MCH

I looked at the FAQ and did not find this question posed,
Is it OK to use Synthetic oil in RX-7 2nd generation engines? If it is ok, what brand.

Thanks,
MCH

Sideways7

iTrader: (7)

Generally, synthetic oil is not reccomended for rotary engines. Oil is actually injected into the chamber and then burned, and I normal synthetic oil is not meant to be burned. Im not sure exactly what it does, but Im sure there are others here that do. If you get rid of the metering oil pump and just use pre-mix, then synthectic is fine to use.

calio64

can you get rid of the oil metering pump in the s5?

Snrub

iTrader: (1)

Icemark has made a number of good posts on the subject, do a search for his name and synthetic and you will probably come up with something. The short answer is that you can use synthetics.
Good read: www.grmotorsports.com/oiltech.html

Scott 89t2

not unless you get rid of the ECU as well (haltech etc.)

calio64

how bout a power fc?

poor_red_neck

You have to have a haltech to run pre-mix?
Or are you saying if you completely get rid of the OMP then it'll run in limp mode?

Not sure if you are taking that as the same thing... but you can block off the OMP and run pre-mix in your tank. Better idea to do that in S5s since the POS OMP's are electrical, instead of mechanical like the S4s

Husemoller

I dont believe there is anything wrong with using synthetic oils.

poor_red_neck

I think one of the reasons it needs to be done right is the high ash content. Is that right? That and it doesnt fully burn or something....

Sideways7

iTrader: (7)

The page posted above makes no mention about rotaries, so its kinda irrelevent in regards to the question at hand. I have been told a mechanic (who owns a very heavily modified FD) that synthetics are best used in race applications where the extra protection is neccesary, and the oil is changed very frequently. That said, the previous owner of my car used Royal Purple once, and he said it ran the smoothest he had ever seen it. Racing Beat actually recommends using Royal Purple in rotaries, and I think they know what they are talking about. On the following thread, Icemark posted some intersting numbers about different oils. According to the data he posted, Amsoil 20W50 actually has less ash deposits than Castrol GTX, while the cheaper synthetis, as well as the cheaper mineral oils, have large amounts of ash deposits. Basically, his post said that quality synths burn cleaner than even very good mineral oils. The main problem with that is that quality synthetics are expensive, and can be hard to find if you live in a smaller city like me. You can read the whole post here:
https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.p...ght=synthetics

Evil Aviator

https://www.rx7club.com/search.php?s...der=descending

Snrub

iTrader: (1)

The reason I posted it was because he can find what Icemark posted, but Icemark's repeatedly excellent posts do not have measures of some of the stuff mentioned in the link I posted. Some of the benfits mentioned in the link can be used when attempting to evaluate if you want to run a synthetic in your engine.

MCH

I guess I have opened a can of worm here I am curious as to what the manufacturer (Mazda) recommends? I have asked the dealer and the answer has been no- but not know the technical reason. Perhaps they have not run a test long enough to see its effect- pros and cons. However, if anyone has used Synthetic for a long time- I would like to know their experience.

Thank you all for great answers

MCH

Sideways7

iTrader: (7)

I'm not sure of the exact reason the reason Mazda says not to use synthetics, but they have been saying not to for a very long time, and there have been amazing advances in synthetic oils since then. Manufacturers are not always the best place to look for what is best for a car, anyway. I would trust companies like Racing Beat that have massive amounts of experience with it more. Just look at the data Icemark posted, and its pretty clear.

w_hari

Does anybody know what they are recommending right now for the RX8?

Harry

capnChunk

Royal Purple says to use either 20w50 or Racing 21 for synthetic oils. I'm not sure what racing 21 is, but I'm confident that out of all the synthetic oils, RP makes one of the few 20w50. Pity that I would have to special order it out here in the middle of nowhere.

pmr2000

Looks like they say no to synth for the RX-8, its in the drivers guide but not owners manual as per this thread on the RX-8 forum:

http://www.rx8club.com/showthread.ph...n&pagenumber=2

I still think you are better off using a high quality dino since we need to change oil frequently

Husemoller

I dont know if this is completly true, but i think i remember reading somewhere awhile back on one of these hundreds of threads on synthetics, that mazda ended up blowing an engine because of the oil or something. so instead of saying the certain brand shouldnt be used, they said no synthetics should be used, i guess to save there backs from being sued or something.

But just use a good brand of synthetic and you will be fine.

Icemark

Because they couldn't say all synthectics were safe... because only the good ones are.

PanamaRed

I rebuilt my NT at 117,000 miles. New rotors, housings, many mods. Have used RedLine ever since. Now has over 210,000 and runs great.

RETed

http://fc3spro.com/TECH/FAQ/synth.html


-Ted

DomFD3S

Ted

Your site is back up!!!! Thanks.

Dom

RETed

Yeah, sorry for the quiet annoucement.
Don't get your hopes too high, as it's still missing a lot of stuff from the original.  Also, I made a mistake and deleted one of my FAQ articles by accident through FTP - DOH! Hopefully, I don't kill the entire website by stupid mistakes like that!

I'm trying to add new things here and there, so it isn't to stagnant.

I just added the synthetic oil FAQ page, and I stuffed a small page on adding longer wheels studs in the Mods section tonight.

Major additions are the "online catalog" section and a few parts for sale - we're an "authorized reseller for hIGGItrix parts".

Keep, checking in from time to time, and I have a lot of things I'm planning to add in the days to come.  I'm looking to take crack at the Problems#1 section which has to do with symptom troubleshooting as I think I finally have a final draft of how I want that section to look like - this will tie into the Problems#2 section real nicely.

Enjoy!


-Ted

1987RX7guy

iTrader: (3)

I remember a while back there was a thread in which I worked out the numbers(cost wise) for using synthetic compared to mineral oil. Using certain intervals that we all usually follow for the recommended amount of miles before an oil change it is worthless to use synthetic in a daily driven car. You could buy a rebuild kit with the savings across the average lifespan of a rotary engine. That basically means that using mineral oil while still supperior it would be cheaper to use mineral oil and take what you would have basically thrown away using synth oils and putting into a rebuild for the engine. If we were talking about a tranny or a diff which only see's maybe one or two oil changes in their entire lifespans it would be worth the extra cost but not in a daily driven car. I'd use synth in my car if I was going to a raceday or autocross though. Then change back to dino oil.



Santiago

TIIsport

The service docket from my Mazda dealer showed engine oil 7.5w - 30 Synthetic was used. Called them & their rotary mechanic told me they used castrol magnatec oil because the car is a turbo.
The castrol web site shows magnatec as a 10w - 40 oil.
Oil seems to stay pretty clean between changes so i'll probably keep using it for that bit of extra protection.