Hi everyone,

I jumped into the rx-8 world with out much knowledge. I got my car yesterday and today it died....Well died is an exaggeration, I hope. This morning it stalled at red light and was hard to start check engine light came on. I was almost at work so I got there and parked. I do not live to far away so at lunch I started my car to let warm up for a little then pulled out of parking lot and the check engine light was blinking and it was a dog, drove it about 1 mile and parked it.

I ordered a bluetooth obd sensor that was suggested in the new owner section but that will not come until Thursday.

I am going to autozone tonight to pick up coils as the car has 70k on the odometer. The plugs and wires were changed 10k ago but I might as well change it all. I am going to clean the MAF sensor as well and the ecc. I surmised this from the wealth of info contained on this awesome forum! I guess my only question would be after I accomplish this do I need to reset anything or do anything else? I would also be helpful for some words of encouragement as I am currently freaking out. Any other suggestion or insights.

 

Blinking light is almost ALWAYS a misfire
https://www.rx8club.com/series-i-tro...t-here-222584/

EDIT: Wrong thread! Read this one https://www.rx8club.com/series-i-tec...t-here-222280/

Good call!

You're on the right track!
Go through the misfire thread I posted and see if anything helps. If you still have issues, report back.
Make sure you unplug the battery for at least 20min to reset the fuel learning parameters.
Then after you clean the ess (I assume that's what you meant by ecc?), do this procedure:
https://www.rx8club.com/series-i-tro...memory-169443/

 

Welcome.
Sorry your intro is off to a rough start.
As long as your engine isn't actually failing, the members here can guide you through almost any problem.
And it's ESS (Eccentric Shaft Sensor)
Good luck!

 

Thanks for the help everyone. <br/>Is this the ess sensor?

 

before





After

 

Thanks for the info all.

I have 2 codes
p0302 and p0850

I cleaned the maf sensor and have attached after and before and pictures.



After





before



[I]Thanks for the help everyone.

 

Thanks for the quick replies! the codes are P0302 and PO850.
Is this the ess?

 

Thanks for the prompt responses. I had 2 codes P0850 and P0302. Do I need to replace the neutral switch as well or can I just do ignition and try to start? Also when changing plugs and wires is the ess easy to spot, I looked all over today at lunch to no avail.

 

when looking at the engine the ess is at 5 o clock kinda under the biggest pulley which is also the lowest

 

https://www.rx8club.com/series-i-tec...7/#post3758950

 

Autozone coils in my exp are garbage. Their only saving grace is they have a lifetime warranty on them so I was able to exchange the bad ones. It may just be their QC process. What I noticed was that if you get one with a copper/bronze/gold (that color) contact it dies quickly, or the spark wasn't enough. But about 1k mi. after install I would have to change the colored ones no matter which plug they were installed on. I should mention that this was after my car received a fresh motor and also another 8 with a fresh motor. The silver contact ones tend to stick around a bit longer. I had to keep returning them to different AZs until I got a set of 4 that were the same. Unfortunately they carry the same part number so you wont know until you open the box and the store probably carries a limited number of them.

 

Thanks again for all the help. Still waiting for coils paid for them and they forgot to oder them. Went I to pick up today and they were one short because one was not transfered from another store but wasn't. Ugh...

I know it's been a rough start but what I can say is the little I drove the car was awesome!

 

I feel your pain rsprenkle ! I ran into the same issue with my 8 around 6 months ago. Bought the car without being as thorough as I should have been about a year back, haven't had it on the road more than a week before the clutch snapped into multiple pieces, a few thousand dollars later ( multiple issues compounded to lead to this price) I finally got it back, ran it for about 3 months and I managed to do in an apex seal. Bought a compression tester this week, and finally tested my engine to verify that was the case, and it pretty blatantly showed it was. I posted on your wall, I see that you are from PA. If you are in a nearby area I would be more than happy to help you out and comp test your 8 for you and give you any knowledge that I can from my experiences . This forum is full of awesome people, a handful of which are in PA. If you are not near me, chances are you are near one of the other people nearby that can offer a wealth of information to help you in your journey to a properly running 8! Im between State College and Altoona in PA, so if you are nearby ill do my best to give you a hand!

 

Thank iTs. I live about 1.5 hrs from you in Lewisburg PA. I am hoping to change coils,plugs and wires tomorrow and if time permits coolant change. Will keep everyone posted.

 

Changed Plugs,coils and wires. Disconnected battery. Cleaned throttle bottle, MAF sensor and ecc. did 20 brake stomp oil gauge moved. Tried to start car and nothing. I only tried twice. Pulled plugs and fuel pump fuse and turned over twice for 10 seconds. reinstalled plugs and wires and turned over for 10 seconds. Replaced fuel pump fuse and tried to start twice. No hint of life. Not sure what is going on. Anyone have any thoughts?

 

Got it running! Followed deflood procedures! It did have a little idle hunt at first but that seemed to stabilize. Coolant warning light flashed on and of a couple times so drove home and parked it. Time to do coolant flush before I drive again. Which I hope i can do next week.

Thank you everyone from the bottom of my heart. Y'all are awesome!

 

Wow you bought a Mazda rotary engine compression tester - where?

Ed

 

Your about 30 mins from me.

Travis

 

@ Travis nice! Back in the day I spent many of nights cruising Independence street.

 

As have I sprenkle, as have i.

Travis

 

I may be incorrect but that doesn't look like the ess
I believe this is it...

 

Wow you bought a Mazda rotary engine compression tester - where?

 

You are correct Ana.

Travis

 

Thanks for confirming. Cleaned it today and was hoping that was the correct one.

Just disconnect the connector from inside the hood first.
It's a bit tricky to get to but from under the car I used a small swivel adapter which connected to an adapter for my screw driver and a 10mm socket.
"Install in reverse order of removal"

 

I cleaned mine without disconnecting.