So my rx8 was perfect till day before yesterday when it suddenly decided not to start when it was cold. The day before i went on a trip of abt 50kms n it was fine n then i started it after not usin the car for literarry 4 days n nothing happened. The only thing tht happened in between was me adding some toyota 15w-40 mineral oil to top off the system. And it refused to start the next day n eventually it started but on 1 rotor as it sounded n took some time to heat up and then ran perfectly as usual.. What could be the issue i was thnking of compression but then hot starts r perfrctly fine matter of fact kinda better than i used to remember.. Only problem is the car acting as if it gets flooded once cooled. But then no power loss of whatsoever.

Futhermore i jus discovered since my car is very low milage its still running on the coils n spark plugs from factory.. FROM 2008 !!!.. can it be the issue..?? I was scared of a coolant seal but after the car warmed up i took her for a drive n monitored coolant temps n they were in the 95-98C range n there was no boiling ot whatsoever. i mean how can it all happen out of nothing when the only thing tht i did was adding sm 15w-40..?? can it be the cause can 15W-40 BE TOO THICK.. The climate here too changed suddenly n its cooler than we r ever used to having..

Loki and BigCajun n my other fellow Bros .. I need your help smm pls help me..
Would changing the plugs n coil be the best or changing back to 10w-30 oil i was using

Thanks..

 

If anyone have any suggestions please help me . Im planning to first change down to the normal oil i was using .

 

The oil wouldn't have that effect.
Exactly how low is low miles?
When you say it doesn't start, does it turn but not fire? Not turn at all? Is it still doing it?

 

It almost sounds as if the engine was flooded. How old are the spark plugs? When is the last time they were removed and inspected? Was there an unusual amount of smoke from the tail pipe when the engine started?

 

Hi Loki..
Its an 08 6spd AT with jus 36,000 miles ( more than 10,000 was done within the last year)
It does turn over n fire up but for a few seconds or smtimes minutes jus on 1 rotor. And smtimes myt even bog down n die. Once it get upto temp runs like a dream.
And well It seems to get slightly better everytime i start it.

 

Hey there , mazdaverx7
maybe but i also think the fact tht i always rev up the engine before shut down to keep the layer of oil myt have done smt too cuz the 15w-40 myt be too thich for the sparks to fire when the oil has cooled . cuz when i turned the car off without a rev n let it cool n start back it was fine

Sparks r pretty old .
There was a wee bit of smoke but only when it seemed to misfire and once it got up to temp n ran fine all the smokes noises misfires went away.
They looked an smelled like unburnt fuel fumes

 

At 36000 the ignition is overdue for a change, so at least that. The small amount of oil you added makes no difference. You really don't need to do anything special when shutting down the car, and if it's behaving better if you don't rev it then... Don't rev it. You could be adding more fuel than oil and asking for a flooding, especially on a weak ignition.

 

Hi there Loki.
Yeeeah ig thats whats happeneing and the past week its been raining nonstop n its been cooler than we r ever used to having over here in Sl . Ig it combined with the weak ignition made the engine flood on the last day i drove it.. It seems okay now. I will update .

I cant appreciate how much ur n the fellow members help means to mwee..
Thanks for the good work.

 

Luckily cold start issues are just a sign of maintenance issues UNLESS there is heavy smoke repeatedly on every startup. Cold starts only point to engine rebuilds when it is THICK white smoke that smells and burns your eyes(coolant). Or if you have oil flooding issues, then it would be blue/black smoke. Compression issues will first show signs on hot starts, then hot idle, then stalling hot idle, then cold starts if you made it that far.

Good chance you just combined a low battery + old coils + old plugs + condensation from weather swings. New coils and plugs will be a gamechanger for you regardless.

 

new coils plugs and wires

 

Hey MincVinyl thanks for the reply.
Yeah theres a bit of smoke on startups if the car sits for sm time or else its barely smokes . Even when it does its only for 1 or 2 secs n goes away.. I wouldnt call it heavy Smoke at all. Looks more like those "Condesation" buildup smokes tht rx8s do according to the millions of utube vids ive watched abt all kinds of smokes tht these bad boys put out 🙂.. Hot idles r fine havent ever stalled or tried to stall when hot. matter of fact the car is lively n perfect once hot. Granted yes it takes some time to start up both on hot n cold cause its still the S1 stock starter.

Only on the day of the "incident" it smoked a lot while it seemed to "misfire" and run on 1 rotor.

And it started up fine today as usual i hope it stays tht way 😭

 

Thanks for the reply 200mph ( hope my dorito too achieves it one day )

Yeah im Gonna do that as soon as i can.
since parts r rare around here till i order them through the rotary maintainance place im gonna clean the ones i have.
Got myself a wee bit financially tight these days 😭
Not easy maintaining these beauties..
( ps. my mk6 golf decided to spontaniously grenade its dsg the day before this &#128578

 

8s are drag limited to a little over 150 but anyway i would start with the ignition. while you are at it clean the ess, maf, and do the 20 brake stomp

 

Yeah yeah ik i was jus Wishing the black magic power of the dorito gods make it possible.
Anyways its hard to even pass 90mph with the cops eagerly waiting for us to pass the speed limit in all the highways 😭
While im doing ignition are there any suggested upgraded kits or is OEM the best ..??

 

ive had good luck with the bhr kit. some members liked the sake bomb kit. theres a thread on them both. oem works to i think the coils are on revision c

 

I got the sakebomb kit. Only a few complaints. The harness is ridiculously long and bulky for no reason. The rx8 coil kit conflicts with the Oil filler tube. I also got a coil that ballooned and melted, but sakebomb sent me out a replacement for free.

For NA the bhr coils may be a cleaner install and will probably function perfectly fine.

 

I think BHR is also cheaper than SakeBomb. Can't really go wrong with them, especially since now there's no harness or anything to worry about. Plugs in like OEM.

 

So Quick update the car actually got better at starting for the past few days and was parked for 4 days afterwards and Guess what it didnt start today at all.... !!!

it cranks but doesnt sparks n catch on .. sounds like its flooded .. but how..??
Could be flooded now cause i tired starting it till the whole battery gpt drained.
Going to perform the deflood procedure n try again tomorrow.

Sometimes it almost starts but fails.. What could it be. Cant be fuel cuz i smell it from the exhaust going out unburnt , could it be spark or Air. can it be a dirty MAF and a air intake ..??
Did have a loose battery terminal thow.. i fixed it but then it was flooded ig.

PS. i was incorrect these arent the coils from 2008 they were replaces around 6 years ago.

What can it be i am n will forever be so grateful for all the help ...

 

If you smell raw fuel, chances are that the engine is in fact flooded. I would remove the spark plugs and clean them properly and perform a deflood procedure. Sometimes when these engines flood, they can be difficult to start, especially when cold. You have to get as much fuel out of the combustion chamber as possible.

While you're at it, I would check for adequate spark. I would check each of the leads one at a time. Insert one spark plug and place the spark plug on a surface that will be a good ground. Have someone crank the engine over and look at the spark. Ensure the spark is blue and not yellow. This will allow you to individually evaluate each coil and ensure you have adequate spark on each.

Also, when the engine is rotating with the spark plugs removed, you can listen to the compression pulses. They should sound even and consistent. If one pulse does not sound like the other or sounds like it's off beat, you have an internal engine issue.

Keep us updated on what you find.

 

Thank for the reply mazdaverx7

Yeas it sounds like its flooded (i have no idea how) but i highly doubts any engine issue cuz it was always been healthier when it was warmer and conpression doesnt suddenly go kaput ryt.. Mine jus has around 30,000 miles. and is as healthy as ever once she gets going. I suspect the sparks or coils have gone bad leading to a longer start n the continuos cranking made the engine get flooded.. Occasionally while driving ive felt a sudden miss at lower rpms too leading up to this incident like when im cruising at around 2500 rpm its like one of the sparks missed a beat.

can bad ignition cause a gradual flooding ..??

Would cleaning the MAF be a solution too.. The other rx8 ik has faced exactly the same issue n was resolved by cleaning the MAF ..

Im going to try n perform the mazda way of deflooding my pressing the acceleratoe down n cracking for abt 10 secs with 60 sec intervals for abt 6 times n see.

Its as if tho she wants to start but needs tht lil bit of push. Maybe the battery was low too idk . ive put it to get charged too lets see ..

Ill update u guyssss.

Thanksss for the helppppp

 

So update....
tried the deflooding procedure a loot. Ran through 2 batteries ..

foot to the floor
removed fuel fuse
removed air pump connection
Yeas it puts the smoke out but after the smoke kinda clears when i try normally it sounds like its abt to catch but then dies.

I suspect wet ot rather dead spark plugs..

The cranking speed doesnt sound as usual with the drained battery so theres no way its gonna start anyways.. Planning to take it to a mechanic this week lets see how it goes. Sometimes it does sound like it catches on and wants to start.. And the smoke tht comes out is pure unburnt fuel.

Didnt inspect the spark plugs but the wires n their connection ports look brank new with no oxidation whatsoever..

Didnt have a proper battery charger to connect to the battery while doing the procedure so ig the DEFLOODING wasnt tht effective.

How can it flood out of nowhere like this... UGHHHH
But then the white puffs of smoke out the tailpipe when cranked with the foot to the floor prooves its flooded indeed

Cleaned the MAF too it didnt look dirty .

FLOODING SUCKS !!!...

 

Have you actually pulled the spark plugs to have clean them off and have a look at their condition?
Deflooding always takes longer than you think. If it's starting to catch, that's a good sign. modulate the throttle to keep it going. You don't need to disconnect the fuel pump or air pump, just press the throttle all the way. This cuts fuel.

 

Thanks for the reply loki...
No thats the only thing left to done to take the spark plugs out and check it.

It wants to start but doesnt go above like 1k RPM.
When i modulate the throttle it does sound like it wants to come to life but doesnt.
Ig the sparks r wet.

can bad worn out sparks cause a deflood n cause a no start condition.


Ill update u guys

 

I would definitely remove the spark plugs and inspect them. They will likely be soaked with fuel. At this point, it's best to replace the spark plugs after properly deflooding the engine with the spark plugs removed. I jack the car up on the left side and remove the left front wheel and access the spark plugs from the wheel well. I find this is the easiest method.

Mazda's metbod of deflooding is for a lightly flooded hot engine. It does work but not all of the time, especially if there's a separate issue. No spark or weak spark will cause instant flooding.

 

Sooo update !!

I did get the car started and took it to a mechanic.

The spark plugs upon removal were wet. And one plug had a broken connection ( pic attached below ) .
Futhermore i was informed that one of the injectors were not functioning properly n only spraying a below par amount of fuel. So gotta get tht replaced too,

The air filter was eaten by RODENTS ..??? HOW u may ask ( i have no clue )
And a clogged fuel filter ..
plannign to fix these parts
I have a 2008 AT rx8 so im confused about the different injectors tht rx8s have like ig i need the blue ones but i couldnt even find a properly explained thread.. Everyone is talking about the manual ones

Im soo thankfull for all your replies but had a few busy days with the car and uni and all so couldnt update the siatuation here.



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