Check engine went on!
 

Hi,

Another problem with my 8. I was leaving work and it was pretty cold outside.(-15 celsius). When I started my car, the idle went crazy..rpm was going up down up down and I felt like the car was going to die but it didnt. The check engine light started to blink while the rpm continued to go crazy. After maybe 10 sec I put the car in first and tried to accelerate but it didnt want to respond. It finally accelarated but the check engine light stayed on. Im freaking out now. During my trip home the rpm was ok even when stopped at a red light. However, my check engine light is now on. Can someone please give me some advice of what could the problem be. Thank you
Its an 04 MT rx8 with 120 000km.

Your Neutral switch was stuck (Its on the side of your transmission)

Happens on cold days. drive it around and it will unstuck it.

Try to get the code. Its probably the Idle too high CEL (or gas cap, or p0171 or p0301)

hmmm...my knowledge is very poor but ill try to keep up. Is there something I need to change? Is this going to happen everytime I start my car in the winter? Also, I forgot to mention that the engine made a terrible banging noise the first 2 sec at the same time as the rpm was going up and down! What is the solution and what can I do?

Thanks again, you guys are always more then helpfull!

Where are you located?
Like was said above, the best thing to do is go get the code read and come back on here and tell us what it is.
Some places will read it for free(like Autozone, maybe Pepboys, etc.) depending on where you are located.

Montreal...

Sorry, I should've guessed at least Canada with the temp reading you gave of -15C.

Yeah...crazy weather but I feel crazier for still living here! Anyways I havent started the car yet since. Ill see what happens and Ill post some updates. If the check engine light is still staying on I suppose the only solution is to go pay the stealership to read those codes? Also, suposing is the neutral switch, what can be done?

it happens to my 8 two days ago,the same,do u have a start promblem before? I have to take about 2-4 sec cranking to start the cold engine

Hey man im in montreal too. My car was parked outside all day and when I started it it started at really low rpm like 1.2k then went up to 2.5k after like 3-4 secs, then back down to 2k and down like normal. I thought it was going to die but it didnt. I didnt get a check engine light but Im still worried. This is my first winter with my 8. I cant imagine when we get the -40 degree weather... we gonna be posting here a lot lol

KINDANDMARY: I never had starting problems before BUT I do have to crank it ALOT more during winter just to get it to start. I guess it is something Ill have to live it and I just hope it wont get worse...

DJFA: I try to be positiv and not think about it to much but to be honest with you I fell Ill have alot of problems this winter. Where r u in mtl? As for you problem its pretty much exactly what happened to me. I kind of freaked out and I have to go check out those codes so Ill let you know whats up...

i am in st-bruno but i work at the montreal casino so my car stays outside. usually it sleeps in the garage. let me know if u need anything i have a small garage i work on the car myself. (really basic stuff: plugs, coils, wires, air filter) i can help u with that stuff instead of the stealership

I live in toronto,and my check engine light just turn off when I start it @ 9:00!! I'm so comfused with the ignition problem,maybe u should try new starter plugs and coils,and,maybe go to the dealer and check the engine,we have warranty on it

KINDANDMARY: I just started my car this morning(After removing all the fking snow...) and guess what? No more CEL light. Im as confused as you and have no clue why. however, i still have a hard time starting the car and its getting harder and harder. Is there something to improve this?
Also,because you brought up the warranty, can you give me more info. I have my car for quite a time and when I bought it from the original owner he had payed for an extended warranty. I see it myself on the bill of purchase he has from the dealer but when I went to get some info on what is covered or not they told me I needed ALL previous documentations, all bills and all service paper including oil change. I explained that it is impossible to have kept all this paperwork but apparently thats the only way. Im confused and I feel that its pretty stupid to ask for the impossible...

DJFA: I read a bit of some tread you wrote on here and I basically went trough almost the same bullshit. Im not an expert and Ive been learning new stuff about the car everyday. Also, if we can do stuff ourself instead on the stealership thats always welcome. Anyways let me know what happened with that smeel you had coming from the back. Like they suggested I think something is stuck. It actually happened with my previous car, I had a plastic bag get stuck under the car and actually melted all over, and trust my buddy when I say it smelled like shit. Gluck lol

we are in the same situation,I bought the 8 from my friend,no any records,but the extend warranty is belong the car,it'd be transfer,u can search in the forum about the extend warranty,I saw lots of guys get their new engine from the dealer.try to get some record yourself,whatever,it's just the dealer's excuse to refuse us. all about the starting problem I searched is plugs,coils,starter,battery,fuel pump delay...and so on...and I'm looking for a mechanic to find out the problem

This happened to me this morning. (-21C outside). I also live in montreal. I tried starting it and it wouldnt start at all. I had a booster, so I plugged it in and then started the car. The car started and had the same symptoms you explained, revs going crazy and it limited itself at 3k rpm until engine became warm. Now I have my traction control flashing and a check engline light that is on.

2004 RX-8 GT.

UPDATE: Ok, so I let it run for a bit... then took it for a quick spin around the block. Came back, turned it off, then back on. My traction control light went off and I have traction control again, but my check engline light is still on.

Also, I was having ignition and horsepower problems as well a while back, the dealer replaced ignition coils and spark plug wires under warranty. For the first few days, when it was still warm out, it started great... but now at -20 it is really having trouble again :( As for the horsepower, I didn't have that problem again.

... or Minnesota, or No. Dakota, or northern New England, or ... ;)

Heck, it's 5 degf (-15C) in northern Mass this morning, thanks to Canadian airflow.

Ok another update guys, I tried starting my car again earlier, maybe 1 or 2 hours after the first time I started... the CEL was still on.

I just got outside now and started it again and the CEL is off. So I have no idea what the light could have been, maybe just a sensor or something that had to warm up?

OK now its getting annoying. For the fast 2 days whenever I leave from work and its freezing outside the car is hard to start but the real problem is that the RPM goes up to 3k rpm and down to 0.75 BUTTTTTTTTTTTT the funny thing is that all this stops whenever I keep the clutch pressed Basically if I keep my foot on the clutch the rpm is stable and if i remove my foot from it the rpm goes crazy right away... WTF! Any idea......

go somewhere and have them read the stored codes. all of you.

Mine is AT, but my RPMs also went a bit nuts, first starting my car in the cold.
I had the same thing where the car started, jumped to 3k rpms for a few seconds, then slowly moved down to around 0.75k rpms. This morning, my car limited itself at 3k rpms (if I floored it it wouldn't go past 3k rpms) which it didn't do yesterday. I didn't rev it crazy when the engine temp was still at cold, of course, I waited for it to warm up first. It warmed up fine for me though and didn't have any problems after that.....