Hey guys,
apparently I flooded my RX8 the other day after washing it and I am kicking myself every minute for doing something so stupid!

I researched the forums quite a bit to find a way to reverse the issue, but everything I have done has come to no avail.

Not having much time to dedicate to fix it due to work, I am sending it to the dealer to get them to run a decarb on it. The man who answered the phone attempted to make me pay for the process until I let it be known that I had some knowledge about the issue and what Mazda covered.

My question is: Is there a recall that stats if a RX8 get flooded, Mazda has to replace plugs and decarb it free of charge? I saw this mentioned in a thread, but I never saw if it was true or what I would need to do to get Mazda to cover this.

Thanks in advance.

 

No, They'll make you pay for it all. The only thing they can do for flooding is give you an upgraded starter and battery, along with the latest ECU reflash

 

Yeah... mazda looks at it like this: flooding it is your fault. If they did free de-carb and free plugs everytime someone flooded it, I'd be flooded every 3 months or so!

 

do you understand how you actually flooded it so you don't do it again in the future?

 

Thanks for the replies.

As for how I flooded it, I was installing new shelving units in my garage and stupidly pulled the car out, cut it off, installed shelves, pulled it back in, cut it back off, and went to complete the rest of my Sunday to-do list. I have made a habit of leaving it idle or revving it to ensure I didn't flood it in the past, but I stupidly forgot about it Sunday.

The dealer stated that they would do the decarb and plugs for free, but made me pay $500 for the coils and wires. Apparently the engine is not getting enough compression and they need to replace it and require me to get those items replaced in order install the new engine. A strange thing they asked for though is for me to bring my stock cat to the shop so they could replace my after market high flow cat.

Any idea why that would be important to a compression test?

 

Probably to get your engine under warranty... Mazda is "fussy" about non-stock parts when they're replacing your engine.

Honestly, it sounds like you're doing you a favor...You went in to get de-flooded, and for $500 bucks you'll get a new engine. I mean, not ideal, sure... But a new engine is a new engine. They could have stuck you with $500 bucks for the coils and wires and just left you as is.

But... to do the wires and coils yourself would be around 130-150, depending on the wires you get. (and where you buy the coils.)

 

curious, what year is your car?

 

Its a 2005 model. I never thought I had any issues with it. I flooded it and that was the first time it wasn't ideal. I am excited to see how much more response it will have now with a new engine. I thought it could whip my neck before, now who knows!

The techs at Mazda though are really looking out for me! They have been really nice in getting this new engine, especially since I had no idea I needed one!

 

Quick question: What effect would low compression have on the engine anyway?

 

Not running, mainly. In order to make an engine go around and around the gases must be compressed and ignited (explosion) this makes the engine spin which in turns spins everything else. If you have low compression that process is not efficient or in extreme cases doesn't work right at all.

As simple as I can explain it.