Nothing major. But I had a hiccup today and I'm still scratching my head. Did some searches, scoured the manual, and I still can't find anything. Anyone have any ideas:

At a stop sign and turning right, I decided to do my daily 9-10k rpm rev to clean out the junk. I turn right and then ease off the clutch so I don't kill the transmission and floor the accelerator. Everything is normal until about 6k rpm, and I get what seems to be a fuel shut off. I ease off gas, and quickly look at the cluster: Engine Coolant Temp is Normal, Oil Pressure is Normal, Gas Tank is Full, My CEL is on because I need a new O2 emissions sensor, My TPMS light is on because I have aftermarket wheels and no radio sensors, and strangely my DSC light flickers on then stays on but I get no DSC OFF light like what happens when there's a DSC System malfunction or battery disconnect. I shift and continue on normally and no more sputter or fuel shutoff but the DSC light stays on. I didn't hear any wheel slip or feel and side slip out of the turn. Then I turn left onto another road and bounce the devil again to see if the fuel shut off occurs again. No, I get my beep and shift into second and I glance down again. Now I see the DSC light still illuminated and my CEL is now FLASHING. I panic, and quit accelerating hard, nurse the shifts, and get up to sixty. The CEL stops flashing, DSC is still on, and everything remains 'normal'. I pull into the drive and park the car. It idles smoothly at 760 rpm with no hiccups or anything for five minutes. But the damn DSC is still on. So I shut the car off, cover it up scratching my head. I'll do a DSC reset tomorrow when I clean the thing before the trip to RotorJam (You'd better go: https://www.rx8club.com/ne-rx-8-forum-29/1st-annual-rotor-jam-7-13-2008-a-148033/) and see what I get. Anyone have any ideas in the meantime?

Thanks.

 

i believe the flashing CEL is a misfire. might want to take it in to see what the problem is and to see if you have any more stored codes.

on second thought.....how long had you been driving the car when you got on it? still may not have been all the way up to operating temp. the dsc light i have no clue about

 

I get the DSC light when i turn to hard; its just the DSC automatically kicking in and making sure i dont slide into a tree. As for the CEL flashing, idk.

 

a misfire would mean my seals are shitty. which is highly improbable because i've been taken care of the engine properly. but it might be. now that we have that new warranty, it shouldn't be a problem. i just hope it gets me down to nj tomorrow and then again on monday and over to queens. if i get any problems i'll take it in... i should get a decarb and a whole car checkup too.

and the dsc light stayed on. when the dsc kicks in off of a turn it usually just flashes as it's working. it shouldn't stay on like it did.

what would a misfire sound like? i didn't feel any power loss or hear anything unusual through the hard acceleration. i just noticed the flashing cel.

 

for about ten minutes. it was hot outside as well. the engine should have been warm, and my coolant temp was nominal. i always check the temp to make sure before i bounce it.

 

Sorry, but I don't believe a misfire has ANYTHING to do with your seals. Your plugs could be failing, or it could be a problem with your coils. Misfires are relatively common...I get them myself on occasion.

As for your "power loss" and DSC light flashing, it sounds like something triggered the DSC system and it did what it was supposed to do...cut power to bring the car back into control. Perhaps there was some oil or something on the road you didn't see and one of the wheels was slipping? As for the reason the light is still on...no idea. See if you local Autozone can run a diagnostic and perhaps reset it, then you can see if it comes back on?

 

of course the gauge is a dummy. just there to let you know when you overheat, that's about it.

i doubt if you can hear a misfire. i took good care of my motor as well but still on occasion got a random misfire. just part of it.

 

Well if the seals aren't "sealing" then the combustion cycle won't properly complete... which is a misfire. My plugs and coils are brand new with only a couple thousand miles on them, so I doubt it's the sparks.

I know for a fact I had no wheel spin. There was no reason for the DSC to engage. There was nothing on the road, I was pushing the car straight with brand new rubber. If it was a TCS issue, I would've heard it. If it was a sideslip or a DSC issue, I would've felt it. It is possible it was a TCS/DCS malfunction and the systems randomly engaged and shut down power but that just sucks... haha.

 

yeah i figured. i was just wondering because you can def hear them with pistons. so it probably was a misfire. maybe i had a tsc/dcs malfunction and it somehow triggered that?

 

there's no telling what may have happened. see if you can get autozone to check your codes. if the cel blinked, something is stored. they may also be able to tell you why the dsc light is staying on

 

Mis fire.

Misfire has nothing to do with your seals.

 

Well then it must be my coil because the sparks are brand new?

 

Misfires have to do with the ignition system, not your seals. Check the coils. Or, for some reason, it's possible that the engine thought it wasn't hot enough yet.

 

Sounds like my car when my cat went bad.

 

i have no bad smell :-/. i'm running a brand new supercat too.

it ran absolutely 100% fine today too. maybe it was just a dsc/tsc glitch that caused a misfire. i'm sure i'll find out when i take it in to the dealer to get that checkup.

 

what is it?? you just said the plugs and coils where new in an above post..

as to the you did not have wheel spin that would be because the traction control kicked in..

also the motor might not have been all the way up to temp..

seems like you really dont know what you are talking about. the dealer is your best bet.

missfires are caused by baq coil plugs or wires. clogged injectors, bad fuel pump. ect, ect..

beers

 

yeah no problems with the seals for a misfire just basically saying the fuel in the combustion did not get burt correctly/at all .....get the code read at autozone or someting to see if it was a misfire then replace the coil(if it was not replace) as for DSC light thats something that prob will have to b taken to the dealer for any diagnostics but the guys/girls at autozone may know someting

 

The sparks are brand new. Like a thousand miles on them--all highway. The coils are relatively new. About 5,000 miles. That's not enough in my opinion to cause wear, but if they were bad then you never know. I did not have wheel spin at all... the DSC did nothing. When you push the wheels to the sliding point you can feel the engine and the brakes engage and see the flashing DSC. I'm quite familiar with that feeling. I'm quite familiar with the noise. I'm also not stupid, and I know the 8 was hooked up and well on it's way. The 8 doesn't have the torque to spin the wheels with fresh rubber while accelerating on a straight clean road on a hot sunny day with no side movement when it's already 100ft on its way. The DSC light triggered and came on like a malfunction light.

to me when fuel isn't combusted in the engine. it's a misfire. whatever causes it. Now I know a misfire is when a spark doesn't light and combust the fuel in the chamber... but that's the classic misfire definition of a piston engine because that's one of the only thing that would prevent fuel from being combusted in a piston. Expand that to a rotary and there is one other thing: lack of chamber pressure.

Pretty sure instead of me not knowing what I was talking about you meant to say that I was expanding my view to include all possibilities and looking for thoughts and ideas.

 

all of the lights went away and i hadn't had the problem since. i electrically tested the dsc tsc and some other fuses and all were fine. i visually inspected all of my coil wires and i took out my sparks and looked at those. no fouling, no bad wires. i'll never take my car to autozone, but i'll just get it checked at the dealer and see what they say in a month or two... unless this happens again.

 

People say Autozone ONLY because most of them will read the code for free........nothing else. It saves a lot of guess work by having the code read.......period.

 

I don't know if it's just me but you seem to have a bit of a condescending attitude towards others who are trying to help you, and if so, check it at the door, we're all friends here.

As far as your problem, I had the same issue. What stuck out to me is, is that you lit it up after a turn and choked at 6k, which is how my car started bogging(and would subsequently bog until shut off). My issue was MOSTLY resolved due to the new flash put out(A semi-bog with no CEL when I gunned it in front of Hillary supporters). You seem like you take care of the car so I'm assuming you have the latest flash, however you did not tell us the mileage nor the year of the car. If you dont have it, get it.

And the others are right, a misfire has nothing to do with your seals.

There have been some issues with fuel pumps going bad, and if you were doing a sharp turn with low gas, you may have choked out due to fuel issues. Try to repeat with a low gas tank and sharp turn/accel to see if it comes back. Another culprit could be the cat.

 

tat was my problem. and it will cause flashing cel too.

 

I'm not trying to be condescending just trying to get ideas outta people. So apologies for that.

I do take the best care of the car I can. It does have the latest flashes and is green on every maintenance issue I can think of except for the need for a new emissions sensor. I didnt include the year and mileage; I didnt even think of it. Its a 2004 with just barely 50200. All mostly highway. This is the first hiccup we've had since I got her minus a stalling incident which was solved when I demanded a decarb. I don't know if that info will help but thanks for remiding me; it might be important.

I just filled the tank not two minutes before the stomp. Could it still have been a fuel issue? I never even considered the pumps though it could have potentially been a fuel shutoff.

 

too bad u're in West new york. or I can pull the store code for you with my laptop.

a flashing CEL is a misfire. it could be a lot of things. It could be bad gas, plugs, plug wire, coils, Bad cat,etc. oh the worst case is your engine is bad but not likely

How many miles do u have on ur car ? you said u have aftermarket wheels, were they the same size and offset(or close to OE offset)

if your car chokes at around 6K, it could be your SSV not opening smoothly, or the solenoid is bad. or it could be your fuel pump, cuz my pump was bad. I replaced it myself.

 

endowdly, Sounds like your plugs are bad. Take one off and look at it. If it looks like crap its time to replace them.