I can't confirm this, but its my suspicion that a lot of dealers are overfilling the RX-8 by a bit, probably to account for the fact that some people are forgetting to top up their oil as much as they are supposed to. My dealer consistently overfills by about a half quart or less. Not an issue at that level.

 

This thread needs a sub heading:

Another Incompetent Mazda Dealership

I'm on my second dealership for service, hopefully I'll remain happy there.

 

Strange nobody mentioned this.... but If you had way too much oil in the engine ... didn't the oil pressure gauge read too close to the "H" mark ?????

 

I believe the oil pressure is determined by how much force is being produced by the pump. The amount of oil in the engine does not change the pressure at the pump.

 

The "gauge" is just an idiot light in the shape of a gauge. It is either off (L) or on ('around the middle).

 

I check my oil while driving. Is that bad?

 

strangely enough, i found this to be a step UP in the right direction from my previous car. The Ford Probe had an ACTUAL dummy gauge in it, which didn't represent anything at all...even further says so in the shop manual. It simply pops up to the middle of the normal section, reguardless of oil. Simply a "looks-good" gauge. those are nice.

Seriously...were they that hard up to fill a display?? Doesn't it defeat the purpose if it's useless. Good gosh.

 

That's correct. Oil pressure is measured after the pump outlet, but before the oil gets distributed around the engine.

It will go down under two curcumstances. One is if the oil level is so low that the pump is sucking air. The other is if something in the engine (like a bearing) is blown badly enough for the pump to not be pushing against anything.

Ken

 

Only if you fall off.

Climbing out on the hood is not unprecedented. Ever hear of Peter DePaolo, the 1925 Indianapolis 500 winner? Before he was a driver he was a riding mechanic for his uncle Ralph DePalma (1915 winner). In one 500, their engine caught fire. DePaolo climbed onto the hood and extinguished the flames, while DePalma continued to drive at racing speeds.

Don't know if he checked the oil while he was out there.

Ken

 

I'll tell you what you do need to do. If he's overfilling that much you are prolly going to have oil in your air intake corrugated tube, take off your air box and look in the tube, if all the corrugations are filled with oil, take a picture of it, clean the tube with some rags and take it back to that dumbass and show him what overfilling does.