I have a 2005 that for various reasons my mother ended up driving for the majority of the past 6 or so years. It had the engine replaced at around 50,000 miles, and the car now has around 98,000 miles on it (so the engine has around 48,000).

Recently, I tried to start the engine and it just died. I tried some of the flooding tricks but it still wouldn't start so I had it towed into a local garage. There they cleaned the flooded compartment and the spark plugs, but it still didn't start. They checked the compression and it was only at 75 psi. According to them the car needs at least around 90 psi to start, and has 120 psi when brand new. They are saying that I need a new engine.

So, my question is: do I? And if I do, and decide that its not worth the cost of parts and labor, what can I do with a non-working RX-8? They say they have a mechanic who has decent experience with a rotary engine, but I would like a second opinion.

I had heard that if I place transmission fluid in the spark plug tubes, fire the engine, and then put in new spark plugs that it might fix the issue. Does that even sound reasonable?

If you need any more information, then please just let me know. Not really sure what is relevant...

And thanks for any advice and help that y'all can offer.

 

If its been flooded compression test is meaningless until the engine is deflooded properly.

If it is a MT the easy way is to pull/push start it

 

What was the rpm the test was done at, just saying 75 psi means nothing without the rpm it was achieved at.

If your engine is dead, it is dead and nothing well really bring it back. You could try seafoam or the mazda equivalent, some people get some compression back after that but don't expect miracles.