I was just reading through some of the "Cold-Shutdown/Flooding" threads and thought... "You know, a turbo timer would handle this problem nicely"

I know it could be considered "ricey"... especially since we don't even have turbos (most of us, anyway), but it really could be a good preventative measure, specifically for those that have had more than one occurance.

Just thinking out loud.


I appologize in advance if this has been discussed. I did a few searches, and didn't dig anything up. Feel free to flame me if this has been discussed to death :D

 

Yep- been discussed several times. Not really necessary unless you simply can't remember to let it warm up...

 

It's a good idea, but I think the majority of flooding occurs when people move it in their driveways and just forget. After the first time you flood it, hopefully you don't forget.

 

What did you search for? I just did a search for "turbo timer flooding", and pulled 19 threads - 8 of them have timer and flooding directly in the subject line!!! "turbo timer" by itself gets 77 hits, including the 8 with the directly relevant subject line. I call BS on your claim to have searched! :p

Regards,
Gordon

 

Gord, don't be so hard on him, it wasn't that bad... :-P

 

Just rev to 5000 RPM and shut off the ignition. I've been doing this since I bought the car when I just have to move it out of the garage and NEVER had a flooding problem.

 

I did a search for "turbo timer" and got the noted 70+ hits. I then proceeded to look through about 20 of them without finding anything specifically about this application.

Anyway. I figured it had been bounced around, but just in case it wasn't.

Thanks for the prompt and restrained replies.


Dave

 

I live in Fairbanks, AK, where it is regularly well below 0 degrees F in the winter. The only time I have had a problem starting is when it went below -40 F. Then it was frozen solid, had to be towed to a garage and thawed out. But a standard block heater cannot be fitted to the engine of the RX8, trust me I had mine winterized as much as possible.

 

what do you do with all of those igloos then?

 

O-Town-Racer,
Do you.....
A) 'burp it' to 5000 rpm and shut off when you hit 5000
B) Hold the rpm at 5000 (i.e. foot on gas) and shut off while holding.
C) Rev to 5000, foot off gas, come down to idle and shut off
I'd guess you are doing "A", because B & C would leave some unwanted fuel lying around.

 

Just out of curiosity, is there some kind of magic number in the rpm burp, or is it just an arbitrary RPM as long as the engine is sufficiently warmed up or, somehow, as long as we know that the excess oil/fuel is burned in the combustion chamber?

I ask because I think the manual says to rev to 3000 rpms, my dealer told me 4000 rpms, and now everyone in this thread is saying 5000 rpms.

Just for clarification, I drive the auto 8 (so perhaps 3000 rpm :5000 rpm::auto:manual, in SAT-speak) and I've never flooded my engine.

 

Hi, I didn't look to see if this was a repost..but I turned my 8 on and then it idled for a second...then shut off. it did this twice..is there a problem?

 

what was the temp out side? was the car outside? how much fuel did you have in the tank. at or mt? where do you live?... i could ask alot more questions but i would prefer if you would provide a little more info first.

 

bump

 

Mark, I rev it to 3000 and shut it off immediately. I've seen some people post about revving to 3000 and holding it there for ten seconds before killing the ignition. That's madness, racing a cold engine. All you want to do is expel unburnt fuel from the combustion chambers so the fuel doesn't wash the oil off the chamber walls and kill the compression, which in turn kills the next start attempt. Revving to 3k and immediately killing the spark does the job.

Gomez.

 

I personally rev to between 3k and 4k for just a couple seconds, and kill the ignition... but just when I have only driven a short distance and haven't allowed it to warm up completely. I've never had a flooding problem...

 

For what it's worth, here's Mazda N.A's official position on the subject......although the "F" word is not mentioned anywhere on the document!!!!

Gomez.

 

Gomez:


Where can one get that mini tri-fold info card? I asked my dealer and they have no clue....

 

I emailed Mazda from www.mazdausa.com and they mailed me one.

 

Here's the other half for ya.....

 

I got one in along with my keys and manual when I bought my 8 (this was Nov 03)... I think it was an addendum to the dealer delivery checklist.

 

Thanks guys. I will email Mazda USA. What is the name of the card? RX-8 tips?

 

"Let idle for 5 minutes"... I've never understood this- if you have time to let it idle for 5 minutes, don't you have 2 minutes to drive it around the block and bring it closer to operating temp? How lazy are people?

 

"Mazda RX-8 Driver's Guide" - 9999-92-RX8D3-04

 

Thanks RX8CITED!