DIY: Extra Bottle of Oil Under The Hood
 

Simple:

Stuff a bottle of oil beside the washer fluid reservoir. Make sure not to force it against wires/insulation/etc. It wants to snag on the firewall insulation if you're not careful, but it really does fit nice and securely. No bottles in the trunk!

Nice

good idea gotta move mine in the morning..

Just "installed" my bottle 20 minutes ago while waxing the engine bay! Great fit!!! I'm looking for a spot to rest a small "Walmart" funnel now. Great idea!!!

LOL - that is funny. I'll move mine also.

Lol, probably the only forum you will find people looking for places to store the emergency oil fill bottle :)

Here's my lunchbag

Dang, and I was about to do this DIY after finding that spot two weeks ago...

--Massive

Why do you guys keep an oil bottle in the trunk or in the engine bay??


isnt it just easier to check the oil before you leave home?

Never know when you might be somewhere and decide to check and find it low. Sure, it wouldn't hurt to drive it home 20 miles with it being a little low, but you could be a long way from home. Nothing wrong with being a little proactive.

So then when you find you are low on oil you'll have to run back into your house? It can be a hassle. What if you are going on a long trip and are not at home?

It is just easier to check the level while filling up with gas, then you have the bottle RIGHT there.

Yeah but most gas stations sell oil so you could just buy it there. I like the idea though, I have considered putting some spare oil somewhere in my car but figured its just as easy to wait till I'm home or just buy some while i'm out if its an emergency.

So what about engine heat? Can those plastic oil containers handle it without melting?

What’s wrong with the storage cubby in-between the rear seats? In a Zip Lock bag, that's where mine is.

Neat spot, but I wouldn't put mine there. I don't need it popping open with all that heat under there.



...can someone say "oil fire" ;)

The heat issue is a good point. A fire would make for a very bad day. I guess I thought it was better than the bottle flying around in the truck. A spill of oil in the truck would also be a bad day. I keep a quart because I live and drive often in the middle of nowhere and many small gas stations don't carry 5w20. Is all the other plastic in the engine bay like hoses, housings, fluid vessels constructed of different materials?

You can actually secure it with the Mazda Emergency Mobility Kit strap. I got mine attached like that and works fine. I think I even gained some better weight distribution ;)

I don't want to get off point in this thread but my subject of interest have moved a bit, to the heat in the engine bay. I'm already rethinking the oil storage but, where we live it routinely reaches 110-120 degrees in the summer. Is there sufficent cooling in the engine bay to keep the OEM components, electronic and plastic cool?

:rolleyes:

No, it's not.

First off, the plastic bottles aren't THAT susceptible to melting. I've set bottles on HOT engines while doing oil changes before.

Second, it's *well* away from the engine, against the firewall insulation/washer fluid tank/fender. There are plenty of other plastic & rubber parts (some even carrying <gasp>gasoline</gasp>) closer to or right against the engine itself.

If your washer fluid were hot enough to make coffee with, then you'd have a point.

It's a non-issue. If you don't want to keep a bottle there, don't, but this imagined problem is killing me....

:eek:OH:eek:MY:eek:GOD:eek:!

Somebody call Mazda Japan quick and tell them! I'm sure they *never* thought of that! Better pack some dry ice around the 'Renesis' logo to keep the engine cover from melting!

:rolleyes:

Please....

All winter people were hand-wringing about anything less than 50degF being so "cold" that their precious RX-8 would flood and die, now it's going to be a summer of worrying about the engine compartment becoming drenched with melted polymers?

Damn, sorry I brought it up now. :mad:

I have 3 quarts in the pass through compartment in the trunk. They don't move around and they're easy to access.

I didn't check but I think the engine bay is vented through the front fender vents. The FD3S had the same type of venting for the engine bay. The bay will get hot under idle and cool down close to ambient when the car is moving. It's a clever place to put the oil.

No one's talking about the oil bottle exploding or melting from heat. But you have to agree you are increasing the risk of something happening by putting the bottle in the engine compartment and on the exhaust manifold side.
To many variables to consider when placing it there. Possible piercing the bottle, not tightening the cap enough, bottles are "thin" enough material as it is.

For me it goes like this:
- Oil bottle wrapped in the trunk and get crushed, I have some clean up to do.
- Oil bottle in engine bay and leaks, beside oil burning smoke, there could be way more problems and more of a PITA to clean up I might add.

So it's a no brainer for me. :)
I mean my finger fits in my @ss but I still don't put it there!) :D

man that works nicely!!!!

JM1FE...Show a little ingenuity to others and what does it get you? Melting plastic and 'my oil is only low at home'. I think there are actually a lot of people wondering the same thing...where to stow the emergency oil container, without it rolling around? We especially need an extra for the 8's abundant thirst for oil and, as someone else aptly mentioned, very few gas 'stations' carry 5W-20.