Hey I tried to make this post in the Series 1 Tech Garage sub-forum but apparently I don't have permission. I don't know if that's because my post count isn't high enough or maybe because I made this account a long time ago and never really posted much until now... Maybe a mod can help me?


Anyways, back to the topic: I recently got my RX8 and although it has great service records and runs well, I have found a few reasons to dive into the engine bay.

First I noticed the steering is a little heavy and requires some effort to steer through corners. It seems this is a common problem and there are suggestions floating around the internet that say to clean out the electrical connections, and maybe grease up some of the mechanical links in the steering rack.

So I have the battery box and airbox out and can see the two main connectors under where the coolant overflow tube drains. Those are apparently the main culprits, but I see no reason not to clean out a few more of the connectors that are easily available, as well as another connector that is in a bit of a tight spot down on the steering rack itself.

I'm using some MAF cleaner I have on hand because my little bit of research tells me that it is the same thing as common electrical connection cleaner.

I also want to protect the connections so I won't have to clean them often. I have some electrical greases on hand:



(wow big photo!)

Any suggestion for which one I should or shouldn't use?



The other thing is the airbox tube has oil in the ribs. I had been having a twitchy idle and cleaned the MAF yesterday which helped a bit but I'm hoping that cleaning out the oil will smooth out the idle completely.

I have heard others encounter oil in the intake and it sounds like the solution is to add an oil catch can. I'll clean out the oil in the tube now and probably clean it out past the throttle body when I'm installing the catch can.

Also let me know how much of a factor this might be: The oil level on the dipstick is up past the fill line, closer to where the stick isn't flat anymore.

 

For the connectors, any dielectric grease will do.
For the oil: having oil past the fill line will definitely do that. A healthy engine with correct oil level should not barf and no catch can should be necessary, but it wont hurt to have one either, as long as the whole system remains airtight.

Dont rev it out until you've burnt off the extra oil or it will barf again. Or drain the extra oil.

 

Don't rev it out!? How am I supposed to drive this car and not rev it out!? lol.

I guess I'll have to try to drain just the right amount of oil... Not sure how I'll do that perfectly though. Good ol' trial and error I guess.

So you are saying an oil catch can with an air vent is a no no? That kinda makes sense.

 

Yeah that's why I suggested just driving it around until you burn off the oil if you're not set up to drain it without making a mess.
You can always add oil if you drain too much. Get used to adding oil anyway

Yes, there can be absolutely no air gaps anywhere in the intake system. Zero. None.

 

Ok understood on the no air gaps in the intake system. Can't let air get in that the MAF doesn't know about!

So I've been thinking and starting to overthink probably... So when I got the car it had some milky chocolate colored oil at the top of the dipstick. The seller informed me of it and that Mazda considered it normal. I looked into it and that checked out. I even found a solution. Leave the oil cap off after warming the engine up to running temperature. The moisture that causes the milky oil will evaporate out if given the chance to escape.

This seems to have worked for me as I haven't seen any more milky oil on the dipstick after the last few drives. The problem I still have though is I'm still not 100% confident on the level of oil the dipstick is showing me. The dipstick is black and when I run it down the dipstick tube and pull it back out I think it picks up some oil from the side of tube, because it doesn't seem evenly distributed at the oils highest point on the dipstick (which is near the top of the flattened area). Then a little bit further below that (but still slightly above the full mark) the oil looks like it fully surrounds the stick.

So it's not obvious to me how over-full it really is... The thing that concerns me though is that I haven't been able notice for sure that I'm going through oil as I should. I've put about 300 miles on the car myself and in that time I haven't noticed a decreased level of oil on the dipstick.

Should I be worried about the OMP. Would there be other signs of OMP failure if that is the case? Should I just keep driving and monitoring it as carefully as I can? Is 300 miles enough to be concerned?

Thanks. I'm probably overthinking it. Just trying to make sure everything on the car is in top shape!

 

See if its easier to read the dipstick after the car has sat for a while. Any oil in the tube should run down by then.
Without accurate oil level measurememt hard to conclude OMP consumptiom. But 300 miles is not a lot. With average driving behavior it will have burned maybe a cup of oil... the sump holds 7 liters. So..