Week old RX-8 is dead :(
 

So, I have had the car for only a week. Everything was fine except I knew I needed new ignition system due to the car sucking at cranking over; that is fine, I get 4 new plugs from AutoZone and had ordered 4 new coils to be mailed since no AutoZone carried them.

This morning my dad had went ahead and went to throw in the spark plugs before I got up, without him knowing even how to do it. After he realized he had to jack up the car, he went and moved my car since it was blocking in his truck.

An hour or so later I get up to go to work, it doesn't start. 1) I am super pissed off.. 2) I don't have time to check if it's flooding and to fix it.

So I try cranking it two or three times, give up and take my mom's car to work. I get home today, try it again following every DIY out there for how to fix a flooded engine - doesn't help.

I then pull it into my drive way (well push) and we do the spark plugs - omg were they not disgusting. We then try to do another deflooding - no help. I on occasion will feel it try to crank over, it just doesn't turn over.

I then go and see if the oil is low, maybe there is a sensor to cause it to not crank over because it is low? Well there is only a quarter left or so, so I decide to flush it out. I go out and buy a new 5qt of 5w30 and then a new oil filter.

We spend an hour or so letting it drain and it took us so long to get this, even worst then the stupid spark plugs, oil filter off. It was blacker than black. Then, the oil itself was, what my father said "the most disgusting oil I have ever seen in my life, it looks just like water even."

Either way, we fill it up with new oil - crank, crank, crank.. no help - go eat, come out, crank crank crank, nothing. I am hoping it is not flooded and something is BROKEN in the engine because I have a bumper to bumper extended warranty that covers drivetran and a bunch of other things; so if Mazda (fingers crossed) finds the engine broken, they will pay for a new engine and all that other expensive fun stuff; if it's flooded then I can be oh so happy to end up paying something around $400 for towing and the work Mazda does.

*sigh* if only people who didn't know how to operate a rotary engine didn't touch my car.

A) The level and quality of your oil shouldn't ever have any impact on your ability to start the car. If it does have an impact on starting, then you are far past critical damage levels.

B) It sounds like it's just heavily flooded, as you would expect from a short move and turn off while it has failing ignition. You won't get it to deflood if the ignition is still shot. You sweep the fuel out and it just keeps re-flooding because it can't produce a solid enough spark. Coils and wires to go along with those plugs. Once you have them, be patient and take your time with deflooding. A flood this bad could easily take more time than normal.

C) If you take a video of attempting to crank it, we can give a pretty good estimate of if your starter is spinning fast enough (in case it's the starter).

At least you have that warranty. I saw the thread and groaned to myself "two in one night that bought an 8 that died within a very short period of purchase".

If you don't already have compression scores from purchase, I'd go get them anyway. If it's low getting an engine under the warranty will be good. Checking now keeps them from trying to say it's your fault. 3rd party warranties often try to shift it back on you, so the sooner you do it, the better.

I don't think this is widely documented but if you squirt some seafoam into the two LIM vacuum ports that'll help to clear a heavy flood.

In those instances where I flooded the procedure right out of the manual ultimately was the way to go.

1. Hold the pedal at WOT, crank for 15-20 seconds.

2. Wait a minute, repeat.

3. Wait a minute, repeat.

4. Normal crank no throttle a couple times -- 15-20 seconds each. If it tries to fire and refloods (you'll know by the sound of the crank) start over at 1.

5. get it up to operating temp then go drive the piss out of it.

Also -- man sure are a lot of "I just bought my 8 and it died" posts lately. Seems all the 2004 non fanatics are dumping their 8 on account of the extended warranty expiring.

or try starting it by compression. Let your dad push the car (since he was the one who flooded it) and put it in second gear when you get a little speed. Let the clutch go and it should start up, dont let it die or it will flood again. It will run like crap in the beginning but once the engine is warm, drive it hard.

good luck, let us know.

+1 on going to get a compression test at the dealer. You might want to open a file with your nearest dealer. Keep your oil and filter receipts like the one you made today. You will need it if ever you need a new engine.

Cheers

Are all the plugs in the right place, and the wires in the right order? If you dad did the plugs without knowing how to do them, they could be in the wrong spot?

Could it be a dead battery? Do you hear a clicking noise while trying to start it?

If I read correctly, you have the plugs in, but not the coils right? I would verify the correct positions like ^^ as well as correct wires to the correct spots. Here is a diagram where you can work it out.

https://www.rx8club.com/trouble-shoo...-order-208027/

T/F is trailing front. Then install the coils as soon as they arrive.

And, you do not mention the age, but if it is an older one, the stuff behind the First $100 link in my signature will be useful. However, I would get it back to running before I started with modifications.

Good luck.

Mine was heavily flooded

Cranking with the plugs out. Disconnect ESS and pull fuel pump relay. I installed the upgraded starter which doubles cranking RPM.
Paper towel over the plug holes. Crank 10 seconds per minute until nothing comes out of the plug holes while cranking; This will take some time... Clean off the plugs.
Reconnect everything and fire it up.

Tow- start it.

Long cranking times probably aren't just because of a failing ignition system. Do a compression test and have fun.

Could there be a fuse or any other reason? One cold turn-off flood should NOT have me cranking for this long of 10 sets of no throttle cranking of 5 on 6 off then a minute or two break and back on it. I have done this a billion times and still nothing (note I am following the DIY and unplugged the Fuel fuse as well).

Now yes the plugs are in right THIS TIME. When we pulled them they were completely wrong, aka both trailing were in the "front" of the engine plug spots, and both leading were in the back.

I am going to try again for a bit, if not then I have to take it into a Mazda place I guess and see what happens. Also, they can't do a compression test while it is flooded, or can they?

Compression test while flooded could be false positive.

And yes the short move didn't flood it badly. All the failed attempts after that is what flooded it badly.

Yes, well I took out the spark plugs now, sitting out here cranking it a little at a time though what concerns me is it is blowing out a LOT of gas. I do have the air plug disconnected (wastes power?) and the fuel fuse out - any other steps?

Also, how will I know when it is "ready" for the fuel fuse back in, when it stops shooting out all of the gas?

Well, that will be the starting point. Still, be patient, don't rush and reflood.

i worked at a Mazda dealer from 2004-2008, and when these cars are flooded badly it can take an hour of cranking to get these to start.

the fuel on the housings/seals lowers compression, so its kind of like two bad things.

if you want it quick, either try a pull start, or put a little oil in the chambers and spin it by hand

I think I am going to give up trying to deflood it - it just seems I keep flooding it over and over again? even after I make sure that it is dry to the bone with plugs out and everything?

are you getting any spark at all? You should at least be hearing it start to fire every couple attempts.

It only "starts" to "rumble" aka fire I think after 20 on-off cranks while the fuel pump is disconnected. Then it automatically floods again. Sparks are new, don't have the coils or wires. I think something is more wrong, I have a video imma upload from youtube in a minute to show my problems.

It doesn't "sound" good when it cranks either, I think something else is wrong - lets just hope it's all covered under warranty, tomorrow morning we will find out.

video: http://youtu.be/nAHlMRbXjWs

You'll need to let it crank for far more than a couple seconds... Let your starter cool down between long cranks.

It took me over an hour once following the below procedure:

Since we know it's a manual ... do as others have suggested and just push/pull start it.

I have been "cranking" it for 10 reps of 4-5 seconds on, 6 seconds off. So you are saying I should do that, let it sit for couple minutes, then repeat? for an hour? I feel like my starter would just might as well fall off. Also, does that even sound good? (listen to the video)

EDIT: Also, I only did it a few times in that video, because I was cranking it for a while before that and I don't want to over do it.

4-5 seconds on should be 10-15 seconds on. Yeah it's a biatch on the starter.... be sure to let it cool down between attempts.

Hook everything back up.... do the deflood procedure from the manual.

foot down to the floor .. crank 15 seconds ... wait a couple minutes ... repeat 2-3 times ... foot off the accelerator and crank ... it should try to fire up... if it does then you know you're on the right track and it's only matter of more tries till it sufficiently clears.

You may also need to tap/massage the pedal a little while it's trying to start.

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or just go push/pull the damn thing.

I gotta ask since you got the plugs and coils from autozone what brand did you get? Possibility you got cheap junk plugs and coils.

https://www.rx8club.com/mazmart-88/r...-cheap-212806/

I got that tuneup kit and my baby runs like a champ.

EDIT: Also check you V.I.N. with you local mazda dealership and see whats been done service wise because there is service recalls for better flash programs for flooding issues, "etc."

OK, so after waiting for a while, I went out there to do what you said, it cranked over, started, then died =( what a tease.

Quick question, wth does WOT mean??

Also so it should be clutch + gas to the floor for the first 2-3 cranks, then do a normal crank?

Our coils are unique to my knowledge. If there are any knock-offs out there we haven't heard of them. The price difference is usually just markup, since even a 30% markup undercuts the dealers.

The plugs were NGK (the same OEM brand?) and the coils which I haven't got yet was Duralast? (OEM as well?)

I am also willing to bet mine was never done with a new flash - the previous owners didn't ever seem to know what they were doing to get this car to work like the beast it is. If i get it running I will take it to the mazda dealership and do a full inspection including another compression test when I drive it down to school today hopefully - we will see.