I haven't driven my RX-8 in nearly 18 months. The last time I tried to start it the battery was weak and the engine flooded. I had some life issues come up and as a result I haven't been in the car since. Come spring I want to replace the battery and try to get it started again. What steps should I take to safely get the car going again? Would the seals have dried out by now? Should I flush and fill all my fluids? What about the gas in the tank? What about the flooded engine - would the gas by the plugs have evaporated by now?

Thanks in advance.

 

If you have 1/4 tank of fuel or less...I would add some new stuff to it before I tried to start it...

I would disconnect the ESS and crank it over to build some oil pressure....and then plug it back in and start it. If it doesn't start then you need to pull the plugs and purge out all the raw fuel ( remove ESS plug again )..add a squirt of oil to each L plug hole...and put in new plugs and do the deflood procedure

Get it good and warmed up and then change the oil.....Coolant should be OK...you can check it by removing the cap ( when cold and checking it is a pretty clear green color )

Other than that...you might want to check the airfilter and airbox for unwanted guests and the engine compartment for chews if it was someplace there could be visitors

 

if it was mine, i would check the fluid levels, toss the battery in, and see what happens. if it doesn't fire right up, it might still be flooded, so i'd be prepared to unflood.

or actually maybe you assume its flooded. buy 4 spark plugs, pull the old ones, toss teh battery in, make sure its got oil and coolant, and with the ESS unplugged crank it. put new plugs in, plug in the ESS and it should just fire right up.

once you get it running, then you will want to change the oil, as its probably full of spiders and its half turned back into a dinosaur and you'll probably want fresh gas before you take it to the racetrack, and the tires will be flat, etc.

 

Much like my brake rotors, I'm a little rusty... ESS?

 

Eccentric shaft sensor plug....drivers side of the main pulley

 

you can reach from the top, but its almost easier from the bottom, so if you pull the plugs out, its easy to reach...

 

Question to the group.

If pulling the ESS is to stop fuel flow, can't he just hold the gas pedal down to trigger the deflood mode and crank it that way to get the oil flowing?

 

I don't see why not, serves the same purpose lol.

What I would do:
1. Install a new battery
2. Check oil/coolant levels & top off if necessary.
3. If less than a quarter of a tank of gas, add some new gas to the mix.
4. Pull out the spark plugs and crank it a few times (with ESS unplugged, or accelerator depressed) to make sure there's no gas in the chambers (doubt it)
5. If plugs are bad, replace them. If they look ok, put em back in.
6. Fire it up!
7. Change the oil, and replace plugs/gas etc if it runs poorly

 

the oil flowing where? the bearings get oil the same either way.

if you're talking about the metering pump, i don't see how it can react without being pressurized from the engine. it can be electrically wide open, but if its not getting fed oil, its not going to do much.

the deflood bulletin has you disconnect the ESS plug, and if the plugs are out this makes sense, as you don't wanna fry the coils.

 

So another five months has passed since I started this thread... I finally got around to replacing the battery and starting the car. I pulled the fuel pump fuse and cranked it until the gas was burned out, then I replaced the fuse and cranked it for about ten seconds. It took a couple of tries, but the engine did start up...and then died and flooded again. Pulled the fuse, cranked, put the fuse back in and the car fired right up. I then rev'd it at 3000 rpm for a few minutes. After that it stayed running on its own.

I took drove it around the block a few times to get the brake rotors clean. Aside from tires that have noticeable flat spots, it's running pretty good. I dropped it off at the mechanic tonight to get inspected.

Provided it passes inspection, it's then getting traded on a new car for my wife. Gonna miss that car.