Because I'm on my 3rd one in 5 years, the last one caused a flood, I had Advance Auto check it, they said it was good, but I knew it wasn't because it kept draining even when hooked up to my booster/charger.
If it's more than 3 years old, buy a new one.

 

That's kinda odd, seeing that everything attached to the engine is moving. If the starter isn't engaging, then nothing should move.

Mind taking a video just to be sure?

Jump-starting is a bit a band-aid fix. Lead-acid batteries love to be charged slowly from a battery charger, not so much with a jump-start with a lot of current.

If you want to be sure, you can take the battery to AutoZone or a similar shop and they can load test your battery, usually for free. It's a good way to test its true health.

 

 

When you say the connector, do you mean the connector that connects to the ignition wire, or the 3-pin connector that connects the coil?

The coils can get weak over time, but it's not common for them to completely fail to deliver a spark.

Have you checked the ignition fuse or relay yet?

 

How old is your battery?

When you change it, use dielectric grease and felt post insulators.
Check that your terminals are actually tight, they can stretch, and even though the bolts bottom out, they might not be tight, you can use post cap shims if this happens.

After you do that, do the deflood procedure, I'm partial to the removing the fuel pump fuse method.

If/when it starts, do the 20 brake pedal stomp to reset the NVRAM.
(Anytime you disconnect the battery)

 

 

 

 

Upload to YouTube and then post the YouTube link here.

 

 

You keep saying "the coil" but there are 4 coils. What did you test exactly?

Is the wiring to the eccentric shaft position sensor damaged at all?

There are 2 scenarios: enough coils are dead that there is no spark to ignite the fuel, or the computer isn't seeing the RPM signal from the ESS and doesn't know to trigger any spark. You say you smell fuel, which means the injectors are firing, which means the computer has RPM signal. So it's down to the coils, it would seem.

 

 

You neee to verify or replace all the coils. Any 1 of the 4 being dead will kill your engine.

While the battery being low is also a problem, it will be too low to turn the starter way before it's too low to create spark. Also your cranking speed sounds correct. 12V is low, a charged battery at rest should show 12.6 or more.

 

 

Hello guys, I have a problem with mine rx8 low powered too and I checked the troubleshooting thread, but I can't find anything similar to my problem. Sometimes it starts instantly, no matter if it's cold or hot and sometimes it doesn't at all, but if I wait for about 30 minutes, it starts like if there was no problem with it at all. After the last time I got this problem, and after waiting 30 minutes and starting it, I got a CEL light, but sadly I didn't have time to check it and I won't be able for 3 weeks more. So I wanted to ask you guys, what might be wrong with it? So I could prepare for a worst case scenario just in case. Also I think everything started after I changed the oil and I have installed a bigger oil filter. Could that be a problem? Or is it just a coincidence?

 

Can you give a little more detail?

Does it 'crank & crank' but not fire up?

Does it just click and not crank?

 

It cranks without a problem, but sometimes doesn't fire up and i have to wait for maximum of 30 minutes and sometimes it only needs a second to crank and fire up. Also it doesn't matter if the engine is cold or hot.

 

Any misfires under hard driving?

I would suspect the fuel pump. Test your fuel pressure.

 

Also if I gently press acceleration pedal it accelerates better than if I press it roughly to the floor.

 

Assuming your ignition components are fine, then that sounds like you could check your fuel line pressure.

 

I have changed coils, wires and spark plugs 300 kilometers before and got a new starter installed about 1000 kilometers before, so ignition components should be fine.

 

I have an 05 Mazda rx8 shinka special edition. I keep dieing when I leave the car in idle. For some reason the gear **** shakes when started up and I have a feeling this may be the issue, what could cause this? There’s also a lot of gear chatter. I replaced the battery a week ago and added a catless exhaust. The old cat was filled with carbon and was pulling a code. I dont know what to do next. I don’t wanna dump money where it isn’t needed. Heard the airbags and fuel pump and suspension have recalls, does this mean I’ll get the stock upgraded suspension for free same as the other parts? I’m lost as hell and really enjoy the rx8.

 

If you can get the code read, that would also be helpful.

Do you still have a cat? Have you inspected it?

First of all, did you do a rotary-specific compression test before purchase? The bad cat could have killed the engine. Get one before proceeding.

Gentle shaking in gear **** is pretty normal at hot idling. If it(and the whole car) shakes a lot when idling, you might want to replace the engine mounts.

It'd be very difficult to convince a dealer to replace the stock parts with aftermarket parts, BTW. The only upgraded parts the dealer will be willing to add is Mazdaspeed stuff since it's still a genuine Mazda part.

 

Sucks but looks like I'm going to have join this conversation. I fear my beloved triangle is dead. Just want to confirm:

Background: Was driving around one day when sudden loss of power. Felt like the car was in limp mode and struggled to accelerate over 4k RPM. Cel light starts to flash. I **** my pants hoping motor is still good and limp her home. Park it until I can deal with it. Turns out, it's a misfire code for the front rotor. Ordered new OEM coils, plugs, and wires. Car has always been taken care of - changed oil religiously, checked it etc.. Redline at least twice a day.

Trouble shooting thus far from researching this forum:

1. Replaced OEM ignition coils
2. Replaced NGK spark plugs
3. Replaced NGK spark plug wires
4. De-catted (cat was dead)
5. Cleaned ESS
6. Checked and cleaned MAF
7. Checked my catalytic converter. It's dead. Took it off, de-catted.
8. Checked my wires and made sure everything is where it should be.

On first attempt, car would not start. Had to go through the de-flood process. After about 8 attempts, car starts but will die if I do not keep the RPMs up manually. Sounds very rough.
Check engine light is still on for P0301 - front rotor. I tried swapping coils and spark plugs to see if the check engine light would move to the second rotor. No dice so i am thinking, the front rotor is dead.

Will try to upload a video of the tractor sound. If the car sounds like a tractor - safe to assume it is dead? Going to see if I can check compression somehow with a regular compression tester. Heard there is a way. You run it three times while covering the trailing plugs? Something like that.

Any help is appreciated but maybe it's time for a LS swap. Eating ramen now. This is my 4th car so it's not a big deal if it sits. Just really like the car (surprisingly). Was originally looking for a S2K but couldn't justify the price. Now I know why lol reliable and easy to maintain Honda.