my 8 died saturday i was driving in 3rd gear when i lost power and the car suddenly slowed down till it died. when i pulled over the car started back up but idled very rough on low rpms and barely made it down the street back home. then i got it to do the same start up but shook and ran terrible but cleared up a little when reving it up. it seems like its not firing right. now 2 days later it wont start up but it feels like it wants to. if i try starting it whithout a jump the battery starts to die but when being jumped it still wont start im chargin the battery on trickle and gonna get it tested but in the mean time any suggestions. also the top of the plugs i checked were 2 green oxidized and 1 rusted while 1 was fine i cleaned them off but still nothing.(my dad says he thinks it could be the coils or wires because the tops are like this) also its been hard turning over the last couple weeks. i kno theres many possibilities of problems i just wanna kno were i should start cause it seems like alot can be wrong

 

Sounds like ignition problems. You're dad's right. Start with plugs take them out and clean them up good or replace them. Then try replacing the wires if they are cracked or corroded. Chances are they are if your description of your plugs is any indicator. If both of those don't fix it try the ignition coils. They're about $30 each and are known to go out on this car around 40-60K miles.

 

yea sorry 58k plus miles

 

Also I noticed you have some extra amps and a voltage stabilizer. I would check what your batter voltage is at idle. If it's too low that could explain ignition problems as well. Your coil strength and injector dwell time will be affected by the voltage they receive which will have an impact on engine performance.

 

Prior to this you didn't notice any problem whatsoever? No lack of power or rough idle?

My advice concerning problems like this is always the same for pretty much any car: start with ignition (plugs, wires, coils), then start looking at fuel delivery.

Shaunv74: I would agree with you on the battery if the car hadn't died while running above idle, and restarted after dying. If there wasn't enough juice to supply the coils, I don't see how it would have turned the engine over after dying. Still though, I guess it doesn't hurt to check.

 

wats a sugestion for after i figure out this problem so i dont stress my ignition and battery again ? upgraded battery? capacitor ?

 

i have been noticing a bit of power loss i normally smoke my buddies maxima but he was keepin up with me about a week ago i just figured it was having extra people in my car. i was told this could be the coils or the plugs havent been running optimum

 

Oh, also... is the check engine light on, and have you tried resetting your E-shaft position sensor? Kind of a long shot, but you never know.

 

the check engine light has been on since the dealer put on my catback and headers but now its flashin and wats the thing you said to reset lol im kinda new to this kind of motor im used to my old chevy 350 were everything is so easy to work on

 

Flashing check engine light is usually a misfire indicator.

To reset the E-shaft position sensor:

1. Turn key to "run" position with the engine off.
2. Tap brake pedal 20 times rapidly.
3. The oil pressure gauge should do a full sweep.


That's it. Try it and see if it helps... can't hurt any

EDIT: Oh, and regardless of the cause of the problem, you've likely fouled your plugs at this point... replace them when the problem has been identified.

 

Check the coils. The same type of thing happened to me at around 55~60k

 

im gonna try that as soon as my batery is done charging but is there anyway i can test my coils to see if thats it/ im gonna change the coils wires and plugs anywyas but its kind of pricey to do all at once if not necessary

 

^There is a procedure in the service manual that involves removing the coils and testing resistance across several points I believe. I've heard that the test isn't really all that definitive though. Definitely test resistance across your plug wires and inspect your plugs for any obvious/serious damage or fouling.

I believe you can get the OE coils for around $30 a pop. A lot of people replace them routinely just as a part of normal maintenance.

 

ok i fucked with the car cleaned the plug tops off charged the battery and got it started only wen pumping the gas and reving it when it starts. its runnin hard and blowin out smoke an unburnt fuel so its not burning/ firing right im just hoping its a combo of weak spark plugs and coils so now i gotta wait for my stuff to come in. any input of if this is sounding like anything other than this

 

Did you just clean the plug tops or the electrode and gap? You should pull out the plugs and clean the inside as well. They may be fouled.

 

new battery/if it keeps dying fast/ plugs/ wires and coils def an ignition problem

 

I would change your battery if you're fhaving trouble then plugs/wires/coils it does sound like an ignition problem

 

alright update i changed my plugs and wires car starts but is not running right. i reved it up to 3 and was holding it there to warm it up and see if it would get better then for about 3 seconds it jumped up to 4000 rpm and ran fine and it sounded like somethin blew out the exhaust. then it went back to wat its doin now. is there a fuel filter on this car or can somethin possibly be stuck in the injector. ( the plugs wen removed were very beat and one of them had metal in it and the tip was broken im guessing that was the metal )

 

Do yourself a favor and replace your coils before you destroy another set of spark plugs. Could have saved yourself some money on the wires by measuring the resistance across them with a meter. Also, did you reset the eccentric shaft position sensor?

You said yourself it's blowing unburnt fuel out the exhaust, so fuel delivery likely isn't the problem.

 

the guy at the dealership told me he has never heard of the coils going and that the car wouldnt start if there was a coil problem idk is there some other coil he was talking about. and one of my wires was shot i did a resistance check

 

The guy at the dealership doesn't know what he's talking about. The OE coils on the 8 are prone to failure. They don't just fail outright, they begin to operate at diminished output levels which results in misfiring, hard starts, bad idle, etc. Basically exactly the problems you're describing.

What was the resistance on the bad wire? When your car starts running like crap it is possible for the PCM to remember and continue to use screwed up ignition advance and fuel levels to try to keep you from destroying your engine even after the problem has been fixed. If you've found and fixed a problem (bad plug wire) you should clear out this memory. This is done by disconnecting your battery for several minutes, reconnecting it, and perform the ESS reset I described earlier.

 

Read this thread, you might find it enlightening:

https://www.rx8club.com/series-i-trouble-shooting-95/need-help-getting-bottom-misfire-issues-122209/#post2005676

 

hopefully changing this will work i gotta order my coils from online the mazda dealers round here charge 40 an 80 a coil one charges 227 for plugs the other 157 there so overpriced

 

i did a resistance test the other day an the coils were reading out except for one coil but then it did read out and that was the coil connected to the bad wire is it possible the coil fd up that wire or that the coils are bad even if they test out

 

change the coils ... and u're set