When to change oil???
 

I was reading in the manual and it said 5,000-miles. Should I do it sooner? I keep it at an operating level by checking filling it frequently.


Troy J.

There have been several previous threads on the subject, and even a poll. I believe that the poll was split between 3000 and 5000 miles. 3000 miles had more votes. I think that anything between 3000-5000 is certainly enough. Remember, the oil in a rotary isn't subject to as many sliding surfaces as a conventional engine since there are no cam bearings, no rod bearings, no lifters, rockers, followers, timing chain, etc. Basically, you've got the eccentric shaft bearings, and fixed/rotor gears. One way to think about this is that the oil is subject to less frictional load in the rotary, which allows longer change interval (5000). Also, the system holds nearly 7 quarts when you include the oil coolers and lines, plus it gets a fresh addition of oil each time you add some (about every 2000). Personally, I'm still a little undecided about doing it at 3000 or 5000. I've been leaning towards 5000 for the reasons above.

Since I only get to change ~ 1/2 of the oil during a change, I've been doing it every 2,500 miles.

I did my first at 1100 miles, used mobil1 0w20 and an oe mazda filter, changed it again at 2800 miles....going to try to stretch it out until it hits 5000 miles...haha....that'll be next year......

When I bought the car, the sales guy said 5k, I thought, what the hell, I don't know all that much about rotary engines yet. I got a call a coupple of weeks from the service department saying I should change it at 3k, of course this was after I had already put 4k on the car. My 2 cents is, between 2500 and 3k, checking the oil every gas tank. I usailly add about a quarter of a quart every thousand miles. (1 quart every 4k)

In europe mazda recommends oil change every 20k kilometers(12500miles). I know that sounds really weird :(
However, I would never leave the oil in there for so long, but instead follow dealer's advice, who said 'better change it at 10k kilometers (about 6250miles)'

Since new oil is frequently added, I think any sooner than that is just a waste of money...

Re: When to change oil???
 

Interesting. I was going to say that I just read through the manual I downloaded (I hope to take possession tomorrow) and saw it said every 3 months or 3,000 miles... But now that I've found that section again, (page 8-5), I see that that's the schedule *for Puerto Rico*. Following the overall schedule, it's otherwise every 5,000 miles or 4 months (whichever comes first).

It's sad, but I'll hit the 4 month mark first, which'll actually be around 3k miles anyway, so it's probably not a big deal for me.

I wonder why it's listed as different for Puerto Rico, though?

...Paul

I've posted this link before.

http://www.amsoil.com/lit/lng_article/index.htm