(help) fire sparks came from the exhaust then engine shut off
 

Good day all.. :crying:

I have a 2004 RX8, 6 speed manual gear with a stock engine. So far only install megan racing exhaust, HKS Superfire plugs, HKS filter and Pivot Throttle controller. Engine in well maintained condition..

This morning I warm up the engine for 5 minutes in 15 degree celsius of winter climate then I start to go for work. After going around 2km suddenly the engine goes off by himself when I stop for signal. Then after i start it again it made a strange noise and engine start to vibrate, feels like something choking and about to explode. I force the engine to keep running coz I'm about to climb a bridge, I though at least I can pass that bridge and stop in the roadside after passed it or else big traffic jamm will happened coz of my RX8. The car start to loosing power and the engine almost shut off when I shift down the gear to gain power then I saw a firesparks came out from the exhaust spreading all over the road just like somebody does a welding/hotworks inside my exhaust. I stop the car then the engine goes off, I try to start but it wont comes. :crying:

Two weeks before the incident I start to smell a fresh gasoline came from the engine bay everytime the car running fast in high rpm, but the smell gone when I drive slow or when the car only parking/idle. I check the engine bay, fuel rails and fuel tanks all dry, no symptoms of leakage, then I ignore it even the smell still strong like we are sitting next to a petrol station pump. :crying:

One week ago the car start to choking sometimes when we are accelerating. Feels like it having a dirty gasoline or feels like it has a rev limiter. So when it reach particular RPM it will cut off, but it happen in the range of 4000-8000rpm only and not everytime.. :crying:

This morning that "firesparks" incident happened and I really sad :crying: I wonderning what happened with my RX8 though I never missed the service..

Can anyone advice me what happened with my engine? Why there's a firesparks came and then the engine suddenly shut off? :crying:

Do you have a check engine light on?

Check your cat.

Why did you drive the car for some days while it was acting up?
The sparks were probably catalytic converter pieces, or engine parts lol.
Check the cat, do a compression test etc etc etc.

Hopefully.........meow.............if not, then it's really bad news!

Sounds like you were spitting CAT bits :)

the engine trouble is what happens when you lose a couple coils. when they dont work the unburned fuel has to go somewhere. it goes to the CAT. the sparks etc out the exhaust are what happens when the CT eats it self burning off that fuel

Yes.. It's blinking several times and it stay on till now.. And engine can't start..

For some cases of misfiring/cats problem the car can still run even the engine running very slow or vibrating or making some weird noise. But in my case the engine totally shut down on that time till now.. I believe cats problem will not make my car totally dead a.k.a can't be started..

Do you have any idea what happened with my engine? I'm sure the rotor is not jammed coz when I try to start it's still rotate normal but never turn on.. What part should I check first to know the problem of my car?

If the cats has no problem then which parts should I check?

check and if needed replace ignition coils. then check and if needed replace spark plugs.

have you even bothered to do as others have suggested, by actually checking the cat?

If you ran your engine for too long with a clogged cat, then you probably have other issues to deal with now....

plugs/coils/compression

I use the stock cats when the incident happened, will try to replace with the high flow cats which I get together when i bought the megan racing exhaust and also replace the plugs with the stock. If still doesn't work then I guess coils need to change also.. Thanks for the advice soldier, will try and let you know in due course..

Generally, you want to replace ALL plugs and coils at the same time. So, I would also suggest that you buy a tool to test the spark plugs and coils.

Hi guys,

I have check my coil one by one and do some test. For the front rotor both coil are dead, for the back rotor leading coil was good but for the trailing was almost die (very small power). Have tested the CAT and replace with a new Hi Flow CAT by Megan Racing, awaiting for the new coil arrived. Hope everything will be fine.. But really I'm curious why the engine suddenly shut off even the ignition for the back rotor still working?

Because it finally got to a point where the ECU couldn't make it run because it had been neglected for so long.

/\this/\ It needs 4 coils + 4 sparkplugs to work properly, not 1ish coils and dead plugs. Replace your coils and plugs bro. :icon_tdow