Flooded Rotary (Need Quick, Easy "Do it yourself fix")
 

Hi, I'm new to the forms and new to owning a Mazda.
This past friday I bought my first mazda and it just to happens to be an RX-8
its nice and i like the car alot.
Everytihing was working fine up until this morning when i started up the car for a min for a vehicle inspection then killed it after about 20 seconds or less.
Roughly 2 hrs later i went outside to start up the car and found out the it wouldnt start..

I thought it was the batt bc i has an inspection and thought i might have left the lights or something on and maybe had drained the battery but to find out the batt was fine.

I messed with it for about 20 mins and has all my friends that are good with cars look at it and see if they could figure out what was wrong but none of them know anything about rotary engines so they were dumbfounded..
I called mazda and told them what had happened and they said it was flooded and to try charging the batt and holding in the clutch and gas at the same time to try to stat it that way but that didnt help.. I searched google and saw that this is a "common" problem but couldnt find the quickest/easiest way to fix it myself without having to tow it 50 miles to a mazda dealer..

I'm a U.S. Marine and rely on my car EVERYDAY to get back and forth to work and since its flooded rite now its not helping me at all!

Can someone please help me with my situation.. I need to have the car running by 0700 tomorrow morning..

let me know if anyone has any ideas...its 2038 rite now pst out here in Camp Pendleton, California..:banghead:

Welcome to the club DubBlkRX8.
First off, holding down the gas pedal prevents the fuel injectors from dispensing gas into the chambers while cranking.
So you are try to flush-out the excessive gas.
But to perform this better, you should remove the spark plugs and then crank start the car while holding the gas pedal down.
Make sure you have a rag to catch the fluid.

In the future, let the engine warm-up before shutting it off.

yeah now i know to let the engine warm up every time.
But now its dark outside and i have no rag or no knowledge on how to remove the spark plugs.

if i hold down the throttle and clutch and try to start it like that will it work after some time
i read that others had success that way
also, will i burn out my starter that way

i need the car running asap.

please help

I found this for you in the DIY section of this forum. https://www.rx8club.com/showthread.php?t=55517.html

Removing the spark plugs is not hard at all, just make sure you don't mix the spark plug cables. Jack up your car remove the flap hanging there in the wheel well, get yourself a 3/8 rachet, an extension and a spark plug socket. The order is 1L/1T. Number 1 refers to the front rotor, the L is for Leading (top plug) T means trailing (bottom plug) 2 refers to the second rotor in the same order

https://www.rx8club.com/showthread.php?t=31872.html

try to push start it. i heard this works as well and you dont need to remove the plugs. have friends push you up to about ten miles an hour as you hold in the clutch while in first gear. at about ten miles an hour pop the clutch out fast and hard and give it some gas to get it going.... MAKE SURE THE KEY IS IN THE ON POSITION.... THE CLICK BEFORE STARTING

^old school, I like your style ... :D:

i flooded my engine once too...just hold the gas and clutch pedals down at the same time and crank the engine for about 15 sec. next try to start it normally if it doesnt start reapeat the process again untill it does start. when it finally does start rev it up a few times untill it starts to idle normally again

p.s. there will be a lot of smoke when you do get it to start dont worry its just a ton of unburned fuel it will stop eventually

push start works, but it only works on manual transmission.

Auto ? do the Mazda way, if it doesnt work, u're screwed.

Tow/push it....easiest way :)

Come on... use some marine power... PUSH THE FUCK OUT OF IT!

Which is easier. Poping it in 1st or 2nd. I have heard both

I've had better luck(in other cars) popping it in 2nd a better gear ratio....even if u get it started I'd check on ur plugs sometime u have some free time jst to see if they need changed.......

do it in 2nd gear, much easier.

its better if u can do it while your car going downhill. it should take no more than 1-2 cranks to start(unless your plugs are heavily fouled)

I have started some seriously flooded engines from popping the clutch. I prefer 2nd gear.

I've always been advised to use second gear for push starting. the few times I've tried it by coasting down a hill (not flooded, just wanted to see if I could do it), second worked quite nicely, and so did moving about 15 mph.

I'm shocked the dealer didn't tell you not to shut it off cold. Very lame on their part.

I've done the same except I did it in first gear and I pushed it to about 6-7mph.

cheaa I got it to work!

roll start down a hill @ 13mph
kicked out all the excess sh!t BUT didnt start then.
came back a few hrs later and it fired rite up :)

one thing mazda should SAY when buying a RX8 is to
NOT TURN IT OFF COLD OR YOUR ENGINE WILL FLOOD CAUSING YOU
LOTS AND LOTS OF FRUSTRATION AND AGGRESSION lol

just my 2cents :lol2:


zoom zoom

Congrats!! when I bought my new RX8 in 2003, two sales people, the dealership GM, and the service manager all told me to "warm up the rotary or else it will flood" before I left the lot. Your dealership sucks.

yeah no kidding lol
stupid ass california mazda dealer!

Push Start
 

When my RX8 flooded, we removed the spark plugs, blew the gasoline out with an air compressor, then hooked the car up to the back of a truck and push started it.

You really don't need to pull the plugs..it will blow it out the exhaust no problem....you might want to pull the air pump connector though :) It will keep it from lighting off in the CAT....

i used the diy / then push started ... wasn't that hard

You mean a kit to go to the Hitachi 4-barrel carb and manual choke like what was on my 1978 RX-4??! With that and a semi-warm engine, one could start cranking with the choke off (mixture lean), then gradually pull it on - when the mixture was right, it'd start right up!

:ylsuper: