Hey everyone, finally registered on this site after lurking here and there for several months. I finally decided the RX-8 was the car for me and bought one that had everything I wanted at a great price from a private seller. Problem #1 is that I couldn't drive the car for a couple of months as there was a problem with the title transfer (lesson: banks can screw up) and in Illinois, you can't register the car without the title.

Well I'm happy to say that's now solved, but now I can't drive the car because of problem #2, which looks like a flooding problem. While the car sat, I fired it up for some friends of mine a couple of times just to give them a taste of what I was missing! When I did it the first time, I let the engine run for a couple of minutes and revved it up pretty good. The next time I let a friend of mine fire it up and he shut it off pretty fast. The next time I tried to start it, the engine cranked but wouldn't turn over. Thanks to RX8Club I was aware of the engine flooding problem, but it didn't occur to me that it could happen so easily until it didn't start for me. And yes I tried the Mazda procedure for fixing a flooded car to no avail.

Now that I have plates for the car, I called up my Mazda dealer's service dept. about deflooding the car. He said he could take me in tomorrow but that it wasn't covered by warranty and it would cost around $450!!! I came straight back here and it sounds like that for almost all of you, as long as you're under warranty it was free (and in at least one case when it wasn't, it was about $165).

I've looked at the DIY procedure for deflooding the car, and it sounds do-able but I'm not that adventurous. And if it covered by the warranty, or even if it's about $150 I'd just let the dealer take care of it. I'm considering calling Mazda roadside assistance tonight just to see what they say. But before that, I figured I'd officially join this forum, share my story, and see what some other people here think about my situation. So I'm glad to be here, and free beer for everyone who reads this!

 

total bullshit that it's not covered. Of course it is. Your car doesn't have the most recent software which is what caused the flooding. I've got the most recent software and have never flooded and i've moved the car to wash it etc without giving it a chance to warm up. Total BS. Call and speak to every manager you can and get that dirty service guy fired.

 

BTW- i think you get one "deflooding" free, then after that they start to charge, but you state this is your first one, so this one is on them. GO kick some ***.

 

Thanks cleoent, I just couldn't arrange a time with that service dept. when they quoted me that price. From what I've read about what the service technicians do to deflood the engine, charging $450 for that is robbery. And after this experience, if I flood the car again without following Mazda's rules, then I'm willing to pay for the deflood (just not $450!).

 

It may not be covered under warranty. You need to give us more info. You said you bought it used. so depending on the year/miles also is it a slavaged/branded title? then it would not be covered. Also if the previous owner had flooded it once and he had it deflooded under waranty they may not cover it again. as far as $450.00 that does sound outrages. call around to other dealers and get another price quote.

 

It's a 2004 with 10K, so it should be well within warranty. Not salvaged or previously leased, not sure what you mean by branded though. I didn't even give the dealer the VIN, so they didn't have that info anyways when they gave me the estimate. There's only one Mazda dealer here in town, so I presumed that shopping around is out.

 

Well it sounds like it is still under warranty. two other options. call Mazda customer support hotline. (800) 222-5500 and see what they say. or get a copy of the bulletin and see if there is a local car repair shop that will follow the bulletin and do it cheaper. There arent any parts except the spark plugs to replace (possibly) so by going to a non-Mazda place shouldn't damage anything. But I would recommend start with the phone call to mazda.

branded = salvaged pretty much. just that branded can mean a specific area of the vehicle (i.e wire harness, paint, body, frame, tranmission, engine, etc.)

 

Update!

Called Mazda's roadside service this morning to have it towed in, talked to someone who obviously knew about Mazda's, and in addition to deflooding the engine he's changing the battery and the starter too!

But before I even had to ask, he casually mentioned that it was all under warranty. Whew!

I'm surprised about the starter though. Sure I may have run down the battery a bit and the car had been sitting for a while, but I only tried to start it a handful or two # of times. At least now I don't have to worry about the previous owner did to it as I'll have a new one.

 

Make sure the tow company brings a flat bed truck

 

dude it takes less than 30 minutes to deflood it yourself.

step 1: jack up car and take of front left wheel
step 2: pull the fuel pump and injector fuses
step 3: remove little plastic shield in wheel well
step 4: remove the 4 spark plug wires from the plugs ( they are marked and not easily switched)
step 5: remove plugs with various socket extension
Step 6: crank over engine and eject all the gas from the housing (15-20 secs)
step 7: clean and replace plugs and do the steps in reverse

it will probably run like crap the first few minutes but keep the revs up 3-4k and she'll smoke out the tail pipes.

after a while itll run like new. (at least it did when i did the procedure) 20k miles and still running strong.

 

I still have the original battery and starter But the car runs great, so I'm not complaining.

Glad to hear your getting the car covered under warranty. Did they bring a flat bed tow truck?

 

brake check, they had a service bulletin about the starter/battery/software and flooding. Which is why they will do it under warranty the first time, if you manage to flood your car again after they do that (which is very hard to do) then it's on you.

 

I'm like Nemesis8, with the original battery & starter. Why is it we need to have a problem like this to qualify for the new stuff? I don't want to.

Anyway, good news on this one afterall. From your first post, I take it you already knew not to shut it down cold, that your friend did it before you could stop him. I think most of us don't go thru that 3k/10sec routine @ shutdown, just don't shutdown till it's up to normal operating temp.

So, where's my brewskie? :

 

why?

 

If it has the appearance package on the front, a flatbed is the only way to go! My '03 Cobra sat higher in the front and it could only go on a flatbed w/o tearing up the front facia.

 

The user's manual tells you to only use a wheel lift tow truck or flatbed when towing. Personally, I would always tow a rwd car on a flatbed. The rear wheels must be off the ground, or wheel dollies must be used (wheel dollies have never sounded all that safe to me, and having the steering wheels chugging along behind doesn't sound too fun either). Besides, not many tow trucks around here are of the wheel lift nature. Better to get it towed the first time, rather than send the driver away because of improper or inadequate equipment.

 

Ah, thanks guys.

 

dude, if I've said this once I've said it a thousand times.......... there is no flooding "problem" with the RX-8. It is a fairly common "quirk" of the rotary engine. Mine has only flooded ONE TIME because I let it sit for 2 months over the winter and the battery was low.

YOu don't have to go to alot of trouble to de-flood it. Just crank with the pedal fully depressed for a bit then no throttle for a bit and repeat until it fires up. Then, rev it blow all the smoke out, take it out and hammer on it for while....let it cool down... shut off ... end of story.

For those of us vets it's no big deal...nothing to be afraid of. Just don't do what your friend did and shut it off too quickly.

YOU DO NOT NEED A NEW BATTERY AND STARTER. WHAT YOU DO NEED IS A NEW MAZDA DEALER.

 

Just passing this on:

http://www.rx7club.com/showthread.php?t=487217

 

the guys said the dealer is covering it under warranty for free.. why not get a freebie out of them

I think the part that freaks ppl out the most bout deflooding is fully pressing the pedal. I think ppl don't realize it's all electronically controlled so it won't reflood the engine, but actually tells the ECU it's in deflood mode so it can start doing it's thing for deflooding..

I've actually never flooded this car, but whenever i start the car i always seem to go for a quick drive, even if it's just to move the car down the driveway


MrJynx

 

NO!!! Mazda's road side assistance must have had some communication issues that morning. The tow truck guy came out with a front-loader, took one look at the back of my car while it was still in the garage, and immediately said that it needed to be flat-bedded. He then looked over my car for about 20 minutes, I think he was impressed!

I didn't get the car back until Friday night. It snowed the next day and we've had snow on the ground ever since, so I still haven't had a chance to really drive the car yet.

 

Put snow tires on it!