechanic got the diagnostic people in to check the electrics nothing found, checked plugs & battery nothing found,they told me at this point he thought it needed a new engine as he thought there was no compression. Under my instructions I asked him to tow start the car, he did this and the engine started drove the car around the block a few times the smoke cleared after about 5 minutes left it running for 20 more minutes shut off tried restarting and exactly the same problem exists.

I would love to hear from anyone who could give me advice on fixing this I am in Spain at the moment and my return ferry ticket as been prepaid and leaves for England on the 1st of Dec which is why Mazda are out of the question.

Would love to at least know if the Engine is OK it drives perfect once started by towing. If the engine runs OK once started does this mean the compression is good or am i clutching at straws? or could it just be a problem with the plugs oil coils etc.. etc.. Does any reset have to be done to the car after all I have had the battery off and spark plugs out...?



So please help need to get this car running and reliable again so I can start my new job back in the UK....

thanks for any help in advance

Regards Steve a very disgruntled rx8 owner

bse50

20 mins of just idling won't clean the engine, you should drive it to purge the system.
Then you should try to restart it and start worrying if it doesn't. A low compression engine usually has problems on warm start ups way before totally dying.
Tow and drive it around for some time or remove the eccentric shaft position sensor, the fuel fuse (just to be sure) and the spark plugs. Crank it for a while, this will make the unburnt fuel flush out of the engine. Put everything back, start it and hang around for a while.
Hope this helps

nevets

Thanks for your quick reply I have had the car for only 3 months and have had a few issues with it taking a few cranks to start as well as the occasional backfire. Could this be down to low compression or just timing etc... Once going the car drives like a dream.

thanks again

Steve

bse50

The bad starts could be due to a non-update starter. Knowing your model year or service\bulletin history would help us all.
If you bought your car used you should also check up your catalyzer conditions as well as the coils\wires\plugs.
Start up problems are usually due to bad ignition systems, low battery\weak starter etc. We found a couple of cars having start up problems because of bad catalyzers but i wouldn't mind much about it.
As i already said a low compression engine should start failing during hot runs\hot starts etc before leaving you on cold ignitions as well. Anyway i'm not an expert so you'd better wait for somebody else to be more precise on this matter.

nevets

Thanks again the model is the 04 and as all the service history and stamps so I assumed all updates would have been done. It is however high mileage 80,000 miles which I am told are Motorway miles. Before I get too worried going to start ordering new plugs leads, Change the oil and filter etc.. but tonight going to tow it and give it a good run and redline it a few times.

cheers

Steve

bse50

Good to know! Anyway 80.000highway miles done without redlining etc could lead to low compression.
How did the flooding happen?

nevets

The flooding happend first thing in the morning got in the car the car tried to start spluttered and died. I attempted to start it and got a few time where it sounded like it was going to catch but now it just turns over without even catching.

Red lined it a few times since I have had it love the reminder to change gear......

cheers

Steve

nevets

Could I have burnt the coils out trying to start it ? I never turned it over past the recommended 10 seconds...

bse50

Redlining this engine is a must for its health.
The only way to know how the components of the ignition are is looking at them.
Telling if the engine cranks without trying to ignite etc is also useful but first of all be sure that you didn't kill your battery while trying to turn it on!
A low battery won't be able to de-flood your engine.

nevets

I think the engine cranks as when we turned it over with out a spark plug in we had flames shooting out of the spark plug hole and sounds like its turning over. Battery as been charged twice and was put on a booster the the garage. Anyway do you think when I get my first speeding ticket in this the officer will understand I was doing it for the good of the engine!!!!

cheers

Steve

bse50

eheh, rotary engines like the track more than the road
By the way it was not that smart to run the engine without a spark plug but with the eccentric shaft position sensor on. To unflood it you need to remove the sensor and then crank it. In this way you don't have fuel ignited\injected and so you clean the chambers

nevets

will make sure i do this in the future was the quick if stupid way of knowing I had a spark.... on a lot of the flooding thread there is a lot of talking about the resetting a sensor by pressing the brake pedal 20 times is this required?

cheers

Steve

bse50

That is a good procedure and be sure to do it properly!