Hard-Body

Well, it finally happened. I went to start the car and she would whine but not cough. It sounded like the starter wouldn't catch to be honest.
I got out the manual, read through it, tried the procedure for not starting all to no avail.
I then came here to see if I could see anything related and other than the usual "had to get it towed and re-flashed" stuff, I could find nothing.
So then I called the Mazda 7/24 emergency road assistance number, and gave the operator my information and she confirmed that an AMA driver would be by to pick it up and drag it to Kramer Mazda.

It was a very very sad sight seeing my baby on the flatbed being hauled away like some rusted out old Chevy being donated to the Kidney Car Line.

mmmmmm. I'm pretty depressed right about now....

The good thing is that I was due for an oil change next month, so I guess I'll get them to do that while they figure out what went wrong and nurse her back to health...

V_for_velocity

Sorry, Hard-Body. Here's a pat on the back for ya. BTW, how many klicks on your 04?

BlueFrenzy

Sorry to hear that buddy! Hope they get it running in time for the May meet.

Kart Racer

yeah, sorry to hear. Although the probably will probably be an easy fix, its just such a hassle!

Parker8

Glad to see I'm not the only one with the whine but won't cough problem. Parked the 8 when we had cold weather bout a month ago. Went out to start and it was like the starter wouldn't catch. Towed it to Kraemer Mazda who informed me or the following reasons.
1. Apparently with the new 8 it likes to be revved up to 5000 RPM's and then turn off the key to empty any remaining fuel in the chamber.
2. 8 likes to be driven above 5000 RPM's consistently.

So because I wasn't doing this all the time they had to:
1. Change the plugs.
2. Change the oil because there was gas in the oil from flooding trying to start it.

I've found that driving it over 5000 makes the fuel gauge go down even quicker than it already does so I try to compromise and pick my spots to stretch its legs. Runs great now though.

See you guys on May 14.

Danielson

I am glad to see I am not the only one that happend...don't worry everything is going to be O.K...Take myword for it

Murray16

I personally don't agree with the 8 needed (or liking) to be revved consistently at aroun 5k.... jusy seems pointless to tell you the truth, unless you like wasting gas. However, about the revving to 5k when shutting off, I do this religiously. I was advised of this by a friend of mine with an FD. He pulled me into his car, and had me watch the injector duty guage on his connected PDA. When you let of throttle there is about a second period where the duty for the injectors is a 0%. This is when it is best to turn of the car.

I'm no expert... but it makes sense to me.

daem0n

The rotary engine does like to be rev'd over 5000 RPMs once in a while to clean out carbon built up in the engine...it's good to do it once a drive or so...you don't have to do it constantly. Also, I don't know about anyone else but I would definitely not recommend reving to 5000 and turning the ignition off...as far as I see, that might not only damage your engine but it could probably leave more fuel in there since it's injecting more fuel the higher you rev plus when you shut the car off you're not allowing the engine to "cool down" or burn off the excess fuel.

RX4life

i just rev it to 3K.. it makes sense...makesthe starts afterso easy.. almost instant...

RX4life

one rev to the 5k mark will not "over heat" the engine.. i can understand if youve been driving coonstantly at high rpms. then you should let it cool down...but a single rev to 5K removes carbon deposits to an extent and you must almost immediately turn off your engine... that way the fuel pump gets cutoff.. thereby only burning whatever left in the "lines"... i know a few frineds with high horsepower cars do this too...

Hard-Body

9 K...

khtm

DAMNNNNN...so, so sorry to hear that!

And us Calgarians thought we were immune to flooding and starting problems

Hopefully it's nothing serious; maybe just a more powerful battery will help.

BlueFrenzy

I have to diagree Daem0n. If you think about it ... revving up your engine to 5000 then shutting down may seem counterintuitive (ie adding gas to prevent flooding), however when you shut down the engine immediately, there is NO fuel being injected anymore and the rotors will be spinning without fuel for a few moments. This allows the rotors to "spin out" the unburnt fuel from the combustion chambers.

In fact the manual recommends this during cold shut downs (ie moving the car a few feet or extreme cold). The rotary gurus also suggest this along with some of the rx7 guys.

I don't know about your rx8 but I have revved my engine to 5000+ and it has never caused overheating problems ... so why would doing that prior to shut down be any different?

Murray16

I will admit that it didn't make sense for me to do that until I actually watched the injector duty read 0%. That exactly right about the rotors spining out unburnt fuel.

Hard-Body

Happy once again!

OK, I got the phone call and it was a flooded engine. They removed and cleaned the spark plugs, reflashed the PCM (whatever the current one is), replaced the brake pads (they offered, I didn't even mention the warranty), and gave me an oil change like I asked for $36 which is pretty reasonable IMO.

Better than that they detailed my car, washed my floor mats, and washed my car!
I'm stunned at the level of service offered. It's definitely more than I expected considering most car dealerships look at you like a leper after the sale!
I have to say I'm impressed- in fact totally impressed! Good damned job Kramer Mazda. Kudos!

I have been probing the kids to see if one of them tried to start it while in the garage listening to the radio (one can drive the other hasn't got his license but could)...and I have come to believe that they really didn't do that. I quizzed the wife, but you know ya gotta be careful on that front :eek!


Given that unless they are lying about not starting it for a minute which really doesn't seem too likely, I'm stumped as to why it happened. I don't drive less than 10Km one way before returning to my garage- usually double that...and I don't take it to the corner store (or beer place) I walk.
hmmph....

V_for_velocity

The confusion (for me) is around two issues: the revs (5K? 4K? 3K?) and the nature of the shutdown -- do you shut down with your foot ON the accelerator, or immediately after taking it OFF the accelerator? I've seen both methods recommended and all three rpms recommended as well. God bless the internet.

Sajek

We might be overthinking it...I drove my car this winter (with the summer tires) when the roads were clear and dry (in the GTA, that's quite often).

But to get to my point, my drive to work is 11kms and I OFTEN go run quick errands 2 minutes away. I even moved my car from one parking spot to the other a few times this winter. There was only one time I had a hard time starting it but did the "procedure" and it finally fired up.

Can our engines flood? Yes, we all know that but its not a rampant chronic issue. Not sure how worthwhile it is to develop our own procedure for shuting down due to that 1 chance out of a 1000 that the engine is flooded. That's me though, some people are more hardcore :D

Enjoy the car, its quirky enough as it is without turning the driver quirky too!

BlueFrenzy

Ok with the rev --> I don't think that it matters THAT much. Just the fact that you are spinning the rotors faster than 800rpm. And with the actual shut down, you turn off the car while your foot is still on the accelerator (or if you wish a split second after you release the pedal). The point is to have the rotors spinning when the fuel is cut. The momentum of the still spinning engine will clear out the combustion chambers.