Proper troubleshooting is important, but when my fuel pump went bad on my '04, it was doing that.
I had less than 50k miles, and they commonly go bad, especially if you habitually let the fuel level get low.
It's a good idea to not let it get below 1/4 tank.
RX8Soldier's list is a good one, I would check to see that your battery terminals are clean and tight first, and then get the fuel pressure checked.

 

I have a question, and Im sure its out there somewhere, but Ive failed to find anything.

So, Ive been away for the past 6 months and was wondering if there were any precautions I should take before cranking my engine over for the first time. Its a 2004 RX-8, if that makes any difference. It ran beautifully when i garaged it last summer, no issues whatsoever. Any thing I should do?

 

Was the battery removed or put on a trickle charger?
If so, just give the posts and connectors a wipe, then fire it up.
Did you add fuel stabilizer?
Check your fluids and make sure there's no corrosion (eg rust- especially in coolant).
If anything looks off, change it.

6 months isn't too long of a time when storing a car. It is recommended (though not necessary) you start it every so often while it's parked.

 

2004 RX8


Looking for a little bit of help here myself. I had my car on jack stands for roughly two weeks (obviously without starting it) and now I'm experiencing some major difficulties in starting this beauty. Before it was on the jacks I never had any problem starting it. After I did a few relatively minor things (rear strut replacement and fixing the infamous heat issue with soldering the board inside the radio faceplate), I tried to start it and it just kept turning over. Eventually I ended up flooding the car from attempting to start it. I took the fuse out for the fuel pump and it had no problem starting right up (long enough to burn the excess fuel in the motor). So with that thought, I had a friend take the fuse out to start it and then put the fuse back in after it started. I ran the life out of it revving and got all the excess fuel out, then drove it for a half hour. Turned it off and, of course, plenty of turning over but no start.


During this adventure I noticed my check engine light came on. So I broke the scan tool out and got five different codes. PO302, PO301, P2096, and two PO420's. Upon further research im finding that its misfires and Catalytic issues. Just going out on a limb here and listening for any suggestions on what to do.


My main concern is the starting issue. Someone rescue me?

 

In the first post of this thread, it describes ways to troubleshoot your issue.
Obviously you're experiencing issues with ignition. What do you think you should do to verify that they work?

Second, why are you getting a cat converter code? Do you think you should verify that, too?

 

I read over a few things at the top again and noticed something saying wait until its cold again to start. So I followed that, and it started right up. So I may be leaning on a "hot start" issue? This is my first rotary so I am not well versed on a lot of the concepts of it. Doing more research now.


As for the cat codes, I am still wondering about that. I don't know what I can do to verify that part.


Thank you so much for the start on this, as I was completely stumped. Will be looking more into ignition related troubleshoots as well as the "hot start" issues.

 

hello there i bought a 04 rx8 bout a month and half a go after spending a good bit a time reseaching them. just recently it got hard to start hot and cold so i figured it was the starter cuz it still had the origial weak starter on it and it was fine for a day or 2 then the same issue started happing again i belive its loss of conpression i would like to see what the community has to say

the car is 2004 mazda rx8 auto winning blue with 50800 miles
after buying the car i change the oil and put in a bhr ignition coil set with new wires and plugs
heres the links to videos of a cold and hot start
cold -https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=etS2fZoclms&nohtml5=False
hot - on the hot start i did get it started it it took a another cycle my phone happed to die right as i was doing the video
any help would be great

 

I've had my 04' since around 2007, it has only 49000 miles on it. But anyways, the past 4 years I guess, it has been having starting problems. I took it to Mazda last year and spent around $4500.......replacing nearly everything under the hood, nearly 2 sheets worth. And it's still doing it.

The problem it's having is, sometimes when I go to start it, it starts sputtering really bad and the dash lights all come on, and it takes maybe 5 secs to start. It usually starts however but there has been times that it doesnt. Idling issues as well at redlights/stop signs, where the car just wants to shut off, dash lights will flicker, unless I give it some gas. Anyways Im getting pretty aggravated and just thought I'd come and check and see if anyone had any ideas. It has new plugs, plug wires, coils and a bunch more, I would write down everything recently replaced but Im at work right now and dont have the list with me.

Anyways thanks.

 

Compression test results? Have you had a coolant pressure test?

Travis

 

I'm having a problem that my car does not like to start if it sits for a day. Once I get it going it'll start misfiring crazy, but clears up within 20 seconds, and then runs perfectly fine. It has no hot start issues at all either. I changed my plugs yesterday, and plugs/coils were swapped to LS2 coils 2 months ago. I checked the coolant system for any leakage and the gauge didn't move at all after having it hooked up for 2 hours. It has a freshly rebuilt engine that I installed back in October from Rotary_Resurrection. Also has a gutted cat, and checked the fuel injectors which are spraying fine when I took them out. I also cleaned the connections on the battery.

I'm just curious if my starter is going bad, and it's causing my engine to flood which causes my misfires.

 

My car has a problem, I parked it for a week, went to start it and it turned over, waited a while to try again and then it made a high pitch metalic grinding noise. Then a few days later I tried it nothing, dash had power but turned the key and nothing. I hd a Friend look at it, they couldn't find the problem but suggested I take it to a mazda dealership, the closest one is a hour and a half away. It does have the airbag recall that needs to be fixed. I did take the battery out and it tested bad, so got a new one and the security indicator light is on plus key fob doesn't work.

I talked to a couple different dealerships that said they could diagnosis and fix as long as it wasn't the rotary motor itself. Nobody locally knows much or works on rotary engines. One thing it had a problem starting after getting new gas, but started ok in both hot and cold weather.

Any ideas ?
Would it be better to have a local dealership try to find the problem first or find a way up to mazda dealership ?

 

I'm gonna start off by saying I am new here. This might not be the place for this thread.

I swapped an '05 6-Port MT into an '04 4-Port AT body, trans and all. It has been running on the 4-Port ECU for awhile now, but I want to swap my 6-Port ECU in, so I can high my higher limiter and get rid of CEL. I swapped the key, coil, cylinder, and ECU, but my security light flashes rapidly, and the car just cranks with no start. Is there something I am missing that would cause it to not cooperate with my key?

 

You will definitely have to swap the gauge cluster from the original car, you may also have to swap the boards from under the glove compartment (I believe that's where the immobilizer is located).

 

bought car torn apart, trying to find out what hose is missing off gray metal line (see photo 1) also i have a cut line coming off the bottom of the sensor in photo 2...thanks for the help!

 

In the first picture, the hose that connects to there goes to the air intake system. if you look on page 77 of the Engine Details manual, it is one of the 3 hoses that connects to the #1 in the diagram. My hose has a white dot on it.

The item in your second picture is a sensor and doesn't have anything connected to it underneath.

 

I have a 2006 shinka rx8 it's a Manuel with 137k miles on it I just got the car about three months ago, I'm having issues when it's all warmed up , it won't start it just keeps turning but when cold it will fire right up. Then I was going to work today and then I was going down the interstate and it was blowing white smoke and when I pulled into work it just shut off in the parking lot. Has anyone had the same issues?

 

I'm new here and only joined because I'm having a hard time with my 8, I got a new battery and starter but when I go to start my car only the dash comes on, no other lights work neither does the radio.

 

When you turn the key and try to crank - do all the dash lites go off?

 

No My lights stay on nothing goes off or dims.

 

First you gotta check every fuse, underhood and footwell.

With a meter, not an eyeball.

 

all my fuses were fine

 

HP, 130k

-BHR ignition upgrade
-2kW 14 tooth starter
-Yellowtop
-Premixing
-Gutted cat
-Compression pretty low...

Car starts very crappy. Even when cold. Won't start when hot...

But;

Runs great when started! Idling even smoother than when I got the car at 15k. Runs through redline with no hickups whatsoever, no power loss, speed limit no problem...

Any ideas? Airleakage maybe? ...

I do have the feeling I have to add some throttle when starting to get it firing up easier...

edit:

Tried to start the car today... slow cranking, battery dead very quick...

Tried jumpstarting with my WagonR (don't laugh, it's a very practical car for surfing, lol) so very small battery, and the RX8 fired right up within 2 seconds (almost flooded, some white smoke, whoops)

Checked the battery terminal (Yellowtop btw) and the negative clamp wasn't very tight. Had some wiggle room. Tightened it, so gonna check again tomorrow.

Can it be that the connection between cable and terminal is so critical?

 

i hope im posting in the right place. my phone doesnt load the rx8club website well at all. i just bought my 2nd rx8. its a 2005 6speed with 46000 miles. i feel like ive done loads apon loads of research and spent loads of money on this car. i got the car 3 1/2 weeks ago and it ran great... at first.
i drove it hour away to huntsville alabama and it ran great rhe whole way there and back. the next morning I was about to leave for work, i started it up to warm it up and then swung by Walmart to get an energy drink. getting back into my car my car wouldn't start it took 40 minutes for it to restart and just from what I knew about the car I went through and start checking certain things. I checked the spark plugs on it and they were bad. the front rotors spark plugs were literally broken. the tips that the wires connect to were snapped off inside the wire and I noticed that my car had very slight idle issues but it wasn't nothing that was extreamly alarming.. so I replaced all spark plugs wires and coil packs and my car still won't start good. i figured that this was my problem but it wasn't. so then i checked my my battery, my alternator and my starter and I noticed that the old starter was on there so I replaced it with a new starter...still won't start good. the owner before me had had it compression checked last year and was all good. so then i thought about the fuel because I know those are prone to go bad and i never got around to it that day. so I drove it to work the next day with intentions of checking the fuel pressure as soon as I got off and my car died at a red light. pushed it off the road into a parkinglot. while sitting there trying to get my car to start I noticed a gas smell and went back there and looked and sure enough there was gasoline dripping from the fuel pump. Which I know there is a recall on and hopefully Mazda will replace that for me even though they're an hour away from me. and when I finally got my car started I had a cel and it was for the crankshaft position sensor. my question is would a hard cold and an even harder hot start from either of those issues? when its warmed up it wont crank back up for about 20-40 minutes. only when the temp guage has went down a bit. so far ive cleaned the throttle body, maf, replaced spark plugs, ignition coils, and wires, starter. changed oil (royal purple conventional) and air filter. i warm it up before driving and redline it once a day. the guy at orielleys said i had like 30% of battery life. and my alternator was good.

 

Personally, I'd say the compression check from last year raises a red flag. I'd check it right before buying the car. A lot could happen in a year.

What were the numbers?

You symptoms sound like low compression, but if your cold start is hard, then there is something else. When you say a new starter, do you mean the exact same one as your old one or an updated, more powerful version of it from later RX-8s?

Also, not a big fan of Royal Purple. Personally, J just stick with Pennzoil, Castrol and big, reputable brands like them. RP is a lot of marketing.

Had my car just die on me once when I was driving down a dark road with no lights around. It was due to a loose connection between the terminal and the clamp, so yes, pretty important if you ask me.

Also, I heard Yellow Top(and Optima batteries in general) isn't that great anymore. Yellow Top is designed to be a deep cycle battery, so less cold cranking amps.

 

Hi! I'm new here, this is my first post so I hope I'm doing everything by the rules.

Anyway, my RX8 is doing this noise when starting (cold or not):


Anyone has idea what this might be? I read a couple of posts in this thread and didn't find anything similar. The car always starts and works well after, however I don't think this is normal...

Thank you all!