I've had my 88 n/a since December and its runing fine considering the throw out bearing just died on my with my rear main seal but i already got the parts in. 6 puck clutch and heavy duty throwout bearing and heavy suty pressure plate with the rear main seal from Atkins rotary. but i was recently using the 10w-30 mobil clean 5000 brand of oil since it was winter but now that summer is here i was thinking about using a 20w-40/50 since its usually 80-102f degrees during the summer here in Florida. But the thing is i cant find any the auto parts store (except penzoil but I've heard my share of stories about it) the highest i could find is a synthetic 15w-40 mobil 1 but I'm not sure about using since I've read many post saying synthetics are death for rotarys. i already bought a set of 10w-40 cause I'm changing my rear main seal tomorrow with my clutch assembly. but i wana know for sure which oil to use for the next change in a about 2.5 months.

 

ive heard ppl say good things and bad things about synthetics. From what i heard mobil 1 is supposed to be the best synthetic to use on rotaries, dont take my word for it though i just bought my rx7 last week :X

 

I personally wouldn't touch synthetics. Idemitsu comes close to switching the oil type and even then once you go Idimetsu, I've heared you can't go back and Idimetsu oil isn't very cheap if your seven is your daily.

Idemitsu was designed for rotary engines, but I still wouldn't touch it for my two simple reasons.

1. Cost / Availability
2. I believe it's racing oil

So I've heard....

Well, good luck and let us know which oil you end up going with.

http://www.idemitsu-usa.com/
http://www.mazdatrix.com/q-supply.htm

 

thats weird you cant find it at any parts stores...i just did my summer change and im running 20W-50. I dont see how they wouldnt have it especially in florida but if you cant find it have a store order it they will usually do it for free. then just wait a couple days otherwise 10W-40 would be fine. I just feel more safe using 20W-50.

 

i was told synthetic oil would leave engine gunk and eventually lead to a engine rebuild if used regularly.

 

Both of these is incorrect. You can find synthetic oils just about anywhere. And it you can't find it in your local auto stors the internet is your best fiend. There are always good deals out there.

Why are you using such thick oil????

Well who ever told you this has no idea what oil is. Regular oils is what causes oil gunk. Synthetics have special formulas that will not allow this to happen. What it actually does is instead of allowing build up of oil it actually breaks the build up in small little particles and keeps it in the oil itself so that when you change your oil it all comes out with the oil.

 

There's a whole lot of wrong information in this thread. High quality synthetics are fine to use in a rotary, but keep in mind you'll be paying more & burning it through the injection system. 40 or 50 weight oil is not too thick, Mazda recommends 20W-50 in starting & operating temperatures over 30F. For instance here in Southern CA, it is never below 30F, so 20W-50 is perfect.

Lubricants/cooling section of the 2nd gen FAQ: https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.p...05#post5131205

 

27rocks, the FSM recommends (as rotaryrocket88 states) that you use 20W-50 for any starting and operating temperatures above 30 F. I live in MN and i put it in for the summer. If you think you know so much you should read into it a lot more. The FSM shows that you could use 10W-40 for all seasons if you wanted but a much thicker viscosity oil such as 20W-50 is really to your benefit in summer or like rotaryrocket88 states again in CA where its never below 30 F. If you want to go synthetic go royal purple they have the best proven synthetic oil for rotary engines. Look into it more on www.racingbeat.com =)

 

Also just so everyone knows, the FSM does state to NOT use synthetic oil in any rotary engine. But you can read up on it at... http://www.royalpurple.com/faqs-rotary.html ....as you see in the third bold topic down in the article.

 

yes royal purple is the way to go... the stuff burns cleaner and lubricates better, i been using it for over a year now in my fc3s and i love it.

 

thats what i was told.

 

If this were the 1980s, it'd probably be right, but it's not.

 

I'm not sure if I'll agree with you entirely on those two pointers.

1. I feel it is racing oil and shouldnt be applied for a daily driver not to mention stock.

2. I'll give you that, availability will never be the case as well... The Internet exists which eliminates most of the availability portion of things.

However, it probably still wouldnt be ideal to use this on daily driven cars. Unless you fart out money, or drive 2500 miles in 3+ months it just doesnt add up and I dont see a logical reason to it.

Just stick with normal conventional oil in my opinion. It isn't worth the time nor effort/risk to try synthetics on an engine like this that is always questionable unless you are very profficient in automotives and things like that.

 

When I lived in Tampa, I always ran Castrol 20-50 all year.
As for the throw out bearing you should have just bought a Turbo II throw out. Great upgrade!

 

also I would add 2-3 ounces of two stroke to every fill up. Extra lube so when I get in it and wind it up.

 

hi dark...

i've had an 88, since oh, lets see.... 1988.

normal oil, year round and especially in summer is castrol 20w-50. this is widely available, infact wallyworld now has it in 5 q jugs.

keep in mind that 'changing the oil' is not a complete change typically because of the 1-2 q that's in the cooler.

so mixing oils can be an issue if you aren't sticking with the same grades and service ratings.

i do use syn (m-1) whenever the car is tucked away for long intervals, based on the belief (not proven) that the syn provides better additives, and better 'coating' when idle.

i don't think there is ONE sure answer or oil that's best but 20-50 hasn't been a bad choice for 21 years of changes...

cheers
henry

 

^^FTW.

its always 80 somethin here and ive used 10w40 for the longest in all my 7s...