WTF loss of power in 3rd gear. A lot.
 

Ok so I was doing some pulls with a bunch of other Rx8's at a 22mph roll. So we had 2 successful runs. I pulled and did great through 1st and 2nd gear. But as soon as we got into 3rd I was immidiatly left behined. About 3 to 4 car lengths. I have a video of it that I will post up soon. There was one part when a rx8 started late in the race and pulled up right next to me at the end of 3rd gear. When we hit 4th we were neck and neck through the gear.

What are your ideas guys?

What's the problem?

How can I diagnose?

Can I fix it?

Coils, plugs, wires for starters, and then try the cat. My car did something like that and after I did my tune up and got my new exhaust it quit. Also check for a vacuum leak.

You can always check the coils with an voltage meter, but I can't remember what the specs are you are looking for, someone probably knows it right off the top of there head.

The cat you'd have to take off and check, and if your gonna do that if it were me I'd wait till I got a midpipe unless your under 80k then you could take it to the dealer.

Is it just 3rd gear ? Is it constant ? or just that one time ?

It's only 3rd gear.

It's constant through the whole gear.

It's all the time.

I've never had a strong third. But for these other 8's to pull that hard there has to be a problem.

And it's weird because it doesn't feel slow in the 3rd like if I lost power out of no where. The only way I'm able to tell is when I run against other 8's. 1st,2nd, and 4th gears pulls no one will beet me but 3rd all other 8's just pull so much harder.

3rd is one of my strongest gears... very peppy.

maybe its their mods? maybe its your mods? i dont think it is transmission related.

We all no a rx8 with coils, pulleys, intake, full exhaust, cai, and AP can still be beat by a stock 8.

Plus I only have a AEM CAI and HKS Legamax exhaust. Those two Mods aren't known to make a 8 slower.

Think mabye a exhaust leak?

exhaust leak wouldnt cause your car to slow down, even if it did it wont be just 3rd gear.

Thats a pretty weird one.

I'd reset your fuel trims. They are gear-specific I think, and if one of them got out of wack somehow, resetting it should fix the issue. Free solution that might work anyway.

How do I reset it. I'm on iPhone. It's a lil hard to search.

Disconnecting the battery is the easiest. There is a fuse you can also pull to do that same thing. Not sure which fuse. It might be something obvious like "fuel trim"

Thanks I'll try it as soon as I get home. I remember once someone was telling me to turn the steering wheel left then right etc to reset something idk I can't remember.

vac leak?

Stop the car and turn it off, and then turn it to the on position and tap the brake pedal 20 times in 8 sec and you will see the oil pressure gauge sweep back and forth and that should help.

I believe it's the room fuse. Turning the wheel left and right is to take the traction control lights off when the car is off and the key and the on position.

I might have a similar problem but in second gear. Sometimes it revs up quickly, and other times it is really really slow. Gonna take it to the stealership this next friday to see whats up.

Btw wondering if plugs/coils (if that turns out to be the issue) are included in the warranty, or do I have to pay for them myself?

(and NYC Drift King sorry for thread jacking.)

Fuel trim is only used for closed loop operation, WOT defaults to the ECU maps. It then changes based on temperature and other stuff.

Coils/wires, your coils might be starting to fail. My car with 36K had a slight stumble, fixed it with new coils. If your coils are over 3 years old or have more than 30K miles, might as well change it to be safe. Just keep the old ones as spares if you have to.

I have a new idea. Is your car knocking? Knock sensor pulling timing?

omar, you got the vid up yet? I remember you dropping hard in 3rd.. it was weird haha but good runs none the less!

mileage?

how full was your fuel tank?

beers :beer:

When was the last time you changed your plugs? a vegass member had this issue when trying to beat traffic, his 8 would bog down then ripp! turned out he had bad plugs and coils.

Its the room fuse, located by your legs :)

Hmm, each gear has its own maps, most of them are the same tho.

try it and see what happens.

Cool. this seems better than removing the battery. I'll try it today since i didnt get a chance yesterday.

Room Fuse? (I will search too)

26k since coil/plugs/wires change. And I do here some sort of knocking when I put my ear close to the engine. But not from in the cabin.

I'm going to cut it up now then uploaded it.

66k.
1/2 tank.

26k

will do.



Thank you for the replies.

Ok replaceed the room fuse, and pulled the negitive battery cable. The car still feels slow. I ran a (16.09) 1/4mile today which sucks compared to the (14.1) I did at the begining of the summer. But it is wet outside I must say.

Im going to change the coils, plugs, and wires. After I'll update my sucky situation.

The Video VIDEO

Type NycDriftking in youtube and check out my newest video. Enjoy.

Subscribing... just so I learn what to check if I run into similar problem. By the way, I got some wires from Rotorsports Racing when I was at DGRR, great wires... butt dyno could tell a little difference, smoother revs. Hope you get it fixed before cold settles in, we're already getting bits of frost here in Iowa and I'm STILL waiting for my rims... hope they get here before the snow does! :)