Oil Consumption? Not just an LS1 problem.

[TURISMO_CV8]

Just read this towards the end of Wheels January 2005 issue. It seems like the very popular Wheels Car of the Year and hyped sports car from Mazda might have a bit of a problem when it comes to consuming its black gold.

Wheels have had an RX-8 since September 2004 and have done about 6K odd k's in it. According to them its burnt 2 litres in 4,500km. Even for a rotary engine thats suppose to be very hi-tech and all new, it's a lot. I know older and modified rotors do burn quite a bit of oil not to mention fuel, but doesnt this figure sound a lot? I wonder if this is a concern for Mazda RX-8 owners as it was the case for LS1 owners.


Wheels P.131 QUOTE: "However, of greater concern is the RX-8's need for oil. Not a huge amount, mind you - two litres after 4500km of spirited driving - and certainly less than several overseas mags have reported. But after carefully running in ARL-19Z and treating it like one of our own, the rotary's oil consumption wasn't expected. We only stumbled upon the fact when the RX-8's low-oil warning light started to flicker, less than 24 hours after we performance-tested it..."


Not a huge amount??? Ive had many new cars and after 4500km ive never seen 2 litres of black gold burnt no matter how hard I've been driving the thing. Considering servicing for this car is every 10K k's this is definately alarming. Goes to show the LS1 isnt the only engine that had burning excessive oil probs, but it seems the media and owners made more noise about it. Will they do the same with the RX-8? Who knows.

[RamRod]

You'll always get blow by in a rotor.

[NinetySix]

yeah, hell some people run pre-mix in rotarys too


shit that reminds me, my suzuki oil boiler is due for an oil top up :D she burns quite a bit but still goes like stink.

[FPV GTHO]

Does anyone know what oil they reccoment to run the engine in on them? Ive heard of a few cases people ran synthetic oil whilst running in a GT whilst FPV reccomended mineral oil to run the car in on, and it was questioned if that was the cause to an alarming oil consumption rate

[plonkerchops]

Does anyone know what oil they reccoment to run the engine in on them? Ive heard of a few cases people ran synthetic oil whilst running in a GT whilst FPV reccomended mineral oil to run the car in on, and it was questioned if that was the cause to an alarming oil consumption rate

My boss has an RX8 and it too uses oil, apparently Mazda have made their own oil for it because of this
I mentioned this on another post and was told that rotaries are meant to use oil..... :confused:

[SSbaby]

Didn't Mazda also specify a special constuction for RX-8's tyres too? Try $800+ a tyre.

Beware of cheap-ish used RX-8s that just need new tyres... :lol:

[muzza]

Dont quote me on this but I once knew a guy who dropped a bridge-port 13B into his old Capella (went good and boy did it like to rev - except the throttle liked to stick at full open :eek: ) and he mentioned that he ran it with the oil valve full open. There was some oil feed below the carb that fed oil into the intake to lubricate the rotor tips(? - i think) and this burns off. Guess thats why the old ones always tended to smell like a 2 stroke!

[my_Berlina]

I recall reading that rotaries actually have a jet that sprays oil into the intake to
lubricate the rotar seals, so some consumption is normal - exactly how much I
have no idea.
But my brother did have a problem with his from the plus fouling, he lives at
the top of a rather large hill so the trip to work doesn't see the engine get warm
fast.

Dave !

[VYBerlinaV8]

My father in law bought a new RX8 late last year, and was horrified when he had to put 2 litres of oil in after 5000kms. The biggest problem was that Mazda hadn't told him to watch for it... Being a non-car person, he had no idea it was happening until the oil light came on!

[mmciau]

We used a 13B in Speedway Speedcar - premixed 2.5% castor oil with methanol and is used for rotor tip lubrication.

Mike

[Clutchboy]

Does anyone know what oil they reccoment to run the engine in on them? Ive heard of a few cases people ran synthetic oil whilst running in a GT whilst FPV reccomended mineral oil to run the car in on, and it was questioned if that was the cause to an alarming oil consumption rate

Depends on what company you talk to.

I have worked for a very large diesel engine manufacturer, and now work for a large earthmoving manufacturer, and the offical line from both companies has been to run an engine in on mineral oil.

The reason being is Synthetic oils have too many additives that do not allow the proper bedding in of seals and rings. You need some friction to help bed these items and Synthetic oils reduce the friction.

You should also think twice about changing the brand of oil you use, but that's another story.......

[andrew77]

my mates a mechanic and reckons the wrx is pretty bad for it. Another guy i know has a 2003 wrx and the thing drank all its oil! was asking what the tappety sound was!! :lol: getting rebuilt under warranty

[group 3]

my mates a mechanic and reckons the wrx is pretty bad for it. Another guy i know has a 2003 wrx and the thing drank all its oil! was asking what the tappety sound was!! :lol: getting rebuilt under warranty

The issue with the WRX (I've had 2) is that they need a lot of gas pressure behind the rings to bed them in properly, this can take as much as 15,000km.

The secret is no different to what a lot of guys here say about a new LS1, work the motor hard (not flog the crap out of it and wait til it's warmed up!) and wait a while before switching to a synthetic oil.

[wrexed03]

In regards to the WRX's a lot of the guys would switch to synthetic early eg under 10thou kays. This caused issues with oil consumption. Rings took longer to bed in but eventually they do. I used to have a wrx03 ran the factory oil it burnt a couple of litres before the first service after the service it was fine no issues at all. Its wierd because some will burn oil some wont. My VY Super 6 has just clicked over to 12500thou and it has hardly consumed any oil...

[bobg]

The interesting issue is that if you burn 2 litres of oil in 4500 Km would the engine still meet ADR emission requirements?

My guess is that it would not, as, given the current stringent ADR requirements, even the greasy finger prints of the assembly mechanic on the engine, or splashed fuel when opening a fuel line, can cause an engine to fail the ADR emission tests.


Regards


Bob G