Blown420

I changed my spark plugs today. and two spark plugs from farther away from the driver are a lil wet and brown. The other two that are closer to the driver are brown but they are not wet. i'm not sure if this is a big problem.

I did some research and i found out that these spark plugs could be a lil fouled because the previous owner used synthetic oil, because rotories aren't supposed to use synthetic oil. The guy used Mobil 1 10w-30, because he gave me the left over qts. I didn't do an oil change yet to Castrol GTX 20w-50, but i bought everything.

This is the site that talks about rotaries and synthetic oil. Can someone tell me if these are valid findings and if my sparkplugs are normal?

http://www.mazdatrix.com/faq/synthetc.htm

Thanks.

Node

iTrader: (1)

by farther away do you mean the front rotor?

On rotaries the sparkplug locations are called the following.
There's L1, L2, T1, and T2.

L= Leading
T= Trailing

1=Front Rotor
2=Rear Rotor


Now the way that I remember it is from the first letter of <b>L</b>eading and <b>T</b>railing

T is for Top
and
L is for Lower

Now if you use these rotary terms, you will give us better information to reply to you with.



The rumor of rotaries not mixing w/ synthetic is something from "way back when" and I've heard it was partly becuase mazda didnt like a certain synthetic company so they said dont use synthetics period.
There are some synthetics that do not work well w/ rotaries because of how rotaries inject the motor oil into the engine and burn it.

Mobil 1 and Royal Purple are perfectly fine to use in a rotary. There are others that will be just fine too, but these are the only two that I would use in my car. For dino oils I used castrol GTX 20w50 which worked great for me.

One thing that I've heard that synthetics can do is this. If it is a high mileage car that has been on dino oils its whole life that switching to synthetic may cause leaks as the oil is thinner and will seep through spots where the dino oil would not.
This is just something that I have heard, and I have no real proof of it.

Also remember to always break in a motor w/ dino oils and switch to synthetics if you so choose after the break in.

-Ben Martin

Blown420

so with the spark plugs in that condition brown and a lil wet, is this normal?

the other set of 2 spark plugs were brown but not wet.

also, i was wondering what type of transmission oil to use, ppl have posted redline and royal purple. but i dont want to order them online and i dont know where to find it
is there some brand that i should get just at kragen/autozone/napa? and what kind?

I just want to change the transmission fluid because i just got this car and i dont know if the prev owner changed it.

RETed

It has nothing to do with the oil...well, I doubt it does anyways...

It sounds like 1) front fuel injectors is leaking / malfunctioning, 2) front spark plugs are misfiring, 3) front rotor seals are failing.


-Ted

Blown420

what can i do to check if it is in fact these problems?

my friend suggested i change my oil since i have mobil 1 in there right now and that i should change it to castrol gtx 20w-50. is this necessary since u jus said it has nothing to do with the oil?

ericgrau

iTrader: (1)

Mobil 1 makes great synthetic tranny oil; and I'll bet the other good names for synthetic oil (see FAQ) make good tranny oil too. The only downside to these over high performance oils is slower/harder shifting. They are quite good. Get GL-4 not GL-5, since sulphur is usually required to meet the higher GL-5 standard. Sulphur will corrode your (bronze?) synchros and greatly shorten their life. Without synchros it will be difficult to shift without grinding.

Some auto stores carry Redline and/or Royal Purple. Pep Boys sometimes has a minimal stock of Royal Purple. Call ahead and see. Both are quite good. I assume you've read the arguments for each.

Mobil 1 is one of the good synthetics that won't harm a rotary. The FAQ has a list of them.

Sorry I can't help you with your actually problem... where's RETed? Or you could do a search of these forums.