Oh boy, I am a little nervous. My dipstick has a neat looking oil--milkshake looking mix on it. I am not spewing white smoke as I would expect with a coolant leak into the combustion chamber, but there is a lot of the white crap. I am going up to my dealership at some point tomorrow to show someone. I hope I didn't lose a seal at 5K, but I am definitely nervous. I gotta say, that if I end up with an engine replacement at this stage coupled with the gas mileage issues, I may look at the Infinity G35 coupe, STi or the Evo.

 

Geez Senseny, you've been around long enough that you should know that this is common, even normal, if not quite desirable. There's a whole bunch of threads about 'milky oil' etc - basically, it's a water/oil emulsion that develops from short trips that don't get the oil hot enough to burn off the normal water condensation from the crankcase ventilation. If you go on a looong drive, it should disappear. This happens in any car, but in the RX-8 seems to be more noticeable because the emulsion foam collects in the dipstick tube.

Not a problem, no harm comes from it - don't worry about it! (But search for those prior threads if you like )

Regards,
Gordon

 

Sorry Gord, I have been around, but haven't seen it here for some reason. It looks way too much like a blown head gasket for my comfort (I know this car doesn't have a head gasket--don't jump at me, just making a comparison). Alright, I will check about this before losing my head here. How long a drive, because there is a lot of the **** on the dipstick. Thanks for the info.

 

Gives new meaning to the lyric "my milkshake brings all the boys to the yard..."

-Eric

 

hi, mate.dodgy8 ere. i have the same problem. but according to my dealer it is perfectly normal. aparently the heat in the chamber cretes condensation and mixes with the oil or is this just some bo****ks he has fed me. i got in my car last night and it wouldn't start. assistance came, took the car away and today i was told the engine was flooded due to 'too short journeys'. anyone else had this prob. car is superb other than that. love it., cheers. d8

 

I don't make too many short trips in my car (commute is 25 miles), and don't have any hint of milky stuff in my oil. Be hard pressed to call it "normal".

 

I got the milkshake too. I changed the oil and haven't seen it again. Let us know what the dealer says.

 

I've got it too, it's there every time I check the oil. As the dealer has never commented on it, and the car is running fine and has been since I bought it, I don't think it's a big deal either.

 

My service manager told me its normal and gave me the same explanation as Gord. I don't like it, but as I am not blowing white sweet smelling smoke from the exhaust I will wait and have them look at the oil at the next change. Sorry again for posting on something that has been discussed, but I didn't see the earlier threads and as I was posting on my experience, I didn't see the need to do a search.

 

Thanks for the post Gord, I was not aware of the cause of this foaming oil problem despite being a frequent vistor to this forum.
Thanks Man !

I guess there were too many threads out there with this thing and the information got gluttered up in them.

 

Yep...that foamy stuff is normal and makes reading the dipstick a real chore.

Tried looking at it first thing in the morning to possibly get an idea where the level was at...sure enough, foamy stuff still there. Darn.

Ah well, drive it 'til it seizes up that is what I always say.

 

I get it too. I was really scared the first time I saw it because my car was alreadying acting odd (turns out just stalling in between shifts)... phew.

 

Agree with Gord. Dealers get paid good from Mazda to work on the cars under warranty. I am pretty sure your service department wasn't feeding you a line of bull. If you car wasn't under warranty and a service department told you something different than what they did or what Gord said then I would get a second opinion.