I was driving up to 125 mph trying to keep up with an WRX on i95 around 3am lastnight and the oil light flashed on when I got my Rx8 going between 105-120. It scared me so badly that I slowed down and pulled over. It went off in 5 seconds! Then I when I tried to catch up to the guy again it came on when I got to 115 and it didnt turn off until I got the car back down to 65mph! My Rx8 is at 2600 miles now. I know I probably have to add some oil now but I readon an older thread that Rx8s that do this at high speed need to get an oil part addedto the car by Mazda service? Should I get this looked at?

the oil pan baffles arent right in some of the early 8's and your car may be affected or you need to add some oil. you do realize that its probably not worth it to keep up with a WRX going 125 do you? one tiny mistake in judgement and you could lose control or who knows what could happen not to mention a hefty speeding ticket and 4 or more points and the surcharge for 3 years. sorry not trying to preach just trying to help you out. :D

The first thing to do is to check your oil if you have not done so. At 2600 miles your sure to need to add some and that will most likely fix it.

Dont start worrying about a major repair until you've bothered to check the stuff your suposed to be checking anyway. Also the oil pan thing is an oil light at around 85MPH with a full dipstick. Your free and clear most likely.

many have reported oil light coming on at high speeds

This is a known problem to Mazda and affects some of the early RX-8's. I happen to have one of them. They had to redesign the oil pan because the internal baffles weren't allowing the oil to reach the sensor.

Take it to your dealer and they can order the new oil pan; it's covered under warranty.

In the meantime just keep the oil level at full and you won't see any problems.

Ole Spiff

thanks for posting this. When you suddenly stop posting here we'll all know what happened to you.

Originally posted by JeRKy 8 Owner
I was driving up to 125 mph trying to keep up with an WRX on i95 around 3am lastnight and the oil light flashed on when I got my Rx8 going between 105-120. It scared me so badly that I slowed down and pulled over. It went off in 5 seconds! Then I when I tried to catch up to the guy again it came on when I got to 115 and it didnt turn off until I got the car back down to 65mph!

That's a Sign from God telling you not to street race. :D

"Should I get this looked at?"


...NO, I would definately not look into it. Oil lights are for wimps and........

edit: removed smart ass remark about being stupid.
Stupid.

Posted several weeks ago: (mid september)

Excuse if already posted....

Got a return phone call from Mazda NA HQ. They will be sending out new oil pans to US dealers for replacement at the end of September 2003. (We were speaking of US market only...not sure of others). Mazda did not mention a new oil sending unit...just pan.

This will address some of our issues with oil light coming on at speed and G's with normal oil levels.

A thank you to Albert with Mazda NA HQ and a note that your local dealer (mine anyway) thinks info via boards such as this is unreliable. Not so in this case.

Thanks to all for the oil light information. Helped me and others not panic when we saw it.

Originally posted by wleonard
... your local dealer (mine anyway) thinks info via boards such as this is unreliable. Not so in this case.

What a hoot. The best, most accurate, and most timely info many of us get is from this forum. As long as one carefully filters out opinion disguised as fact you can do pretty good here.

I just reached 3600miles and I too am noticing my oil light coming on (at about 75mph, not 125mph hehe). I checked my oil and it's not even below half way between the add line and full line. It doesn't sound too bad of a problem but I'll probably ask my dealer to fix it.

I believe the dealer overfilled my oil reservoir because this is the first time I've been able to read my oil level properly. Oil used to be way above the full line. I guess these rotary engines do eat a fair amount of oil (and gas, averaging 20-21mpg overall).

This is what I get for beeing a smartass. Now mine too, even though the dipstick isnt below the halfway mark , at about 95MPH the oil light came on.

Whats even worse, and I can feel jerky's voodoo curse on me, is that for the life of me, I cant get the damn oil cap off! I know last time I topped it off it came right off no prob, but this morning I spent 20 minutes trying to pry it open with no sucess. Am I going to sound lame at the dealer or what?

"Hey, yeah. Looks like I will need one fo those oil pan replacements. And BTW, can you open the oil cap for me? I am WEAK and cant do it myself".

Sigh.

If anybody has a suggestion for loosening a VERY tight oil cap, please PM me.

my oil light came on at about 75mph for about 5 seconds. it's done this twice. should i wait for it to do it again or get it checked out?

I have 5k and no oil light

however there is a big hill by my home and doing over 80 you can catch air and when I do my light with the skidmarks flashes once.

Originally posted by 8_wannabe
What a hoot. The best, most accurate, and most timely info many of us get is from this forum. As long as one carefully filters out opinion disguised as fact you can do pretty good here.

I agree. It's not too difficult to separate fact from fiction. Instead of criticizing boards such as this, the Mazda dealer should encourage engineers from Mazda to participate here and address issues raised here and to share their knowledge and experience.

Originally posted by starbucks
Mazda should encourage engineers from Mazda to participate here and address issues raised here and to share their knowledge and experience.

Actually, for those of us on this forum before the first allotment of cars arrived we saw evidence that Mazda engineers and/or managers were "lurking." Reading, but not participating which very possibly is a company policy. But they did provide some feedback by way of a trusted salesrep who was on this forum. It was the only indirect communication the forum had at all with Mazda.

Originally posted by Genom
"Hey, yeah. Looks like I will need one fo those oil pan replacements. And BTW, can you open the oil cap for me? I am WEAK and cant do it myself".

Sigh.

If anybody has a suggestion for loosening a VERY tight oil cap, please PM me.

LMAO!

On some cars I've worked on where the oil cap was stuck... use a towel and a very large pair of channel locks (adjustable pliers), or if you care to stop at any automotive store, try one of those fabric oil filter strap tools, they work on any sized object fairly well and won't damage/mar the object you're trying to loosen/tighten.

G'luck

my car is at the dealership for a new oilpan, turns out it was the defective oil pan letting the oil splash around at so called "rough" driving. in my case cruising at 75mph was "rough" driving