coolvette

Its been only 2000 miles since my last oil change.I use mobil 1 10-30 and wow it was black!The asa tech was amazed,how dirty is was.the car did not burn any oil ,it was still full before i changed it. I used to change every 3k with my last fd,no more,from now on i will be doing every 2k. You gotta love how high the oil pressure is from fresh oil.

potatochobit

iTrader: (1)

most oil is black...

u may want to run 20-50, but im not sure how cold it gets in SC.

i would stick to the 3k recommendation.

however, check your oil level. it shouldnt be more than a quart low at oil change. if it is something is not right.

1QWIK7

iTrader: (33)

what oil filter are you using? thats very important as well as the type of oil you put in..

last oil change i made i only put about 504 miles over a 4 1/2 month period (it was over the winter so i drove it like once a week) and when i changed the oil, it was pretty dirty as well but not as bad..i guess its because of the multiple stop and go i do since i do mostly city driving and the oil filter i used which was a mobil1, i heard its not that great..when i used the oem mazda ones, my oil was much more cleaner looking at changes..

i might have to buy the oem filters by bulk from now on..

Sgtblue

iTrader: (16)

Yep. The oil is contaminated almost immediately since you're never able to get all the oil out with each change. If you have two oil coolers, it's even worse. All the more reason to use a quality filter IMO.

rynberg

Color isn't a really accurate method of gauging oil health -- sending a sample out for analysis is the only accurate way to tell. As Sgtblue pointed out, on an FD, you ALWAYS have over a quart of old oil left in the car after an oil change due to the oil left in the oil cooler(s) and associated plumbing.

Synthetic oil can take quite a beating, I have no problems with 3k mile changes. I even track the car regularly and still don't change it much more often than 3k miles -- my torn-down engine shows absolutely zero oil-related wear at 85k miles.

Of bigger concern to me would be that you are not using oil between oil changes. Oil is life, and it would seem that your car isn't injecting much....how hard do you drive it?

coolvette

I have been using the fram toughguard.I am not a expert on oil filters but its specs look pretty good.I get real good oil pressure readings with it too.I like mobil1 syn oil 10-30,the same weight as in the manual,but with the much better heat protection than conventional oil.

potatochobit

iTrader: (1)

you cannot run any brand synthetic in a rotary, it has to be clean burning, im not sure about mobile 1. your manual should clearly state not to use synthetic since you are going by the book, LOlz. your oil filter brand is fine.

rynberg

Eh, modern synthetics are fine.

Fram filters SUCK bad -- there is proof everywhere, just google it. Use OEM filters.

1sicsol

I use a fram double-gaurd are they good?

coolvette

Well, most of the miles were on the hwy, on cruise.I do boost the carbon out 1-2 times a week when i drive it to work.Is there a way to tell if the omp is working properly? would it trigger a code if it wasnt? Dont forget this motor has only 10,400 miles on it.the original owner never took it on a trip,and only drove it every couple months.

1sicsol

I'll look into that now lol

coolvette

This is my 2nd oil change,i did one when i bought the car and this one at 2k miles.I wonder if i am injecting less oil because the idle is at 650. A good mazda tech did my first one so, i doubt that he overfilled it.I will monitor this this and give the results at my next oil change

1sicsol

Accordingly, never use a Fram, Pennzoil, Penske, Castrol, or Quaker State oil filter in any motor you like. All of these filters are made by Fram



OK theres a ton of stuff on google I just found about how shitty fram filters are. I'm putting a Mazda one on asap.

coolvette

Thanks for the info,as i will be going with oem filters now.

WaLieN

Yeah, almost all of the filters made by Allied Signal (aka Fram) are pretty shoddy. They use cardboard endplates instead of stamped steel. The only "decent" filter from Fram is the Tough Guard. Even then, it's not that great. http://www.ntpog.org/reviews/filters/filters.shtml


I performed an oil test when I first got my car. I initially changed the oil after the motor had 500mi (just broke it in) with fresh 10W30 and a Fram Tough Guard filter (OE size). I drove the car for a day, then changed it again (after less than 100mi). The oil already turned into a semi-dark brown tint. Given, it wasn't fully dark, but you could already tell that the old oil from the oil cooler(s) had already contaminated the "new" oil in less a day.

Mahjik

iTrader: (1)

The color of oil has nothing to do with whether it's lubrication properties are still working or not. Studies are now showing that most conventional oils can properly lubricate well past 10k miles. However, on the rotaries we have fuel blow-by so we need a little more frequent changes than 10k.

But, just to reiterate, oil color has nothing to do with it's lubrication effectiveness.

1QWIK7

iTrader: (33)

damn, im def sticking with the oem ones from now on..

1sicsol

FDNewbie

iTrader: (10)

I'm w/ Rynberg about being less concerned w/ oil changing intervals (although I do change mine every 2500 miles...but that's now what... every 4 - 6 months or so? haha). I simply haven't heard of oil-related failures in rotaries (wrt unchanged oil). Loss of lubrication completely (failed oil pump etc) yes, but not from dirty oil. We have much bigger probs to worry about

I was also curious about your driving habits. You're not losing oil at all? I have to top off my oil every 1000 miles or so, because I beat the hell outta the car. ALL rotaries burn oil, and it's normal for you to have to top off in between oil changes. That's where I'd be focusing my attention.

Rob, stick w/ OEM man. They're damn good filters. I'm surprised ppl still haven't realized this by now, since it's mentioned on practically EVERY oil and oil filter thread

On that note, anyone know a good place to buy the oil filters for cheap in bulk? I used to get mine from mazdaformance.com, but I went to the site yesterday, and apparently they closed shop. Malloy Mazda's only a 30 min drive from me, I may drop by and have a chat w/ Ray, see if he can work up somethin, cuz I buy them by the dozen (not so much for the FD, but for the FB...she's my daily driver).

WaLieN

Agreed, but my point was that the oil coolers hold a moderate amount of oil even after the oil has been drained from the pan.

Recentlyconverted

actually, i used to only go for oem oil filters, but after looking at the design specs of the oem filter, i started using the pure one (purolator) filters because if you take a look at the filter design they are pretty similar to the oem filters (one of the major things about the oem filters is their anti-drain system which allows the filter to always be saturated with wet oil and not dry out with the oil on it which to my knowledge can lead to lower filter efficiency because the dry oil starts to block the filter) (keep in mind I don't think the efficiancy is lowered unless the oil gets very dirty).

The pure one filter is one of the few on the market that I know of that has the anti-drainback feature which is important because the filters on the FDs are positioned upside down to the filters on most other cars (which means that the oil can drain out of the filter on most other standard filters). After the mazda dealership started chargin me about $9.00 a filter, I started using the pure one filters and change the oil every 1.5K. STP also makes a filter that has an anti-drainback feature, I know because I bought the car with the STP filter and looked it up online for the design. The STP filter is about the same size as the oem, but the pure one filters are a little bigger. Not tryin to push the pure ones, but just been happy with the results, figure I'd relay the info.

Recentlyconverted

just to re-iterate. i change the oil every 1500 miles, i change the oil and filter every 3000 miles. basically i just dump the oil and put some new stuff in at 1500, but at 3000 i replace both the oil and filter.

FDNewbie

iTrader: (10)

Recentlyconverted, you need to smack the parts guy raping you. They go for like $6 or $7 at most. I think when I bought them in bulk from Mazdaformance like a year and a half ago, I got 'em for like $4 - $5 a pop! How much are the Purulators? And yea I know what you're talking about re: the one way valve. Purulator's the only thing I use on the other non-Mazda cars too. But I think they run just around the same cost as the OEM Mazda one? Like $5 or $6?

coolvette

Does the omp go bad,i mean pump less oil into engine?I think i read that they can leak.My car has no leaks,and you all know about its amazing vaccum at idle,oil pressure and mpgs.Is it possible that a unabused fd with low miles and my mods is one with the universe?My the force be with my car!

jic

iTrader: (1)

i did some research on oil filters
seems like the only good ans safe way is to go oem
not much of a price different anyways
got 3 for 14 bucks at the dealer