Intro first: Hey guys, long time lurker, obviously not much of a poster. I've had my 05 rx8 for about 6 years and have loved it since day one and have had next to zero issues. That being said, I'm not much of a car guy, I can do the basics (oil change, brakes, etc), but not much more.

So my car has 88k, I treat it well (regular maintenance and such, drive it like I stole it, etc), and have had few issues, but I'm lost on this one.

It started having trouble starting when hot, but none cold about a week ago. Then, three days ago, it just died when I engaged the clutch and refused to start after. I had it towed to the local dealer (few other options), and they told me my clutch was dead and also needed to replace the flywheel. As I stated, I don't know a whole lot about engines/transmissions, so I took their word for it. I compared their quote to the other options and found a much better price and had it towed there.

Now comes my confusion, the other mechanic said there's no reason a car wouldn't start with a bad clutch, and wanted to know what was up. So I told him the story of what happened and he said he's going to take a look at it and doubts it's the clutch.

I've researched as best as I know how, including a bunch here, but can't figure it out. I had the catalytic converter, plugs, and coils all replaced about 6 months ago, and I haven't noticed any performance issues until this started a week or so ago. I also had the compression tested when I had the aforementioned work done, and it tested at 97%.

So what's the deal? Any guesses? If I missed some key info, feel free to ask. Thanks in advance guys.

 

Agreed, this isn't a clutch problem.

This doesn't mean anything. What were the compression scores? You need 6 compression numbers (one for each rotor face), and a cranking RPM in order to mean anything. The scores are absolute pressure numbers such as PSI, kpa, kg/cm2, BAR, etc... and not a percentage. 97% implies a base number that it is a percentage of, and even if you assumed max peak compression score possible, it still doesn't provide individual face scores or the RPM.

When you get those numbers, you can fail if any 1 of the 6 faces is under the spec when normalized to 250rpm at seal level, or if the difference between any 2 faces is too great, even if they faces are all passing.



I mention all of this because your symptoms sound like engine compression failure, and it is flooding trying to get it started since but you don't have the compression needed to get it re-started once it is deflooded, and it re-floods.

Edit: See this post and the post after it (link will jump to the right post) https://www.rx8club.com/new-member-f...4/#post4533733

 

If you are having hot start problems, that means your engine is F*%k%D. Pardon my French. That said, have the engine tested for verification purposes. Good luck.


Brabender.

 

Agreed, clutch problems could keep you from moving but it will not stop the car from running.

 

Kept meaning to follow up on this, but just hadn't gotten around to it.

So the issues were the clutch and flywheel, starter, and something needed to be done with the ECU, though I don't recall what at this point. Was a pain, but at least it wasn't the engine.

 

Thats a really long list.. What exactly was done with the ECU? Reflash? Can you remember?

 

That was it, reflash, good call.