Got my 2005 RX8 last year. Everyting was going great until the wife asked me to move the RX8 out of the garage so she could bring in some groceries. Being the idiot I am and not thinking, I simply started up the car, backed it out and turned it off. It wasn't until the following day that I realized the outcome of my course of action. I get in the car, put in the key and switch the ignition. Nothing happens. It's at that point I recall yelling and realizing I'd flooded the engine. Anyways, drove my wife's car that day thinking I could fix the problem when I got home. Upon returning from work, I read the manual and attempted the 10 seconds accelerator down and ignition on trick. Nothing. Waited a couple hours, tried again nothing.

I finally called Mazda roadside service and they said a truck would be there in 90 minutes. 30 mins..nothing, 60 nothing, 90 nothing...120 I get a call. Where is your house? What's the first major intersection? God dammit can't anything go right. Finally the moron arrives and I'm thinking I don't want him to load up my baby but I had no choice. I wave goodbye and hope for the best.

Next day call the dealer. Is my car ready. No, it should be ready by end of day. We'll give you a call. 5 o' clock rolls around and no call. I call them up inquiring on the status of my car. Ohh we were short 1 person so we couldn't get your car in. Oh well at least you have a cool mazda 3 as a rental. Yeah right cool..

Next day rolls around and I finally get a call close to the end of the day. They fixed my car by replacing the battery, starter and spark plugs. Come to find out Mazda had a service ticket issues to address the flooding problem. I guess they only correct it on a need only basis since it wasn't issued as a recall. I believe most recalls are safety related anyways.

She seems to purring beautifully right now. Instantly I realized she started up better and seems to be running smooth as ever. The tech told me with the service upgrade, my car would be less likely to get flooded as easily as it did. Either way, I'm gonna remember never to turn the car off before it gets to operating temparature.

Enough ranting... Thanks for reading.

 

Feel better now?

 

Your welcome.

I should get this new starter...

 

I know. I'm trying to find a way to get this before my warranty runs out, but I haven't had any start problems or flooding. It would be nice to have as the car gets older though.

 

If I get the 05 from the dealer, what are the chances that this has already been done? I mean the replacement of the battery, starter and plugs.

 

congratulations.
i felt like a complete jerk when i realized i had flooded my engine just a couple weeks ago. but the new starter kit seems pretty sweet. plus i got new brakes when she was at mazda!

 

I know it was frustrating, but I am glad to hear you came through it OK. The good news is the PCM update, plugs, battery and starter appear to combine to make floods much less likely and much more recoverable. While not proven, I have only found one flood from a car with the upgrades and the driver was ultimately able to get it started himself by following the dechoke procedure in the manual.

I just got the new plugs/battery/starter yesterday based on my 2004 cranking slow. The way the 8 cranks now is awesome!

 

I don't think it really matters if you car is under warranty or not. If Mazda put out a service ticket (forgive me, for my proper lack of terminology) you should be covered whenever it happens. If I were you and had the spare time, I'd just take it in and tell them to upgrade the spark plugs, battery and starter per the "service ticket".

The new sounds when I crank it up is more fierce than before. It's like having a brand new car. We'll not really but I'm just glad to have her back.

For the person inquiring if his 05 had already had the replacement. I think there's a pdf floating around here detailing the upgrade. It has a picture of the new spark plug so you could check your plugs to see if they match the document. The easiest way would be to call the dealership you bought it from and see if they have it logged in the service records.

Good luck!

 

Here's a screenshot of the spark plug.

 

go to your dealer and tell them you have cold staring problems..that should be enough to get it done.

 

If the 05 was used, have the dealer look up your VIN in the maintenance database to see if the work was done.

The upgrades were introduced into production over the course of a year. Check you build date (tag on drivers door jamb) against the following:

PCM Update - 3/12/04
640 CCA Battery - 6/1/04
Upgraded Starter - 12/1/04 (11/8/04 for Automatics)
Redesigned leading plugs - 3/22/05

 

Easy fix:

1. Start your 8
2. Back it out of the garage
3. Turn it off
4. Come out two days later and try to start it
- if it starts go back to step 1
5. Call Mazda roadside assistance
6. ......

 

Mine didnt start this afternoon either.... Just waved goodbye to her as they drove away : ( But im getting the upgrades, and my laundry list of things needing to be fixed will get done.

1. Defroster Switch 2. Broken sun visor 3. re seal the tail light 4. The 2 recalls 5. and anything else I think of while they still have it.
(maybe if I keep bringing them stuff to fix they will work on it faster to get it out of their shop before I think of something else : ) Oh the latch on the center console.... I got to go make a phone call : )

 

that really stinks iceis8. i guess on the flip side you get to fix all the problems with car in one big swoop. it hurt watching her being loaded up more than you thought didn't it? maybe i'm just too sensitive.

anyways from the service tech told me, the fix should reduce if not eliminate the flooding issues. i know that it starts up much better. before the fix, i felt as though the car kinda of struggled when starting up.

 

After 2years mine flooded too. Towed to dealer. Took 2days because they had to order the new starter. My old battery was weak and out of spec. They declared it defective. So I got the same fix you did. Car starts real good now. I drive short distances to work so car never warms up during the week. I haven't had any problem since the fix three months ago. Engine turns over real good now. I don't think you'll have any more flooding problems. Good luck.

 

i've only seen one car come back for flooding with the updated starter, battery, plugs and calibration.....and that was because her son backed the car out and shut it off without letting it warm up...everyother car we've fixed hasn't come back yet

 

ok not a newbie just been in the dungen.i have had my 8 for two years and a boat load of nostarts etc...i could drive 20 miles and after i stopped to get coffee the car would not start.
so to start it i would take out the fuel pump fuse and crank it till it started.took it to the dealer and they said it needed to be towed in to replace ANYTHING!.this went on untill the battery could not or would not hold the charge and had the batterty replaced at a pro rated charge of $50.00 . i thought this was strange but the saga continuies...

 

soon as i get pics and the rest hooked up i will post mods and all the crazy stuff i have gone and had checked out and repaired...bottom line i love my car and there are going to be a few bugs as it gets better but i will not give up hope till it dies!!!
thanks to all you guys and girls it been great to know i am not alone.

 

i move my 85 GSL-SE rx-7 around the driveway without letting it warm-up and it doesnt flood on me. and i dont rev at 3k and then shut off either....bad luck for you guys i guess

 

oh i forgot about that....peripheral ports win again lol...sorry

 

they're actually 680cc (2) and nope, hasnt happened to me since owning her for 4 years. only leaked fuel when that damn pulsation damper finally gave. old school for the win again. in all seriousness i would love to own a new car. reasons: warranty, that new car smell, reliability, actual aftermarket support( racing beat and mazdatrix only has parts for motors, interior pieces, etc...RB has a full exhaust tho), the ladies( some think my little FB is cute, sexy, unique, better than a honda...etc), something i dont have to worry too much about...the list is endless, oh yeah safety: i have no ABS, no TCS, no ASM, no airbags...oh well i'll stick with the old school stylie for a while. it seems that most ppl in car shows actually like old school stylie ie: the IMSA widebody with small and extremely wide rims, panasports, BBS mesh, watanabe......rear 3-piece spoiler. i really wish the 12A turbo was in the US.....

 

I have a '04 RX-8 with about 31k miles on it. I never had cold start or flooding problems, even though I routinely moved the car from street to garage to driveway, etc. Lucky, I guess.

About two months ago, the battery stopped holding its charge. I took the car in and the dealer did the battery/starter/spark plug/PCM flash upgrade that folks on this thread talk about, no questions asked. I guess I'm fortunate that the battery died before the warranty was up. It probably didn't hurt that I had them do the high priced 30k mile service at the same time.

Since the upgrade the car starts up more smoothly than it did before.

Now if I can only get them to paint my rusty brake hubs...

 

Today i cranked my car to move it and shut it off. i tried to crank it about 4 hrs later to go to the store and nothing. ive noticed during colder weather that it started kind of sluggishly. thanks to you folks ive done some research and found that 04' Mazda RX 8's with VIN: JM1FE173***150745 and earlier have this mazda service bulletin issued: MAZDA SERVICE BULLETIN NO:01-004/05 which calls for verification, inspection and repair/replacement of the items you all specified above. hopefully with this bulletin you guys can get the repairs you need without scuff from the dealers. always helps to have the most info you can so the dealer doesnt take advantage of you. thanks again everyone

 

Yes, the list of items discussed comes from that very service bulletin. The problem is that some dealerships will not do the repairs, even if your VIN qualifies, unless you car is actually flooded.

 

Ok, I've got to ask this question. I have a 2005 RX-8 Shinka and I have to say I have never had a problem other than the battery going bad. I have shut it down before it was warmed up a couple of times and I even ran it out of gas once. No matter what, it always seems to start and I don't have any power or running issues and I don't have any rattles. I guess I am just lucky. COuld it be that they fixed alot of these issues on the 05 models? Is anyone having similar good luck like I am? Not trying to rub it in guys...