rx8daniel

I've pushed mine in and out of the garage countless times - the 8, the Miata, our van. I pushed the 8 out Saturday. But there's a big bump to push it back in. I've pushed the Miata around a few parking lots after leaving the parking lights on to start it.
However, our driveway terminates at a fairly busy street, and across that street is another driveway. Besides that, even when I pushed a Caddy about two city blocks, it's difficult to push it up to 15MPH by myself.
I had a friend push my older 1st gen before w/ another car. IF I were to do that with the 8, I'd do it carefully , cover the bumper, make sure the pusher knows the signal of when to stop pushing, etc. It can be done.
However, in this case the dealer will be getting the car tomorrow, assuming roadside agrees the tow will be piggy back, and then they agree to use the tow hooks. And if they can get to my house in a timely matter in the morning so I can ride in , get a rental, and get to work at a reasonable time, etc. Unless of course I should find a few guys in the new neighborhood w/ the guts to push a car in the dark around the corner of a busy street. I'm north of Memphis if anyone's in the area!

Racer X-8

The thought of walking with my feet ten feet off of Beale is a good one , but this is just the wrong time of the year. Can this wait till May?

driftin240

04 rx8 just flooded after someone pulled it out of the garage and parked it. i warned that someone numerous times about the flooding problems and what do do but i got ignored. anyways, 2 days later i finally got time to make it start. took about an hr total. final solution was pushing it down the driveway since im SURE the plugs were fouled. not new to flooding in rotaries, have an 87 gxl. rebuilt numerous engines and have seen flooding counntless times. this happens. it happened to me, itll happen to other people. i think our best bet is just to be careful. and since i read many posts about people complaining they cant just start the car and move it a few feet, and park it. I can't start it, move it, and shut it off. the car wants you to drive it, cant you take a few mins out of your schedule to just go drive it. its a fun car and you should be able to at least do that every time you start it. (btw, i also have a 90 240sx with a rb20det skyline engine, it floods too when cold, but its easier to get started, i deal with it)
in closing: yeah, it floods. but if you can be smart about how you drive it and actually do what you're told, its fine. any other car it says not to leave your headlights on, so you dont. why would it be different if it told you not to do quick start/stops? dont do it and you'll be fine. congrats on buying a rotary, but you also bought the rotary problems.

RedSheDevil

doesnt change the fact that it sucks ....

CERAMICSEAL

My feeling is I hope Mazda's engineers are working overtime to erase this as one of the common rotary problems and I hope they recognise their responsibility in the the situation of sales of this vehicle or lack thereof.

Racer X-8

Ya. Needs to go by the way of the manual choke. aka, extinct.

MEGAREDS

Stopping gasoline condensation in an enclosed, cold chamber... I think it's a tough problem.

msrecant

Or add some highly combustable material to ignite the gasoline in the chamber ... without blowing the apex seals.

rx8daniel

Results of my 8's visit to the shop for the flood issue:

1) New Battery
2) New starter
3) New plugs

took pic on flat bed truck in my driveway
In Thursday morning; back Friday afternoon
also flashed to N, I think. (FP-N3Y118S70?)

with rental car ($60) total was over $600 (Mazda's cost)
also had the ventilation ***** replaced as the temp control **** had been cracked for a while - new ones feel a lot tighter.

starter spins the engine a lot faster - anyone know what the spec on that is? sounds like twice +/- as original one did.

CJW

Had enough with Mazda. Too bad. I love the 8 and really loved my Miatas. I will not buy Mazda again for their insistence on not standing by the customer and no longer honoring my warranty (15k miles) when it floods since I have been "briefed on what to do."

Looking at Saab and Honda. I will probably go the Saab route since it got Safest Sedan for 2006.

rx8daniel

I want to make sure I wasn' t misleading in the post about my flooding fix.
ALL of the replacement parts and the "repair" were done under warranty. Basically, it's like a tune-up, a brand new battery and starter, all for free.
I also saw the old plugs & starter; and a new plug. The redesign has 4 small slots around the tip apparently for allowing extra fuel to not get as easily hung up in the plug and foul it as quickly if another flood circumstance takes place.
BTW - anyone know specs of the latest battery rating? The TSB stated 640; the tech (not the service writer) said the new spec is 800CCA, and that a newer one had recently stated 835CCA?

msrecant

[QUOTE=rx8danielBTW - anyone know specs of the latest battery rating? The TSB stated 640; the tech (not the service writer) said the new spec is 800CCA, and that a newer one had recently stated 835CCA?[/QUOTE]

From what I understand, the new starter needs 800+ CCA (apparently 835). The 640 CCA battery upgrade was from when they thought that changing the battery alone was enough.

msrecant

I understand your irritation but I would be surprised if this will ever be inforced. Unless someone knows a case where Mazda took a hard line on this, I would simply consider this rhetoric. Certainly not a reason to sell a car you otherwise like.

RedSheDevil

tru ... you may want to try another dealership. just because a dealership states something, it doesnt mean MNAO is behind that statement. i just read a thread about someone taking their car in and being told their pistons were dirty. yes, THAT came from a mazda dealership's service tech.

woot

i have a question.. im leaving my car for about 3 weeks as im going out of town, it gets really cold around here ~20-30F, any tips out there so that i dont flood my car when i get back 3 weeks later?

should i park my car in a garage or just leave it outside?
thanks

MEGAREDS

I don't think it matters, but warmer is better. As long as you don't shut it down cold before you leave it, it should be fine, provided the battery can hold a charge for three weeks, and I think it should. At -30 F, though, anyone might have a problem -- but "flooding" won't be the reason the car doesn't start.

CERAMICSEAL

Preferrably you should park it indoors and perhaps hook up a trickle charger to the battery. It's just healthy.

RedSheDevil

kinda like a car IV?

Slick8

This makes a lot of sense, yet one more precaution against the engine flooding.

So far, from what I understand, to prevent flooding techniques:

1) Let fuel pump cycle up first before starting
2) Never shut down cold, but if you do, rev it to 3000rpm for a few seconds and return to idle before shut-down
3) For pre-2005 cars, get the unadvertised campaign recall - replace with the new starter, battery, flash and plugs
4) Let the engine warm up for 30s to 1 minute before engaging the gears
5) Don't buy cheap or questionable quality gasoline

Is there anything else?

msrecant

Two things. First I don't believe all (any?) 2005s come with the 800+ CCA battery and new starter. They should have the 640 CCA battery, which does help, but is not as good as the big battery and new starter.

Second, there is no unadvertised recall on this issue. There is only the "Engine Cranks - no start" TSB. If your car floods, and the service dept determines it is warranted, they will replace the plugs, battery and starter under warranty as part of the repair. Based on the procedure you are pretty much guaranteed to get new plugs and an ECU update. The battery and starter are not unconditional.

I don't think anyone, who has not flooded the car at least once, has gotten a plug/battery/starter upgrade under warranty, but I could be wrong.

MadDashRX8

Waiting for the flatbed as I type. First time. Pulled the 8 out yesterday to make room for truck work. Let it warm up to within operating temps, and shut it off. Hours later, pulled it back into the garage without a thought otherwise.

This morning, I opened the garage door to 20 degree temps, started it up, pulled it out of the garage and it died. Didn't kill it; it just died. Immediately tried to start it back up; no go. Tried the deflood; no go.

Think they can fix it in a day?!? Need it before Monday!!! I'm a little bummed, to say the least.

Go48

Yeah, moving these cars around is hazardous business sometimes.

Can they fix it in a day? They can, but don't count on it. Depends on how soon they get to it and how much they value your continued patronage I suppose. In other words, their motivation is probably the key factor. Assuming the problem is simply a flooded engine, and that they have spark plugs and possibly a replacement battery and starter motor, the actual work can be done in less than an hour. They should be able to just get it started in a few minutes, but they will likely want to replace the plugs at least, and possibly the other components as well.

Brice-RX8

My question is does anyone who have flooded their car, disconnected the air pump when they did the deflood procedure? I know it doesn't say anything about it in the manual but on the TSB about "Not cranking" it is listed as one of the steps for the tech to perform. Wonder if it would make a difference?

zoom44

since there isnt any new PCM update since the under car heat recall there wouldnt be one to do if they have already had the recall work done.

msrecant

Correct, if the PCM is up to date I wouldn't expect them to re-flash it (no point).

However, if you previously have not had the "under car heat" recall work done, one of the first steps in the TSB is to check the PCM level and to bring it up to date if it isn't. My sense (if my service guy can be believed) is that they don't do this by flash level any more. They just type in your VIN and the software automatically loads Mazda's latest and greatest for your car.