Oil Leak Between Rotors
 

Hi All,
I have been a member since I got my RX-8.

I love the car since it is different and very
few are on the streets in my area. Lots
of BAD luck with repairs on past Mustang Gt's
and Vettes.

I have been more of a reader and have posted very few things.

But here goes!

I have a 6-speed RX-8 GT I have 27,500 miles on it. I car has
only been in ther shop for oil changes and tires. I loved the ride
of the so much that I even had the dealer put on another set
of Dunlap's that came on the car.

Two weeks ago I had noticed an oil spot in my garage so
I took it to the dealer. That say that the oil metering pump
was bad and that they need to order a new one. They said
that I should not drive the car till it was fix. They gave me a
rental car (mazda 3) and told it would take a few days. It took
5 day in the shop but when I got the car back it run GREAT!
They also re-flashed to"P".

I got and call from my wife the next day telling my that there was
spots of oil in the garage again. I call the dealer and made arangements
to bring it in again after I got back from vacation. It was parked in
the garage for 9 day until I returned. When I got back about a half
a quart was on the ground.

The dealer took two day looking for the leak then this afternoon I got
the phone call from Hell. They found the leak it was coming from between
the two rotor housing near the top of the engine.

They had ordered a brand new engines and that it would two to three
weeks to replace it.

My question is have any of heard of this happening??

where do you live?

Vero Beach, Florida

ok well you have an MT so its probably not the AT engine issue. but you live in a "hot" clime. car ever overheated? is your car an early build ? there were some with coolant leaks from bad seals

No, but I do drive a lot of highway miles.

hmmm, miles on the highway wouldnt be bad unless you drive low rpm alot and dont ever rev it much. how many times a week do you drive it and how many of them do you red line it ?

I drive it every day and I do not run it to hard but I do run up to
red line several times a week.

well then it should be a carbon issue. im stumped. why did they intially think it was the pump? was it actually leaking also?

I do not think the Tech from the dealer knew the first time. I think his was just hoping that was. I think he replaced the pump the first time then found oil coming from a different place.

I was hoping someone had heard of this before I let them install a new engine.

did he show you the oil leak this time?

since you were getting a oil leak from the rotor housing ask them what the
compression on the motor was.
o-ring would cause low compression and alot of oil smoke
but the most annoying buzzing noise ever would be the coolant seal..
please god let that never happen to me again.

Dowel pin o-ring failure !

There are 4 of them across the top of the engine.
A oil leak on the outside of the engine is the only problem this would cause .

I went to the dealer today. I asked to see the leaking area and they were right it leak between the housing. Not a lot but you can see were it was.

Another question: They are telling me that they have to get a motor for Japan (7-10 days), and that the new motor will not be a re-built since they do not enough cores to start a rebuilding program.

Does anyone know if this is true?

I told them that they would have a WAR on there hands
if they tried put a re-build engine in my car.

no they are getting a new engine from the factory. i wouldnt mind the rebuilt depending on who did the work;)

It wouldn't matter, all the engines are hand built anyway right?

I think this may be the same thing that's happining with my car. I started to notice the smell of oil..but no smoke or dripping underneath. To be more specific, it doesnt smell like the oil is dripping on the exhaust and burning persay, but that it is dripping on something that gets pretty hot while on the freeway, and I smell it through the vents or in the engine bay with the hood up. Can't pinpoint it just yet, I guess I will have to get the car up in the air.

This info sounds like it could be it. I did find some greasy spots near 4 plastic looking lines near the front side of the engine, but couldn't be sure.

Smell anything strange in this situation verozoom?

Sorry for the delay but I was out of town for a few days.

You are right RotaryIT, I did start to smell burning oil but no smoke.

The dealer told to come over a get what I needed out of my car
because they would not let drive it until they put a new engine in.
The leak is near the exhaust and they were afraid of a fire under
the hood if I drove it.

I would check it out ASAP. You may have the same thing happening.

As an update, still waiting on an engine as of today. Dealer hopes it will be in
next week. I have been drive a brand new 05 Neon (loaner) that you can
clock the quarter with a calender and no one looks at.

It is funny how you get use to everyone looking at your car to no looking
at your car. I will be happy to be noticed again.

Hey verozoom,

What is your build date?

Build date is May 04.

Hmmm... that date is pretty late in the run - I'd love to see the tweaks they make as they progress in the cycle (I am sure my motor is slightly different than yours)

Crossing my fingers for ya...

I'll have to check again and find out whether mine was an 03 or 04...I dont remember.

To add insult to my 8's injuries, I am now getting an intermittent CEL. My car runs very well right now, and has great power....I don't want a new engine....i really don't.

From what I understand, and I'm not saying you did this, is that most coolant/oil leaks on rotarys usually come from warped housings due to ragging on the car without letting it warm up properly.

I almost wish that Mazda would put a rev limiter on the engine until it fully warms up like the M3, keeps the engine under 5K which is more than enough to move you around quickly for the first couple of minutes.

I thought they did, controlled by the ECU. Believe it is at 6k though. :confused:

I dont really have the opportunity to rag on mine quickly after a cold start. My the time I get out of my sub with speed bumps, and through another sub to a main road it's been about 5 minutes of sub 4000 rpm. Additionally, I consciously avoid racing the engine when cold. Still not sure what this intermittent CEL is about. It was on this morning, and was off when I left work this afternoon...and remained off tonight.

I have not yet received my recall letter, so I will wait til then to take it in and have them handle all at once, not to mention my cd changer that has been broken with 4 of my favorite cd's in it for almost a month.

I am very careful about warm-up. But keep in mind I live in Central Florida on the coast.
It is HOT here most of the time.

I have never had trouble with cold starts.

I still have not heard from anyone with the same problem expect possibly RotaryIT. That is good to me since this may be a rare case. If I was hearing back from a lot of owners I would be going after Mazda.

Anyways will break this motor in very easy if I ever got my car back!