I've been having a couple of issues that I might know the issue for but would like some opinions first.

Currently it's been around 20* here and a new issue has started, this never happened when it was warm. When I idle for a couple minutes after the car is warmed up, I can faintly smell gas, don't know if it's raw or burnt, but this never happened when it was warm out. I thought to rule out running rich since the car is warmed up and didn't need the extra gas.

Second issue is that I recently took a couple trips to figure out my mpg because I thought it wasn't as high as it should be, and I think i'm right. Both times, I got around 17mpg. First time I went 85, second time I went 75 and just about the same mileage. It's always been low, in town I've always gotten around 15mpg.

Last issue is randomly, my car will stutter when trying to accelerate. Don't know how else to explain it other than that, I don't try and push it because i'm nervous of damaging the engine.

I've looked into it and my first guess is my front O2 sensor may be bad, any other options?

04, Manual, 58K, 6K on reman, changed all oils and ignition system at 57.

 

Remove the rear seat, driver's side, open the fuel pump access hatch. Is there any odor or visual evidence of fuel leakage?

The symptoms all fit a fuel pump seal issue that is leaking fuel and dropping fuel pressure.

 

Definitely not the seal as I can't see or smell any spilled fuel, albeit it is very dirty.

Not entirely a waste as when I was looking for fuel I heard an odd sound when the car was running. It sounded like there was air in the line because occasionally there would be a static like sound coming from the hatch. Could the fuel pump be going out?

 

yes an 04 fuel pump could be failing. Can you check your fuel pressure ?

 

Never done it before but I'll try. Should have time to get it done tomorrow.

 

Did some errands that took about 20 minutes. Got back and let the car sit for half an hour to cool down. Unplugged the fuel line at the tank to do the test and it shot up to 60psi, so i'm assuming the fuel pump is fine. Will do another test tomorrow on a cold start to see if it's any different.

 

If the leak is up in the engine bay, a test at the tank won't uncover it.

Not saying that it is, just something to be aware of.

 

Cold weather means RPMs will be up around 2krpm during warm up. The ECU tune injects a boat load more oil at 2krpm, so I'm guessing this is what you're smelling on cold days. On warmer days the higher oil injection rate probably only kicks in for a few seconds so you never notice it.

Stuttering during acceleration is a pretty common problem with lots of possible causes, but most commonly it's caused by worn sparks plugs, leads or coils. Pull the plugs and see how dirty they look. I replaced plugs, leads and coils shortly after purchasing my car and this improved mileage and acceleration (heaps smoother).

 

at least the test shows the fuel pump is working fine right?

I'll try testing at line next to the brake master cylinder. Anywhere else that would be a good place to check?

I suppose it could be the oil but it happened again today when my car was warmed up. I did errands for about half an hour, parked it for a couple minutes and when I got back in I could smell it. So I don't know if it's putting in extra oil all the time and I only smell it when i'm idle?

I did replace plugs, wires, and coils when I purchased the car, so just over 3k miles ago. Worth it to check if any went bad and/or to see how fouled the plugs are?

 

Well I'm joining the club blckninja. On my drive home from work here a few mins ago I got stuttery issues with acceleration. like the car was trying to engine break while accelerating. I got home, and gave her a good rev before turning off, and low and behold the stutter was still there when I revved and then a flashing cel . Looks like a trip to the dealer for me.

Since I know this is coming next, here's the link to the misfire thread :P before RIWWP has to look for it

https://www.rx8club.com/series-i-tec...t-here-222280/

 

Just noticed something last night, had a rough idle but it was very soft and easily missed. It also only does the rough idle when the engine is cold, runs fine when its warm so i'm not sure if that could just be a cold weather issue. I gave it a little rev when it was cold and got a misfire cel as well. The only thing I can think of is that it's coming from my upsteam o2 sensor or cat causing the misfire. Engine, plugs, coils, and wires are all new within the last 7k miles. I'll have to check the plugs though just to make sure they're not fouled.

Gonna do more troubleshooting today to try and narrow it down.

 

Another thing that I've noticed, It's not just pushing it that causes the missfire, it's particularly after about 40% throttle. If I accelerate under that, I can get up to about 6-8k rpm (depending on the gear) without any issues, but the moment I go past 40% ~~ it causes it so bad that it feels like my whole engine just chokes. (Sorry RIWWP for putting my posts in with blckninja's we are both here from the mn club and are sharing what seems to be the same issues, so we can trouble shoot together somewhat)

 

Tried everything in the kit i rented from orielys and nothing could work so i'll have to find the proper connector. In the meantime, is there anything else that could be causing this issue that I can look for? Or would it be pointless as it is most likely low fuel pressure?

 

My friend had one doing similar to what you described it was his fuel pump 10 years it had seen it's better days.

Posted From RX8Club.com Android App

 

It may be for Blkninja, but in my case got my fuel pump replaced with a new oem one roughly 3k ago. So I HIGHLY doubt it's my fuel pump. I am however bringing it in Tuesday for a full checkup.

 

A few things come to mind 1 dirty MAF. 2 dirty ESS. 3 ECU was not correctly cleared after new engine. 4 bad CAT.

 

Update on my end. Turns out 3 of my 4 coils went bad (With 6k miles on them... v.v , and in turn fucked over 3 of my spark plugs) Still get a bit of an uneven idle, sits at about 850 steady then will drop to 800 for a second and go back to 850, otherwise everything perfect. Hope you get it fixed up blckninja.

 

With 3 bad coils I'd check the CAT it could have been damiged and a damiged CAT can kill your engine.

 

At this point I suggest you upgrade,if your budget allows, to the BHR coils and wires, along with new plugs.