Hello...

I'm pretty upset that my flawless thus far RX-8 finally has an issue I can't fix without having to resort to you guys. (this is a good thing)

My car is a 2004 6spd with 50K miles.

Mods include BHR Ignition w/ new plugs (3 months ago), the Mazdaspeed cat-back exhaust and an AFE shifter.. thats it.

I went to go to work Monday morning (car was fine Sunday) and noticed at stoplights my idle was a little erratic and seemed to sputter at times. Definitely wasn't right. Attempted a 9K RPM pull and 1st gear seemed fine but at about 8K RPM in 2nd gear I hit what felt like fuel cut and my CEL blinked a few times and then came on steady.

This was the CEL was P0301: Cylinder 1 Misfire Detected...

Ok, back to the garage. 20 brake pedal stop and the reset using the Trip button. Cleaned MAF. No change.

Pulled all 4 plugs... . One was pretty black and the other 3 were just brownish. I cleaned them the best I could with MAF cleaner and reinstalled them. Re-seated the wires on the BHR coil end and on the plugs firmly.

Still get a misfire CEL and uneven idle.

Still trying to decide the easiest way to get to the ESS to clean it (although it was completely clean when i installed the BHR ignition kit 3 months ago) and also get some proper tubing to do a Seafoam cleaning. I've also ordered new plugs and wires as well as the coil tester TeamRX8 uses in this thread to test the BHR coils. If one happens to be bad they'll help me out, no?

Am I on the right track here?

 

are you getting the cel/misfire during start up or during running cos im getting a misfire during start up which stops after a minute or so of running.

 

Do you pre-mix?
Are you still running a cat? You could pull it off at the manifold and see if idle improves.

Any problems revving in neutral?

 

Similar thing is how I came about making the DIY test procedure for checking the coils

You shouldn't be buying or doing anything until you test the coils and wires. Why would you buy new wires when the ones that came on the BHR kit are only three months old? And where did you buy them? Because these wires use special connections at the coil so the regular RX8 wires don't fit.

 

No pre-mixing. I did about a year ago for a month but it was a PITA. Still have the cat and after an hour of driving its not glowing. Pulling it off will probably be a last ditch thing but thanks for suggesting it! And no, revving in neutral seems OK. Even first gear pulls seem OK but at about 7500RPM in 2nd and 3rd I hear and feel lots of pops from the exhaust and it won't rev any further and the Misfire CEL starts blinking.

Because I would rather have the parts available for the chance they need to be replaced then have to wait for shipping after already waiting for the coil tester. As for the wires, while I doubt they're bad I didn't know that about the coil pack end, thats good to know. O well.

Anyway, I'll test the coils and clean the ESS but if the coils test OK I'm a little lost.

 

Likely a bad coil...there have been a few. Get the tester and go from there....

 

i have the same sypmtoms and what i find out the intake was full of oil same as my air filter.
Dealer overfill my oil and go to my intake the car was running fine but over 6-7k load was fell like my fuel was cut off. I clean filter and maf sensor and the intake tube and my problem solved I can redline 9k no problem. I thought I have some ignition problem but air was a case.
Check it !!! Hope it will help you

 

I cant pass 7k. The Cel was blinking and cant go higher in revs

 

Thanks everyone for their help thus far. I'll report back once my coil tester arrives and I run through Team's DIY.

 

Well, it appears I have a bad BHR coil.

I purchased per TeamRX8's DIY and wasn't able to get a spark at all from my second coil (counting from the front of the car). This is the Front Trailing coil.

I made sure to test the cable as well by swapping a known good one in.

Now, when i first pulled my plugs a few days ago I should have known something was up because the the front trailing plug was much blacker then all the rest and looked out of place.

Anyway...

I contacted BHR through the form on their site so we'll see what happens...

 

Yep, he will help you out.

 

makes sense...trailing coil failure makes for bad idle and not much anywhere else

 

Charles got back to me and It looks like I have to send the whole kit back. Not ideal but luckily my OEM parts are still fine.

Thanks everyone.

 

Well, I'm sitting in my car waiting for a tow truck... Car started fine and I let it arm up before leaving work. Once I pulled out onto the main rd. I lost power and the engine sounded terrible like it was only running on one rotor or something.... really rough.

My CEL began to flash and the car doesn't idle now without stalling. The CEL is a misfire again but this time its Red as opposed to Yellow in the Torque app on my phone... not sure what that means...

 

Well I checked the connections to the coils and they seem alright but I can't reach the plugs. Nothing looks out of the ordinary from what I can see. I was hoping for something stupid like a cable feel off of a plug.

 

Tried to start it again. I can drive around buts rough as hell and sounds horrible. I pulled the codes again and now I'm getting P0300... Bah!

 

Yeah i have the same problem. i need some help here guys. i can start it up but the problem is that when i put it in drive it just dies. i changed the spark plugs but that didnt do anything.

 

Just to clarify....you still have the BHR in there with the one known bad coil or did you switch back to stock in order to send Ray the whole kit?

 

The BHR is still in there. I guess it was misfiring but not completely dead previously (still allowing me to drive perfectly fine) but now its completely dead?

I'm not sure. Either way, I was able to drive it from the street where the top truck left it up the driveway into my garage but i had to shut it off cold... It just wasn't going to stay running. I guess a de-flood procedure is in order along with pulling out the BHR kit.

I'm going to bed and LUCKILY I have another car I can take to work tomorrow.

Tomorrow night I'll pull out the BHR kit and replace the OEM unit's and see whats what.

 

I've learn with rotaries Driving the car while is running rough or miss fire is not a good idea. I seen good engines from fresh rebuilds and low miles and great running to blown apex seal for simple reasons,, Fuel pump goes bad and dries up and boom their it goes no more zoom zoom, I always have a couple cars so if it dont start I dont try to drive my rotaries until I find out what it really is, Im getting a rx8 soon very soon so I will make sure I keep one of my beaters just in case. Is a rotary , I believe their like wifes one day their fine and perfect next day I want a divorce. lol

 

Why would you try and drive it when you know you have a bad coil

That would be like walking on a broken leg and wondering why it hurts like hell and keeps swelling up

You know you have an ignition problem....fix it before you break something else.....

 

Had to get it out of the street somehow...

If only things broke at perfectly convenient times and cause no inconvenience at all but we all know that's not the case.

 

Why didn't the tow truck driver put it where it needed to go?

 

He's no longer here or I would ask him? I'm not sure what you're trying to accomplish. Compromises had to be made in a shitty situation. Its parked now and I'm going to tear into it tomorrow night after work. I'll make sure to crank it a few times with the plugs out to clear out any fuel.

 

Not trying to accomplish anything....good luck with getting it started when you get your ignition fixed