My car's Mazda rotary still seems to have plenty of power straight up to just before redline and starts fine when cold; but now she acts like the engine is flooded when trying to restart the engine when warmed up.

I'm pretty sure that if the problem was a plugged cat, I'd have no power once I got above idle. I'm also pretty sure the problem is not due to bad ignition. I'm running GMC Yukon coils and they were installed about 8000 miles ago. The Iridium plugs were swapped shortly afterward.

I also run 4-6 ounces of 2 stroke oil per tank of fuel as supplemental premix; but even that doesn't seem to help.

Am I right? Are these low compression indications? I'm trying to acquire a rotary-specific compression tester; but am having trouble reaching the vendor (Mazda's compression tester is way out of my budget). I'm also open to compensating someone who has a rotary compression tester for the use of their tester, and to travelling to them if they are anywhere between Hartford and Northern NJ.

 

When was the last time the car had a tune up? Have the injectors ever been serviced?

 

Hotstart issues are almost always due to 2 things: dirty injectors and/or the overly rich stock start map. Even with freshly serviced injectors, sometimes the start map is just too much to overcome. There are cheap band-aid fixes like fuel cut switches and tees for the fuel lines, but for bad cases the only true way to fix it 100% is with a programmable ECU.

If the car is an S5, the gas pedal can be held to the floor during cranking to shut off fuel. If the car is an S4, the 40A EGI COMP fuse can be pulled and replaced after clearing the flood.

 

I have a customer in Coventry, CT who has one of our tester systems. He might be willing to test your compression. I will email him to ask him and have him contact you if he is willing. PM me your email address or phone number.

Larry

 

Thank you, whether he's willing or not, I very much appreciate you asking.

The car is a 2004 RX-8 6-port with 48K miles. The last tune up was at 40K miles when new coils, plugs, and plug wires were installed.