Hello, I am just wondering if anyone else in North Texas is having starting issues when its close to freezing or is at/below freezing? It usually takes a couple cranks to get my 8 started then I noticed my car seems to studder and when I rev past 3k you can feel the car shaking/sputtering, almost like someone stuck a banana in my tailpipe. After a few hard revs or get my temps up it goes away. Dealer told me that the Rx8 doesnt like cold weather and this was normal. My car is a 2005 at 36k.

 

lol the 8 hates the cold. i live in chicago and have to start the car everyday or it wont start when i need it to. also your battery is probably going dead. when you start the car let it sit for a wile dont rev it

 

I had that problem as well, I checked my plugs and coils though and noticed that they were not doing so well, so I replaced them and now it starts right up without any problems...........You may want to check your plugs and see how they look.....also I believe that Mazda covers the coils and what not all the way up to 36k so if you are a little bit below that you might as well check and make sure.......

 

Well plugs do need to be changed but dealer said if something was faulty with the plugs or coils it would pop a cell.

 

you cant always listen to the dealer sometimes they are full of it. trust me from someone who lives up north(chicago) its probably the battery. changing the plugs and wires might help but it sounds like a batt problem

 

I dont think the battery would be the cause of the car shaking, had both motor mounts replaced so I know thats not it and the shaking lasts for a couple minutes, shakes more as you rev past 3k. Also noticed that when im driving to work in sub freezing temps my car loses some power, after a few minutes of driving it runs normally.

 

do NOT push the engine while its cold. at all. its bad for it. and also dont rev the engine to warm it up. i dont know everything about it, but pushing the engine while its cold is a huge no no. thats a real quick ticket to a new motor.

 

Grim, don't rev you car past 3500rpm until the water temp gets up to 180F. You're gonna cuz more damage than you think. Do as Luis said and get your battery checked out, if it's the original battery that's probably the culprit. And the shaking and sputtering is most likely your coils and plugs.

 

my 8 loves the cold

 

I dont push the car when its cold, I know its bad for any type of motor. I rev it up to 3k to see if its still doing it to see if its only happening when its cold out or when its warm out, just testing so I can tell the dealer whats going on. But will look into the battery and I know for sure I need plugs, book says to change them at 36k.

 

Ok I posted this in the issues & problems but this is what has happened this weekend...

Ok, left my car at work Friday night it was 70 degrees out, cold front came through the next morning (got down to 36 degrees overnight) and my car sat at work until I went and picked up my car around noon today/Sunday at 52 degrees and when I started the car, it took a couple seconds to crank then I noticed it sputtering or spitting, I opened the hood and looked around, you could tell the car was spitting, the motor would shake as it spit and and you could hear it spit, also noticed a fan sound or lawnmower sound coming from passenger side of the motor, looked like it was coming from this black box, seemed normal as it shut off after about a minute. I went back to the tail pipe and noticed white puffs of smoke as the motor sputtered, not alot but you could see it, temp was 52 degrees out. This is the fifth time it has happened, if I was to step on the gas during warmup my car would shake more and sputter alot more and harder. It only happens when it gets below 40 degrees and my car has sat for more then 8 hours. This all started after I had my air filter changed, old one was was clogged/dirty.

 

The fan/lawnmower sound you mentioned is the air pump. It only kicks on when it's pretty cold out, nothing to worry about.

As for the sputtering and long crank, you really need to do what the other guys said, new battery and new plugs and go from there. The factory batteries are already weak from the get-go, so get a better one that what is in there when you replace it.

Sputtering could also be bad gas, so you might try a different station. Mine has been sputtering the last few mornings, too.

 

It was unusualy cold this morning and my car cranked a bit before starting. Also, I had all my coils, plugs, wires replaced recently and boy what a difference and I had no CEL. Mary car would bog out when revved. I never had a CEL so whoever told you that at the dealer is FOS.

 

I had my plugs changed last week, and havent had any really cold weather to test it out, but I havent gone out in the last couple days and its 30-40 out now and will see if it still does it. Wel this morning it took a couple seconds to start but no sputtering, guess it must have been the plugs.