My car has sat for 14 months in my garage while I was living on the East coast for a year..... I changed the battery and by miracle my Rx-8 started right up. I definitely still need to take my Rx-8 in for an oil change and perhaps tune up a (does it need it?)

To make a long story short whenever it sits 15 minutes or longer it takes a good 15-20 seconds of cranking to get started.

Obviously it needs to be taken in for service. However any idea what the issue can be? Also anything I should have done right away? RX-8 is an '09 and has 15k miles only--- runs like a kitten except for the starting issue.

Also debating on taking the car to a dealer vs a Mazda specialist garage.....anyone have any experience/ thoughts on this? Would you advise taking it to a dealer only since it is a sports car. I hate dealers but if the forum thinks its wise to take it there it maybe the best decision.

Thanks for everyone's help.

 

I would avoid the dealer if you have another place that knows rotaries, unless it's a warranty issue. It could be a few things. I would say it could probably use a tune up, how long since the last one? May be the ignition system, compression... maybe even just stale gas. Check Engine Light on? Any smoke or misfiring when it finaly starts?

 

I'd take it to the dealer, considering there may be warranty issues and you have a car that is still worth a lot of money. If you want to check, pull the plugs and take a look; they may tell a story. I'm assuming you have fresh gas in it now (?).

Unfortunately, my guess is that the sitting allowed the apex seals to rust or to have been stuck to the chamber wall when first started. Not starting when cold, but starting easily when hot is a classic low compression symptom.

 

I think you've got that backwards. And yeah definitely dealer if it's still under warranty

 

Crap, you're right, total brain fart! Thanks for correcting.

 

Happens to everybody!