Anyone know what this means?
 

Hello all,



I have oil seeping from the passenger side of my oil pan.. As I was inspecting the pan, I noticed almost all of the oil pan bolts have yellow paint on them.. Does anyone know why? I bought the car used, and I don't know if the paint means that the pan has been messed with/replaced/resealed previously, or if this is normal for the factory to apply yellow paint?

Usually little paint marks are from the factory.

Depending on the leak it is either coming from the pan gasket it's self or the drain plug. Also it is a rotary and they love to leak oil from all kinds of places as they age. So keep an eye on it and if it isn't more than a few drops here or there I wouldn't worry about it.

They are tamper evidence. if someone were to take the pan off to look inside, the paint would be chipped. When it comes to warranty stuff, The know if someone has been inside the engine.

^ That is what i'm thinking...

Thanks.. I just went over the time limit for my '08's powertrain warranty about 90 days ago.. The car's only got 30K miles on it. During the summer, the HVAC controls always stayed in recirculate mode now that we've got some cooler weather, I just started putting it in fresh air vent mode. Now when I come to a stop, I get a burning oil smell from the seepage at the oil pan joint. (Don't get the smell in recirc.) I called Mazda NA to ask if they'd help with repairs even though I'm just out of warranty and the condition very likely existed while it was under warranty. The rep took the information and said I have to take it to a dealer and have 'em diagnose the issue, then make the request to Mazda. He also said it would be unlikely that they'd help at all since I bought the car a relatively short time ago and didn't spend a lot of time maintaining it. How much maintenance I can do to a car with 30K on the clock, I don't know.

Sounds like you just need to re-seal the oil pan.

Yes, that's what I thought.. I usually do work like that myself, but the dealer says he'll do it for less than $100, so for the warranty (if it doesn't seal right) or if the pan gets bent, not to mention the PITA factor, I'll let them do it!

Are you sure your warranty it up? Your engine core is 8yr/100K. Read this.
https://www.rx8club.com/attachments/...x8warranty-pdf

Yes, I am familiar with the extended warranty Mazda gave us on our cores.. I specifically asked Mazda about that and the rep says it only covers specific parts.. i.e. The oil pan seal is not considered "A core internal part or seal" However, in other news, the leak and associated smell have mysteriously disappeared. I did have the dealer do the oil change last time, and they did seem to overfill it. Now that the motor has burned off about a quart, the smell has stopped and when I check the pan after my last 1 hour-each-way commute, there was no additional oil on the pan. RIWWP (Board member) had told me that there was a good chance it was from the last service, but strange thing was I couldn't find any excess oil on the engine anywhere! And I had looked for hours! Everything was dry above the oil pan seam. But anyway, I am so glad I don't have to take it in!