Oil light
 

I know the car uses oil alot. But I wondered if it was normal for the oil light to come on every month. Its usually every 27 to 30 days my light comes on and I need to top off the oil. Is that normal, or am do I possibly have a problem?

Lucky you have a light, otherwise you'd drive it till all the oil was gone.

Pitiful.

S

Suppose it would help if we knew how many miles you drive every month, the ambient temperatures where you live, how hard you push the engine when you drive, etc.

My "low fuel" light only comes on once a month, but there's a reason for that. With no other information, one could assume anything.

Also need to know "how much oil do you add?" Do you just put a little in or do you check the dipstick? Where on the dipstick is the oil level when the light comes on. This could give you more information about how often you need to change it.

No disrespect, but you need to be checking the oil like every 3 fill ups. If you're waiting till the light comes on to check the oil you could be damaging something. And when you do add oil...top that bad boy off (to the line on the oil dip stick)

It all depends on how many miles you put on it and what type of driving. City driving you will probably have to add oil every 750 miles or so. Also if you park on a hill or any angle you may set it off. I did in the test car they gave me, my apartment parking spot I used to live at was at a incline and it set off the oil light, I back up and it cleared. Its a rotary, it burns oil, unless you have a leak your not aware of.

i check it every other gas fillup... this car is meant to burn the oil to keep the rotors probably lubricated... rotary n00b :icon_no2:

not always true... cold versus warm fillups/additions to oil will make a difference when refering to "topping it off"

simple solution...check your oil level instead of waiting till you've run it down so low the idiot light turns on

We're not talking some fine point about hot versus cold top-offs here - we're talking idiots and their lights.

S

^^ Kinda harsh?

Ill answer you're question, it depends on the miles. You're supposed to check your oil every other fill up, mine typically goes through a half to a full quart between my 3000 mile oil changes. My light would come on if I didnt top off for 1500-2000 miles.

Seeing the light isnt a great thing, you should be topping off more often if you see your light a lot, or check under where the car is parked for oil spots.

that's great advice!
the car CAN burn through quite a bit of oil in a month if you're putting a lot of miles on it.
Do you do your own oil changes or the dealership? Maybe it wasn't filled up properly to begin with

^...........what they ALL said!

^ what they DIDNT say is FAIL.

Well said Al :)

NEVER let your rotary get low on oil.

I am honestly surprised the car is still running. You really should check your oil at least every other saturday.

After the latest ECU map, mine goes through a quart every 1,200 miles or so, with mixed city/highway driving. For me, that's a quart every 4th to 5th fillup, give or take.

So that's about a quart every 3-4 weeks. No biggie.

Funnily enough, I've only had to fill up once since I've owned this car. I guess I don't push it as hard as I'd like to :(

Although its not the healthiest thing in the world, its not going to kill your car to see the low oil light. Its quite easy to happen between long hours, work weeks, and busy lives while driving a lot of miles. Ive lost track before and forgot to top off and had the light come on, probably 3-4 times over the last 70,000 miles. Thats why the light is there, to let people who blow it off know thier car needs oil.

The car is doing its job, its not failing.

Its just a matter of how long the light stays on.

funnily? Is that even a word :lol:

If I take a couple hard corners I can get the oil light to come on when the level is half way between the full and low points on the dipstick... which isn't low enough to damage anything. Even though it will go back off after a few minutes I'll usually take it as a reminder to top it off. I've never let it get so low that I needed to add a full quart of oil... usually 1/2 to 3/4 to fill it up.

Thanks glad to see atleat one member here knows how to act like an adult and knows how to read. Shame even the moderator sounds like douche bag wannabe know it all, who cant seem to read.

Anyways thanks this awnseres my question. I have my dealership do my oil for 2 years because it is free, I know the oil light coming on isnt going to kill it. Some how all these idiots got the impression I just let it go ever time till I see it without bothering to read.

Anyways, I do alot of driving during the week to work and home, so that was my question was if the car really burns through THAT much oil. I usually have my oil topped off every 3 and half weeks to make sure I dont run it to low. But from your info, sounds like I should maybe do it every 2 weeks, due to my heavy driving. That was why I was asking because this is my first rotary so I only have V8's to compare to. Just wanted to make sure I didnt potentially have a problem, or leakage. I didnt see any signs of leakage, but thought I'd check.

Didint expect to see such immaturity from a bunch of kids on this forum. Its a shame, this community used to be alot better.

Anyways, thanks again for the info from those mature enough to read.:)

Douchebag perhaps, but I top off my oil, so that light never comes on.....

If you own a 2004/5 some had defective lights that would come on at 80mph, no matter how much oil you had, then go off when you slowed down - is that possibly your issue? There is a recall.

S

It is now! :lol2:

I have mine toped off as well when I do my oil change, and in between, but it was just catching up faster than I anticipated. I try to get it before the light comes one, but with work, and a recent death in the family adding even more travel, it has made it hard to keep on top of. I am going to try and top it every other weekend then, for the amount of driving I do. I just didnt know if it ran through it that fast normally with alot of driving or if maybe I had a problem internaly.

I will try and pay attention to my speed. My light does come on when on the highway and usually pops off after a few min. It never stays on steady, and I never see in when driving on city roads only the interstate, now that I think about it. I will experiment with this and see if that could be the cause. But right after I fill it up the light doesnt do it for atleast another 3 or 4 weeks so it might not be the problem. Mine is a 2004.

Did you get your feelings hurt? Pardon us for being on top of things and giving a shit about our cars. Maybe if you would read you would know how much oil the 8 is supposed to use. And if you did that your light probably would never have come on cause you would have known already. Sorry bud but if your not smart enough to remember to check your oil on this car you need to be flamed. This site has always been this callous, you just hadn't asked a dumb question yet.

Take better care of your car!

heh , you know you can always buy a camry? :P , but yeah check your oil levels frequently , i check mine every other fill up ..top it off if necessary. I also do my oil change every 2k miles :eyetwitch ...screw taking it to the dealer , even if its free it takes like 15 minutes to do. Not to mention added security that it was done CORRECTLY , cant even trust the mechanics anymore heh.

Take a look at your original post. You got some rude replies, but IMHO they were not out of line. You need to figure out what provoked them, then join in on the gag rather than get upset.

I was at first startled by Stealth's reply, but it didn't take long for me to realize that he was fulfilling his duty as moderator to ensure the quality of the forum. :)

Speaking of reading...you still haven't said how many miles you drive in a week...or two weeks. It's mileage and driving style, not time, that affect oil use. If the light does come on, you should check the level with the dipstick and see if it's really just low or if you might have the problem Stealth mentioned.

Ken

I think some people here need to realize that not everyone is a rotary guru and what seems like an obvious question sometimes isnt obvious to everyone.

Sorry to go against the grain but it seems as if everyone is so quick to rip someones fucking head off over a question. This dude has been a member since 07, hes not a noob. Should he have known the answer, yes, but he didnt so he came to an rx8 forum to ask.

Damn guys, its gotten to the point where I purposely dont ask questions anymore myself.

While I somewhat agree with you, it is in the manual.
Not that it applies in this case, but I'm actually appalled at how many people don't read it at least once. Oh......and those that bought a car without it really shouldn't have done so, or at least explored how to get one. And we all know it's a free download at www.mazdausa.com right?????? That's obviously for others to see!

^ why read the manual when you could just start pointless new threads everytime you have a question? Its much easier to make other people do your homework rather than do it yourself right?

And there's nothing wrong with the way you said it.

My point is there is a difference between saying "search" or "look through your owners manual" and "you're an idiot" / "Buy a Camry".

I mean c'mon, there needs to be some sort of minimal respect.....

So then what's the point of an RX8 forum if people cant ask questions? :uhh:

It seemed as if he was asking about the frequency of the light appearing, more-so than what it means.

The owners manual briefs you on what the light is, but it did not answer the OP's question.

So he logged onto an RX8 forum to ask other members who then ripped his head off.

What's the point of someone asking questions if they don't listen to the answers? Despite everyone telling him oil use depends on miles, not time, he's still stuck on how many weeks.

And, despite all the side banter and goofing around, he got a pretty complete answer to his question. So the system worked for both Sushi and all of us who enjoyed the target practice. :)

Ken

The history of threads already started, he can search through the forum, and then if he can't find his answer then he should start a thread. Too many people do it the other way around.

It's the world at large man, not everyone is going to be nice to you. In real life or on a forum.

If he was really asking about the frequency of the light appearing, it's an even dumber question: The light comes on when you're low on oil, therefore, if the light comes on MORE often, it would logically follow that oil needs to be added more frequently. Any way you look at it, it was a stupid question that could have been answered with a simple manual read. I'm usually not someone who is on the "SEARCH NOOB" bandwagon, but this is one of those questions that really didn't need to be asked. Checking oil is one of the easiest things to do, hell, it adds another thirty seconds to the gas station stop. If you can't master that, then you really shouldn't be driving a sports car.

Props to you for having the patience and being helpful though.

To the OP: I suggest you read through your manual before you ask any more questions. Believe it or not, it actually can be quite helpful!

LOL wow, alot of angry little kids who are big shit on a little forum out in nowhere land on the internet. I didnt realize some of you had no lives but to try and cut down a rather simple post that had a rather quick and easy awnser. I love my car, but didnt know it was a enthusiest car that only pathetic little loosers drive that live in mommies basement. LOL. Bose make sure mommy doest catch you being bad on the interweb. :uhh: :lol:

You little wannabe internet tough guys always crack me up, I would love to see some of you talk like that to a person to his face.

Did you even read the Manual for your car Sushi? It tells you the rotary engine burns oil by design, and that you should check the level with the dipstick every other time you fill up your gas tank, then top up as needed. It does not say drive it around till the oil light comes on then take it in for an oil change a the dealership.

http://i141.photobucket.com/albums/r...idiot_fail.jpg

Check your oil every other fill up until you start to realize about how much it uses....i only check mine about 3 or 4 fill ups cause i know that's about when it's time to add(unless there is alot of spirited driving then it's a different story and have to check sooner) if you are waiting till the low oil light comes on you are waiting too long and something is going to break sooner than later!

It didn't have an answer. It still doesn't. You asked how much time between the light going on. You never said how many miles you drive in that time. You got good general advice. But I assume you're trying to figure out if your car is normal. You'll never get that unless you complete your question.

So, after the oil is full, how many miles do you drive before the light comes on? Or before you're down a quart?

Ken

Hey SUSHI, your the lil'girl who got all huffy about getting flack for fucking up your car. I'm sorry you think I actually give a shit. And like Ken said it wasn't an easy answer, but if you had read about your car beforehand this wouldn't have happened to begin with. SORRY YOU FAIL.

I've never met my mom. Don't think she would care what I do on the internet, sure didn't take any mention on who raised me so...:lol:

I'll make it real simple: the oil light means add oil RIGHT NOW, because you should have added oil BEFORE THEN.

Is it normal? No, it isn't normal to have your oil light come on all the time. But the problem most likely isn't with the car.

its a wonder to me that people post this after getting flamed. i guarantee i post as i talk.

get a new oil pan. then check your oil often between changes and top off as necessary.

find a manual and READ IT.

thread closed