NightShark

so does that mean if i'm doing long enough trips for the engine to warm up i shouldnt have to rev it before i shut off?

nycgps

iTrader: (1)

Duh

Rotate

Spin the engine using the starter motor.

msrecant

Just as a review, this has been published many times before.

From the Mazda RX-8 "Quick Tips" booklet, the Mazda Short trip driving procedure:

Any trip that is too short for the engine to reach normal operating temperature; needle in middle of temperature gauge indicates normal temperature. The following procedure should be followed when moving vehicle a short distance:

1. Start engine
2. Move vehicle
3. Warm engine for 5-minutes at idle
4. Raise engine speed to 3000 RPM for 10-seconds
5. Return to idle
6. Turn off engine


From the "Engine cranks no start" TSB, the Mazda dechoke procedure:

DE-CHOKING PROCEDURE WHEN ENGINE CRANKS BUT DOES NOT START

If the engine does not start, try the following procedure to start the engine using the de-choke mode. Failure to do so may aggravate the no start condition.

1. Depress and hold the accelerator pedal to the floor and crank the engine for 7-8 seconds. (This will clean out any unburned fuel from the combustion chamber)

2. Release the ignition key to stop cranking.

3. Release the accelerator pedal and start the engine. If the engine starts while performing Step 1, the engine will rev up. Immediately release the ignition key to stop cranking and remove your foot from the accelerator pedal.

• Do not keep holding the ignition switch in the START position over 10 seconds if the engine does not start. This may result in a weakened or dead battery.

• Avoid racing the engine or sudden take off right after starting the engine.

• If the engine still fails to start following the De-choking procedure, have your vehicle inspected by your Mazda Dealer.

pianopop9

obviously i am an idiot here or something but how can you crank the starter without the car actually starting? wont the engine start and with your foot on the gas already won't the engine red line?

Rotate

Well if you pull the CB for the fuel pump, the engine doesn't get fuel which is required to start the engine, therefore all you do is pump air thought the rotor and blow out any accumulated fuel

swoope

iTrader: (5)

it is in the flood procedure. flooring an un started motor then cranking kills fuel flow..

beers

Delmeister

This poll should be restarted because:

-It is inaccurate. I voted no but later could not start and could not change my vote.
-It should be broken up into different model years to show if and to what extent the problem is persisting.

msrecant

The connection between the accelerator pedal and the engine is electrical, not mechanical. The electronics interpret a fully depressed pedal as as "fuel cutoff" during engine cranking, so trapped fuel is simply blown out the exhaust. Hence, it is unlikely the engine will start in this situation.

However, the Mazda procedure does note that if the engine should catch anyway while dechoking (from the fuel trapped in the engine), you should both release the key from the starter position and remove your foot from the pedal. An overrev would only occur if you released the key but kept the pedal fully depressed for a period of time.

Delmeister

When mine flooded, I took out a plug and inserted a compression tester. With the accelerator floored, there was a sudden dramatic pressure rise, and a sound as if it had caught after a few rotations of the crank. There was just that one pulse, but it is possible for the residual gas to ignite in a flooded engine.

jamesdh

I just bought a 05 RX-8 with only 220 miles from the dealer. He told me they got it from a dealership that went out of business in some other state. They never mentioned the bad milage and the oil usage but I can live with that. But this flooding ordeal really bugs me, makes me want to never shut it off. I bought this for the wife and i am a little concerned about it. Can they sometimes be restarted the way the book say's or do they always have to be towed back to the dealer. Also how often does it happen? please reassure me that I bought a good car or great car

msrecant

Yes, you have bought a great car.

If the engine warms up you have nothing to worry about, the only issue is when you need to cut off the car when the engine has not reached normal operating temp. If you follow the Mazda short trip procedure you should OK.

Also, you may want to have you dealer check to confirm if you car has received the upgraded battery, starter and plugs.

pianopop9

what do you mean about "oil usage"? does the engine burn oil or something?

jamesdh

No I what I meant was having to check it all the time and adding some once in a while. I am an old piston guy, not used to that

msrecant

Actually the RENESIS (and other Mazda rotary engines) does burn oil. It is intentionally mixed with the fuel and then injected into the intake manifold to lubricate (I believe) the apex seals.

That is why it is important to regularly keep an eye on your oil level. No big deal.

delhi

I know of a female acquaintance who owns an 04 RX-8 as her daily driver. When I asked her about flooding, she looked at me puzzled and after further explanation about flooding issues, she shook her head with a 'No... Never'. She is the middle aged asian lady-type that one would typically see at malls or dim sum restaurants. So I know she is not the type that would take care of cars. I summize that flooding is a bit overblown.

zenrx8

iTrader: (4)

When I flooded my '8, I had started it/moved it/turned it off to shuffle the cars in my driveway; was running for about 30 seconds. Next time I wen to start it, the classic flood symptoms. I didn't know about holding the pedal to the floor, so I did the only thing I could think of - I pulled the fuel pump fuse and cranked it for about 10 seconds; reinstalled the fuse, and it started immediately, although it took about 20 seconds to "clear" itself and run smoothly. I can live with this; I love this car.

srs311

Once you have experienced flooding your RX-8 you will understand. It doesn't happen often. But when it does occur, it is a pain in the butt. Fortunately, with patience, jumper cables and alot of cussing I was able to get it restarted every time.

I have an 04 MT I bought new in Dallas. I moved to the mountains in CO at an altitude of approx 8,700 ft. about a year later. I don't know if that has much to do with it, but it didn't happen until I moved here. After it happened twice, the dealer in Colorado Springs did change out my starter and battery and plugs and that seemed to fix the problem for about a year, but it has happened again... twice. Once at the ranch and just yesterday to my son in Florida-he has yet to get it restarted (so it is not isolated to high altitudes).

battlecat

Looks like i flooded my motor by what the dealer is telling me, went to start the car this morning and it wouldn't start checked all the connections and so forth and then called the dealer and the said that it might have flooded so my car is on the way in to the dealer on a towe truck

battlecat

So heres what the dealer told me about my flooded engine the alternator has gone bad and spark plugs need to be replaced so new alternator, battery, and plugs total of 700 good thing my extended warranty is picking this up.

Altair 8

**** this ****. im sick and tired of it! It flooded!! and i have to get it moved to the dealership ******* 100 dollars, what next 8?!?!?! what next!! i swear i take care of my car and it still does **** that shouldnt be a problem. I'm really getting tired of it! I love my car, don't get me wrong! But should this kind of thing happen?!?! No, the car should be reliable to drive in the god damn morning after not driving it for 2 days except for once to move it really quickly from a parking spot near a burning house! **** this

ldr

ndsind1 - my car has flooded a few times in the past, and yes, it did seem to occur most often in colder weather (cold weather here in Vancouver, BC might not be cold to others, but I'm talking roughly 0-5 degrees celsius).

I couldn't believe it when I first had the car towed to the shop - first the tow truck driver told me the RX-8 is the most common car he now tows. Then, the shop manager told me that I need to run the car for 5-10 minutes everytime I start it, otherwise I'm prone to flooding. I'm now very careful about this... But what a pain in the ...!

pfsantos

O.K. Noob here to the RX-8 forum, but owner of an FC3S (86-91) '7. The '7 list is down today...

I haven't read the whole 62 pages of this thread, but have gathered that the '8 will cut off the fuel when starting holding the throttle open, correct? How many has this helped. Obviously, it won't help if the engine is severely flooded, since compression will be down because of all the oil being washed away. Some have had success pouring ATF or Oil into a vacuum line instead of the trouble (?) of removing the spark plugs. Has this worked for any of you?

Also, the flooding in a rotary due to cold weather shutdown, will 'fix' itself if you don't start it for a while (a few hours), once the fuel evaporates a bit. Because of this, the problem with flooding may be more prevalent than it seems, since many may have flooded their engine, and not realized it because the engine started a few hours later.

It would be interesting to have people start their car, run for a minute, wait 5 minutes and try to start normally, to get a better sense of it.

It is easy to avoid flooding once you know what's up, but for those who don't know it can be a major inconvenience. I think Mazda should have incoorporated something like a turbo timer, but I just remembered, if someone parks in a garage, there'd be problems with that. I like the idea of a label warning about cold shut downs, better training for owners by Mazda, etc. /rambling

cas2themoe

Mine just flooded and its going to cost me almost $400.00!!!!

You better believe I am going high up in Mazda to get some answers. They should really make people sign a contract stating the the engine can NOT be turned on and off when cold.

This is NOT right, the customers having to pay out of their pocket for a defect with the Rotary Engine!

Altair 8

amen. this is their problem, not mine for being an ignorant.