eli371

So last winter my 8 (2004, ~90000 miles) was having hot start issues and idled rough on startup (rpms would drop low almost choking the car + flashing CEL). One morning I started it up and came inside to let it warm up and when i came back out the car was off, and wouldn't start up again. I figured it choked and flooded, but either way I decided to store it for the winter as I didn't have a place to work on it at the time.

Last week I decided to bring it out, it had been about 9 months and did a tune up. The plugs were destroyed but replaced the whole ignition system with the BHR ignition kit.
I'm still having trouble getting the car started.

Here's what I've done:
Ignition system and battery replaced. Car still wouldn't start. Pulled the new plugs out and could smell fuel on them, and the two trailing plugs were covered in gunk (oil?) after only 15 minutes of trying to start the car, but were easily cleaned.

I read on mazdatech that if you crank the motor with the fuel pump fuse pulled and the plugs out you could get rid of alot of fuel that's causing the flooding, and I could definitely smell and "see" fuel coming out of the holes for the plugs when I did this. mazdatech also suggested putting oil in where 2 of the plugs go (can't remember off the top if it was T or L plugs) and crank it to lube it up and "create" compression. After replacing everything and trying to start it, she ALMOST started, but still nothing.

Here's what I know:
-New battery
-spark and fuel present
-Car's been sitting 9 months and had a flashing CEL before storage
-During ignition system installation, I noticed what i believe to be oil in the air filter
and the accordion thing that connects the air box to the intake.
- CEL flashes when I turn the key to the "ON" position, although this appears to be a "lamp check"
-When I try to push the gas pedal down while starting it to cut the fuel, the car doesn't sound different, where as when I used to drive the car the sound difference when cutting the fuel was clearly noticeable.

So, I really don't know where to go from here. Is my motor completely cooked? Starter? Cat? Any suggestions or help is greatly appreciated.

Mysterion

First things first.Find someone with a code reader and determine what caused the CEL. Proceeding without knowing MIGHT cause further issues, so better safe than sorry.
Once that is clear, clean all oil residue from the air filter, intake tube and throttle body. If it has been there a while, it could contain dust and dirt particles that will hinder starting by gumming up the throttle body. Once that is done, follow the deflood procedure shown in the video I am including a link for but be sure to use some sort of booster for the battery to avoid draining it and don't crank too long at each try as this will cause the starter to overheat.
Good luck

eli371

Thanks for the reply, I was always under the impression that a flashing CEL would always read back a misfire, that's why I didn't bother getting a reading. Will follow what you suggested and post back. Thanks once again.

RIWWP

iTrader: (2)

You are correct, a flashing CEL is always a misfire if the engine is running. It may be P0300 (random misfire), P0301 (front rotor misfire), or P0302 (rear rotor misfire). Frankly, I've never seen much use for the code, because the ECU calculation to determine a misfire is guesswork at best, so it could easily mislead you in where you should be looking. Virtually everything that can cause a misfire on one rotor, can also cause a misfire on the other, since misfires can cause fuel trim adjustments, and fuel trim adjustments can cause misfires


If the engine isn't running and the CEL is flashing, it would be a self test that isn't commonly seen.

If you almost got the car started after a deflood, I recommend repeating the deflood until it does start. It can easily take multiple attempts to get it to work, and usually if it almost starts on one attempt, it will start on the next. I also recommend that you only use ONE method to deflood, and don't mix methods. Most of the difficulty deflooding I have seen on the forums is because people are mixing bits and pieces between methods

eli371

Well, I got the car started. Thank you for all the help.

Like I said the car has been sitting for 9 months so the brakes were pretty bad and sounded awful. The steering is pretty stiff as well.

I let the car run and drove it around the block, had it running for at least 20 minutes. Unfortunately the weather is awful so going to look into the brakes and steering issue tomorrow.

Once again thanks for all the help.