Yoiyah

Hi I’m fairly new and would post this in “series 1 trouble shooting” but the form won’t allow me to post on there since I do not have permissions to do so. If a mod sees this, could you possibly move my post over? Or give me permissions so I can delete this post and post it on the correct forum. Thank you!!

I have a manual 04’ 6speed rx8 with 98kish miles

About two days ago I was driving home when I lose power, I shifted to neutral then the car stalled leaving all electrical components on. I thought it was gas but to no avail, after about an 1 an half of waiting for a tow, I decided to look under the hood again, I see that one of my ignition coils are full with oil, I cleaned it with electrical cleaner and she started up with just a little hesitation. I went home and had to sleep as I had work early in the morning I got a ride to work and back home and didn’t touch it till today. She started right up with no problems but had a slight power loss. Went to go have lunch and my power was back, it felt great I thought my problem was solved with that cleaning. But when I got on the freeway and went wide open throttle 2nd 3rd 4th then I loss power completely again and the 8 backfired, I lifted and gave it gas again and there was another back fire. I decided to coast it in third and I was trying to give it a bit of gas but the rpm’s kept dropping till I shifted to nutral again and the car stalled like it did before. This time I tried cleaning the coils to no avail, I tried all I could at the time, but nothing, I got a tow home. Now at home I tried reading a lot, I’m not writing this without doing my research, I did a lot of reading and testing with what I found.

First I thought it could be my air pump since I did notice that recently it hasn’t been turning on on start ups, and it rattles a lot and sounds like its grinding, unplugged tried starting it but nothing, cleaned the connector nothing. Then I read stuff about the Ess, I saw I could clean it and boy was it nasty, I cleaned it but this time I could hear the air pump working really good now but it still didn’t start. Then I decided to try spraying starter fluid and it worked but it didn’t stay on and died soon after, I decided maybe it’s the coil, I changed it with one of my old ones that was on the car and this time the cranking sounded really hefty, so I cleaned the rest of them with electrical cleaner, to no avail, I cleaned the maf no avail.

I read that the fuel pump burns out when their used heavily at high speeds and rpm’s with a low tank, but I recently replaced it like 3-4k miles ago from partsgeek, I have an extra new one so maybe Ill try replacing it. But first imma try adding more fuel.

I’m honestly really stumped rn and could really use some help.

Unrelated facts about my car to maybe help you think of something.

-cat was blown, i gutted it.
-radiator blew up on me at the same time, replaced with oem
-new s2 starter
-new fuel pump from partsgeek
-oil, spark plugs, ignition coils and wires done 2-3k miles ago
-lots of oil consumption, but I think that’s normal with heavy driving for the 8
-the eps has given me a lot of trouble since my radiator blew up, cleaned the connectors but it was temporary, hard wired past the connections and it worked for a good moth but it died again, cleaned the torque sensor and it’s been ok so far.
-replaced all fuses but the relays, and yes I’ve checked them.
-my MPG is 11miles, which I hate but I don’t really know what to do about that, I think it’s my o2 sensors since my cat is gutted.
-it’s bone stock except for a quick release and shift **** but that’s about it.

Loki

iTrader: (1)

How old are your coils?
11 mpg is terrible, and backfiring tells me your ignition isn't working all that well. The O2 sensor that matters is before the cat, so the absence of cat doesn't affect the car's fueling.

Cleaning coils isn't really a thing. It won't hurt I guess but it's not a solution.

Backfiring also suggests you're still getting fuel.

Yoiyah

They were replaced along spark plugs and oil and ignition wires about 3-4k miles ago, also I’m sure it isn’t a thing but it work once for me so idk lol.

but I add fuel and she started right up. Maybe the fuel pump but it could also do with something with the level gauge, I replaced the fuel pump bc the previous owner had an issue with it being inaccurate, and I seems to have worked when I replaced the whole unit, but maybe it’s something outside of the fuel pump unit, idk tbh. But car runs and will never get near a 1/4 tank ever again that’s for sure.

thank you for your quick reply and advice on the o2 sensor. I guess the gas mileage is another issue for another day.

Loki

iTrader: (1)

There are 2 fuel level sensors, one on each side of the tank. If the passenger side one that isn't with pump is acting up, or the fuel transfer siphon isn't working properly, you might get issues like this. How much gas did it take when you put it in? Does this issue only occur when the fuel level is low?

Poor mpg is often the first visible symptom of deeper problems, so if it's not the fuel pump then I think it's very related to what's going on.

Is there oil in your intake?

Yoiyah

I add just a little under 4Gs and yah I get a lot sometimes, I heard catch cans would help a lot with that, I was thinking of doing a air pump delete and using the space for the catch can.

so far yes it has been happening with a low tank, thinking about it, maybe it’s not the level sensor but a pick up like you said, the gauge is would be accurate in that case and I have a different problem then.

anything you suggest I should look into or troubleshoot for clues?

Loki

iTrader: (1)

Is the oil overfilled?

If not and you have oil in your intake, clean it out, clean the MAF sensor, and start planning for engine replacement. Blowby causes your oil to rise up into the intake and makes a mess, and maybe stalls the car. This happens at high rpm usually so as long as you don't hammer on it, it shouldn't happen. But obviously you can't enjoy the car like that.

A catch can might help but given the mpg, driveability problems, etc, I would put your catch can money toward a new engine or another car. Sorry :/. You can get a rotary compression test to be sure. It's recommended to do that before buying any rotary.

Yoiyah

Dam, ok I’ll get her tested and I’ll start looking into places around me, thank you for all your help and wisdom. Much appreciated.

Also it’s not over filled and everything is cleaned

Jedi54

iTrader: (7)

the oil is a concern. as mentioned the catch can could help but need to find the root cause of this issue.
what's your oil level at?
any issues with hot starts?

Yoiyah

After about 3 weeks it’s below half, I did an oil change and while I was in the mountains about a month or so after the oil change, the oil light came on meaning I was low.

No issues with hot starts. the starter was pretty bad tho till I upgraded it to the s2 starter and no problems starting.

Rrmn159

I have a similar problem but I don't have oil anywhere, what if it was a flood of gasoline I had been driving at low revs gently and the same thing happened to me. I stopped accelerating and it went off. before turning it on again I leave the accelerator pressed down I turn it on and it accelerated hard I saw a choke at 4 5 thousand revolutions I released it no smoke and I gave it full throttle again and it was fine.. it worries me a lot but I also have the factor that the car had stopped for 2 months. The fuel pump is bad, it doesn't reflect what it has, so it can also be safe on low fuel because I really don't know how much I have. I'm about to change the pump I'm gathering. In another post I left all my information. if you have more information we can exchange