Left my baby sitting in the parking lot for 4 days while I went out snowboarding in West VA. Came home monday to find it wouldnt start. Tested the battery...fine. Did the deflooding procedure that we all have memorized like a 3rd grader knows his pledge of alegiance. Got plenty of smoke to fire out of the exhaust pipes but still no starting. Tried off and on for the next few hours to deflood and then start normally.....Nothing!

called Mazda Roadside.....perfectly competent people suprisingly....tow truck company not so competent . Took the tow truck an hour+ longer than quoted to find me and my car.

*Embarassed as all hell*........I walk out load the 8 on the truck with the driver and caught a ride up to Rosenthal Mazda in Tysons Corner (good dealer by the way for any of those in the NOVA 'burbs)

Dealer calls me last night to tell me they've deflooded it and got it starting normally, replaced all 4 plugs, battery, and are replacing the starter today once the part gets in. All under covered by the dealer!!!!!


I'm still a bit warry after reading a previous post about "one time goodwill" defloods from another dealer. I'm hoping I wont find any suprises on my bill but will know within the day when I go pick my pride and joy up from the dealer.

<stay tuned>

 

if they didn't give you a quote ahead of time they can't charge you jack unless you signed off on it.

 

I think I was ambiguious there........

my concern was with the dealer adding a stipulation to the bill saying that this time the deflooding is covered but next time it will NOT be due to the driver's inability to operate the car properly.

do a search on the words "deflooding procedure" and "goodwill" you should find the post to which I'm refering .

 

i've never flooded my car, and dealer changed my plugs. one night after some spirited driving, i got a couple of misfire cels to the point were the light stayed on. so i took it in, they confirmed my thoughts about the misfires as the cause of the cel, and cleared the codes and put new plugs in.

 

This morning my car would not start. I knew it was not flooded because I always follow the proper start-up and shut-off procedures on this car. The problem is definitely letting the car sit for a few days without driving it in the cold weather. I called roadside and the tow truck arrived in about an hour. The guy gave me a jump start and the car came to life. I know Mazda is replacing batteries and starters for 'flooded engine' repairs.....but that seems strange. Why would the dealers be instructed to change out a starter and battery for a flooded engine....unless they know that this car has an under powered battery and a poorly designed starter. Has anyone been able to get the dealer to replace the battery and starter based on inconvenience from 'no-start' scenarios not caused by flooding?

 

yup. dealer also replaced my battery at the beginning of the cold season. it showed as being below spec on one of the full circle inspections. its pretty common knowledge that the battery that was originally shipped on the car was pretty underpowered, and cold temperatures can greatly reduce the output of the battery, by as much as half.

the battery is warrantied for 12 months, and then prorated until 24 months (i think that's how it works).

as far as the starter goes, a smaller starter was originally used in the design because of size and weight considerations, but its not as effective as the older, larger starter used in rx-7s. so, from what i've heard, the starter is only replaced in no-start condition or occasionally in hard-start conditions, and then its not a 'newly designed' starter perse thats put in, but a new 'old design' starter that's put in.

 

nova huh, rosenthal dealerships used to suck ***, but i heard they changed ownership recently so i guess they must be better now. congrats you didnt have to pay and everything is good to go. btw you should ask them if theyd still do this for you after your warranty runs out. my guess is they will, since theyd want you to goto them to service your car in the future. but its always best to make sure.

 

Quick question, I'm having my RX8 shipped to Germany. It will be on the boat for approx 2 weeks. Knowing how freakin cold it is right now, and after reading the previous threads, should I prepare to bring more than just jumper cables? : (

 

i'd probably go with a stand alone jumper box instead.

like this
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...lance&n=228013

 

got her back this afternoon.....

dealer stated that it was "heavily flooded" and had a dead battery (result of me trying to crank it cold for 2 days).

4 new plugs, a new starter, a new battery, an alignment (damn curbs), and a new water pump (see: ??? Broken Water Pump ??? thread) later and she's happy as a clam!!!

all under warranty (save the alignment)!!!

and yes my dealer (Rosenthal again for all those haters) said that anytime this happens in warranty or not they will do the deflooding procedure.......wont give me the new plugs/starter/battery out of warranty for free but will take care of it as described in the TSB.....I figure once its out of warranty I'll grow a pair and mess with the plugs and the vaccum seals myself if it ever happens again!! *crosses fingers* *touches wood* *explains that he's very superstious*

 

x2!!! jealous!!!!

 

Mazda replaced my battery, starter & plugs after a similar incident. Not flooded, just a dead battery after not that many days. Good luck.

 

my dealer told me it was a TSB. I took my car in for snow tires, and told em to check all the stuff, came back and they had said they did the TSB and installed plugs, starter and battery and changed oil also.

 

I've been told by my norhtern california dealer service advisor that The tsb # is 0104204 is now the 2nd part of the deflooding recall. (Wouldn't this mean that the items should all be repaired without having to wait for the flooding)
Check out all the other 52 tsb's & 4 recalls at http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/pr...callsearch.cfm
I'm still leaving my car in their posession (took everything of mine out, because this car is slowly detaching from me and it has no identity at this moment) I want to know all the diagnostic codes associated with this last no start/stall problem that left the car in the middle of my street for 4 days while waiting for the holiday to pass and the floods to subside so that a tow truck was available.
I'm getting real tired (actually exhausted) of this continual problem.
Is anyone getting excellent starting performance (no deflooding) after the plug replacement? If so, how many miles do you have on your new plugs?

 

I can only speak of starting performance after complete plug/starter/battery replacement due to flooding. It is now superb! Absolutely ZERO hesitation when turning over the motor.

 

I have to agree....I've only had mine back for 3 days now after the deflood and replacement plugs/starter/battery but that new starter is wicked quick at getting the rotors turning. Sounds a bit funny....but works beautifully so far *knocks on wood*