Have an RX-8 that’s been sitting for a while? Here’s how to bring it back from the dead.

I’ve gone through this too many times to count. Learned many hard lessons in the process and this method has consistently worked for me, and served me the best.

Best of luck to you!!

Tips I forgot to say in the video:

1) Start with a fresh battery!
After a year and a half, my battery was down to 5v. I bought a $20 charger off Amazon, pulled the battery out of the car and had it charging for about a week in my garage. Got it to 13.5v which was plenty to make it through all the cranking

2) Careful you don’t flood it!
If you’re impatient (been there) you’ll have too much oil and now fuel rolling around inside and your rotors will be a soggy mess. Then you’ll have to go to extreme measures to un-efff your efff-up. See Tip#5

3) How to know when to stop, BEFORE it floods...
Do this with the driver door open and put your nose to work... If you smell gas but the engine doesn’t sound like it’s even trying to start, you were impatient. Now gas is pouring out your exhaust and not lighting off because there’s too much oil still.

4) How do you know when to switch from no-fuel cranking to letting gas in?
Do it for at least 5 cycles (10-15 sec each) Before even thinking about letting gas in. Be nice to your starter. Let it rest in between.

Then try it with your foot off the gas. You should hear it try to start after 3-4 times(it will be very rough and ugly). Once you hear it trying, tap the gas a few times while you’re cranking until it’s able to rev to 5k or 6k. At that point, your work is done. Let off the gas and let it idle for at least 5-10min. Then do your happy dance. Don’t worry, your neighbors won’t see you though the cloud of smoke you just created. Once it’s clear, go for a victory drive.

5) I didn’t listen to you and it flooded :-(
No judgment. There’s a reason why I know this procedure by heart...
There are better tutorials on the internet (rx8club.com) but here are the basics:
Jack up your front driver side and remove that wheel; Remove all 4 spark plugs (pay attention where they came from, the plugs are different...); Pull the wire for the Eccentric Shaft Sensor (ESS) to ENSURE the engine won’t send fuel. Crank your engine many more times to let the mess pour out the spark plug holes. After you’re sure the gunk is gone, button everything up and start the process again. Have faith. You’ll get there