GerryE

iTrader: (5)

Looking for a little advice past the obvious. My dad who is not accustomed to the rotary engine and an oil that exists past 10W-30 put a quart of it in my RX-8. ( I have been running a 5W-20 oil ). This of course happened before i took my rx-8 to fill up and take for a spin tonight. (I had no knowledge he had added the oil).

I allowed it to warm for about 5 minutes or so, and then drove toward the gas station on the highway by my house and shifted about 5-6K, i was driving it rough but not beating on it. About 3 minutes later when i downshifted into 3rd to slow up for the gas station i noticed a large white cloud of smoke form behind me, much like the smoke from a seafoam or so.

Well i got my gas after examining the issue, and allowed it to idle again and relooked over the engine and such, there was a light smoke existing the top of the engine, but nothing more than a few wisps. But the exhaust was still spewing a full mouthful.

I headed for home driving it nicely and on a shift or an acceleration it released large amounts of smoke otherwise nothing noticeable. After i arrive home i let it idle in the yard and it was smoking like it normally would, not as noticeable, and i gave it a few quick revvs to 4500-55000 and the smoke resumed.

I took it for a short drive, bout a mile and back and it was running smoothly again with no smoke there, and then when i was running the other way i downshifted to 4th and wound it up a little bit and nothing happened, acted normally. So i slowed down to 40-35 mph and shifted into 3rd and a large bang occured at about 4500 rpms.

I put it back in the garage and thats where it sits now.

What I know needs to be down:
Empty all oil, clean the pan, and place in a new filter

what I'm thinking about:
New Coils, New plugs, new wires

What I want advice on:
If there maybe be something more internal in the engine that i should look into, I.E. a gasket or a seal.

Thanks Guys,
Gerry E.

expo1

What you described has nothing to do with adding a quart of 10w 30. White smoke is also mostly indicative of coolant burning or something spilled in the engine bay.
Dropping your pan is also a complete waste of time since there are a few quarts of oil in the cooling lines that you will not be able to get out. Depending on the year of your 8 Coils & plugs might be needed, not as needed as you relaxing.

Also that 'BANG' could have been just a normal pop from a back fire when you downshifted.

GerryE

iTrader: (5)

Well, it was exiting the exhaust not the engine bay, so it has to be something burning through the engine. because if it was something burning from the outside of the engine it would not flowing through the exhaust.

This is about the closest example i can have toward what is happening apart from taking a video of the car running which untill we have a developed understanding of the issue i would prefer not to do.

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expo1

Is your 8 still under warranty? If so take it to the dealer. Again adding the 10w 30 did not cause any issues and changing the oil / cleaning the pan is a silly idea. The dealer can't tell anyway that you put in 10w 30 and your not going to be able to get every drop of oil out.

I8U

iTrader: (1)

I agree with expo, hell most people are running some variant of a 10w30 anyways. Right now I'm running 10W40 RP, no big deal. You have other issues than the oil added.

alz0rz

iTrader: (41)

What the hell.. oil is oil. Mixing it (though not the best practice) is no big deal at all.

As has been said.. white smoke is usually coolant.

ken-x8

Why would there be any negative to mixing weights of oil? As long as what you put in is within the allowable weight range and API spec, it shouldn't matter.

Gerry - any chance your dad overfilled it? If it was already full and he added a quart, oil would get sucked into the intake. You'd get oil smoke, though, not white coolant-like smoke.

Check the inlet and air filter for oil.

Ken

ASH8

You have not overfilled your oil or your father?

That is WAY to much smoke to be normal, your car should not smoke at any-time, it is not "Normal"..

I have my doubts it is coolant. Car would be impossible to start when cold and you would be seeing a lot of blow back and overflow out the Coolant Bottle...plus overheating.

If it is not an overfilled sump, I think you have a sick engine internally, worn out or damaged (cracked) oil seals or oil seal O rings is more than likely the problem...in other words a rebuild.

How many miles?

ASH8

Yeah, I agree with Ken, check air intake for excess oil being sucked back into the engine...too much oil in sump === overfill.

GerryE

iTrader: (5)

ASH 8, sorry i was at my cabin, yeah it looked like the oil level was plum full so maybe that is it. It's a rebuilt enginge (May 03 built vehicle) and has 52,230 miles on it

I have an AEM intake ( no clue how to check for excess oil there, so it would have to be the inlet unless you have an idea how oil might enter that area still, which being fairly new to the renesis i would have no idea were to look for that.

nycgps

iTrader: (1)

if your oil dip stick is at F when the engine is COLD, chances are it will go over the line when the engine is HOT (cuz oil expands when heated) it really depends how far it is from the "F" mark.

it sounds like your engine's coolant seals has a crack in it. just open your coolant overflow tank, siphon some out and see if you can see any traces of oil (dont siphon them out with your mouth! if u see any, its bad.

another way to check is to take your spark plugs out, if u see any water spot ... you know what it means.

if you wanna check if u have any oil in your intake, just take your AEM apart, u just need a screw driver. inside the metal tube and throttle body should be clean. if you see any oil. then yea, its overfilled. Clean everything with dry & clean towel, drain the oil and refill.

this whole thing has nothing to do with oil weight btw, I use 20w50. its better for ANY rotary engine, its been proven since 12A days. you dont have to follow of course. each to their own.

GerryE

iTrader: (5)

The coolant in my reserve tank is way low so i thought about flushing out the entire thing and replenishing so i'll look at it then, i'll get a start on the intake, i thought that would be the way to do it but i dont like tearing things apart if its useless.

Thanks.

Z0oMzo0m

iTrader: (4)

taking apart somthing for nothing is never useless . Its always a learning experience!!

GerryE

iTrader: (5)

True, till you can't get it back together and finally just give up haha.

Z0oMzo0m

iTrader: (4)

Yeah but these are all simple thinks to take apart and check.... Once you get down past the intake manifold then it gets a little more complicated, but really its not all that bad

Just take your time and you will be allright!

ASH8

If you want to check your oil level when engine is STONE Cold, make sure car is level.

A normal FULL sump Oil level should be about a 1/4 of an Inch (or about 6-7 mm) below the F (Full) mark, as "ny' said if it is full when Stone Cold you have too much oil in sump.

Or, to check when HOT, wait 5 minutes after you turn car off and then check level.

I don't know why Mazda "changed" their policy on checking oil level after 5 minutes, personally I have always been the type to check oil levels on a stone cold motor.

BTW: Don't let your coolant tank get empty, if you have NO Coolant put in distilled water, go on and fill it up now!!, and keep an eye on it.

ken-x8

I don't think they changed anything. They just specified that if the car has been running you need to wait at least 5 minutes for the oil to drain down. If you check it when cold, you've waited the 5 minutes - and then some.

That part of the manual isn't exactly air tight. On the next page they say to not check the oil when the engine is hot.

Ken

GerryE

iTrader: (5)

The oil did overflow into the intake substantionally. Should i try and clean up much around the main intake body on the engine?