Let me make an extreme correction to what I said prior in this thread about the rx-8's rotary. The flooding + carbon build-up is not a reason by itself for putting a motor in. I was sorely mistaken.

The reason we put motors in them though is still not a case of misdiagnosis. The problem is that first, from conditions I had described earlier in the thread (never really driving the car hard is generally the case), the plugs foul. Lots of carbon builds up, motor floods, etc. The carbon that has built up over time though gets really hard as it always does, and eats away at the apex seals. Visualize the edge of an apex seal getting chipped away and replaced by carbon. Then eventually, the carbon gets blown out of there, leaving a gap. Once that happens, compression is gone. Yes, we run compression tests. Once compression is gone due to the apex seals being shot, you have to rebuild the motor. So we put one in the car and ship the other one back.

I apologize sincerely for the misinformation, and I hope that all who read my previous reply read this one as well.

FYI: If you, the reader, drive an rx8 but rarely if ever drive it hard, you can purchase/have installed a pair of hotter leading spark plugs that won't foul as easily, and that will help you prevent this problem.

Jasmithif the motor gets flooded but still has compression (i.e., carbon hasn't destroyed the apex seals), then yes we rev the hell out of it once it's started. Even if they're not flooding and they're running fine, we rev and warm up those cars just about every time we pull them into the shop, just to make sure we're not contributing to an avoidable problem.

 

You are actually supposed to redline it. Not 3k, you would be doing nothing then.