I've owned the car for 3 months now, never had a problem then today it wouldn't fire ...it was flooded had to call roadside assistance. I was lucky the car was going to be towed in and would sit for a weekend and no loaner cars available at my dealer. I was lucky the tow truck driver keep it cranking away...the battery went down so he put it on a box..after 40 minutes it fired...and rpms where at 900 at idle..I'm taking it monday so they can check the plugs..

 

I've never flooded mine, but this morning while checking the oil it reeked of gasoline too. I don't recall it smelling as strong before today. Maybe the warmer weather? The dipstick was coated with goop too - but a bit less then on colder days. /rx8cited

 

I've got an appointment next Friday 2/20 to get the gas in the oil thing checked out. I'll let you know what I hear.

 

Add another to the list...I think.

I got in my 8 to go home today after work. Cranked it up, sat for a minute or so and put it in drive. Pulled out of my parking space and turned onto the road in front of my office and the engine cut off. Took 5 minutes to get it to start again and once it did, lots of smoke and it was running so rough that if it was a traditional engine I would have sworn that I had lost a cylinder or two. After about 45 seconds to a minute it began to idle more like usual and I drove off. It sputtered a little but I made it home without any other problems. Don't have a real good feeling about it now...going to call the dealership first thing in the morning.

 

Classic... what was the weather like?

 

It was about 35 degrees.

Got an appointment tomorrow to take it in.

 

I have 32 years experience with the Mazda rotaries. They all have had the flooding issue to some degree. I've seen all the fixes come and go. The most effective solution has been a simple fuel pump on-off switch. Shut the pump off first, the engine will die, then turn key off. The fuel pump switch is great for an added theft protection. Owners that live in seasonal changes would do well to tune the engine for the climate . At our shop in the inland northwest we would change spark plugs for winter seasons. We would install the "7" heat range in trailing and leading positions. Use a very thin oil. Use a battery that has a lot of cranking power. And the fuel pump switch just incase. We called this the cold weather packsge. With the fuel pump switch you can pull your car out to wash it and shut it off right away with no trouble restarting. That way you don't waste gas waiting for it to warm up. Or smell the exhaustemissions while warming up. I doubt that Mazda will attemt to do anything about this issue. One last thing about the fuel pump switch is there for whenever you need it. The car doesn't always flood. The other fixes I've seen usually are in place for every start up. Even if you forget and flood it you can stop cranking, shut the fuel pump off. Then start the engine on the fuel already in the engine. As it comes to life flip the switch on. Our women customers loved it. I have a dealership asking me for help and I'm trying to direct them to this method. Hope this helps.

 

I have a friend who owned an RX-7 for fourteen years and drove it 140,000 miles. Loved it. Said the only downside was it would flood--he counted eighteen times in fourteen years. He kept a battery charger handy and was always able to get it going eventually. I would not be so patient, but I have not had the car flood yet. (2000 miles.)

 

Was it raining or foggy at all?

 

It was raining earlier in the day but was cloudy when it died.

 

Unfortunately one of the RENESIS improvements seems to be that this technique seldom works. For most people its a tow to the dealership to have the fuel drained out, oil changed and plugs replaced.

 

Has anyone simply removed the fuel pump fuse under the hood and unflooded the engine? Worked everytime for me!

 

Apparently I misspoke. After researching the forum in detail, there are a number of successful flooding recoveries based on two things:

- pulling the fuel pump fuse
- jumping the battery to support it through the extended cranking

Also in my research it was obvious that the Mazda "push the gas pedal to the floor" was not sufficient, removing the fuel pump fuse was required.

 

I have 1700 miles in cold/snow weather, most of it 5-10 miles drives, although one trip of 250 miles each way; some of the weather was in the sustained 0-20F termperature range. Aside from occasionally needing to crank more than 1-2 seconds, the car has started very easily -- that is no flooding or even a hint of flooding. I just looked to see where the fuel pump fuse was; its easy to find, labeled in the owners manual, and on the fuse cover.

I also checked my oil, its only down 1/2 quart, and I haven't added any yet. I noticed the grommet was missing for the right engine cover side -- damn. I could see a flat area underneath, got a flashlight, and found the grommet -- lucky. I probably pushed the grommet through while trying to reseat the engine cover earlier.

 

Just got back from the dealership and I'm driving a minivan. The computer showed a missfire and they are going to replace the plugs with the hotter ones. Only problem is that there have been so many dealerships replacing plugs, they are on back order (according to the gentleman working on my 8). Hmm...must really be a problem huh?

I asked him how the plugs looked when he pulled them and he said they were definately fouled. I asked him if he thought the hotter plugs would help with my mileage problem and he said it might but was not really sure if it would or not.

So, I am stuck in a minivan waiting for new plugs and for a new driver's side kickplate (metal logo strip was poping up) to arrive.

 

I don't know why pulling the fuse would be an improvement over the Emergency Start Procedure set out on page 7-20 of the manual. Both procedures should starve the rotor chambers of fuel... I do think part of the problem is the battery - it may not be strong enough to handle all the cranking.

See this technical service bulletin on the gromit problem.

 

I just had a very frustrating conversation with a customer service rep from Mazda North America. My car is going in again tomorrow because the oil reeks of gasoline. I can only assume that this is related to the flooding issue (I've already had it in twice for flooding). So, I've been trying to get through to the customer service supervisor I've been dealing with at Mazda North America since last Friday. I've left numerous messages stating that I want to speak to someone before I take it to the dealer again. Of course, this person has not returned my phone calls.

Tonight, I tried calling the main number and spoke to one of the customer service operators. This guy tried to reach the person I've been working with, but when he came back on the phone he said "she is just finishing her shift and is on the way out the door and asked that I send your information to your dealer." Well, that just rubbed me the wrong way and I went off on the poor operator. I have had it with this. The dealer is not the problem, it's Mazda. Not only do I have deal with the mechanical problem, I have to deal with HORRIBLE customer service from the manufacturer.

I just looked up Virginia's lemon law and the statute states that you can invoke it after three failed repair attempts. Tomorrow will make three for me. It looks like invoking the lemon law might be the next step for me. Of course, I'm sure that's an ugly process too.

Sorry, I just had to vent. I've completely lost my patience with this.

Sorry to anyone seeing this twice--I also posted it on the satisfaction survey thread. . .

 

I don't know why either.

Do a search on posts that contain "fuel pump fuse", you will get 43 or so hits. Two people specifically report that the Mazda "Starting A Flooded Engine" procedure did not work but then they were able to start the car by pulling the fuse. Another 6 report successful starting after pulling the fuse but it is unknown whether they first tried the Mazda procedure. But you have to think that at least some of them tried it.

However, I have tried searching and I have found no posts where someone started a flooded RX-8 using the Mazda procedure. Unfortunately I don't know for sure if I missed any posts. Another thought is that people who are successful with the Mazda procedure may not consider the event important enough to report on this forum.

Note, from reading these posts it is also obvious that the people who successfully started a flooded car generally did something to help the battery to provide the needed cranking-time.

 

Msrecant :

I got mine started using the Mazda procedure - but what a lot of smoke. Have had a couple of hard starts - used the Mazda procedure when it would not start on second try - gas to the floor and cranked for about 5 to 6 seconds - then off gas as I cranked.

Flooding is an issue which Mazda willing will be soon be addressed - I hope. John

 

RX8_GT:

Unrelated curiosity ... is your an AT or MT?

 

Once again I will share this opinion; this time with a twist. Most, if not all the flooding being experienced is related to battery state of charge (related to, not the only factor).
Here's the twist: I've heard it said by someone in the know, that
when cranking with less than a prescribed voltage the computer goes into a mode where it will not achieve more than 25% throttle opening. Hence according to my proven theory that slow cranking speeds combined with inherent design characteristics, when aggravated by poor user techniques can potentially cause flooding and perhaps the computer cannot be then triggered by depressing the pedal because it doesn't recognize it. Catch 22.

 

Hence pulling the fuel pump fuse gets around the Catch 22 by guaranteeing that no fuel will flow?

 

Msrecant - MT of course like my other Mazdas.

Had a RX7 back in Canada from 1986 to 1991 - flooded it once.

Have flooded the RX8 once - big time. Have had a couple of what I consider near floods - one today backing out of garage - stalled it - started on third attempt using Mazda technique. Minimal smoke after the car restarted.

Have never flooded my current RX7 - 1988 Turbo.

I'm still very happy with the RX8 - but believe Mazda has some work to do.

John

 

I put a scope on the injectors and I lost the pattern when cranking at wide open throttle. But I can see if the engine is flooded bad enough, if there isn't a strong battery, none of the methods will work. Even oulling the fuse. Also if it's flooded bad enough it washes the rotor chambers down and you loose compression. Then you have to pull the spark plugs , spin the engine over to get the fuel out, then squirt some oil in the rotor chamber to restore compression. Then install new spark plugs.

 

Skip Gorman:

The stock battery seems quite minimalist. ? Part of the problem.

John