Few newbie questions!
 

I just bought my rx7 a month ago. The guy had put 500 miles sine the last oilchange, i have put 300. I checked the oil today and it was a tad bit lower then full, so i want to top it off. I cant get ahold of the guy to ask what he used, i jsut know its always been synthetic for 20k miles. Should i jsut do an oil change? or add some 10w40 synthethic oil to top it off? Also The when i looked at the water level i have to look down into it to it, to see it, so i wanted to add alittle bit of water. Should i be adding distilled water? If you do recommend an oil change, what filter should i be using? And since iam in socal winter i should be fine with a 10w40 right? Iam just really paranoid about my baby.

I've always run 10w30 in NJ winters, 20w50 in the summer. I don't think 10w40 is a good oil choice based on what I've read in the past.

Yes, I recommend adding distilled water. Just for topping off you can use bottled water and I'm sure you'll be fine.

Mazda OEM filters.

so do you think i should completely change the oil? or add some 10w30 since it just a small about that its off by anyway?

Low water/coolant may be a sign of a more serious problem. Search Champagne test. I have had my rebuild in for 10,000 miles and have not had to put a drop of water in it

ya but everyone else on the board seems to be needing to add water from time to time. My light didnt got off or anything like that. I dropped like maybe 2 shot glasses worth of water to fill it back to top. I will still look into the champagne test. thanks. But what about the OIL!

Changeit all... oil doesnt cost much anyways. better safe than sorry.

You will not find the definative answer on oil here. Run whatever you want, It all works.

what i like to do when buying a pre-owned car:
change out all the fluids, this gives you a service mark as a basis to begin. it's solid evidence that YOU yourself have performed the service and gives you a point to start keeping track of when your next services will be.

ya good call, i guess ill do it. thanks guys.

As long as it's heavy enough. 10w-30 is as thin as I'd go for an FD. I used 20w-50 because I don't drive much in winter.

Dave

I have had to add a small amount of coolant maybe 4 or 5 times over the last 2 years (9k miles) of my latest engine. Never had a problem with overheating or anything else, so I'm not worried about it.