2fast8

That is stupid. No sh@# a Ferrari is going to ignite a fire under your ***. That's like comparing an RX8 to a Pinto. Can it be improved? Yes, but keep it in perspective. This thread is about flooding issues, and you don't have any. Just poor car maintanance, like leaving your car for a month without starting it. Its your battery, as a couple of sensible people here tried telling you already. Oh, and try some decaf man.

nukingfurby

LoL, that's cold Skagen. I hate it when people can't differentiate "your" and "you're" as well. Oh well, some just don't get it no matter what you say. Yea, Nic your battery died. Try starting your car more than once a month. Well ALL know about the serious flooding issue. Your feedback was already given by plenty others before you. Mazda acknowledges this is a problem already. Now, just wait for a solution. Unless of course you want to continue harassing Mazda and then having them put forth a mediocre solution. Simmer down and be patient.

http://www.finishlineperformance.com.../01-011-04.htm

rotarygod

nic: It's the first year of a new model. It will have bugs that need to be worked out. The first year is always the most problematic one. You knew this so why not wait until the 2nd or 3rd model year? Why do you think that Mazda isn't working to improve it? Do you work for Mazda Japan and know something we don't? You know there will be changes to the following model years. There always are. No **** it's no Ferrari! So you are saying that putting up with problems and taking abuse to drive what you love is acceptable from a several hundred thousand dollar car such as a Ferrari but a much cheaper car should be perfect? I see a problem with that. If a battery is weak how is that Mazda's fault? Isn't it the fault of the battery manufacturer? Nobody forces anyone to buy a car. That they do of their own free will. If a person buys a car that they have issues with, maybe they should have done their homework a little better before they signed on the dotted line. Mazda's marketing department did their job since you bought the car. They did nothing criminal. It is up to customer service to take car of issues and up to corporate to see that all of the issues from the first year and those that follow are worked out in each successive year model.

nicrsx

I wan't gonna but i gotta.
First this is fun.
Second my battery didnt die.
Third picking on spelling in a forum is a moronic.
Fourt all you need to do is to send your money to me for god sake,
because with the attitude of adolecent fans you will be parted
with it any way.
Hey
IF YOU GOT A BITCH WITH MAZDA WRITE EM... EMAIL THEM
CALL THEM... Yea it might do some good.
If not hey you have the pleasure to know that you made me
happy.
For all of you that already have tried to fight this battle including
Skankbut, I salute your efforts.

kurtschwanz

I guess they were calling them "cold" plugs and I was hearing "glow" plugs (because I am familiar with those in the context of a diesel).

They are, apparently, just a different model of plug that Mazda recommends for cold-weather drivers, or anyone who has had the flooding problem. They burn a little bit hotter and have a bigger spark. Apparently you cannot tell the difference except via the part number, they are identical in shape, size, color, etc. (for the brand they are using).

nukingfurby

"...is a moronic"
"Fourt"
"adolecent"

Not only do you not know how to spell, you can't even write with proper grammar. Jeez, talk about adolescence, you write like you're in fifth grade lol. Like RotaryGod said, its the first year so just be patient.

skagen

Hey Furby, you forgot "I wan't gonna but I gotta."
What kind of sh@# are you writing Nic? Try using spellchecker before you post. The flooding issue is acknowledged, now shutup and wait. If you can't wait, then go buy a Ferrari cause it gives you so much PASSION, PASSION, PASSION!!! AAAAAAH! lol, lay off the caffeine freak.

wakeech

thread has been reopened, i expect to see everything civil and back on-topic.

1 bad 7

Right on... I'm kinda surprised it took this long for someone to step in I tried posting a "calm down everyone" reply the other night but my cable went out and I was too lazy to re-type it the next day.

Next thing you know this place will turn into another RX7 Forum :D

Why can't we all just get along?:p

cupcak

Wow nice long thread...


Anyway yes my car flooded this past tuesday after work. We had some snow this past tuesday so it's 5 pm .... i'm ready to go home... turn the key and put it in reverse and my tires were spinning and my backend was sliding sideways instead of pulling backwards out of the lot and I was like "oh sh*t" and slam on the brakes and stall. Try to start it up again... no go. Lucking I had the mazda tow service hotline with me and had my car towed and am now driving an annoying ford taurus rental from enterpise while I'm waiting for my car back from hamilton mazda.

oi

markpmm

sorry to hear of your bad luck

dinbougre

Hi, i'm new on this forum and i'm french (sorry for my english if i make a lot of errors)

I got a black RX8 and when I read all your reply on this topic i'm affraid to see that 1/4 of people had flooded their engine.

I just need one information about the flood. Do it happen only when we start and stop the car when the engine is cold? I mean if i drive my car several minutes and then I stop it. And then few minutes later i start and stop the engine while the engine is allready warm can i have the engine flooded? Or it happen only when the engine is cold?

It happen 2 or 3 times where I start and stop engine when I need to move the car in my parling but never flooded my engine.

I notice that 2 times I had difficult to start the car, i mean it start at the first time but take a little more time. seems to have difficult. Is it a kind of flooding?

Sorry for my english, we don't have french forum for RX8

Optitron

I drive about 120 miles a day during the week since March 2nd. I let it warm up until the engine revs normal and I have had no problems. The dealer told me about the flooding problem so I am alittle weary about it. And yes I do go through alot of gas.

msrecant

Don't worry about your writing, your English is a lot better than my French.

The official Mazda statement is that if the car is started, it should be allowed to run until the temperature gauge reads in the middle of the range. Hence, if the car is already warm this does not take long.

Note that one cannot predict whether a short trip (even with a cold engine) will cause flooding. Some people have done this with no flooding. Some people do it once and flood. However, because the flooding is not fully understood, it is strongly recommended that short trips be avoided if at all possible. Also, even if it does flood, sometimes the Mazda de-choking procedure in the owner's manual will work.

dinbougre

ok thanks a lot

because when i went to the karsher and if there is a little queue i prefer not to stop the engine and then start it and then stop it and then... even if the engine is allready warm.

RunnedAround

i don't understand, if the rotary engine has a problem off flooding when cold, then why don't they just make the car rev @ whatever RPM's for so long, to heat up enough not to flood. Or even better, what if the rotory engine just shot in a mixture of air/oil when you turn the car off, this way it can't flood. I mean maybe I don't fully understand the problems, but jeez it doesn't sound that hard to fix. My friends Audi's engine doesn't turn off until 1 minute after he pulls out the keys, so why don't they just make this a standard procedure on this rotary engine?

insomniak101

i have a problem with the cold start - engine starts to get crappy at higher RPM and the check engine lit up...

davidholzman

what happens to the engine when it floods so that it needs to go the the dealer and have the plugs replaced? Why should flooding hurt the plugs? Does any other damage get done?

--thinking of buying an RX-8 but definitely want dependability with my fun

thered1996

I think the plug replacement is a precautionary measure. It's the removal of the plugs that's the requirement -- this allows the unburnt fuel to dry out.

I don't think there's a reliability issue. Not really. From what I've read, this has been a problem with the rotary which goes back a long time. Not all are affected, either.

The rule of thumb seems to be this: don't start the car if you're not going to drive it. (It's not good for any engine, piston or rotary or turbine, to shut it down cold -- most wear under normal conditions occurs in the first minute or two.)

davidholzman

Can anyone explain why the rotary doesn't just start like a piston engine if you let it sit for a few minutes after flooding? And why the plugs (and whatever else) need to be replaced? Why should flooding cause such problems?

--thinking of buying an RX-8

davidholzman

[QUOTE]Originally posted by thered1996
[B]I think the plug replacement is a precautionary measure. It's the removal of the plugs that's the requirement -- this allows the unburnt fuel to dry out.

This doesn't make sense to me. Unburned fuel should evaporate, as it does when a piston engine floods.

wakeech

well what you have to understand is that the fuel doesn't evaporate, and yeah you can flood a piston engine bad enough that you have to open it up to clean everything out. when you flood an engine, gas gets into the seals, driving out the oil, and you completely lose compression, meaning that your engine's seals stop sealing. this isn't fixed by "evaporation" (which can't happen anyway in a closed motor: where is the fuel going to evaporate to?)

replacing the plugs with new ones is a BS way for dealerships/Mazda to make more money (selling more stuff is better than not), as all you really have to do is just clean off the lightly fouled plugs (not even necessary in many cases)... i mean, you don't even have to gap the damned things, there's nothing to go wrong, and at like $20 a pop or whatever it is, just soak them in solvant for 5 seconds, brush them, clean 'em off with a rag and done. that takes a mechanic a good 15 seconds, you don't need new plugs.

opening up the combustion chamber is necessary to get the pooled gasoline out of the engine (the gasoline can't drain directly into the sump) and so you can drip a little oil in to regain compression (if the flood is bad enough).

msrecant

This is the first reasonable response I have heard to this question. The "old time" rotary owners seemed to take for granted that new plugs and an oil change is how one deals with a flooded rotary. Never made much sense if too much fuel and too little compression was the problem.

RunnedAround

hey wakeech,
If your car did flood, couldn't u just push it into 1st and have some car push u some to just clean the engine? Wouldn't that be a faster method? I mean granted that oil is clogged around the spark plugs, but lets say it does start... Would you still have to clean the spark plugs after you started it? Or would revving the engine some just clean the whole thing? And wouldn't a CV ECU piggyback system give you a less chance of this occuring?

davidholzman

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Wakeech
well what you have to understand is that the fuel doesn't evaporate, and yeah you can flood a piston engine bad enough that you have to open it up to clean everything out. when you flood an engine, gas gets into the seals, driving out the oil, and you completely lose compression, meaning that your engine's seals stop sealing. this isn't fixed by "evaporation" (which can't happen anyway in a closed motor: where is the fuel going to evaporate to?)

opening up the combustion chamber is necessary to get the pooled gasoline out of the engine (the gasoline can't drain directly into the sump) and so you can drip a little oil in to regain compression (if the flood is bad enough).

Thanks, Wakeech, this is helpful. But a few more questions: I've never heard of a piston engine flooding so bad it had to be opened up, and I remember some pretty bad instances of flooding from my childhood. Wouldn't just turning the engine over with the starter motor get the oil squirting back onto the cylinder walls in a piston engine to seal the seals, and wouldn't it do the analogous thing in a rotary? And wouldn't any pooled gasoline evaporate out through the intake and exhaust ports (whatever they are called) in a rotary, as I suspect it does in a piston engine? My late mother may she rest in peace flooded the '65 Peugeot fairly often in the winter, all you had to do was wait 5-10 minutes and the thing would start, and gasoline is very volatile.