A friend of mines rx8 had a problem with the driver side door not being able to unlock, so we disconnected the negative battery terminal hoping we would be able to manually unlock the door with the key. no such luck, after reconnecting the battery the car barley started,sputtered a bit, then stalled out instantly. starting it a second time and giving it a little gas, she stayed running but barley, not even making it to 1krpm. continuously sputtering, struggling to stay running. Any help would be appreciated.

 

Buying a manual for this car would help quite a bit, or down load it from one of many such sites.

It is typical of automotive computers to have a capaciter to keep the memory supported when the battery is dead or missing for short periods. If you want to reset the computer to factory settings you must leave the ground terminal disconnected for several hours or, Take the ground terminal lug and touch it to the positive terminal for 5 seconds. This dumps the energy from the capaciter and clears the memory. Then reattach the ground and the car will perform as new. It will take several weeks of driving to relearn the driving habits of the owner. This works on most modern cars. But the manual is the way to go.

Lynn E. Hanover