I bought my RX8 a month ago and when i got it i felt that the car took a little longer to start than what i had driven before. On occasions it would take between 5 - 10 seconds of having the key turned till it started. The sales ppl at mazda advised this is normal as it is a rotar. (bear in mind i dont know much about cars)

Anyway in the last 24 hrs, this issue which was intermittent has happened every single time i have started the car. It takes me at least 5 to 10 seconds to start the car. In one instance it did not start so i had to pull the key out and try again.

Is this normal? I really doubt it.

In the past i have had such problems when i had barely any charge in my battery left which was a good indication that it was on its way out. This again was in an automatic car.

Can someone please advise what it could be as i will take this up with the person who sold me the car.

 

I assume you know not to press on the accelerator when cranking the engine? Try turning the key to the ON position and waiting for the beeping to stop before turning it to the START position.

Also, the OEM battery-starter combination on the car is woefully inadequate for starting the car when some sort of problem is encountered. Go to a dealer and tell them of your hard starting problem and request that they replace the battery and starter with the upgraded components that are available from Mazda. If they are not familiar with these components, tell them to contact the Mazda tech line. If you get no satisfaction from the dealer, contact the Mazda North America customer service number in your owners manual and ask them to intercede with the dealer.

 

Have you been parking on an inclined surface? For some reason, when I park my RX-8 (also an AT model) in my driveway, which is at a fairly steep incline, it seems to require quite a bit of cranking to start. But it consistently fires right up when parked on flat surfaces (e.g. my garage, parking lots, etc).

 

Actually that is what used to happen, when i was on an inclined surface itwould take sometime to start. I did realise that and didnt worry too much about it and thought the sales guy was probably right.

Just in the last 24 hrs i have only left the car on flat surfaces, ie parkings lots, garage's etc.

I will have to take it into mazda.

 

Actually something i didnt mention is that in the past 2 days i have noticed the oil lamp light turn on or flicker when i started the car and rolled it out of my driveway. But it dissapears in like 4 or 5 seconds..

could this be the issue?

 

Please check your oil.

 

I havent had a chance to check the oil yet. But took me 3 attempts to start the car this morning. So i didnt drive it into work today. Lucky i still have my old car.

 

I was having a long crank issue with mine too. Most prevalent when the car had cooled for an hour before starting - it started very quickly from completely cold, and very quickly from a warm restart, but an hour-long shutoff produced a 10-15 second crank.

The "R" flash from the heat recall, and a new battery under warranty seem to have fixed the issue.