Took a trip to pettit racing today.....
 

Talked to Cam about a lot of stuff. Some of the interesting things I found out...........


So far about 40 engines in the US have failed. Not from mods or anything (I'll get to that in a minute). Just daily driven cars that have lost the engine. Reliability may be an issue in the future, so stay tuned.......

Quite a few people have tried NOS...........and most have blown their motors. Until the ECU and fuel maps get figured out NOS = BAD IDEA.

The're going to begin work on a blower. They expect an entry level kit to add ~40hp or so, but until the ECU gets cracked there's not a whole lot they can do. Also Candy (she's Cam's wife.....and she rebuilds ALL the motors) said Cam's not allowed to tear apart the RX8 they bought until they get another one. She likes it that much. :D

As far as handling is concerned. Cam thinks the RX8 handles much better than the RX7 did, and since he's been building and racing them for years his opinion speaks volumes.

Also, before he begins to sell the blower kits Cam is going to equip about half a dozen local RX8s with them to test them out......and since I live less than 15 minutes away I felt it necessary to express my desire to "volunteer" for one of the test kits. :D

That's all for now. If anything new or interesting comes up I'll let everyone know. :)

Feel free to share any other tidbits you can remember.

The engine failures, was it discussed if there were any similarities between them?

I own one that did this a coupleof weeks ago, andhave been researchingit and contacting people.

So far I have found out that oas of recently there are now about 60-70 failed in North America.

Around 45+ have been similar ot mine, and Mazda is calling htis a failureof hte oil injectors. Some have said this is a bogus story, and one of those people builds and rebuilds rotaries for a living, so I am inclined to listen to his opinions. He feels it is a bering failure.

Around 15+ have had their engines pulled when the dealers did an oil change and found water in the oil.

KAS a forum member here in australia also had water found in the oil when he had his oil pan replaced , obviuosly this is not just a american problem , hes car i am led to believe was replaced with a new one althoug mazda got him to sign a non disclosure clause.

On the subject of water in the oil.........

I check my oil a few times per week. I noticed the other day a milky substance on the rubber stop portion of the dipstick. The milky residue is of course the result of moisture mixing with the oil.

Now just to clarify....it was a VERY minute spec of oil froth (could cover the tip of a pencil eraser).

It occured the next day also. I called the dealer and the service manager put someone who appeared to know what they where talking about. He said it is in fact moisture (already knew that), but most likely was from the wide variances in temperature we have been having in New England.

Now heres my question;

Has anyone ever seen this on their dip stick? Its not in the oil "reading" area....it was found up at the rubber stop. just a spec.......but never the less very obviously oil/moisture froth.

The water level is ok....(a tiny bit low actually, but alot of members have experienced this....dealer said normal due to air bubbles working out of the system)....the oil looks fine on the dipstick.....and of course the level drops...not rises with use.

Under the oil cap is dry. Dealer said not to worry unless the oil level rises (well Duh!)......

Normal operation Renesis .....or Blown bearing and side seal rat trap?


....and yes I do realize what KAS had was literal WATER in the oil....not what I have experienced......I'm just looking for a common tie....... if any.

Gyro,

I know its a new engine, however when re-building rotary's i've used Vasaline (petrolium Jelly) to help seal the engine, which leaves that type of residue on the inside of the oil cap. It takes a few 1000 kms to get it gone. It may be just some type of lube they used while building the engines.

This did not exsist when the car was new. I only have just noticed it the last week or so.

My theory is as follows

-Cold nights (around 30F)...followed by warm days.
-OR-
-I only have been noticeing it AFTER my first oil change. Coincidence?....Maybe. Oil used was Castrol ..proper weight.
-OR-
-Early signs of a Blown 13B MSP.

I will see if my digicam has enough macro to show the cappuccino froth....so you all dont think I'm nuts....

Gyro 2

As you seem to check your oil level quite religiously , unlike myself only checking every 1500km , i am wondering wheter your oil dipstick rubber is sealing correctly or is it slightly higher than it should be alawing fine oarticles of air moiusture to build up .

Temperature changes should not cause that much moisture change specially if your car is garaged .

I will check that......I do believe it s sealing OK....but its a good place to start.
My car is actually not garaged at night. If you were referring to the pics in my sig....the ones indoors were taken at work.

Gyro 2

Since getting to the oil stick is cumbersome specially if you have large hands i have noticed that i have to make sure my dipstick is all the way in ,otherwise it tends to sit above the opening by a few milimeters.

Try parking indoors if you can see if their is any difference in the mornings.

michael

PS : its nearly 4am monday 3rd of november here in australia , isuppose i best get to bed but i want to go for a walk to the beach at 6am by 7am it gets to hot to walk.

Water in the oil is usually a sign of coolant o-ring seal failure, however there are usually other symptoms associated with it, so I'm not totally sure that's the cause with the water in the oil incedents. The trends in the failures seem to point to construction, not parts as the problem. Like those of you who's engines have failed got friday cars instead of wedensday cars.


If you notice water residue on your dipstick, have you checked your oil filler cap to see if there's any residue there too?

Yes......Filler cap is dry. No moisture residue on the dip stick "reading" area whatsoever.....just a hint at the rubber stop.

I'll go get a pic to show...:)

If there's only a tiny bit of residue on the dipstick stopper and none on the filler cap I probably wouldn't be terribly worried, but I would be sure to check every couple of days or so to see if it got any worse.......just in case. ;)

But then again I used to own an FD, so checking oil and coolant every morning is like my religion.



Also I'm curious. Has anyone noticed a lot of fuel dilution?

the dealer had to change my oil pan becuase it was a defective one. the old oil pan was letting the oil splash around causing the oil light to come on. could it be possible that some of you have that defective oil pan??

Gyro 2, look at the underside of your oil cap for "froth" - it's likely there's some there.

This is REAL common on rotaries, and really it's just emulsified oil and condensation. It's just where moisture condenses. Not an issue at all - RX-7's have had the "froth" for years.

If your oil looks like chocolate milk, that's a problem :).

Dale

I am getting the same "froth" type liquid at the rubber stop of the dipstick as well.Dealer told me it is a known issue at Mazda.Apparently rotaries have a tendancy of doing this just as dcfc3s stated.

thats cool thanks, FYI pettit racing is also working on a chip,
they should already have there new brake system out.

they were also looking for some test cars in the west palm area

Paradgim, when testing is complete will you get to keep the charger? Is it relatively safe and if so does he need any more volunteers? Thanks.

I had froth in my oil as well on one check. it looked milky like water in it and I haven't noticed it since so I'm putting it down to checking the oil after a high rpm run even tho it was idled down for 2min after the run.

I experience that the other day it was real hot and I went for a hour ride high rpm almost all the way...... I check the oil and at the stick was real foamy....I though it was normal so thats a problem of water leakiing