I parked my 07 RX-8 in a garage back in November because it needed the brakes replaced. The garage is not conditioned and because of my work and the weather, it has sat all winter. It has 105,000 total miles and 30,000 on a dealer replacement engine. I bought the car with 50,000 on it, so I'm familiar with the engine issues.

One day in January I needed it as an emergency vehicle. It was -8 degrees F. It cranked but wouldn't fire. My brother told me that he tried to move it a week or so earlier and it wouldn't start for him either.

Today I went to start to work on it again. I bought a new battery. It wouldn't fire up at all. It ran fine when I pulled it in months ago. Now nothing.

Any idea where to start? Seals? Coils?

Worst case scenario I'll just pull the engine and rebuild it. I used to be an automotive machinist, so I'm not afraid to go through it if I have to.


Any advice is appreciated.

Thanks.

 

It's probably just flooded from a weak battery from when your brother tried to move it. Deflooding it properly should work. Pick ONE deflooding procedure and keep at it for a bit. You should be able to get it started fine.

How old are the coils, wires, and plugs? If over 20,000, might as well order replacements.

 

It was flooded.

I changed the oil and filter just in case some fuel got in there after 5 months of not running. After a little while cranking it with the fuel pump fuse out, it started. Smoked for about 15 minutes or so.

The door is blocked in the bay where I'm working on it, so no test drive yet. It idles fine and revs like normal. I hooked my OBD II to it and have a P0037 O2 sensor code. I had that code before it went down, so I'm going to go ahead and replace it. It feels like it's running normal. I let it run for about 20 minutes. I thought everything was fine.

However, when I shut it down and removed the key, it won't start. It just cranks. If I get out and remove and immediately reinstall the fuel pump fuse, it starts like normal. I even left the key in the ignition, turned on, and pulled/ put back the fuse and it started. I did this a couple of times.

Any ideas?

 

If the engine is starting and running with the electrical connection to the fuel pump severed (due to the fuse being out) then something is significantly wrong on an electrical level.

I recall someone else had that same result recently, and he tracked to to some corroded and damaged wiring harness.

 

No, it only starts with the fuse in place.

But if I turn it off, and try to restart, it just cranks.

If I pull the fuse and put it back into place, it starts.

Next time I turn it off, it won't restart until I play with the fuse again.

 

If you let it sit for a few minutes without the key in the ignition at all, will it then start on the first try?