I've not experienced any flooding with my Rx8 yet, but I was a master of choking and starting my 86 and 87 Rx7's - similar procedure with them except you had to pull a fuse, then crank, then replace the fuse, and usually it fired one rotor first, ran like crap and smoked hell till the gas was purged. I'd definitely say you're not a rotary owner till you've dealt with a flooded one.

 

Hey Guys!!! Ya, I was boggled just like you guys. Flooding hadn't even entered my mind. Few clarifications though:

1. Yes, I really was out of my anti-depressant I've been placed on
2. The car started just fine, little extended.. but not that hard. I only got 2 blocks and when it went to idle, it was 'missing' so bad that it died. VERY hard to restart. Sounded like it wasn't going to but after a huge puff of grey smoke.. she went.
3. Dealership said that the plugs were fouled and were so 'gunked' that they weren't firing, hence flood.
4. I was perusing the ticket as I waited for her to come out of her bath, and I was astounded by $120 for the plugs. I asked and they said, "yep, those are the ones that they are now installing." All I could think was.. this is going to be expensive out of warranty :p :D
5. After the plugs, and ONLY plugs were replaced. She runs better than she has in the past 4 mos. When you drive something almost everyday, it was hard for me to notice it wasn't as 'peppy'.
6. I think my car ran better BEFORE the M-flash. I didn't even want the latest flash but they automatically did it when I took it in for maintenance in the fall.

Morale of the story... never eat yellow snow!

 

Lol :D

 

Well, I managed to flood mine to the point where the purge procedure (Pedal to the floor method) doesn't clear it. I have a very recent version of flash (M I think - Not the very latest), and I did the stupid thing of starting it up, and shutting it down after only a minute of running, then letting it sit for a few days.

I called Mazda, and they sent out AAA to tow it, and they scraped it against a wall. I've only got 1300 miles on it, and have had it to the dealer once before for the low gas mileage problem.

I'm really starting to think it's more trouble than it's worth

Don't get me wrong - It's fun to drive, but I don't know all the logistical problems make it worth while.

 

Sad, but true. Still a great engine though.

 

Definitely not frozen...10 degrees is like a heat wave in Calgary and I've never had a problem starting...

 

we just got some more snow here on Long Island tonight. I havent had a chance to check the plugs yet. I will be doing this this weekend when i have some time. hopefully the weather warms up a bit soon, but i think that were suppose to get more snow this weekend.

 

So, finally got my car back. The tech's write of of what he had to do was amazing. The TSB for "engine cranks, won't start" describes 3 procedures. A, B and C. A is the regular purge. B is disconnect the secondary air intake pump, and C is the vacuum hose reroute.

None of those worked. They said the oil had gotten gasoline into it. They had to change the oil and replace the spark plugs before they could get it to run.

Anyways, I have N flash now, and just am always getting into the habit of revving it to 3k before turning it off. We'll see how things go.

 

Pardon my ignorance in this question but let me just set this up for you guys. You have never failed me in the past so please try to help me out of this one. 2 days ago I washed my car and as I dryed it I left the keys in the ignition and had the ignition turned foward as I blasted tunes. As always after I do that I started the car and made sure I did not drain the car battery. I didn't so I locked up the car and went 1 1/2 days without using it. Today I tried to start her up and nothing. No purr, no start, just a nasty dying whine. I figured I indeed killed the battery so I used my wife's car and on the way home today from work I bought a new battery and replaced it this evening. Guess what? No start up and now a loud whining sound and the nasty smell of gas; after every attemted turnover I heard the fuel pump loud as can be in the rear pumping away. Well after about 20 tries I got it started and it barely ran and sounded like doo doo and black soot liek smoke kept blowing out and the more i reved the engine the more normal it got. It seems to be running fine now but the navigation screen is dead and no functions work on the gps. Again, forgive my ignorance but I'll leave it to the pros like rotory god to chime in. What the #$% happened?

 

take to the dealer
and ask for them to replace the plugs.

 

two different problems. definetly a flood. the other is dead battery related. cant help you on that as i dont have the nav.

 

Did the plugs go to crap after the flood?

 

You may have just had bad plugs and THOUGHT you flooded. At least, that was the case with me. I got in my 8 for my first drive in 2 weeks (was on a business trip) and it wouldn't start! My first thought was that it was flooded since I heard so much about it on this site. I had it towed to the dealer and they fixed it up (including latest flash), and they said the plugs were dirty. It does make sense, at least in my case: I got a buggy M Flash back in Oct and everytime I was about to reflash, word from this site said HOLD IT, THAT FLASH IS BUGGY, TOO. Which irked me since I could tell the performance was down from my original setting (for example, my AT would tend to upshift earlier than before the buggy reflash - I'm guessing this could account for improper mixing of gasoline and air and would result in dirty plugs). So hopefully that helps.

Kern

 

I have heard about the flooding issues, and even the cars at the dealers have a sign in their window talking about flooding. Basically what I get from this is you cannot start it up and then turn it off. You need to go in N and rev it at around 4500 for 10 seconds and then shut the car off? I am also wondering, what if you start the car, and you go in R to backup, and your foot slips and accidently lets the clutch out and your car stalls, will that cause a flood?

 

HardHitter...the flooding issue is over hyped IMO!! I have owned my 8 since Feb of '04 and have not had any flooding issues. Here's the deal...the rotary needs to be treated differently than piston engines. The 8 should be allowed to warm up prior to driving for best performance, cold starts and quick cold shut-offs should be avoided. When shutting off the car it is recommended to rev the engine to 4k RPM's and then shut off, this is to burn off any excess oil in the rotary chambers. The "M" flash has remedied many of the flooding ossues, however, I recommend the above rules are followed always.

I hope this helps. Don't worry about this stuff. The car has so much to offer that is very, very positive and priceless.

- Irish

 

Word!

 

OMG another 'flooding thread' read people read to bad there isn't a 'search the forum' video game damn I only have no patience for more flooding threads

 

Yes it was flooded.
I suggest you read the starting procedure and flooding prevention procedure in the owner's manual.....that's what it is there for.

 

If the engine is not warm yet, probably. I was aware of the problem, but in a moment of stupidity after starting the 8, the fire siren sounded, and I instinctively shut it down to get in my other car containing my fire gear, you guessed it, had to have it towed when I returned.

 

here is another thread that shows a TSB regarding new redesigned lead spark plugs that are supposedly supposed to help alleviate the flooding issue to some degree its on the forum https://www.rx8club.com/rx-8-discussion-3/look-new-service-bulletin-51837/

 

Thanks for the brilliant info. I took it in to the dealer like Puma said, they are working on it.

 

"OMG another 'flooding thread' read people read to bad there isn't a 'search the forum' video game damn I only have no patience for more flooding threads"
.. Keep up with the grammar studies my good man, it will be to your advantage... On a slightly different topic.. Is this a partial reason that the *8* sales have fallen from over 2K in the fall to just 1K the past two months? Sure, there must be more than one reason but the constant drone of the flooding issue hasn't helped sales. The poll numbers, if correct, say 1/3rd of the 8's have flooded. Some would say that folks here are the most *aware* of owners. I wonder what the real numbers on *mainstreet USA* are? Does the little lady that got her *8* towed from Bloomingdales parking lot post here or does she just trade the thing for a BMW?

 

Sorry to report that I finally had it happen to me! We were out of town and it really sucked! All is well now, but I am now a member of the "FINALLY FLOODED" club!

 

Final meeting notice:
The "I've had my car for over year and it still hasn't flooded" club.

Keynote Address: "Preparest Thou for the Coming Flood"
Attendees: Oranje (everyone else has been forced out - club rules)

 

Bet ya never red line her, right? The best way to keep the plugs clean is the redline every once in awhile, especially when it starts to run a little rough. Blows all that "gunk" right out the exhaust port.

Chuck