Recently purchased RX8, car over heated cause had an 8 inch crack in radiator. Radiator was replaced, and now car wont start. I pulled out the spark plugs and they were covered in a mixture of coolant and oil. Is my coolant mixing with my oil not allowing car to burn? Would resurfacing the housing plate and putting in new water seals solve this problem? Or is it that my engine is just flooded EXTREMELY bad? If i flush out all the oil from my car and all the coolant and all other solutions and possibly even change spark plugs will my problem be solved? anyone else had this problem with there RX8? Any help would be much appreciated.

 

Starting seems to be a problem, people even reported that after parking the car for an extended period of time it will not start....

 

There *shouldn't* be a starting problem, unless there is a problem with the engine. One of the more technically minded people on this fine forum may well confirm this or tell me I'm well off the mark but it sounds like low compression due to an apex seal failure!

Try clearing the flood (can take a while) thoroughly first then get a compression test!

 

First off,
1. What year/miles?
2. Auto or Manual?
3. How did it run before it overheated? Any starting issues, misfires etc.?

Sounds like it's either flooded or the overheat cooked your seals and you've lost compression. Things you can try:

Engine Flooding Info/Questions
https://www.rx8club.com/rx-8-discuss...t-here-202454/
DIY: De-Flood procedure - more flooding for this guy!!!

Look up the thread about the deflooding procedure. If you can't get it started via the deflooding procedure, you could also try push/roll starting it if it's a manual. Coolant should not be on the spark plugs or inside the combustion chamber at all, unless the water seal is bad (which could've been caused by the overheating).

 

2004 - 91,000 miles
Automatic
It ran, just ran on no coolant for a while before i noticed 8 inch gap in radiator.

I'm going to try going through the deflooding process today after school, if it is my water seals will the entire engine have to be replaced? How much would the job cost to change water seals?

*How do i know whether its flooded or it is infact the low compression in the motor?

 

Where are you located?

How long did you drive it with no coolant? Did you shut it off when you realized it was overheating or did it quit running on its own? How easily did it start before it overheated? Before, did it take 7 or 8 seconds of the starter turning before it started?

Another possibility is an almost-dead battery. That could cause the engine not to turn over fast enough. Be sure the battery is fully charged.

All I can say is to thoroughly try the deflood procedure with a fully charged battery (there are other threads here as well). You should clean the spark plugs (or replace them) before you put them back in.

It's hard to tell if it's flooded or compression without a compression test. Try the procedure and we'll go from there.

 

Orlando Florida. Maybe 30 minutes. It quit running on its own. It started fairly easy. I wouldnt say that long, maybe 4 seconds? Not exactly sure. And cant be the battery, I've had it charging for a while.

Also something else I forgot to mention, now when I attempt to start my RX8 it doesnt start, so its not getting hot, but I open the Engine coolant and its built up with a lot of pressure, which i dont think is a good thing considering the car isnt even running?

Engine failure or flooded?

 

All signs point to your water seals being pooched. Time for a new engine. Sorry chief.

 

Thanks Loki. Found a guy whos friends of a friend willing to do the whole thing for 2.3k 70,000 miles on motor plus lifetime warranty. Sounds good? I dont think i will be able to find a better deal?

 

So are you getting a motor with 70k miles on it? From your post it sounds like this motor is not a rebuilt motor, right?. Make sure the motor still has good compression before you buy it. If lifetime warranty means engine rebuilt or replacement, it is a good deal because you will probably need it in a few years. Mazmart sells rebuilt motors for around 3k. Maybe you want to contact Paul as well.

 

Yeah thats the problem with our engines overheating. Even if they only overheat for a few seconds it tends to be catastrophic. It's almost as bad as the engine just detonating

 

^There are some ways to keep temperatures down. Cobb AP, cooling fan kits, RB flash...Further, it is good to have another way of reading your temperature because the water temp gauge in the rx8 is useless. When it moves above the middle it is too late...