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I wish I had known all of this when I bought the car in September 2009!  The car has been great, until today....  It just won't start.  I'm baby the car - I don't gun the engine (too much) and I watch the oil, and use premium gas.  I've kept the oil changed as it should be and then this!  Okay, so I'm a woman who doesn't know much about cars, but I know the damn thing sould run!!  

Luckily, I have a family member who works on cars and will be taking a look at it.  I hope it's just the starter and not the other engine issues notated here - especially replacing the engine!  I still have a few years to pay on the car, can't imagine paying for repairs too.

I'll post back what I find out.  Frustrating that I did all of the research possible on this car prior to buying it, and not even Consumer Reports said anything about these issues, even though they are prevalent.

UGGGGHHHHHHHH!!  No vaseline used when I got screwed out of this one!  I will be interested to see if there are any legal actions and/or class action law suits.  

Doesn't anyone on these threads know the name of an attorney anywhere in the country who would like to make a ton of money suing Mazda on behalf of all the pissed-off RX8 owners on these threads? Someone a couple of years ago stated they gave their information to a firm in Houston & never heard back. I sent my information to a law firm in Houston & got the same response. I believe a class action lawsuit is a national issue, not a state one, so any attorney anywhere should be able to represent us. My 2005 piece of crap RX8 is current sitting in a $120/month storage space while I finish paying off a $17k balance. What *** this is. Mazda is well aware of the massive problem they've created but has so far been able to escape any accountability. I did everything I was supposed to do, from redlining the engine to not turning it off cold, to revving it high for a few minutes prior to shutdown - no luck; however, mine ran up to 101,000 miles prior to its death...1,000 miles over warranty. Mazda RAN from responsibility when I sent them a certified letter, stating they will not cover anything.  Zoom, zoom, zoom >>>> sudden death!  But I had fun driving it while it was alive.  It is now a beautiful $17,000 piece of junk. I could always park it in the front yard, open the sunroof and use it as a planter.    

mossimoss:
Hello Mazda RX-8 fans.  I've had five tows to the dealership for the flooded motor.  Yep, I know all about the rev before shutting off and do it to my lil 8 every single time I shut her down.  I know the "de-flooding" process according to the manual which works about once out of every five attempts.  

I also know the full de-flood process which entails jacking it up, removing the plugs (either cleaning them or replacing them at about $65 a pop), defowling the "cylinder" though it not really a cylinder of course etc.

I'm also a previous owner of an RX-7 which had a cold restart issue but was less of a problem.

Here is my scenario......  I love my RX-8.  I'm very, very religious about her maintenance, starting procedures and other little things we must all take into account.  My problem is that this has happened to my RX-8 by simply not starting her over a week period or so.  Most instances have been where I have to leave her at the airport (yep I rev her high before shutting down), give her a nice run over (admiring her lovely curves) and say good-bye for now.  Upon my return from business travel typically over a weeks time or so......she's flooded.  I attempt the de-flood process right there in the parking lot to no avail and have my new RX-8 towed to our local Mazda dealer only to have her released within an hour.

Frustrating.  My local Mazda club has five other 8's out of twenty-two or so that have the same problem.  It has nothing to do with forgetting to rev her before shutting her down in most cases.  

I can't trust her.  I'm tired of the inconvenience, I'm tired of the cab ride home from the airport.  Which is why I bought another vehicle because of the reliability problem.

So if suing Mazda is for munches, then I'm a munch because I'm ready to go to the mattresses.  She can't be referred as a "lemon" under the current law and the warranty covers the "flooding" problems so they are somewhat covering their rears.  I'm an engineer, and I'm telling you, this is not a typical problem.  

So anyone starting the procedure for a class-action....I'll send you my paperwork to kickstart it.  Cheers.

I am disappointed to hear about all these problems with the RX8. I've owned an '87 RX7 since new (yes, do the math, 23 years) have about 170k miles on it and am all too familiar with the flooding problem. My brilliant mechanic devised a work around several years ago....a fuel pump switch!!! mounted on the shift console. When I shut down I simply hit the switch, let the engine burn off all gas in the engine and viola! no more flooded engine.  (I find that the fuel pump switch can also be a theft deterent. ) On the rare occasion when I (or my wife) forget to use the fuel pump switch and it does get flooded, I can use the switch to turn off the fuel pump while I try starting the engine. The excess fuel gets pump out or burns out upon ignition, the engine runs rough and smokey for about 2 seconds, then I turn on the fuel pump, and Im on my way.

Needless to say, I love my RX7 which prompted me to by a used 2004 RX8 about a year ago. So far I have not had any flooding issues. Little did I know of these other Renesis engine issues. I wish I had visited this forum 12 months ago. I am now having the same issues with lack of power, check engine lites, dead battery, spark plug issues. Car has been at the dealer now for 3 weeks, trying to find out the problem. Replaced a coil, possible compression issues...  They just informed me today that Mazda will cover for a new engine. That's just Great.  More to follow....I'm beginning to see where this is going.  

i have a 2004 mazda rx-8 that i bought in may of 2009 and the engine recently blew up, i was readin the list on the recall and i took it to the mazda dealership and they wanted to charge me $7,000 to put a new motor in, but then they said it would probably end up blowin again because the computer in the car so i don't know what to do about it, i saw your post to contact you...can you help me or give me some advice on how to handle this situation? it would be greatly appreciated!  

MAZDA HAS MAILED ME A LETTER STATEING THAT IF YOU DON"T WARM YOUR ENGINE  BEFORE SHUTTING THE CAR OFF IT MAY NOT START. THIS HAPPENED TO ME, STARTED CAR AND SHUT IT OFF. WHEN I TRIED TO RESTART IT, IT WOULD NOT START AND HAD TO BE TOWED TO DEALER TO BE DEFUELED, FLOODING OF ENGINE WHICH CAN ONLY BE DONE BY MAZDA  WHAT KIND OF ENGINE IS DESIGNED THAT YOU CAN"T TURN OFF THE ENGINE UNTIL IT IS WARMED IF YOU WANT IT TO RESTART, THATS CRAZY. ANYONE ELSE HAVE SIMILAR PROBLEM. I OWN A 2004 RX8.  

WOULD LOVE ANY PAPERWORK YOU CAN SEND ME. HAVE 2004 RX8 WITH FLOODIND ISSUES, BAD IDLE AND RESTART PROBLEMS WHEN COLD. MY DEALER SAYS THATS TYPICAL OF MY CAR, WISH I HAD KNOW THAT WHEN IT WAS SOLD TO ME. EMAIL  johnrichter46fish@gmail.com  dealer charges 100.00 dollars each trip for deflooding not to mention drain on my towing insurance. How is it possible that Mazda does not feel responsible. Love the letter they sent me telling me not to shut off engine before warming or restart may not happen, and they were  right. Am i nuts.  John  

Hello  

     I have bought rx 8 , year 2003, in 2010 late december , have not drive this unit long distance as yet , went start and you stop somewhere you have to start back to drive , but for now the car completely stop driving , what should i do, pls advice me what I should do  

i have 2004 rx8 and my second engine is being put in today after  30 thousand miles the compression goes out.any lemon law in state of Tn.