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Series II Technical and Trouble shooting Discuss technical details for the Series II RX-8 and any issues or problems you are facing

Problems starting, help needed asap.

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Old 12-26-2012, 05:39 PM
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Problems starting, help needed asap.

I parked my 09 r3 for about a week and a half while i was on a family vacation. at the time i made sure it had a full tank of gas just for good measure. i should have put a battery tender on it but didnt think of it for some reason. it sat in a dry garage. last night i uncovered it and attempted to start it. it cranked good but wont actually start. i tried this multiple times. nothing. i tried jumping it, and while it cranked better and harder still wont turn over. so i put a charger on it and left it until i got home from work a while before posting this. she cranks good but still wont turn over. ive already got an optima yellow top on order and will have it tomorrow but at this point i dont believe the problem is with the battery anymore. like ive told my dad to elaborate, IT'S NOT COMPLETELY DEAD, EVERYTHING LIGHTS UP AS IF THE CAR IS FINE, SHE CRANKS GOOD AND JUST WILL NOT TURN OVER. i dont know what else it could be. when ive got more daylight and more people around ill probably try pushing it in second gear and popping the clutch, but i doubt thatll work. help or advice or anything at this point would be appreciated.
Old 12-26-2012, 05:54 PM
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Cranking and cranking and cranking isn't going to do ****. If the engine turns over but it won't start, no alternate method of trying to start it will work either.

My grandfather used to say: a car will run with the wrong amount of gas, and it will run with the wrong amount of air, but it won't run without a spark. Since you have four ignition coils (one per sparkplug), it seems unlikely that there's no spark, but you only have one fuel pump, so that's what I'd check first. Can you hear the fuel pump running when you turn the ignition on?
Old 12-26-2012, 06:00 PM
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Yep, keep it simple. Air, fuel, and fire It sounds flooded. Pushing starting it is a good idea if it's not too much of a PIA.
Old 12-26-2012, 06:08 PM
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S2's supposedly are really hard to flood, though.

As long as he has access to jumper cables, and therefore he won't risk overworking his battery, it might be easier to air-out the engine by holding the gas pedal to the floor while cranking the engine, which shuts off the fuel injectors. However, listening for the fuel pump and checking the fuel pump fuse is easy to do, so he might as well check that first.
Old 12-26-2012, 06:10 PM
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complete NoOb question, but how would i go about checking the fuel pump? im still learning and figuring the car out so be gentle please.
Old 12-26-2012, 07:19 PM
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Turn the key to "On" and have someone listen under the back of the car to hear if a whirring sound starts up. Alternately, install an inline fuel pressure gauge on the fuel supply hose, but that's a bit too involved for this problem.
Old 12-26-2012, 07:51 PM
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so ive been tinkering with her some more. i found de-flooding procedures and attemted that. it was cranking hard and wanted to come to life, eventually she sputtered and some revs came up then i let go of the key and tried feathering the gas and build some revs and it died. im letting the alternator cool for a bit before i give it another shot. may have just been badly flooded. hopefully thats all.
Old 12-27-2012, 03:50 AM
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Got her going. Just really flooded. Apon starting, a plume a white smoke came out of the exhaust pipes. Let her warm up then went for a spin and she ran and restarted as if nothing was wrong. Glad that'd all was wrong. Still getting my new optima battery tonight and installed and shell be good. Thanks for the replies and help. Without the forum I wouldn't have thought of her being flooded.
Old 12-27-2012, 04:10 AM
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A lesson, NEVER start any Rotary or any car for that matter with a weak battery...alarm and or immobilizer would have drained battery...charge it first.
Old 12-27-2012, 08:24 AM
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Still don't get how it got flooded in the first place if you just drove it home and parked it. Should have started normally
Old 01-02-2013, 10:44 AM
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Most of the flooding was caused by the failed starting. The choke is turned on during cold starts, which basically means the combustion chambers are soaked with gasoline.

It's worth looking into the condition of the ignition system to see if it might be failing to spark when cold.
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