What grill is this? It was on the car since I had it, just assumed it was OEM until I started looking more closely at others cars





Been battling getting it started since it was presumably flooded; I changed the fuel pump, but the nipple on the assembly got cracked at some point in the process. I had to kill the ignition almost immediately after starting it with the new pump cause gas was spewing everywhere. I checked the fuel line and it's got pressure still, so I think she's just being stubborn.

Anyway, I can't get it started so I thought, the hell with it, I'll pull start it using the front hook. But upon closer inspection, there's no cutout in this grill to get the hook in. Is there a way to get this out, or am I going to have to take off the whole bumper to tow it?

 

Did a quick google search for billet rx8 grill and it looks like this one:
07 06 05 04 Mazda RX8 RX 8 Bumper Billet Grille Grill | eBay

From the pictures I would guess you are going to have to pull the front bumper to get it out of there. It's not that hard to take off the bumper though and you can find a DIY on the forum.

The stock black one is still underneath the metal one right?

Also I'm a little confused... You want to pull start a flooded engine that is spewing gas out of a broken nipple?

 

And the commonly referred to "tow hooks" are tie downs, they are not meant to be a tow point, the car should not be towed. Push start it.

 

My mistake, the tie down.. "hooks".

We tried push starting the car quite a few times actually, and it just wouldn't catch. Seemed pretty damn close, but I reckon just not quite enough speed. Any suggestions? We had 3 guys in all but a full out sprint, maybe 20-25 yards to the end of the driveway.

During my de-flooding searches here, it seemed like the general consensus was using the tie down with a towing strap was OK in this instance, and the preferred method for many.

https://www.rx8club.com/rx-8-discuss...s-less-188752/

https://www.rx8club.com/rx-8-discuss...-flood-133312/

https://www.rx8club.com/rx-8-discuss...rience-136528/

Just to reference a few. Surely if they are designed to hold at least a portion of the static weight of the vehicle a few LBFs won't hurt, and at this point is coming close to being an "emergency towing" situation as it's listed in the manual. I'm not trying to sound unappreciative but I spend a lot more time reading here than participating usually, so it kind of seems like conflicting ideas.

I'd prefer not to have to rip off the bumper, but I'm running out of things to try.

 

The manual states the Tow hooks are to be used to pull the vehicle from a ditch or snow bank in a straight direction in respect to the hook, so pull starting it won't be a problem. Where are these so called tie down hooks ?

 

One in the front and one in the back. There are ports in the grill and plastic trim:



Didn't realize my grill wasn't OEM so no wonder I couldn't find it. Was hoping I didn't have to rip the front bumper off to do it but it's looking that way.

 

You can tow the car from the tie downs, but that doesn't mean you should. Of course if you have too in an emergency then you have too but I wouldn't risk it personally in a situation like this because I would not risk scratching my baby.

If your car is not starting after doing the proper deflood procedure then you have other issues. I have deflooded quite a few RX-8's and I have never had to pull start one. Did you even try the factory procedure? No offense but Rotary God has never owned and RX-8 so I doubt he has much experience deflooding one. Although it is not rocket science............

 

Mine sits for very long periods of time and has flooded very badly several times due to old plugs/ ignition coils (something you might want to check/change) or just from sitting....

My suggestion would be the following.
1. Have very good thick jumper cables and connect your 8 to another vehicle.
2. Pull the (blue) fuel pump fuse
4. Some say remove the plug on the secondary air pump ( I never do)
3. Turn it over for 10 second intervals with a 5 second break in-between do this for no more than one minute at a time. Do this for a while, 10 maybe 15 times (shorter or longer) in order to have all the fuel extracted. Usually you can tell when most the fuel is gone because the engine will act like its about to start and may even turn over a few times without help. If that happens repeat a turnover one more time.
4. Replace fuse
5. Start her up.... Note: If she almost starts and then dies... STOP... your close but you need to repeat step 3 for only a few more rotations.

 

Thanks for the advice. I've tried the factory deflood procedure; In fact, it was the first thing I tried, then push starting, then something similar to what abe outlined. I was going to try tow starting it, then finally ripping the plugs out.

My plugs and coils are fairly new, less than 4,000 miles since last changed. I'm beginning to think my starter might be on the weaker side, though this is the first time I've had any trouble getting it to start, hot or cold, summer or winter.

 

Thanks for the find blade. And no, I fixed the leak. I think the leak "caused" the flood, in that I had to kill the ignition a second after firing it up cold sitting for a week.