crank, no start
 

Hi. My car will crank, but no start. I just put a little more engine oil in it because it's been burning and it is low. The oil is a little on the high side now. Would a too high engine oil cause the car not to start?

Thanks,

Chad

No. It's probably flooded.

Well, I did an oil change on it tonight to fix the oil issue. It sounds like it's cranking at the starter but nothing is going on under the hood except for a really loud buzzing sound.

Anyone?

Thanks,

Chad

It sounds like there is electricity going through when I start it, and the electricity sounds like its trying. I don't hear a crank. Nothing coming from the engine other than a loud, whiny noise. Is this the starter?

Thanks,

Chad

Or, could it be the fact that I am running a Optima Red Top battery in this. Not sure what model it is, but it's the one that comes with that red tray for under it.

Chad

... Is your battery dead?

Take a video, upload it to YouTube, and post the link to the video here.

Here is a video of what is going on. https://photos.app.goo.gl/kd5mJMzFvaysGA8q8

I would appreciate any help.

I think the starter was changed under warranty about 10 years ago. I have an Optima Red Top battery (not sure what model) but it tends to lose it's charge. My battery charger said this was at 100% charge prior to starting.

Thanks,

Chad

Sounds like your starter isn't engaging the flywheel. Might be new starter time... Or new flywheel. The engine itself doesn't turn at all right? I don't mean by sound, I meam visually, the pulleys aren't turning?

It's in neutral if that makes a difference.

Your tachometer doesn't seem to move, so the engine doesn't appear to be turning, or the ESS is unplugged. You didn't say if the pulleys are turning, but if not, your starter isn't connecting witt the flywheel and probably needs to be replaced, or at least examined.

It's not the battery. Could it be that the coolant level is too low? It doesn't have a lot of coolant.

Sorry, figured it out. It's flooded. I am doing a deflooding procedure. Any chance a reset in the ECU will help. Sorry, I know a little, not a lot.

Thanks,

Chad

It's not the coolant and resetting the ECU won't do anything. Do the deflood procedure, it will work eventually. Just takes a lot longer than you would think.

What do you mean it doesn't have a lot of coolant? There's not a ton of leeway in coolant level...

Thanks Loki. I did an oil change prior to trying to start it. Would that cause any problems?

@cmaderia10 Your only issue that we can tell is that your starter is not engaging your flywheel.

Which on any Rx8 you should upgrade the starter anyways. It is also a fairly easy change to do.

I am not sure why you think it is flooded. Oil and coolant would not prevent your engine from spinning. Fix the starter issue first and then see if there are more issues.

My car is cranking now, meaning that you can hear ignition in the spark plugs. Some times it starts, but it just dies after about 4 seconds. Has a rough run in the process. I'll keep trying. I need to get a car to jump me, because my battery keeps dying.

I have a questions. I reset my ecu by the odometer button AND the brake pedal press "20 times" technique. Additionally, the battery was dead for over 10 minutes which would have have reset the ECU too. Does that matter? Is that why my car wont start, because the crankshaft memory is different.

Please any help would be appreciated. Thanks,

Chad

What did you change to start getting a proper cranking behavior? Starting and dying, or difficulty idling can be consistent with recovering from a flood. If you feather the throttle can you keep it alive?

The ecu and memory resets don't matter, cars still start after all of that if nothing else is wrong.

How old is your battery?
If your battery is not 100% it's probably flooded.
If it's an old battery, replace it.
If it's relatively new it shouldn't have gone dead without another underlying problem.

OK, I went back and saw this.
I'm reasonably sure this is your problem.
A battery that won't hold a charge will allow your engine to flood.
It's been my experience that once you start having battery issues you will have flooding.

Doesn't matter if your charger says 100% or the parts store tells you it's still good.
If it's unknown how old it is, replace it.

If it starts. then dies, you could have loose terminals or a bad ground.
Terminals stretch over time and need to be replaced.
If they're not tight the car could die while running and the alternator can't recharge it.

Thanks everyone. I'm going to try and start it again today, and if not, I will take it to the shop tomorrow.

Chad

If you don't answer questions we can't help you fix it.

Unless you'd rather pay someone to do something that you might be easily able to do yourself.

How old is your battery?!?!?!?!

Have you done anything different that makes you think it will start this time?

Charging the battery won't fix it.

No its flooded. It's flooded before and I could not get it started. I took it to the shop the last time and he got it started. This is a brand new Optima Red Top battery. This time, it was flooded before I got the battery. Now I have a new battery in there and it still wont start. It wants to. It's cranking like it wants to, but it just won't go. I was jumping it on a Honda Accord which is also in my driveway and it won't start. I've read the write ups on how to start a flooded engine. Anyone have any thoughts?

I appreciate your help.

Thanks,

Chad

+1 to answering questions. Otherwise at some point people give up trying to help.

if it's trying to start, you might be close. Usually once it starts to catch while deflooding you can help by feathering the throttle. A healthy car shouldn't flood, did you do anything unusual the last time it ran? Or think it might have flooded from starting attempts after the work you did?

I got it running. Thanks Loki, and everyone else. Took a jump from my Step-father's work truck. It was flooded.