After 7 years and 72000kms of no hassle ownership, my 8 won't start. The car's been babied and it's never happened before, at about 60000kms new plugs and coils and battery went in, all OE, so forget that. Checked the battery, did the whole flooded start procedure (even though I never turned her off cold), but she still won't start.

What else could it be?

Being in Georgetown, I'm thinking on getting it towed to either Brampton or Achilles (Milton) Mazda, don't know which one I should trust...

F*@king sucks!

 

When was the last time it started?

 

^ was off for about 8 days, like many times prior. It always started on the first crank. Fuel can't be older than a month.

 

Test starter yet?

 

I hear it cranking. How would I test it?

 

To follow up: while waiting for the flatbed, I gave it one last try and it fired right up, smelled a bit rich at first but now it's as if nothing happened.

Oh well, I'm changing the oil and filling the tank (and adding stabilizer) and away she goes for the winter. I'll get the compression checked in the spring.

 

Was probably just flooded. Did you shut her off cold? If you don't already, you should make a practice of reving to 3-4k before shutting off the key even when warm.

thewird

 

I'm going through the same problem... next week i'm taking it in to mazda (my arm and leg will be collateral) if I cant get the problem fixed, above one of you guys said it could be flooded, any ways to check and fix that. I've already switched the battery cause that fixed the problem (happened before where it wouldnt start but I attributed that to it being in the cold, switched the battery and then it was fine) but that didnt help this time (its been warm enough here) , it'll turn over but wont start, my battery light and engine light stay on afterwards.

any suggestions would be greatly appreciated! thanks

 

The RX-8 has a built in deflood procedure. Hold the accellerator pedal fully down and crank the car for 10-20 seconds and then let the throttle go. Depending on how bad it is you might have to do this more then once without letting go of the throttle. If your familiar with the rotary sounds, you can actually hear the compression change as you crank and then you'll know when to let go of the accel pedal.

thewird

 

Thanks guys found everything; had to pull fuel fuse and air fuse and had a half hour of messing around with it.... But when it came to life felt like a champ!!

 

Good, glad you did not have to take it to the dealer. Should you take it there, ask for Steve Oddy to work on your car. This forum is a good resource.

 

Really theres someone good there?? I've had nothing but issues with them...

 

This happened to me last night I freaked out until I read this forum. I was prepared to replace all spark plugs in a parking lot. Funny thing is it happen after filling up. Immediately I thought plugs because the dealership said it needs new ones and was going to cost me over $600 to do it. I'm hoping it's only flooded. What do you mean by shut it off cold?
And this anti flood procedure sounds wonky

 

Change the Starter while your changing your oil and stuff...The OEM starter is weak, i put in a starter from Autozone and now i have never had the flood problem even if i shut it off cold...also has a cool high whine start now.

 

NEVER SHUT IT OFF COLD

Your just lucky it hasn't flooded yet, nothing to do with what starter you have

 

So your telling me the weak h2n1 (i think i cant remember the name) starter that turns over the motor at almost half the rpm needed for a clean start has nothing to do with it ever flooding?

Because i went tho 4 plug sets before my car just wouldnt start, it would turn over but not start. So after changeing the starter, starts right up...not had a problem with over a year now from a almost daily flooding.

Im not saying thats what the OP needs...but if you have the OEM starter get rid of it, and an easy upgrade.

 

I have the upgraded starter just for peace of mind but i have never had flooding issues on the original starter

People still get flooding with upgraded and series 2 starters

 

I wasnt saying that could be the only problem, but it was a pain with my 8...

I hope the OP finds out what it is...sucks having car problems.

My 2 cents, try the starter, then make sure your starting it on a full battery. Hope that works.

 

Is flooding often confused with coils needing replacement?

 

2 of my coils fried and had to get them replaced after a flooding incident, probably cause it took forever to turn over and stay on... last time it happened..... If your coils are gone your engine light will be on, may flash for a bit and go off, mine only had problems on startup after the little 5 minute hiccup it ran fine. Its a pretty hefty bill at the dealership to swap out all four. As for a starter i'm on the original, and never had any issues... Maybe i'm just one of the lucky ones.

as for the procedure not hard, go to youtube they have a good vid there for it, I had to pull both the fuel fuse and air pump fuse to get her going,
Good luck sir ...

 

Sigh.

Misinformation flying around.


Failing coils will CAUSE flooding. It's not the only thing that causes flooding, but failing coils will start causing all sorts of problems, including flooding problems. A weak starter can cause a flood, as can a dead battery or fouled plugs or broken wires or bad grounds or coolant seal failure leaking coolant into the engine, ... plenty of things.

A flood is caused by having insufficient spark or compression to ignite the amount of injected fuel. That's it. The entire sum of explanation. Parts that can fail to get there get more varied.



And if you pay a dealer for ignition replacement you will get HOSED in the wallet. You can buy all the parts (coils, plugs and wires) for as little as $182 total (USD), and it's about an hour to do the replacement if you don't know what you are doing. Dealers will charge $500-$1,200 (USD) for the same work. I am unsure of the Canadian specific conversion on costs, but it's still going to be far cheaper to get yourself.


And coils can start failing and causing problems well before you get a misfire (flashing CEL). By the time you are getting that, you are already causing cat damage from the misfires. Regular maintenance must include replacing your ignition.

 

Agreed, due the inherent failings of certain OEM parts, regular maintenance to check the ignition system, including replacing it, should be done at least once a year, if not twice. Also the coils are notorious for failing before their time...maybe try an alternative?

Also a compression test every year...

When my coils failed, they started a chain reaction of events...misfires on rotor 2, caused the fuel to be very rich, saturating and killing the cat...long story short that was north of 3000 to fix. Lucky for me that a lot of the work was covered by the MAP program.

 

Thanks for all that info. Now I'm worried about the condition of the coils and starter lol. After a $105 tow bill and $135 dealership bill.. Turns out... FLOODED. What a waste of money. I now carry a socket set incase this ever happens again. The deflood procedure doesn't work. Try it if you want but it was a waste of time for me.

 

Well your first mistake was taking it to the dealer lol.... The deflood procedure requires patience and a booster if its real bad. I've never had to pull out spark plugs on an RX-8, however sometimes it can take up to 10 minutes.

thewird

 

Damn wish I would have known to try the deflood procedure with a boost. Probably would have saved me that tow & service bill.

Quick question for you. What do you think about the Bosch +4 spark plugs?