The dealer told me today, that there's been in a rash in the last week or two of 8's flooding.... he said the rotary engine can be funny, in chooosing when to flood and when not, given that i've had it for a year and it hasn't flooded til now...

 

flooding is caused by not warming up the engine all the way. short trips and pulling it out to wash it are the times when it is most likely to happen. since its generally colder thru out the states right now there is a larger chance that you will flood it doing these things. congrats kidcas- you chose to do the exact thing the manual states is not a good thing to do. its not bad luck that it happened now its good luck that it didnt happen to you before. if you have done it a lot in the past i suggest you go play the lottery

 

i got my car back today, it didn't take them very long...... they said i could try the dechoking method of pulling the fuel fuse and cranking it, but its not guranteed to work and i may still have to pull the plugs..... when i was looking at the 8, the sales person never mentioned anything about flooding and short trips, i had to find out on here.... i was told the flash i got this summer was supposed to have taken care of the flooding issue, but now that flash has been stopped and they're awaiting a new one....

 

Okay, so I'm finally a member of the flood club. I did get it to start after a few minutes of playing around with the gas pedal and ignition though.

My question is should I take it to the dealer and have it checked out? How can I tell if I've fouled a spark plug. Everything seems to drive normal, except for the fact that right afterwards, the engine was a little louder than normal, but seems to be getting back to normal the more I drive.

As some of you know, this is my first rotary, so I'm not too experienced. I just want to know what to look for right after a flood.

 

I got mine back today. Changed plugs and they said they did the deflooding procedure A+B+C 1hr 30mins service time. I noticed that they did not change the oil though which I thought they did on some flooded 8s. Not trying to get a freebie as I changed it last week. When I told the tech this he said it didn't require it. How do they know which ones do and don't?

 

Weird.. 5 of ours just flooded the past weekend. See tech section. Tried all the deflood procedure to no avail.

Mazda recommends having it checked out at the dealer to play it safe.

 

shaolin,

What was the situation? How did you flood it?

 

I flooded it by allowing my brother to bring it into the garage when it was raining yesterday. I forgot to tell him to let it idle until it reached operating temperature. The car had not been run all day, except for that brief 20 seconds from the driveway into the garage, and it was probably about 40-50 degrees.

 

Got our's back this PM. Went through the standard fix for flooding--change plugs, clean combustion chamber and supposedly put ina new flash--ours was the M flash from October.

We had our Miata serviced at this dealer years ago and they are one of the few Mazda Speed dealers in Ohio--a first class outfit. Having said that, I've never seen a more closed mouth group of guys when discussing this problem--the service manager kept looking down at the floor and describing the new starting procedures on how to prevent this. I had the distinct feeling that these guys really didn't know what was going on with this problem and that the "flash" versions weren't a real fix.

BTW, we didn't get any paper work for this whole deal when we left. They said they'd put it in the mail; their computer system may have been down but this is the first time I've left a car dealership for a warranty repair and not gotten one bit of paper work.

Stay tuned..

 

I got a Check Engine Light after my car got flooded. Got my car back from the dealer. They cleared the CEL light. Here's what i have on my invoice:

===========================
CK Engine Light On
Code P0300...random missfire
Advised customer to use 87 Octane fuel and let engine idle for 60 seconds on cold engine starts before moving the car
F0008XDX///0.9
F0010XFX///0.3
===========================

Whats with the 87 octane?

 

you should have the plugs pulled and cleaned.

 

it burns easier so they are hoping that no more misfires will occur with the easier to burn fuel and hoping that the lower octane fuel will not allow any knock or that the pcm will adjust the timing to deal with the knock

 

Is flooding still a potential issue with the 05s? Cause my manual has zilch to say about the subject. All it says about starting is to lay off the accelerator initially in extreme cold.
One more question. Does the RX8 find happiness with remote starters?

 

I have an 05, and have not had any floods. You will be receiving an updated manual with 'flood start proceedure' in the mail(i got it last week).
You should always let the engine warm up prior to heavy use, and as long as you have an automatic I don't see any reason why a remote start wouldnt work.

There are people who have done a start button mods etc.

 

Many shops will also install remote starts on manual trannies--I wouldn't advise it though.

 

I bought mine in December, but I've been very careful after all the postings here about flooding. My dealer also warned me about that when I bought the car.

 

Does it just mechanically engage the clutch or what?

 

Actually the alarm shop will bypass the clutch, so you will be able to start the car without having to depress the clutch pedal. Just don't forget to leave the car in neutral, if you leave it in gear it will move when the remote starter turns on.

 

I just got my 05 and my manual had the "flood" steps??? Maybe I'm dreaming here, but I just ran through it and I thought I read about it. ????

 

I figured that might be the case- but what about parking on inclines? Not leaving the car in gear could lead to some serious issues.

 

You'll have one of two options, one do not start the car by remote if you are on an incline and in gear or two make sure that you pull up hard on the E-brake.

 

All the '05's will have the latest ECU flash. This should eliminate the flooding issues. Now, with that said, you must warm up the 8 prior to driving it. Never cold start and cold shut off the car, this will increase your chances of a flood. Also, when shutting the car down after a spin, rev her to 3500rpm, turn the key to off, remove key from ignition slot, open door, step out, walk away, STOP, turn around, open mouth, admire, say the words "goodnight baby" then simply walk away...if you can!! :D lol

- Irish

 

I've seen all kinds of people suggest reving the engine right before shutting off the car. I understand the point, but it seems kind of counter productive to me. Here's why: All of the major gripes about this car have to do with the ecu right? Ecu controls fuel mixture. We know the mix is as rich as cotton candy. This car is very fuel inefficient. Inefficient to the point where I have to believe that at least some amount of fuel is left unburnt. If I'm correct about this, then would it not be wrong to assume that by injecting more fuel into the engine immediately before shutdown you are increasing your chances for a flood?

Please weigh in all. Having come from a turbo car to the 8 I'm already in a habit of just letting the car sit there at idle for a minute or two. Less fuel in there - less chance of a flood the way see it.

I kinda think you advocates of the pre-shutdown rev just like to hear that sound

 

I only rev my engine before shutting it down if it's not warmed up ......... no flooding in 15k miles of ownership.

 

If you get Car & Driver, in this month's "Winners & Losers" section, a guy at an auction remote stared his Countach, forgetting it was in gear. It fired up and then rolled into an Austin-Healey. Just thought I'd share. :D

~ Matt