Yes folks.... I had an oil change performed by Valvoline up here in Hunt Valley, MD. I drove 6 miles from the shop when I saw my low level oil light come on, and I believe it began to buzz. I did not think to look at the oil pressure gauge because I was too stressed to think clearly. Smoke was pouring out the hood of my 2004 RX-8 and I pulled over immediately. It turns out they installed an oil filter with no rubber gasket on it. All the oil sprayed out from under the filter and all over the engine and tranny.

The dip stick showed no oil in the engine at all. Valvoline sent a guy up with what he said was 3.9 quarts of oil and a new oil filter, but I'm no so sure it was 3.9 quarts because after he poured that in, I was still 1 quart low!!!!!!!

Anyway, after I got the car re-oiled the check engine light now comes on and stays on, but so far I have not noticed any discernable difference in the way the engine runs.

My concern is obvious. Is my engine screwed up in any way? How best to determine this? I plan to take the car in to mazda this week and have it steam cleaned and checked out. Is there anything specific I should ask for beyond this? Does anyone have any helpfull suggestions for me?

My worst fear is that Mazda says everything looks good but 10k miles later the engine dies by that time it would be much harder to prove valvoline had anything to do with it.

Any helpfull suggestions would be greatly appreciated...

-Marc

it would be impossible to predict anything without tearing the engine down.

You could have isolated stress fractures from the rotors not being oil cooled or insufficient oiling for the apex seals or some other stuff probably.

If you just cruised it along for the 6 miles it should be been okay, if you were redlining and driving it hard it is difficult to say but chances of problems are not impossible.

I would tear someone a new a**hole...and get them to document the problem. I would also take it and get it checked. Problem is that it won't likely fail real soon..and then the problem is proving a causal relationship

Where's my gun?
Anyone seen my gun?
:rant:

So I dropped the car off at the dealer to have them check it out and specifically asked them to do a compressions check. Later they called back and said everything is fine, I turned the car off in time before doing any damage.

After pressing them, they admitted they did not do any compression check because the car was running fine and there were no error codes being thrown. Still I was being told the car was fine.

I am thinking I should definately tell them to do a compression check. Am I wrong here?

Compression test won't really help diagnose the damage. The compresion is mostly based on the apex and side seals that aren't directly oiled by the oil pressure. ( oversimplication I know...but mostly true)

The damage I would be worried about is the eccentric shaft bearings, and the rotor bearings...

If you shut it down quickly..and weren't in load..you probably are OK

Problem is short of a teardown..you have now way to tell the extent of the damage

You should have called the Police and have your car towed to the Oil shop.
You can always threaten to kill the bastard. Then they have to show up at the oil place and make a report.

Then you get the owners involved and make them sign all sorts of documents and have them pay for all the check ups.

Too bad you didn't take auto mechanics in school.

From your description it sounds like you turned it off in time to prevent damage. Smoke was just oil baking on the exhaust pipes.

If it still weighs on your mind you could always get a compression check. You will likely have to pay out of pocket since it's not the dealer's fault about the oil. Maybe you can get Valvoline to pay for it. They definitely should be paying for the cleaning.

Did you get the check the engine light problem at Mazda yet?