I've been reading about flooding for quite some time and it appears that most members are of the opinion that it's due to our own failure to respect the cold start/park procedure and anyone who floods is usually at fault. I'm starting to feel very lonely here as I've owned 2 RX7 for over 12 yrs without issues and have my 04 mt 8 since Aug 06 and I'm already on my 3rd winter flood. I've respected all precautions and still.... Last winter - twice at -18C and -20C, this Xmas eve at -1C. All 3 times it happened in the morning after a 45 min. drive home from work the night before. For me this is a major defect that is totally unacceptable. I use the 8 in constant fear of no start during winter and don't even dare to entertain using my remote start. Granted that some have found success in de-flooding by removing plugs etc. Hell, the garrage charged me for 2 hrs everytime to deflood which technically makes it a major procedure. I've only tried the standard procedure as well as the fuel pump fuse removal without success but nothing more. I don't have a problem if the car floods. My 7's have flooded and I've mannaged to start them within minutes. I do however have a problem with the flood requiring me to tow to a garage or go thru procedures involving spark plug removal or oild draining etc. In my opinion this is not acceptable for a car built today.

Why is Mazda not taking ownership if this defficiency? They paid for my 1st before the recall flash. Refused my second but eventually paid and told it would be my last now that they told me how to deflood it. They now refused the last claim citing that the 8 is a special car and require special attention and will only send me a sticker for my manual on how to deal with a crank-no start situation.

Where is all this spelt out in any brochure that one can read before prurchase? Anyway, I've threatened to take them to small claims court and eventhough it's going to be a pain and a wast of my time, I'm thinking of going thru with it. According to the CAA guy who towed my car, he is still towing flooded 8s on a regular basis. If this is true, I'm asking you guys why are we taking this sitting down and if possible please confirm? If it's also true that 05 and up have less or no problem flooding then this would imply that the older 8s does have a design issue that Mazda should owe up to. Looks like if I'm going to go thru with this I'd need to collect some data to back it up. Anything you guys can steer my way would be appreciated.

 

No problem starting here. In fact it starts real fast too. Then again I've an 06 and live in Vancouver.

 

I have an 06 and I've had no issues with flooding. This is my second winter now...and only once in extreme cold did I have to crank it twice to get her started.

 

Ditto.....

No issues here in Montreal starting her up. I do make sure she is warmed up before I turn the car off though.

 

i've got an 04 with no problems.
look at the battery & starter~

 

I have an 04 and have never had a flooding problem. (knock on wood)

 

So far I'm still a loner in all this! Come on guys, there has to be someone out there who

a) never park there car before it's warmend up
b) never accidently touch the gas pedal
c) always rev to 3000 rpm or more when shutting down

(did i miss anything?) and still have flood issues?? Granted, it's only once or twice a year but hell, this can only get worst as the car age. As for battery and starter, they didn't change it at last year's recall supposedly because cars sold in Canada already have the upgraded starter and larger capacity battery. Let me know if this is not true as I have little faith in my dealer when it comes to warranty. Whether I take them to court or not, I guess I better look into doing all the upgrades that I read about the coils and maybe an aftermarket block heater (since Mazda doesn't make one for the 8). Still think they should be paying for all this....

 

Mine's an 04 as well, I use it but don't abuse it and have never flooded it.

 

Well.. I've never flooded the car myself. Owned a 04 since day one and it used to be my daily driver untill 2006...

Both times when my car was flooded were when they were in the shop and they weren't familiar with the Rotaries that's why they flooded it...

G/L with the car dude.. hope everything works out for u!!

 

Are you sure you have the updated starter? When I updated mine, the difference was very obvious. The updated starter cranks much more vigorously than the original one. The hotter plugs also make a difference. I'm on the colder plugs this winter and starting is definitely more laborious than the hot plugs.

If you've flooded the cars three times already then obviously something is not right.

 

I have an 05 that I use and abuse everyday, at least 150km/day. I flooded it once, on a very short 10second trip around the driveway in -15 weather.

 

your battery/starter could just be going bad - even if you have the updated ones.
if you have a few years on the battery it might be worth replacing anyway.

mine only starts slowly in extreme cold, or if i shut it down real hot and try to start it within the next minute or so afterwards. (i've got the bigger battery and i think the original starter...)

what do you mean by 'b'?

also if you're in extreme cold a block warmer and a battery warmer could be significant. <- see specific threads about this (steathTl i think discussed it well)

 

04 with updates, my battery gets too weak yo start the car if it sits a more than a few days. Floode once when I had the car a few months, washed it and put it in the garage without revving or warming up.

 

06, 2 winters (a few bitter weeks) and she fired first time every time. Well used in those 2 years, not abused, only issue i have is when its fully warm and i'm doing short trips (home to errands fully warmed, and short trips after fully warmed) it will take a few seconds to turn over. I started revving to 3K when i know i'm going to be right back and the next run will be only a few km, and i have had no 'harder starts' since.

I would still complain about the starter/battery. If you're doing everything right, which it sounds like you are, something is wrong.

 

Still feeling pretty lonely here.....
So it appears that no one has this problem and when they do, it's always attributed to negligence i.e. not letting her warm up enough before shutdown. I'm under warranty so I guess I'll have the dealer check the starter and replace it at Mazda's cost if necc. As for the battery, they can check and I'll replace it at my own cost. Mind you, you'd figure for $250 they would have checked these two obvious items when they tried to start it 2 months ago.

As for the block heater, I thought since Mazda doesn't make one for the 8 that if you install one yourself like some have done it may void my warranty. I certainly would like to help things out by installing that at least. As for the coil upgrade, this should also be done I guess but preferably at Mazda's expense.

OK, one other potential cause just came to mind and it's one that could blow my claim with Mazda out of the water I'm sure. Hope they don't read this. Actually, If I can confirm it with some certainty, I'd abandon the small claims route. I strongly beleive that the Boomerang system that the insurance company forced me to install may be the cause. These guys have a hefty appetite for power and can drain your battery if it sits idle for too long. I can't recall the first 2 floods but the one at Xmas was after one day of no use. It was also extremely warm compare to the other 2 (0-1C) so I'm not so sure. For conditions at -20c, I'm sure a 3 day idle period will cause the battery to drop well below levels required to start. If you consider that the cold alone can drop battery efficiency to say 60%, a 3 -day draw can lower it further to 30% easily.Having said all this, I don't recall the cranking power to be so much weaker than normal at -20C and also just realized as I write that this is NOT only about a no start situation. It's MORE the fact that once flooded, we can't de-flood and get started like all the other cars out there. Maybe I'll have to take them to court afterall.....

 

There's a de-flooding procedure in the manual... I'm sure it works
https://www.rx8club.com/rx-8-discussion-3/yay-deflooded-8-all-myself-136789/

 

late 05...had issues with cranking from day 1...after recall was done it was better, but still somewhat slow cranks. Never flooded. Drive it nearly daily in the winter. Even started in -40 weather, slowly...

I never rev it to 3000 before shutting off. I also do a few short trips now and then, shut off while engine was not fully warm and no probs.

You might want to check this out...
http://www.hi-impact.org/ryang/modif...8_battery.html

 

Thanks, but trust me, the chance of it working is pretty slim and most likely only when the tempurature is balmy. In extreme cold and a resulting lower capacity battery, it fails miserably even when you boost. It seem to be more difficult the more you try. Even after an overnight charge. I have the feeling that it's dependent on how flooded it is and once it's reach the critical level there is no turning back and only spark plug removal, oil draining will solve it. That the only explanation I can think of as to why the dealer has to spend hours on it everytime...or so they claim.