Arky8

Well I had my first flood, so would not start, called dealer and had it towed in. They replaced the starter and plugs, but did not have the new battery in stock. They said the new starter will spin faster and help flush any leftover fuel out of the engine. I have noticed that the engine now starts faster and you can hear a difference in the sound that it makes when cranking.

I am taking the car back in next week to have the new battery installed along with new tires. 23k on car and the Bridgestones are almost bald. Getting Avon Tech 550 M/S 245/40/18 XL's. So I should have a much less noisy ride for a while.

RX-Nut

hate to sound like a newb.. but i am.. where is the starter on this car? can you see it in the engine bay if you open the hood or do you need to get under?

Nemesis8

iTrader: (3)

OMG it's under the car below the driver's feet

RX-Nut

lol i said i was a newb. i dont pretend to be auto mechanic. OMG.

thanks for the info.

adrian-1

I think it depends on the dealership. The first one I went to said they will only do this service bulletin on "flooded cars".
I printed out the tsb and tried a second dealership. I told them I was having cranking issues... explained how it takes 10secs to turn over sometimes and that I had to hold the gas pedal down while cranking it once. Also, I told him that I was turbo'd and that I had bought a new battery (optima red) and had new plugs (mazsport's) already, I just needed the starter.
He said alright and switched out the starter within 30min's. He said the paperwork would take him about an hour to do if I wanted it. I told him I didn't need it and left. I'm sure he credited the battery and plugs also, but no biggie, I got my starter under warranty.

I have a short video clip of it starting with the new starter if anyone is interested just email/ pm me. Cranks sooner and does have a unique sound.

RX-Nut

Yess.. I too am a recipient of a new starter and whatever else it takes to get the car to start more efficiently. Woo boy, she cranks now, alright! A higher pitch whirr sound and BOOM, she fires up.

msrecant

I took my 8 to the dealer yesterday and got it back today. I needed a 37.5 service (oil change, air filter replace, plug replace) and I had them look at the problem that if you didn't drive the car for a week or two it was slow turning over and almost doesn't start. Also, using the slow crank as an excuse, I handed the service write the first page of the "Engine cranks - no start" TSB and said I was hoping to qualify for the new starter.

Now, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to know that my starting problem is probably caused by a battery that is on its last legs (the car is 2.5 years old) and being a "wear" item I was prepared to pay partial/full price for a replacement. The spark plugs were part of the normal 37.5K service (covered by my 247 HP free maintenance card) so my main issue was the starter.

Well Mazda treated me right ... very right. They covered all three (plugs, battery and starter) under a TSB warranty repair, which makes me a happy camper. My starting problem is fixed and I now have the best "flood" protection available, not that I am going to start turning the engine of cold any time soon.

Plus, you should hear that sucker crank! It is awesome!

RX8_GT

Msrecant:

Good on you !!!

My dealer - Tom Roush in Indianapolis - has been very good - all the work has been done under warranty. In fact the plugs have been changed twice.

I have just have under 20K miles after about 15 months - but plan to replace plugs and battery (an Optima) once standard warranty is done - in about 1 3/4 years.

Got an extended warranty fro dealer for 7 years or 60K for major repairs after standard warranty.