Hi Guys

I wonder if any of you guys can help me with a problem ive encountered with my 2004 rx8 ?

I only had the car a week , when i was driving along the motorway to work and suddenly as i put the foot down a little to overtake the car in front..the engine lost all power, began to smoke, eventually cutting out all together.. at the same time i noticed that the oil pressure guage had dropped to zero. I found this strange considering that i had only topped up the oil levels the day before. I also noticed oil pouring out onto the road from underneath the the passengers side..(UK) as i got out the car and realised the problem could be serious. The car was taken to my local mechanic ..who said that it was due to a large perforation in the oil coolant pipes..however , he confessed that he was not experienced enough in rotary engines to attempt to fix the problem and suggested i take it to a Mazda specialist...he also told me that he had put more oil in the engine and had tried to start it..to no avail...but had not yet fixed the perforated pipe... my question is this...would this major perforation cause the engine to lose compression and cut out? and in turn cause the engine to turn over but not start..or could it be that even more serious damage had occurred during the incident?

I am taking the car to a Mazda dealer this week ..but am fretting that i may have lost my pride and joy..!!

kind regards

Andy

 

i dont want to rain on your parade, but i would plan for the worst. Rotary lives and dies by oil consumption. No oil is basically instant death. Chances are you obliterated the bearings in the engine.

 

HMMM...just what i had expected but hoped not to hear..:-(

thanks

 

crossing my fingers for ya . In the event that some miracle bestows upon you and the motor can be saved, a very common failure point on the 04's is the oil cooler lines. The connections corrode due to rust and weathering.

 

It really depends how quickly you turned the engine off. get the line repaired, fill it wil oil and find out.

I'm not sure if the ECU will put the engine in limp mode or kill it when it senses zero oil pressure or not. I doubt it but it is possible there is some type of failsafe. But if the loss of power was from no oil then you are likely screwed.

 

I just can't fathom that a "shop" actually did this:

 

Hi Guys

A litle update on the problem with my RX8

The local mechanic has now replaced the oil coolant pipes and has managed to start the engine..however it will not start with a turn of the key anymore and needs a short tow to get going. Also when id does start it is bellowing excessive black smoke out the exhaust and the engine has developed a rattle. I fear my only options now are either a complete engine rebuild..or a reconditioned engine...any thoughts?

 

black smoke? check. plugs and coils make sure they are firing

otherwise, time for new engine

cuz chances are when ur oil is gone, any engine will overheat almost instantly, in a rotary worst case is the hosuing and or iron might warp, if black smoke, it might cause by melted oil control rings seal, resulting in massive amounts of oil pouring into the engine, and the only way to fix that is to open the engine up

 

Question,
The oil level sensor in the pan, will it cut out the engine when tripped?

Sounds like the tech flooded it, if it has to be pull started.

Rattle is bad though, unless it goes away as the excess gas is processed and the mess cleaned out..

Sorry

 

Oil level sensor does not cut the engine. there'd be 1000s more posts on the forum about "dead" cars if that were the case. The question which remains open is whether the oil pressure switch that drives the oil pressure idiot gauge will cause an engine cut.