I was at about 7k rpm in 3rd on the weekend and car suddenly spluttered and the pedal lost feel. Blue smoke started pouring out both exhausts and the car is running like crap. Checked coils and they are fine but when I took the airbox off there was oil all through it! The smoke cleared up after a few minutes driving but the CEL light is still on and the car is running like a dog. It struggles to idol.
Any ideas??

 

Oil blowback. An oil catch can is a great solution.

 

What causes it do you know? Could it have anything to do with the extractors I recently put on? How do I go about fixing the car driving like crap and the light being on?

 

Oil blowback can be a number of things, pouring in oil too fast, taking turns too hard, braking too hard, oil being overfilled, etc.

I would clean out my intake, change/clean filter if there's oil on it, and clean out the MAF. That should solve it the crappy driving. As for the CEL, reset it after you've done all of what I listed.

 

Ok, will do,thanks. I thought I had blown my engine! That is a much better outcome. So you think an oil catch can will stop it happening again? Nothing to do with the new extractors??

 

An update. Mazda replaced the coils but say the oxygen sensor is not picking up the rear rotor due to the after market extractors that are on the car. Does this sound right to you guys?
Also, when Mazda replace the coils(that are an RX8 weak point), are they just the same coils as originals or are they upgraded in some way to make them last?
Do many of you guys have oil catch cans to avoid oil blow back? Where is a good place to get one from?

 

what is an "extractor"?
coils have been changed slightly since the launch of the RX-8 but it's pretty much the same. (BHR ignition FTMFW!)

No catch can for me.

 

They are the same thing as headers. So the new coils they put in are just as likely to fail again?

 

doubtful that headers would create oil blowback.
When you took off the OEM headers you could have damaged the front 02. (that would lead to the car running like crap)

as for coils failing: yeah, it can still happen.
Some people manage to get a ton of life out of their coils, others fail as early as 7,000 miles.

 

Thanks for your reply. I am going to show the guy that put the headers on it on Monday to check the sensor is ok.