I just got my 8 back from the Dealer - it has been towed at least 3 times in the past year, the closest mazda dealer to me is 45 minutes away! My car is not flooding because I start it and then turn it off in a few minutes - I drive it everyday and this last time I drove home from work (20 miles) put it in the garage and tried to start the next morning...nothing!!I have never started the car without letting it run for at least five minutes before shutting it off. The dlr told me that his service department has even flooded the cars and they know what they are doing - I guess he thinks I don't know what I'm doing. I have had my car 2 years and the flooding wasn't a problem the first year. They have changed the spark plugs, updated the computer,put a new seal on my gas cap (their excuse for the car not starting last time) and non of that has helped. My car stays in the garage in Florida so cold weather is not the issue. I have an automatic starter on my car and I have a feeling this may be part of my problem. I am not going to use the auto start feature again and see if I have the flooding problem again. Does anyone else have a autostarter on their car? 2005 RX8, 33k miles so far all of the tow trips and work done on my car has been covered under the warranty. My dlr did say if you complain to Mazda they might extend the warranty to 60k miles.

 

With a jumper car hooked up, I got it going using the De-choke procedure in this exact order, and I even stalled it 2 times before finally getting it to stay going on the 3rd attempt, took like 15 minutes to do

With gas pedal floored(de-choke) crank starter for 8 seconds with a 20 second pause in between cranks, do it 7 times and it WILL start on the 8th try

heh notice how i got it to start on the 8th try?

all hail the de-choke procedure, I tried all the other de-flood methods with no success whatsoever

 

ok so i changed my oil the other day. started it and let it run of like 5 sec so i could check the oil level. no it wont turn over and i called the dealer and they said it was flooded and now they are telling me that i have to do coils plugs and wires does this sound right or are they bull shiting me? can any one please help?

 

so the starter wont run?
check battery strength and connections

 

...good thing it's not an RX10 or RX12, right, Andrew? Glad you got it running again, here's to hoping you don't have to go through that again.

 

Hey just hook up up a shop-vac to your spark plug holes and suck all the gas out. LMAO. VRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRBOOOOOOOOOM

 

This has happened to mine SEVERAL times and it is happening again at this very moment! Grrrrrrrrrr!!!! Not happy about this at all.

 

I always rev the engine to at least 4K, then shut it off. This will blow out any extra gas from the 'cylinders'. Before I started revving before shutting down, I had a couple of 'floodings' after >40mile highway drives. I haven't had any starting issues since I started the rev/cut off practice. It won't solve the stalling when backing out of the garage issue, but it may help some others.

 

I know this is an old thread but:

Went to Orlando for 10 days when I came back my 8 wouldn't start so I tried the flood procedure for 4-5 times then tried starting while pumping the pedal lightly every 2-3 seconds...It took 3 times trying this but it started.

Thanks to all.

Kg

 

I have flooded my RX8 twice -- both times after moving it a short distance off the drive to wash it.

Mods subsequently carried out and no flooding for past 18 months

 

Yup, I did a noob move this past December. I knew I had done it as soon as I did it. I just frooze in my seat for a solid 5 seconds and then cursed myself loudly. Not fun...

 

By the looks of the pic on your sig line, when you say froze in your seat, your really meant it

How'd ya "unfreeze" it?

 

deflooded my 8, mine was flooded when I went back to the states and i didnt start it for 2 months, Got in decided to start it flooded! went to pull the spark plugs and the ceramic was shattered on one so I bought a new set, put them in today and started deflooding procedure it worked! I wouldnt say floor it but about 80 percent throttle then it starting choking out, then it started with a blaze of lots lots of white smoke from all the fuel, I still have a headache from all this! I recommed from now on reving to 4k then shutting off so all the exhaust leaving the chamber

 

yup....just like those guys...I rev it up to 3-4K and shut it off.

Never had a flood yet...shut it down cold a few time with that procedure...seems to work so far.

But I would be pretty pissed if I couldn't start her up.

 

Thank you, thank you, and thank you. My car hasn't been running for 2 days and I was reluctant to get it towed in since the dealer is too far away. I tried your "de-choking" method and it worked like you said it would!

 

Ok, it happened to me this morning. Yes, i violated the warm up time on purpose but didn't worry about it because i've been fine before when done by mistake. My luck ran out. I went straight to rx8club.com to refresh my memory on what to do. Here is what i did for whatever help it will be to someone else.

Pulled fuse and full pedal crank methods got me nowhere... hardly a sputter. Pulled plugs, cleaned plugs, blew air into chamber, few drops of oil in chamber didn't even produce a sputter. Now i'm thinking maybe its not getting fuel. Sounds like dumb logic on a flooded engine right? Well maybe not so dumb because it started 2nd crank. I started with full pedal, then every half second or so let it out to half pedal and back to full. First 8 second crank it started running but died. Second crank took about 5 seconds to fire up. I had to keep on the gas to keep it running but after 10 seconds she was purring along. To my amazement there was no smoke or smell of excessive fuel. I took her for a drive and its as strong as ever. I know this makes no sense but it worked for me.

I bought the 04 in December with 32k miles on it. I have 34k now. The plugs were bad and i ordered a new set. My coils looked fine so i'll let them go for now.

 

Congrats on bringing her back to life. FWIW, make sure you get the NGK plugs, and if I might suggest it, if these are your original coils, I'd replace them with new ones and new plug wires either now or in the near future. I guarantee your coils are not performing up to spec after 4 years and 34K miles. Anyway, congrats again.

 

I am interested in buying a 2007 rx-8 with 4300 miles ($23K, is that a good price?). Now i am really concerned after reading these post about engine flooding ( i am also worried about how many mechanics can fix a rotary if i ever broke down in the middle of nowheres) but does installing a remote start on an AT rx-8 solve this problem? I really love the car otherwise, but i am worried about the reliabilty and having to take it in and out of the shop all the time. If anyone can help answer these questions and make me feel better (or worse) that would be great.

** Is the flooding issue covered by the warranty or is this an out of pocket expense? Also if the engine ever needed to be replaced during the warranty period, is that covered? Sorry for all the questions, this would be my first car purchase. Thanks.

 

I am interested in buying a 2007 rx-8 with 4300 miles ($23K, is that a good price?). Now i am really concerned after reading these post about engine flooding ( i am also worried about how many mechanics can fix a rotary if i ever broke down in the middle of nowheres) but does installing a remote start on an AT rx-8 solve this problem? I really love the car otherwise, but i am worried about the reliabilty and having to take it in and out of the shop all the time. If anyone can help answer these questions and make me feel better (or worse) that would be great.

** Is the flooding issue covered by the warranty or is this an out of pocket expense? Also if the engine ever needed to be replaced during the warranty period, is that covered? Sorry for all the questions, this would be my first car purchase. Thanks.

 

$23K is reasonable depending on the trim level. It's marginal for an an AT Sport and a great deal for an MT GT.

A remote start doesn't necessarily help as the problem is not when you start the car but when you turn it off. As long as you never turn the engine off cold (start, move car, turn off) you shouldn't have to worry about flooding.

I have an early 2004 (Built 5/2003) and have only had it in the shop for routine maintenance. While in for normal maintainence I had any outstanding recalls or service bulletins attended to so I have not had frequent trips to the dealer.

Most dealerships will cover a first flood under warranty. Engine replacement is also covered under the drivetrain warranty. If you are worried, use the money you save to buy a 100K drivetrain warranty

 

My fellow owners.
I let my mother pull my 8 into the garage and joined the FloodClub(I'm only living with parents cause I recently came back from the UK after 2 years, honestly !).
That, combined with a weak old battery killed my 8.
I got a brand new Willards Bat(donno if u get those in US)
DeFlooding by Cranking failed.

This sorted me out and took 5 minutes:
Hooked the 8 up to pops' truck using the 'tie down hook'(thanks Plaid shirt guy - guess who's only owned his 8 for 2 weeks :/)

1. Turn Key to On
2. Pop yer 8 into 2nd
3. Tow her slowly.
4. See puffs of white smoke in rearview as your 8 gently purrs into ignition(dont ram into the dude towing you while performing this step)
For the 1st couple of seconds she will sound nasty like she has a throat full of.. gas.

I was amazed how gracious and easily it came to life. There is a hell of an essay in an earlier post explaining the same thing(pulling the 8)

 

I thought I read in the owner's manual that the 8 should not be pull started.

AlexS the little "towing ring" you speak of is a tie down hook, it is not meant for pulling the 8.


rotaryrx07 the majority of flooding was in the early models without the updated starter or plugs.

Even then I never flooded it myself, a shop did when I was having some work performed. They moved it a little ways and then just turned the key off.

If they would have revved it to 3k for 10 seconds and shut the key off it would not have flooded.

It is a warranty item.

 

So the main issues for taking care of an RX8 would be the following?

1. Make sure not to flood the engine (no cold shutoffs)
2. Always check/add oil after 2-3 fill ups.

Am I missing any other issues that this car demands aside from most

 

I've flooded mine that way. I thought that would be a safe way to move it - nope. I have never shut it off cold since. FWIW

 

One more issue that is not RX-8 specific. The 8 comes with summer tires. Don't even think about driving in snow/ice with stock tires.