tawheed

Hey all,

Bought my 8 from a fellow member almost a month ago now.. So far I'm extremely happy with the car, it's an '05 with 26k miles. All the pertinent flashes and recalls have been performed according to the paper work that came with the car...

I noticed this youtube video before I bought the car and have been following it to a certain extent.. Is this necessary / helpful or am I just spending an extra 15sec in my car on warm start and shutting the car off? I usually just leave it on the first start of the day as it automatically fast idles etc..

http://youtu.be/Plj4DW8rT2s

Also, I've noticed I intermittently get a small flat spot at around 4500rpm.. I keep the revs under 3000rpm until the car registers temperature about 1/3 of the way up the gauge.. After doing some quick searching it seems like this could be cat related? The car is still on the original plugs / coils etc..

Anyway, just kinda wanted to say "hey" and hope to get some guidance from all the knowledgable people out here..

Thanks!

VOODOO8

Had not seen that video before - interesting take on a much discussed set of procedures. I've owned two Mazda rotary vehicles and never followed anything like the starting procedure described. I do follow a slightly modified version of the shutdown procedure.

Regarding starting, I think one important item not discussed in the video is the external ambient temperature that the vehicle is being started in. Another is the internal temperature of the motor itself. For instance, I live in an area that can get quite cold in the winter - well below zero farenheit on some mornings and below freezing on many mornings. I woud never peg the revs into the 2K+ range immediately after starting under these conditions as the oil is still very cold and not flowing well nor has the engine had a chance to go through any heat expansion for critcial mating surfaces. Rather, I start the car without touching the accelerator peddle and let it fast idle on its own until the coolant temps get up to somewhere around 100F (I have an Ultraguage pod on my car so I can read coolant temps directly). For me, this is roughly when the OEM temp guage makes its first move off dead cold bottom of its range. Then I will start driving but will keep RPMs under 3K until the vehicle comes up to near standard operating temp. When starting the vehicle with a motor that has already been run up to normal operating temp and is still at or near this temp I would not waste fuel and time on revving the engine prior to driving - it is already at temp and the oil should be flowing to where it is needed already at proper volumes.

For shutdown, I will blip the throttle above the 3K range and then release the accelerator peddle. As the RPMs drop into the 1.5K RPMs range I will then turn off the ignition switch.

AngelKiha31

Huh... I guess i'm just horrible at procedure...

I've owned my 8 since 10000 miles, and I've had no mechanical problems (aside from shocks). I'm almost to 40k miles. I've also never had any flooding problems, even when i just start my car for 30 seconds to move it in the driveway.

My startup procedure, regardless of temp, is as follows:

Get in car. Turn key to On. Clutch, Neutral, Start, release Clutch. Wait for engine to lower RPM to 1300 (or less) or so, tap throttle. If RPM returns to 1300 (or less), drive. If it hovers above for any length of time, wait a few minutes, try again until RPM drop is proper, then drive. Until the car is warm (gauge reads where it always reads, about middle for me) I will not exceed 3300 RPM.

On cold mornings, the ECU will auto-warm your engine. It will idle at a varying RPM depending on the temperature. I've notice that until 0 farenheit, it seems to stay at about 2000 rpm. Below 0 degrees farenheit, it may or may not rev to 3000 or 3500 rpm, depending on the temp of the engine when started. The RPMs will drop as the ECU sees fit. You may also notice a few RPM valleys (RPM drops from 1500+ to 1000, then kicks back to 1500+). I can only guess these are tests to see if the engine is warm enough to handle loads.

If the engine is warm, it'll immediately be ready to drive, and will idle at about 850 RPM.

To shut down my car i do as follows:

Park. Neutral, E brake on, turn engine off.