Smokes since oil change
 

Okay, so I changed the oil today (used 20/50). No big deal, right? EXCEPT - Now my car is billowing smoke when I hit the accelerator. I mean a shitload of it - as in someone's gonna call the fire department. Any suggestions why it decided to do that after the oil change? Never smoked before, and didn't burn oil excessively.

THanks.

:scratch: thats a new one. Nothing got accidentally disturbed/disconnected when you were working on it?

Did you snug the oil fiter up?

Where is it smoking from? Engine bay or out the ass end? What color and smell is it?

out the ass end - from the tailpipe. No, I'm sure I didn't bump anything - what the hell is there to bump??? Yes, I snuged the filter up - smoke's not coming from the engine bay. I'm not good with colors - I think it's a bluish white smoke? Smells like burning oil...

mine does the same thing what but theres alot of smoke and its a whitish color

Couple of things to check, oil level... Is it over filled?
Make sure the linkage from the carburetor to the oil metering pump moves freely. If its stuck in WOT then you could be getting to much oil sent into the engine from the oil metering pump.

Youre burning oil. Seals?

What brand of oil filter did you put on? Possible that it is defective and building too much crankcase pressure. because we dont have a standard vent system as most piston engines usually it will vent internally which means the seals rx7doctor

Used a Fram filter.

I have the same problem, I changed the oil one day and it started smoking like a mother when i turned it back on. I used the same oil as always. What the hell could it be? It never did it before but started after one oil change and does it everytime I change the oil now to.

Possibly, when you are pouring the new oil in, some of its going into the cankcase vent tube and being burned.
When pouring it in,the easiest position for the quart of oil is pouring toward the back, where the vent tube is.
I learned this by adding some with the engine running on my first 7.

ahh fram.... the crappiest filters known to man

That's a fact jack!!!!! May not be your actual problem but will be unless you use a quality filter like napas gold which has twice filtering media of any normal filter or use the factory
mazda filter. rx7doctor

you probably unhooked the crankcase ventilation hose by mistake OR you're using a synthetic blend or full synthetic. i had this exact problem when i unhooked my crankcase vent and used synthetic oil; but don't be alarmed that synthetic is totally bad for rotaries. the synthetic oil just needs to burn @ a higher temp so it wouldn't really leave any carbon deposits. hope that works :)

The first thing that came to my mind was that it is overfilled. Of course it could be something else, but right after an oil change that's kinda odd for something to go bad.

If you all didn't know already, wal-mart supertech filters are actually made the same as Bosch (identical) which are all made by wix I think. Anyway, they're a very good filter and only cost buck or so. That's all I've been using on all my vehicles, good filters.

if it was overfilled, it would definitely foul the spark plugs and we all know what happens if that was the case ;)

Bosch filters have no affliation with wix. Bosch is a good product, however not anywhere as good as napa gold which is made by wix or the oem mazda filter. Do a comparison, cut open a bosch filter, your walmart filter and a napa gold. Not only does the napa one have a silcone antidrain back valve that does not distort under any temp but has multiple sections where there is a tension spring to keep the media in place so that no bypassing inside the filter can take place, which means no unfiltered oil entering the engine. the others do not have this. Your walmarts, kragens, autozones are ok for getting oil and maybe some car care products but not where the quaility counts. Spend alittle extra and you will be better off in the long run when it comes to certain maintenance items. rx7doctor

sounds good. i'll check out some napa gold oil filters next time

You just said bosch is a good product. Have you ever looked at a bosch and walmart supertech? They are exactly the same thing, just with a different sticker. You're probably right about the wix part, I was thinking they were made by another larger company just not sure which. My point: they're the same as bosch and are a dollar and change. Take it for what it's worth. By the way, how much are napa gold filters? Not trying to start an argument by any means, I've been using supertechs on my Jeep since I bought it, and my 7 since I've owned it so far no troubles. I don't know anything about anti-drainback distortion, but i usually stick with things that work..

Also maybe it's because I have to do oil changes on 7 different vehicles at any given time, so take the cost of the napa gold x 7, that's a hurtin'

All'righty then, I just changed oil filter brand .
The Doctor missed his calling, he should have been a salesman!

The point is we are talking about rotary engines, ones that the lifeblood of the engine relys
more on oil and filtering not only for cooling but eliminating un-needed contaminants that if
introduced in the engine cause excessive wear. Refering to the oil metering system to lubricate the apex seals. With the features of 50% more media, silicone anti-drainback valve and the filter not allowed to expand internally under high pressures this allows it to filter
100% percent of the time. Also the anti-drainback valve allows the oil to stay in the filter
when you start up the engine so it starts lubricating immediately. Alot of your economy filters
do not have this, since the filter stays upwards it would take some time to fill the filter before it would send oil to the needed areas to lubricate. This is when it is most critical to
prevent engine wear. I emphatize with 82 silverrx7a bout having so many vehicles to service
When it comes to certain, not all components of a rx7 it has been my experience that any
engine related maintenance item, it pays to put on the best quaility product to ensure the
overall longevity of our engines. Out of your 7 vehicles (82silverrx7), this is the one that
would benefit you the most by using the best quality filter available. Cost tip-all napas offer
discount on their products for people who have a AAA card. Sorry to be so adament about
this but would like to see everyone get the mileage and reliability out of their vehicles.
Now that i have gotten completely astray from the original thread, its some un-godly hour of the morning and i am going back to bed and crash, maybe i will try counting rotors, LOL to get back to sleep. rx7doctor

Ok, this is a blatant thread hijack but here goes...

Has anyone ever put an oil bypass filter on one of these cars? Do they dramatically extend your mean time between oil changes? The thought crossed my mind after reading that 82SilverRX7 maintained 7 cars and well, I maintain 4 myself.

Ok, I'm hijacking this thread back to its original topic, ie: Smokes after oil change:

How many miles are indicated on the odometer? Mazda recommends 20W50, but if the oil seals on either side of the rotors are worn they won't scrape this heavier oil off as well as intended. This will be indicated by smoke out the exhaust even after car has warmed to operating temps.

Going to a lighter weight oil like 10W30 can alleviate the problem since the worn seals have an easier time keeping the oil from going past them and into the combustion chambers.

If this is your first oil change on this car, is it possible that the previous owner ran 10W30 to cover the problem up prior to selling you the car?

Beyond that, over-filling the engine with oil will definitely cause a big cloud of smoke.

It's got just over 100k on the odometer. Yeah, it's the first oil change I've done on it.

Ok, so I'm going to change it AGAIN, using a different filter, etc., see if it stops it. Should I change to a lighter weight oil? Anything else I should do differently? It's not my daily driver, it's a toy, but I still want to be able to drive it, ya know??

Check your oil pressure guage on the console. FRAM have been known on here in the past to up oil pressure to an insane point, if that's the case it could be contributing.

Just do an oil change with what Mazda recommends: a Mazda oil filter (they use the same ones as miatas, so they'll be in stock), and 10w30 non-synthetic oil. Sure the mazda filter costs a bit more, but the non-synthetic oil costs a bit less so it all evens out. (and there's some debate on using synthetic oil, so I just say "fuck it" and run what the original specs recommend)

Also, as someone said above, check your oil level. Overfilling is bad, underfilling is bad.

If that doesn't solve your problem, then you just suffered a really big, horribly mean co-incidence!

Jon