Cold weather woes
 

I received a letter in the mail a few weeks ago about a recall. Somthing along the lines of the car not starting in cold weather. Well, I live in Michigan and we have been getting some nasty weather. Went out to my car yesterday and it wouldn't start. Yikes. Still wont start today. Does anyone know of anything I can do?? Will it start once the weather warms up? I hate to have it towed into the dealership but I may not have a choice. Anyone else have this problem?

Charge the battery and try the emergency starting procedure you will find in the owners manual. Try the procedure 3 or 4 times and if that doesn't work, call the dealer.

cchurchhill, I had to do the same thing, Did you by chance take it to Sterling Mazda in Woodhaven? There were 4 other red 8's there for the same problem, I was wondering if anyone of those 8's were people on this bored.

What temp?
I live in Calgary possibly as much as 10 degrees north of you (we're at 52D N) unless you live in the northern peninsula and had some pretty cold weather here lately. Mine has started without issue at -23C (about -10F). We have a dry based cold compared to what I was used to in Ontario (closer to what you are used to). I think the dampness in the air might have something to do with the starting differences maybe. I haven't owned my 8 in Ontario just here so I have no experience with that, however you might want to check through the Canada forum for references that might help. The one thing that we can use from each other is we can give severe cold situations and you can provide severe hot ones.

Mind you it sure does take a long time to warm up at -23; it gets to about 1/4 mark and that's it. However it does depend a lot on how fast you are driving as well. I usually drive with a higher engine rev (i.e. 5th on HWY). But it's good enough to defrost the windshield and give room temp air so since I'm not out in a T-Shirt in that weather, I'm still comfortable. My Expedition's heater is so good that even at -40C and driving a while, I still have to take off my coat(s) [it's best to dress in layers here], and that's a bit of a pain in the tush.

I spoke too soon:

Canada Forum ... Special Service Program #61

all flashes have again been halted. so even if you go to the dealer with the letter in hand THEY SHOULD NOT DO IT.they may not have heard if they havent called the tech line recently. your best bet is to try to get them to change out the battery. there is a new replacement battery coming (maybe available now) that has increased cold cranking amps to either 640 or 690. effectively double the original cca's. that should take care of it better than the flash.

When we had our cold snap here in Toronto a couple of weeks ago we got to -26 C ambient temperature, so it was actually about -33 C (- 28 F) with windchill. I had no problems starting the car, let it run for about 5 minutes then drove off, I have the M flash. It does take a looooong time to get up to operating temperature but it eventually got up to half-way on the temp gauge. Also, the heated seats were actually hot! As I mentioned in another thread I think the ambient temp reading affects how much heat the seats pump out, did you experience this Hard-Body on your cold days??

Flash for cold start done on 2005
 

I had mentioned that -23 day awhile back Hellbreed, my 2005 started no problem but went between 850rpm and 2800 for about 4 or so minutes. Once it hit operating temp it settled down to 950rpm and purred. Then a few day later the check engine light came on, I called dealer told them the story. Not even any hesitation by the tech he asked for it to come in a get an up date they had received from Mazda. Runs like a top, I have never had flooding issues but will see what happens when -20 or worse comes by again.

By the way as some dealers get bashed at times, I thought I would point out that the guys I deal with here in Toronto are really good.

Hellbreed:

I have noticed that my seats keep on going no matter what. They get warm pretty quick, and they don't seem to be affected by anything related to ambient temp. I don't mind the hot butt so generally it doesn't bother me. I think I would notice if it got to like 106D or something because that would be just too toasty even for a frozen CDN butt like mine.

Moyenne:
I sometimes get a spastic engine rev on startup but never lasts for more than 7 or 8 seconds, then settles downward eventually hovering at around 750-ish. I haven't the faintest clue what flash I am using or how to find that out. I bought the car off the lot in Oct. Maybe they take the car in during dealer prep and upgrade things. If there was a way I could find out what version is on mine (without too much adoo) I will do so this weekend.

Unfortunately, I have become another flooding victim. Happened in PA last weekend when I was visiting family. Had to have my baby towed to the closest Mazda dealer and they gave me a freakin VW Passat for a rental (how insulting). They replaced the spark plugs and changed out the oil. I'll be heading back to PA today to pick it up. Now that I know how sensitive the car is to cold weather, I'll be a lot more careful now. I'm definitely getting the remote start.

Just out of curiosity, what dealer did the work?

Young Mazda in Easton, PA.

Thanks.

Like I said, just curious. Trying to figure out if the dealers in my area know anything about the flooding problem and about the mechanics of the RX-8 in general. The dealer I purchased mine from, Freysinger in Mechanicsburg, also sells and services Hyundai and other makes as well. My impression, right or wrong, of this dealer is that the Mazda line is not their primary line. When you have to go to the Hyundai service desk to arrange service, it make one wonder. Know what I mean? :(

I think ALL the dealers know A LOT about flooding (knocking on wood). Have no idea about rotary mechanics.