pleasedontblowup

Hi, long time lurker, first time poster here. Having some engine issues so I thought I'd come here for help. I have an '04 6-speed with about 74,000 miles on it. It's bone stock, but I recently had a new battery and BHR ignition coils put in.

So, my check engine light has been on for about a week. It's been coming on and off for a few months now but whenever I get it checked it's just been the gas cap. This time, though, the engine has felt sluggish and the way it smells, I'm sure it's running rich (so it's maybe some kind of limp mode?).

This morning, I was pulling out of a tollbooth and figured I'd stomp on it to see how it felt. In 3rd gear, it started to really feel slow around 5-6k rpm, just wasn't pulling much at all, and then at 7500rpm it suddenly broke free and pulled hard as hell to redline. Then I looked behind me and at the same time, there was a huge cloud of smoke that had come out of the exhaust.

I was wondering - does anyone know what this could be? I did a search but couldn't find my combination of symptoms. Was it a big carbon deposit getting pulverized or something? It reminded me of what it looks like in the videos of people using those formulas to de-carbon their engines. Anyway, I am having a compression test done soon. I am still under the 8 year extended warranty so I will get a new engine if it fails (right?) and I'll probably sell the car in that case.

Thanks for your help!

pleasedontblowup

Also - I couldn't really tell what color the smoke was as it happened pretty quickly, but it did look more dark than light to me.

Loki

iTrader: (1)

So is the check engine light on now? How does it drive since then? Could be your catalytic converter failed catastrophically, that's all I can think of based on the description.

pleasedontblowup

Yeah the CEL has been on the whole time. It seems to be much less sluggish but I still don't think it's at full power...

tza0001

iTrader: (2)

How about getting the code read for your CEL??????? You have a car that does not perform right with a CEL on and you keep driving it and pushing it. I do not really understand the logic here.

HexRX

The rich smell, did you ground the BHR kit correctly?
That could be the root of a lot of your issues, I have noticed that electrical issues seem to be exaggerated in regards to the rx8.

pleasedontblowup

Well like I said, it's happened a few times recently and just been the gas cap every time and gone away after a few days, so I ignored the CEL this time. I have plans to go get it read this evening now that I think it's a bigger issue.

How do I check if the ignition kit was grounded properly?

xexok

Are you sure you are still under the 8 year warranty? Most if not all 04s are out of it unless it was one that sat on the lot forever before it was bought.

Did the coils come with any instructions at all? Look at those and see what it says to do about grounding it and check to see if it was done.

pleasedontblowup

Yeah, mine had sat on the lot forever, plus it was built after that factory fire they had. I bought it in April '05 and got quite a nice deal on it.

The coils did come with instructions, but I gave them to the tech who installed them, and did not see them after that... I'm sure I can look it up online though.

xexok

If you check around the forums I'm sure someone has explained about the ground, or you could just email charles at BHR and ask him.

That is good news, I am glad you are still in warranty. Hopefully you either have a really strong engine or its dead and you can get a new one. Make sure you get the test done properly(warm engine) and you get the results given to you on a piece of paper.

pleasedontblowup

Thanks, will do. I hear fair price for it is around $120 or $130, right?

xexok

Around there yes. Charges seem to be anywhere from there to $200 but I wouldn't want to pay more than maybe $150.