GSF

Hi all. My wife and I got home from a 9 day trip, my RX-8 had sat in the garage during that time.

Before we left, I started the car, moved it into the garage from the driveway, rev'd the engine to 3k and turned off the ignition, as one of the service guys at Mazda told me to do.

I tried the deflood/dechoke procedure 3 times before the battery started losing power. Each time, when I tried to start the car after cranking for 10-15 sec with the gas pedal floored, it seemed to try to start and then died.

I had to use jumper cables to my wife's infiniti to boost the battery. I did this and after some fighting, the car started and a big cloud of light grey smoke came out of the exhaust and continued for several seconds. The check engine light flashed for while then went out.

I let the car warm up and drove it hard around the neighborhood. It started up fine after driving it for awhile and shutting it off.

The procedure I used for deflooding was:
1. Crank for 10-15 sec with gad pedal floored
2. Stop cranking and wait 5-10 sec
3. Try cranking again for 10-15 sec.

I can only think that the engine sat flooded for 9 days and got all gunked up and that's why it was so difficult to start. I was very close to giving up and calling roadside assistance.

Does this sound like a flooded/gunked engine or some other problem? I always use premium 93 octane fuel, the battery is 6 months old, the alternator is 3 months old. The car is an '04 with 40k miles on it, the reman engine has about 15k miles on it, and normally runs wonderfully. Voltage at battery was 13.93 when running, 11.79 when it sounded like it was getting weaker.

Thanks for reading my ramblings, and for your help!

G

Old Rotor

Battery sounds weak. How many miles on spark plugs, did they change them when they swapped engines? Might want to get a can of SEA FOAM(Walmart) in your tank with a half tank of gas. It will clean your plugs some.

Vyndictive

iTrader: (28)

I just got back from a 2 week trip.

My preparation before I left was full tank of 93 - ran the car for about 40 min before putting it away - and finally, disconnected the battery (to ensure no power being drained)




Even so, when I came back, the car didn't start right away and I too got the flashing CEL. I did the gas pedal to the floor "trick" also, then had to crank for a solid 15 seconds to get started again, (thats when I got the flashing CEL)


I've flooded before, and this had all the same symptoms.

I have an '04, and if you ask me, something about having the car sit allows some fuel to build up in the rotor housings causing a minor engine flood which can be made a lot worse if you're not prepared for it. (meaning instantly do the pedal to floor to try to get that gas out of there)

I have no further evidence to support this, but I flooded my car after a shorter trip (5 days) last time.

JantzenRX-8

iTrader: (9)

Not to thread jack or anything but my car is flooded for the first time. Not by me though, which pisses me off to no end.

I was gone for the weekend and my roommate needed to move my car out of the garage. So he started it, moved it out of the garage, shut it off, it sat for an hour or so, he fired it up again with no problems, moved it back in the garage and turned it off. This all happened yesterday FYI. Come this morning i go to start it up and it's flooded.

I feel like I've tried everything.

This:
https://www.rx8club.com/showthread.p...eflood+minutes

This:
https://www.rx8club.com/series-i-do-yourself-forum-73/diy-deflooding-under-5-mins-55517/

Then...

I received my long awaited BHR ignition today. So I installed new plugs (the old ones were such ****, i can't believe my car even ran!) and the coil kit. Still nothing.

Tried all the de-flood techniques i read about again and still nothing. I checked the spark plugs to see if there was any oil/gas/gunk on them and there was barely anything. If anything just a little oil.

What the hell. I'm so pissed about this.

Vyndictive

iTrader: (28)

Two locals have the BHR ignition kits installed and they have complained about hard starts - hot and cold. But I don't know if they have the upgraded starter.

I know when I've flooded, I've really had to push the starter to get it going when it started to sputter... it isn't a comfortable feeling and with the recent work done, it'll be hard to tell if its the new components or if the car is actually flooded.

Sorry that isn't more helpful. I've had great success with the washer fluid method myself.

jmc23200

I believe this is why it was flooded. You need to let your car warm up to normal operating temperatures before shutting it off. The reason why(I think) is because our cars run rich until the engine is fully warmed up. So even reving the engine to 3k rpm for 5-10 seconds then shutting it off doesnt burn off all the extra gas. What I have herd and experienced to work is if you must turn your car off before fully warming up(if its cold out I do not recommend this at all) rev your engine to 3k rpm for 10 seconds and turn the key to the off position while still at 3k rpm. This will burn off and move the extra gas(or most of it) out of the engine.

jmc23200

First, have you tried:
1. Gas pedal to floor - Crank engine for 10 seconds
2. Wait 30 seconds to 1 minute to let the starter cool down
3. Repeat step 1 and 2 5-10 times then try starting your car normally.

If so, try this.


1. Remove the Fuel Relay Fuse, the Circuit Fuse and the Fuel Pump Fuse.
(the circuit and fuel relay can be found in the fuse box under the hood at the very bottom left hand corner.) Also, remove the Eccentric Shaft Position Sensor.

2. Jack up the front left side of the car, remove the front left tire (it's easier to get to the plugs that way) and remove the plugs.

3. Spend some time cleaning the plugs very thoroughly ( I used an old tooth brush and some brake free) and make sure to completely dry them off when your done. Be extremely carefull not to brake them (they're about $30 a piece)

4. Here comes the fun part... Get in the car (music blairing in your ears of course) press the accelerator all the way down and turn the key to "ON" Now try and start the car for about 5-7 sec. Keeping the Gas to the floor, wait about 20-30 seconds and try to start the car again. Repeat this process for about 10 maybe 15 minutes. (Or about 3 songs)

5. Now get out of the car and check the holes from the spark plugs. You will have to clean all of the gas and oil from inside and around the holes to make sure you get a good clean area.

You will have to repeat steps 4 and 5 a few times until you have no more excess gas and oil coming out of the holes.

6. Put the spark plugs back in, the wires over the spark plugs and all fuses back in. Turn the car to the "ON" position and leave it there for about a minute or so. This ensures the fuel pump and everything has been "primed" Now simply try to start the car normally. You may have to give it a little gas to keep it running.

JantzenRX-8

iTrader: (9)

Well duh (not trying to be unappreciative here just frustrated because i knew that but my roommate didn't).

I did the Mazda deflood proceedure a number of different time with a number of different variations based on what i read in other deflood threads. But still nothing.

I haven't tried cranking the car without spark plugs like you say ^^^

I'll give that a shot tonight and see what happens.

jmc23200

This was directed to GSF, the person who created this thread before you hijacked it That's why I posted two seperate posts quoting two seperate people. Anyway, make sure you remove the ESP sensor like it says in step 2. This will help prevent any new fuel from entering your engine. Experienced owners can perform this procedure in under 30 minutes, others like myself, plan for 1-2 hours if its the first time you are doing it. I know I took a long time to do it, but that was the point(I didn't want to break/lose something).

JantzenRX-8

iTrader: (9)

Ok i've done this three times and it still won start. After two i figured out my BHR coil ground was sub-par so i hooked it straight up to the negative terminal. I got a lot more life out of the engine but i'm pretty sure my plugs were good and fouled again by that point. So i gave it one last shot, cleared out the chambers, made 100% sure my plugs were clean and dry, cranked it over and viola! except it only lasted about 4 seconds before it died. I tried cranking it over a few more times but my battery was way dead so i gave up. Off to buy a battery charger tomorrow (I know... i should have one already)

P.S. -- no one besides me is driving my car ever again... ever

romycha1

Do you or one of your friends have a truck that they can pull you with?

I flooded my car once... I got a toe strap, hooked myself up to the back of a friends truck, he pulled me till we got a good 15mph roll, then I popped the clutch slowly in 2nd gear.... White smoke, little stutter, car started no problem.

Vyndictive

iTrader: (28)

That is one of the hardest things when these cars flood - to know how hard to push your starter. I've had mine ready to start and it was sputtering and stuff, but I didn't want to push my started. Another local came down and it started right up for him and I looked foolish.

+1 that you're the only person that drives your car.

blackbeltclub99

I had a similar situation and it ended up needing coils. Replaced them and now it runs like a top.

JantzenRX-8

iTrader: (9)

It's alive!!!

I charged the battery up to full and gave it a few tries. I'd say the key is in the accelerator pedal. Hold it down to clear out the chambers and then slowly let it up (you just have to feel when it needs gas and when it doesn't) but never let off completely. Any time i let up completely it would die immediately. Once it started and maintained i let it rev at around 3k until it was warm and then revved the hell out of it. Smoke went everywhere and it smelled so bad

Car runs better than new after those BHR coils

jmc23200

HAHA. I completly forgot to write that in. You are right, the gas pedal is key. It takes some pedal work to keep it alive after it is flooded. Once it starts to sputter, you start giving a little gas and when it starts, I held mine at about 2-3k until full warm up and no smoke. Good Job. Now you know for next time if it happens.

Although, next time, you really should get a friend to jump your car while you are trying to start it. You will get fast and steady cranks and that will help it start.

Huey52

iTrader: (2)

Well done Jantsen.

The next time you have to shut it down cold (and only if you really can't warm it up first) rev it to 3k and hold it there for 10 seconds. Then foot off the gas and quickly turn off the key as it's spooling down. This will help ensure all extra fuel is purged.

btw: the reason for 3k and not higher is that it's fast enough to purge, but not so fast as to engage the secondary ports, which would be self defeating.