Hey guys,
I've done several searches and obtained some useful advice on the damage i may have caused but am really worried so would like another opinion. I recently purchased my 03 VR last week and have clocked about 500km's on it. Since I bought it, it had low engine oil (about 0.5-1cm below the low marker) but I totally forgot about it because of the joy of driving.

Last night the oil light came on and i decided to fill her up only to realise the said low level of oil. ( I knew it had low oil but not that low)

I quickly filled her up but am worried I may have caused some damage to the engine. I have been driving her fairly soft, although did give her a beating through some twistys one afternoon.

It is not at half way and I intend to put in more, but before I do so, I have read that because the oil level was low but not extremely low (The oil light came on and turned off, the pressure gauge was normal), extreme engine damage may not have occurred but it would be adviseable to do a complete engine oil change?

It should be noted that the engine oil has been low for some time now since the previous owner although vigilant with his oil change must have let this one slide since he was selling it and it had probabaly been low for at least a week.

(I doubt he was driving it with the oil light flashing or intermittently turning on. The light flashed on for me last night for the first time since driving 500km's on it)

Any ideas/tips?

 

the car holds a crap load of oil. A quart or two isn't going to kill the engine, but in all honestly, you should never have allowed it to get the low oil light on.

 

Rotar still turning - probably Ok but can collect a lot of residue.

 

be on top of your maintenance and check your oil level every so often. sure the car has oil and the warning light is just that, warning. but i agree with mysql.

 

The Oz cars hold just under a crap load of oil as we have only one oil cooler......however, I don't believe there has been any significant long term damage done.

Mogley, what you've done is make the oil you have in there work harder and shortened it's useful life a tad. You might want to consider carrying out the next oil change a little earlier than you would have otherwise.

Cheers,

Gomez.

 

i highly agree with him as well

 

Remember that this is a mass produced car designed to be driven by people who can't tell the front of a car from the back. Mazda would have to anticipate that a large proportion of owners wouldn't even lift the bonnet between servicings, or check the oil unless a low oil light came on. I'm sure they have built in plenty of fat into the system. Personally I wouldn't be too worried.

 

I agree with everyone else....Gomez is right on the money though...we only have 1 cooler so we don't carry as much oil as our US friends...I now carry 1lt of oil in the boot and I check it every second fill of fuel..I know this seems a little excessive but it's actually stated in the owners manual....so technically if you don't check the oil and you do damage the car Mazda can blame us.....I'm sure you have not done any huge damage....but I know the sick feeling of the light coming on.... Saw it myself the other week..Car parked on a steep slope nose down...freezing cold.....light came on and went off almost immediately...I had not checked the oil for a couple of weeks...maybe 6 and so drove home really carefully and then checked the oil the next morning...it was at the low mark.....never again.

Also I am sure you have read but don't mix mineral oil with synthetic and change your filter if you are worried.....that's where all the crappy bits should be if you have done any damage.....

Hope your car is ok though....enjoy......it's a fantastic machine....

 

Mogley

The early 03 cars had a faulty oil light sensor as the oil was baffling in the oil pan the sensor in there was getting faulty readings ?

Has your car been upgraded to the new sensor ?

 

Well I know this will cause controvesy but I put a litre in when the light first flickers on seems about every 4000 km never a problem.
Got fleeced yesterday for $17 for one litre of Mazda oil so next purchase will be the TXT seftec which I am sure I can add to whatever oil they put in at my service.

 

Can you mix mineral oil with synthetic? If not, how do you go about changing the oil from synthetic to mineral when an oil change is needed?

 

Although it is not ideal but you can mix both oil. Yes you can't get all the oil out since some of it will still left in the oil line. It is about another L in the line and about 4L in the sump.

 

Gee, I hope it wasn't my car you bought. I checked my oil every week, without fail. I would put as little as 200mL in to bring it up to dead on the line.

 

It's an old thread labby...

 

wow it is a blast from the past.

4 years on and still love my 8!


thinking of getting the short shifter...

 

don't think. Do it.

 

^^ agreed. I love mine.

My oil light came on briefly when I was nearly home from Canberra on Sat arvo. Went out again on its own. When I checked the oil, it was just above the low level. Safely topped up again now...