RX8 Starting Problems | RX-8 Flooding issue
December 3, 2008 · Print This Article
The RX8 (and many other new cars which comply with EURO 4 emissions) can be prone to flooding. The reason for this seems to lie with the need for the catalyser to be warmed quickly to comply with EURO 4 emissions. This means that initially the engine runs very rich increasing the risk of flooding if the engine is not allowed to warm up before switching off.
The manual gives advice on starting which will minimise the chance of problems. The recommended procedure is to depress the clutch; do not touch the accelerator; crank the starter until the engine starts, even if that means cranking the starter for up to 10 seconds. The engine sounds a bit different from a piston engine when starting and can take longer to catch but it’s best to keep going rather than have several attempts.
If this does not work after several attempts then either call Mazda Assist or fully depress the accelerator and crank the engine for 10s (This actually shuts off the fuel to the engine and helps clear fuel from chamber), then try to start as above again. Alternatively removing the fuse to the fuel injection system and cranking the engine should have the same effect.
If this doesn’t work then the plugs may need to be removed to clean them.
Following an episode of flooding the functioning of the cat should be checked by the dealer as it has been known for the unburnt fuel to damage the cat.
In practice problems only seem to happen following a short move from cold e.g. moving car from garage to driveway. If you need to do this then run the engine for a few minutes or go for a run round the block before switching the engine off.
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- Use jump leeds to connect to additional power source (see note 1).
- Unplug Air pump connnector (see note 2)
- Take fuel pump fuse out (see note 3)
- Crank for 4 seconds, pause for 2 seconds, repeat for about a minute
- Leave for a minute
- Crank for 4 seconds, pause for 2 seconds, repeat for about a minute
- Put fuel pump fuse back in
- Crank for up to 10 seconds, if it catches but doesn’t start, stop cranking
- If not started go back to step 3
- If started, wait 30 seconds for oil pressure to rise
- Stand on throttle until white smoke stops coming out of the exhaust
- Disconnect jump leads
- Leave to warm up on idle for a few minutes
- Put air punp connector back on (see note 3)
- Go for a nice long drive to recharge the battery
Notes
An additional power source is required as the standard battery will not crank the engine for long enough to clear a serious flooding. Eiher connect to an additional high capacty battery, or to another car with its engine running.
The Fuel pump fuse is number 22, a 20A, 3 from the top of the second column of the fuse box.
The air pump connector is on the black circlular motor housing to the left of the oil filler cap. Removal is recommend to reduce power drain on the battery, to prevent fuel vapour blowing back in to the chambers, and to reduce the possibility of a backfire after starting which can damage the catalyst.
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THE FLOODING MYTH
This is part true, but mostly untrue.
If you start up an RX8, move it 2 feet and then stop the engine, you dramitically increase the chance of flooding the engine (for the reasons described by crabacle above). It’s not a certainty though. That said, it is strongly suggested you don’t do that.
You don’t have to go on a 10 mile run to avoid the problem though (although it might be fun).
How to minimise the chance of flooding
1 - If the temperature gauge is in it’s normal position (normally there after ~5 minutes of driving), then it’s highly unlikely the engine will flood. So don’t worry about it.
2 - If you need to move the car a short distance when it’s cold (it’s ok when it’s already warm - see point 1), sit there and enjoy the music/engine/exhaust note for a few minutes until the temperature gauge begins to move. Once this has begun to move, it’s highly unlikely to flood.
3 - Follow the shutdown procedure (although generally option 2 is preferred). There is a leaflet provided by Mazda with the newer RX8’s that covers this.
4 - Go for a short drive (couple of miles). Preferably down some twisty country lanes. That should warm both you and the car up.
I’ve personally followed these guidelines for the last 3.5 years, and haven’t flooded the engine yet (now touching wood).
If the worst does happen and you flood the engine follow Mazda’s guidelines initially (described by crabacle above), and if that doesn’t work try druck’s solution (above).
Thanks so much for posting the de-flooding info. I’ve tried different procedures in the past, but they never worked. Your procedure worked after two tries. It saved me a trip to the dealer. Thanks again.
I have recently bought a 2004 RX8 and I love it. I would swap my wife for on, its that good.
However, I have had this flooding problem. Just this morning I drove it around 3 miles to a petrol station to fill up, this was to make sure the engine was warm. After filling I could not get it started again. I followd the startup proceedure but nothing. I left it for 20mins and tried the startup proceedure again and this time it worked.
My RX8 usually takes around 10 sec to start up. Having read a few links on various sites it would appear that this i not as it should be, although the dealer told me this was standard for the rotary engine.
I am wandering if the combination of a poor starter motor and not knowing the proceedure to turn off the engine correctly are to blame for my woes.
Having said this i would like to say again how fantastic the car is when it is running.
i have an 05 rx8 i went and got me spark plugs changed and now it wont start at all. Is this a flooding problem or what?…what would be the solution to this problem?
I have an 04 mazda rx8. It just flooded on me for the first time because I moved the car in the morning and then left it. This afternoon it took me a while to start it but, after following the instructions in the manual, I finally got it to start. I was just curious to know if it is ok to drive the car immediately after I have just started it from its flooded state. Should I let it rest or drive it for a while. What is the best procedure to follow after starting an rx8 that has become flooded from sitting all day?
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how do i properly decarbon rx8 rotary engine
I Have an 05 RX8 in mint condition and have decided I hate it now. Does anyone here want to buy this fully loaded, euro touring pacakge, sport flairs, DVD mapping and everything else possible attached to it car?
$17,500 is my going rate…
I have a 2004 RX8. The car is a lot of fun to drive. The only drawback is the engine flooding problem. This has happened to me 6 times since I purchased the car. Each time I have to replace the starter, the alternator, or the battery, wires etc.or all of them. I am sick and tired of this costly nonsense. Obviously the motor has defects that cause the flooding, and the Mazda dealer does not know how to deflood the engine without replaceing all or some of the above. I will never buy another Mazda as long as I live, and I am going to sue Mazda if I don’t get satisfaction.
[...] http://www.rx8blog.com/rx8-starting-…looding-issue/ If you start the car, you can’t turn it off until it reaches temp or else the motor may flood and not restart. Could be VERY annoying if you just want to move the car a few feet (to pull it out of the garage for a wash for instance) or drive somewhere close quickly. Personally, I’d stay away because the reliability is questionable. __________________ "Acceleration, not nationalization. Of the banks. Although obviously it’s easy to make a credible case for state ownership of other industries, such as utilities." - James [...]
Dave i will give you $10k to win your ongoing pain!
davidz@bigpond.com
great advice. worked for me first time. love the car. going for a nice long drive now.
I bought my 2004 RX-8 new in Oct 2003, It has been a great car, no problems of any type what so ever. Until last week. It would not start after I was out of town for a month. I’m sure I flooded it right before I left as in looking back I started it cold, moved it a couple of feet, and turned it off cold. I know better, but it was a senior moment. Anyway, I put in a new battery , also used jumper cables from another car for extra boost, and used the technique discribed above in removing the fuel pump fuse , and cranking it a number of times. I had to go through the procedure twice, but it fired up and is now running as good as ever. This was a great tip—THANKS. It really worked for me.
I own a 2004 RX-8 and I love it. I do however have trouble when turning off the engine (when hot) and trying to start the engine after a few minutes. Many times I have to wait 10 minutes before restarting the engine. Does anyone else have this problem? I find myself dilly dallying to waste time on short errands.
I have an 2003 RX-8 and have had all the flooding experience in the world.
Solution :
Some motors have lower compression , weak ignition coils, weak plugs and a weak starter. Mazda only reviewed the starter of the RX-8 on the 2005 edition. This all contributes to the flooding issues.
I contacted BHR (Black Halo Racing) in the US and replaced my coils with BHR ones, my wiring with MSD leads and plugs with NGK iridium plugs.
Get your compression tested and watch your RPM readings coming from your starter. 2003 and 2004 starters are weak so I recommend an upgrade to a 2006 one or equivalent. My RPM reading was low on ones of my rotors so I replaced the starter and I’m happy.
So far, my car has been immune to flooding
Hi, I’ve got a 04 RX8 231, i’m having problems, when temprature guage is at optimum temp, it won’t start but once it cools down, it starts perfectly, i don’t know whats wrong but its doing my nut in.
I used this procedure and it definately works to de-flood the Mazda RX-8. (Disconnecting fuse and air-pump connector). Make sure to follow to the “T” as not to overwork the starter. It actually took four full repeats, but voila…..my car started and I’m estatic! Thanks to this website for saving me hundreds vs a dealership.
I flooded my engine and was unable to start it. After several attempts similar to above, the battery was beginning to be affected. I removed the fuel pump fuse and attempted again, but to no avail. By this time the battery was pretty dead.
I attempted a bump start by rolling the car down a hill and to by total surprise despite going about 15mph it didn’t start.
In the end I succeeded starting it by towing it at about 15-18mph and bunp starting it. Took quite an effort but it started.
Not plesant, but a valuable lesson learned after simply putting my RX8 in the garage from cold. Appart from this minor hiccup it’s a faultless car.
I have a 04rx8 and have flooded it on a number of times.The best way to get it going is to tow it..First take out fuse for fuel injector. Then tow round the block,,leaving it in second gear.It wont start when towing but when you have finishing towing,put fuse back in and it will start 100percent.
Nice car but had enough 15miles to gallan round town.Off to buy a micra.
Love my 2004 RX8 but not Mazda service. I had my clutch hose rupture requiring a tow to the dealership for replacement - not a big deal can happen to any car. The problem was when they gave me the keys to take it home the engine wouldn’t start because they obviously moved it a short distance and turned it off – flooded first time. While the dealer was trying to resolve the starting issue, this was the point they rang me to say that my starter motor needs replacing. I rang Mazda Australia (what a waste of time) demanding an explanation as to how my car could go in for one thing and suddenly need another. By the way the other thing would come at a cost of $600. Mazda Australia rang the dealership and low and behold they got my car started. From this point my car never started the same, took longer than normal and sounded different. Later my car developed the problem where the coolant light stays on because the sensor is not working properly - $300 AUD problem to rectify because you have to replace the whole reservoir, finally decided to get this done when the dealer calls me to tell me that when they went to remove the hose from the bottle to radiator the top of the radiator broke off. This issue cost me $1200 to for the new radiator and $300 for the bottle. Mazda Australia said that my car was out of warranty and that was it. Does anyone know how statutory warranties work? Another time I got my car services at the same dealer, got the keys went to start my car to find a crack in the windscreen right down the middle. No I am not a gluten for punishment but had no choice because all of the Mazda dealerships are owned by the same people. Finally found a rotary specialist through another RX8 owner who replaced my started motor with a generation 3 type – car starting better than ever. “Love the car, hate the company”. They do not care after the 3 years and will not help you.
I experienced the dreaded “rx-8 flood” for the first time last night when I went out to the garage to start the car after it had been sitting for about 4 days in cold weather (20-40F). I bought my 04 rx-8 in October of 09 with about 36K miles on it and I was warned about the flooding issue so I have always let the car warm up to temp before shutting down. I have had no other issues with the car thus far.
I beleive this issue was caused by a combination of the cold temps/battery going bad. I noticed on my initial try at starting it was not turning over very good but the battery was not all the way dead so my several attempts at normal starting may have caused the flood.
This morning I purchased a new battery (Duralast Gold), installed it and then tried the de-flooding procedure in the manual but It didn’t work, so I did a web search on this problem and found this post. I printed the procedures listed here and went out to give it a try. I am happy to report it worked perfectly! The car fired right up after two rounds of the 4sec, 2sec steps. Thanks for posting as this saved me a costly tow to the dealership.
Thank you for the great info! My 2004 RX8 was moved in and out of my garage by my wife while I was away. I’ve tried starting it for a month now with no luck. Using the procedure listed above, it finally came to life, with a nasty cough at first.
I have a 04 RX8 with flooding problems common for the vehicle when turned off after a short distance…However, I just had the spark plugs changed and the fuel system flushed and de-flooded last week…And, already I’m having issues starting it again…The dealer wants to change the coolant system sensor…also a common problem with the RX8….but I can’t find anything that would indicate this causes starting problems….Anyone have a suggestion..??
followed instructions to get rx8 unflooded and eventually worked, now am having a problem after filling up, it takes around 15 to 20 seconds to get started but only after filling up, battery nearly dies every time but starts fine any other time (if not flooded), can anyone help?
What Mazda should do is leave the exterior and interior of the RX8 exactly as they are, but, take the engine that’s in the MX5, add twin turbos to it and drop it in the RX8’s engine bay. Instant rocket with none of the hassles of the Renesis. They’ll sell ‘em faster than they can make them.
But, some will say, ” That’ll spoil the whole personality of the car. The Renesis rotary is the heart and soul of the RX8″. Not so; the looks and practicality are the cars’s attraction points. The Renesis engine is the “eve of its destruction”. This engine requires more maintenance and hassle than keeping a WWI bi-plane in the air.
Thank you who ever you are! Love my rx8 moved the car too soon to garage in cold, fool!! Besides this precaution and “foam on dip stick scare” love the RX8: style, form, function,balance, performance and price all in one. Watch revs manage oil let warm treat like creature enjoy.