I am having engine troubles with my rx8. I'll provide a bit of background in case it matters with what happened today

A bit of background - car is at 32k miles and 4 years old. About a month or two ago I noticed the car had less pickup and was getting poor gas mileage (12 to 15 mixed driving ) which I had thought was the spark plugs getting fouled up and needing a change. Fast forward to today.

The car had been sitting idle for about 10 days and I thought I'd give the oil a change before changing spark plugs. No big issue and filled almost 4 quarts back into the car. Thought I would give the car a start (just in case there were problems later so I could pinpoint to spark plugs or oil change). Turned the car on and it started incredibly rough and almost stalled (if I took my foot off of the clutch it would have). there was some white smoke out the back but didn't think much of it as we have had some heavy rain recently. Then the check engine light started flashing.

I turned the car off, checked the oil level which seemed fine. Thought maybe the oil filter (Mobil) was restricting oil flow so unscrewed slightly and saw oil. Checked the accordion hose and MAF for any oil residue and everything was clear.

I then restarted and the car started a lot better, however the check engine light is still on and when I start revving it sounds like air escaping, like a whoosh ( prob around 1.5k rev). Additionally there is a higher pitch whining noise ( the noise had been there slightly for as long as I can remember it just seemed more pronounced). I took the car for a quick drive around the block and no seeming lose of power or stalling issues but did seem to feel a few misfires.

Questions now are.
Should I attempt to change the plugs or will this make it worse (or are the plugs the potential problem...)?
Did I break it?
Should I try disconnecting the battery to see if the engine check light goes away.

thanks,

 

Read the check engine light and report back.

 

Reading came back with one code
P0300 which, correct me if Im wrong means multiple misfires detected.

Thanks

 

there you go then,start from there!

 

Your ignition is going bad. You should look into changing all components (coils, plugs, wires) and not just plugs. Ignition components last for about 25k to 30k miles.

 

Replace the coils, plugs and wires as a full set, and it should be in better shape.

BC.

 

Update so far.

I replaced the spark plugs (they were next on my to do list for the car and had them around). The four I pulled out were not great and all were fouled. The two closest to the front of the car had some significant carbon on them (one having enough to almost cover the electrode).

I turned the car on after I was done and it made a big difference, both to the noise earlier and earlier issues like lagtime on acceleration. Couple of questions moving forward:

Can I go ahead and clear out the engine trouble code (the light is still on) or will it go away by itself?

Also, I am going to be replacing my coils and wires ASAP. From the posts Ive read on the subject people mention that coils should be around $25- 35 per coil. However I am only seeing them for $60+ each (MazMart has them currently at $62 per). Is there anywhere else I should be looking?

thanks

 

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