npeblanche

I know flooding issues have been repeatedly covered here. So here's my deal. The battery is new last year. It won't start in -10 Celsius or 14 Fahrenheit. Just cranks until it starts for a second or two. It will rev to 2000 or so and stall out, obviously flooding the engine. I clear the flood and start over this process. I don't want to take it to Mazda and get raped cause its flooded. Is this a starter thing, battery, alternator??

paimon.soror

iTrader: (15)

need farrrrr more information:

Year of car
Miles on car
maintenance schedule
age of coils
age of spark plugs

just to name a few

Emery_

iTrader: (8)

Change your plugs, wires, and coils if they're due.... If they're fairly new or don't have much mileage make sure you visually inspect everything and that everything is on correctly. Also yes if you have the old starter it could be that too...

wcs

iTrader: (2)

^^^^ This for sure

And this (like mentioned depends on year)

Might as well throw the Fuel Pump in the mix as well

You need to provide more info please

npeblanche

2005
94000km/58400mi
I follow the regular maintenance schedule for Mazda
Coils...unknown
Plugs - this past summer.

I spoke to Mazda they said if its a compression issue I may be out of luck because of the year as well. Should I get it running and get rid of her? I don't want to do that by the way.

npeblanche

I'm sure it's the old starter. I have extended warranty that covers the starter but will a garbage starter just be put back in?

04Green

iTrader: (1)

If you do not know the age of the coils, change them. Miles and age are their enemy.

It may be something else as well, the start, run, go to 2K then shut off is odd. Has the MAF been cleaned recently?

wcs

iTrader: (2)

The upgraded starter is awesome!
Really a big difference from the one that was sold with a 2005

npeblanche

Sorry. What's the MAF

npeblanche

Is the upgraded starter something Mazda deals with or is it aftermarket?

wcs

iTrader: (2)

Mazda ..

McKennaR

iTrader: (1)

Mass Air Flow sensor.

https://www.rx8club.com/do-yourself-...ean-maf-94872/

^^^ instructions on how to clean it.

That revving to 2k then stalling issue sounds vaguely MAF related.

I'd also try the "20 brake stomp" as well as the other tips documented below:

https://www.rx8club.com/trouble-shoo...n-idle-200178/

There are a few other things it could be, too... fuel pressure, throttle plate not actuating properly, etc. Perform the steps above (try not to freeze to death doing it), then report back here with the results.

Best of luck

Ryan

McKennaR

iTrader: (1)

Also, clean your grounds, check fuel pump function (along with fuel pressure as suggested above) and clean your fuel pump "sock", if you have the ability to do so, as those can lead to what you're experiencing as well.

8 Maniac

iTrader: (1)

Have you tried giving it a little throttle when it starts? I'm just curious if you can get it to stay running at all. If you can keep it running with a little throttle and it dies without throttle, I'm guessing it's not a starter issue.

Whether or not it's related to the problems you're having, it would be good to replace the coils. You might also want to replace the plugs at the same time.

npeblanche

I actually have tried the throttle. It makes it stall out quicker than not. So If she does start up I just kinda sit there not breathing hoping it will work.

The thing is I had this problem last week as well. On Friday I got the oil changed and it took a while to start up. I drive it for an hour or so in lower than normal gears to keep the rpms up. Sure thing Saturday, when I really needed the car, she **** the bed.

Wolfe

iTrader: (1)

I read "whats the MAF" and just started yelling NOOOOO! my roomates think im crazy.. But yea, this is all good advice. But remember, if you dont feel comfortable doing these types of things, bring it to a good mazda dealer and find out how much it would be roughly to get the work done. Sometimes its cheaper to bring your own parts etc.

npeblanche

Ok. So I have been able to deflood the thing a few times now. Without pulling the plugs. I'm going to pull them tonight and clean them. I want to have it not flooded at least when I take it to Mazda. I've heard how that goes financially. I have been able to get it going a few times and its good for a few days, and then were right back to where I started. I tried the 20 brake pumps. No dice, but when I do get it started I will do that again to reset everything.

Kab3

I have been experencing intermittant starting for past 6 months, flooding vehicle...Took to Mazda dealer for compression test...of course #1 rotor low compression. Car has 50k and 2004.. Dealer states 4k to replace reman short block..Not warranty...Car is past 8 year extend warranty from Mazda.Called Mazda North America for assistance...They will not help at all. Even thou it is their manufactuar defect with the Apex seals. Way to stand behind your Product!

npeblanche

So a big eff you eh? Sorry about that bro

Bladecutter

You had 8 years worth of engine coverage to get the car fixed, and you didn't.
3 additional years past the end of the power train warranty.

And you're mad at Mazda, why?
Because you couldn't bring your car in sometime in the past 6 months before the coverage had run out? I bet your car was within warranty sometime in the past 6 months, when you first started having trouble.

The fault is yours, not Mazda's.

BC.

Kab3

Bladecutter, I appreciate your insight...However let me give you a few more facts....I purchased the car Feb 09 with 16k on it...Bought an aftermarket warranty for two years...Had many issues...all of which Mazda has printed service Bulletins..Car original delivery date was 08-2003....I have had car for almost 4 years..Did not have ANY sypmtoms until 6 months ago..My point is that issue is Manufacturer defect...="shortcoming, fault, imperfection in a machine"..car has 50 k on it....Do I throw it away? Engines in this day and age should last longer! I asked Mazda for assistance, they do not stand behind their product. I will never buy a Mazda again! by the way I work for a dealer...We stand behind our Manufactuar Defects... If it wasnt for their DEFECT....people would not be having these issues...I did nothing wrong in making the Apex seals go bad! they were Bad to begin with...My car is worth 6500-8000... and it is in excellent condition... And if I do decide to get engine replaced should I expect 50 k?

RIWWP

iTrader: (2)

No car is truly warrantied forever. They actually did stand behind the rotary when they extended the warranty from 5yrs 60,000 miles to 8yrs 100,000 miles. They did that entirely voluntary. They didn't have to, they chose to do so. They actually stand behind it quite well. They just also have no obligation to KEEP extending the warranty.

Typically, people talking about a "defect" in the apex seals don't really understand why the engines fail when they do. Every single last engine will fail at some point. Every single one. Rotaries simply wear out faster than piston engines. Trying to compare piston engine life to rotary engine life is fundamentally flawed. You wouldn't compare a piston engine lifespan with a jet engine life span, would you? Different design.

Do you know what the "X" stands for in "RX"? It stands for "experimental". This is an engine with only 40 years of development by 1 single company, and is on it's ... 5th(?) production design iteration. How many combined thousands of iterations has the piston engine gone through across dozens of companies across more than a hundred years?

If you aren't prepared to deal with the flaws of an experimental engine, you shouldn't really be making large financial expenditures to obtain one.

McKennaR

iTrader: (1)

Look at the history of piston engine'd cars.

As RIWWP said above, this thing is only at 40 years or so of dev time.

When piston engine'd cars were at 40 years of development, do you think they were regularly passing 100k miles? Most cars in the 1930's - 1940's weren't even making over 100hp from their 8 cylinder powerplants that had to be re-sleeved every 20,000 miles.

Plus, and man I'm going to get flamed for this, all of my piston engine'd cars require a $1200+ service every 70k - 100k miles. It's called a timing belt. At 170k on my 1997 Honda Accord I've already done about $2400 worth of work to the engine... 2 timing belts, a head gasket, valve cover gaskets, oil pans (they like to rust through), 2 rear main seals, 2 PCV services blah blah blah. And that thing is boring as hell.

On my Subarus, every 100k I have to replace timing belt, head gaskets and the turbo. As a matter of routine maintenance. In fact, if I weren't handy with a spanner, I'd have paid over $5000 at the 100k service for both of my Subaru's (that's $5000 each... timing belt, water pump, thermostat, head gaskets, valve cover gaskets, and a turbo). That's the price I'm willing to pay for 250hp in a 3300lb AWD station wagon. It's not for everybody.

In the RX8 at 100k, you probably have done the same $$ amount worth of work to the car, just replacing engines every 100k or so for (if you can do it yourself) $1500. Go another 100k, replace the engine with a rebuilt unit for another $1500. In my opinion, this is a VERY SMALL PRICE TO PAY for the **** eating grin I get on my face every time I wind it through the gears.

There's a quote that's been around forever that I like very much. "Fast, cheap, or good... you can only have two."

Now enjoy your fast and good RX8, it isn't going to be cheap.

8 Maniac

iTrader: (1)

To be fair, I think it's still a reasonable comparison because they are used for similar applications. If you're looking to buy a car, drivetrain aspects such as reliability, performance and economy are all factors that could be compared and will be relevant to the car. It's definitely unreasonable to expect the exact same thing, but I can understand why people would question a relatively short period of reliability in a production automobile.

Sorry, but you don't know much about warranties or even the issues you've had. A dealer or automotive company has absolutely no obligation to perform warranty work on a car after it has exceeded the warranty period. If you think you're going to find a company that will do that, then good luck. I hope you have good connections. You've already had an automatically extended warranty that goes well beyond what many other brands offer.

As for your "manufacturer defect": Do you know what role the apex seals serve? Do you know what caused them to fail? Chances are the seals would have failed earlier if there had been a manufacturer defect with the seals. Various conditions will cause more stress on the seals which can result in apex seal failure, but that doesn't mean the seals were a manufacturer defect.