Engine Burning Litres of Oil
 

Hi

I'm in the UK and have a 2006 RX-8 bought new. It's only done 25k miles.

I had issues with an Oil leak recently and took it to a Mazda dealership. They charged me £750 to replace an Oil Pan and some pipes which they said had corroded and was causing Oil to pump out.

A week after I got it back it's now lost 2.5Litres of Oil, and the dealer says there is no longer an external leak, but therefore it must be burning inside the engine. They don't have the tools to strip it down to investigate and there would be costs involved. They are saying there is no warranty to cover the engine.

What are the possible faults associated with the engine internally burning such large quantities of Oil? It is smoking a lot!

Am I looking at an engine rebuild here, or could be be something simple like broken seals? Any idea of possible options/costs involved in this situation?

Thanks,
Mike

If there truly isn't an external leak and the tailpipes are dumping blue oil smoke, then the problem is almost certainly 1 to 4 failed oil control rings. These are inside the engine, and can allow lots more oil into the engine than intended. Only 'fix' is a rebuild on the engine (or replacement with another engine).

The only strict harm is going to be to your cat, O2 sensors, the environment, your eyes and nose, etc... though the engine is going to get clogged more and more with carbon from the oil choking it.

Great thanks, it's more white smoke? But it must be Oil as it was topped up a week ago when the external leak was fixed, and I've only driven about 50miles. It that time it's lost 2.5 litres.

Is a rebuild expensive? No warranty in the UK? I hear in the US there's a 100,000 mile warranty on all engines.

Yes, the US got an extension on the engine warranty, 8yr/100k. I believe Mazda should have extended it for other countries as well.

Burning that much oil is definitely a big problem. Oil smoke will generally be whitish, maybe faintly grey with a blue tint to it. If it's pure white, then you probably have a coolant seal failure as well, and are burning coolant. Have you checked the coolant level recently? Is the coolant clean or is it contaminated with oil?

I have a known issue with a faulty engine coolant light, but the dealer checked and levels are fine.

Looks like to approach Mazda for a contribution towards repair based on age/mileage a Mazda dealer has to partially strip the engine and investigate the problem first at cost (and Mazda may say no anyway). I agree it seems a little unfair to treat US differently when the same issues are occurring globally. My car has been in great condition, low mileage, serviced only by Mazda, 1 owner.

Any recommendations for companies that specialise in cheap RX-8 rebuilds?

You may want to check the Europe subforum for recommendations, PhillipM, MattMPS, bes50 are three of the more knowledgeable Europe guys on here, and can probably direct you to a company on that side of the pond. Over hear, Mazmart is probably your best bet, though the shipping charges to get the engine over there is going to add steeply to the price.

Great thanks for your help :)

If you want to go the cheap route pm hadlowj, way better than most self proclaimed "gurus" in the uk. Ask shifty or PhillipM about their experience with local builders lol.

I'd go with Mazmart. Even without sending the core back their engines are just far superior from what the local builder will offer and the price difference is minimal if you consider how long the engine will last and the upgrades they routinely perform.

/\ Agree, OP you need a new engine.

maybe since they drained more oil than usual, they just underfilled it? 2.5 quarts in 50 miles is either a lot of leakage, or a lot of smoke...

It was fine up until I got onto the motorway. The engine light blinked on for a few seconds then stayed off, and shortly after the oil light came on. It had been smoking a lot since the original repair and I was told this would subside within a week.

To be honest it's not like I was driving in puffs of white smoke, it was just unusual amounts on start-up then didn't really notice! It is a Mazda dealership that did repairs and verified no external leak, so I have to believe it's not leaking externally. How much do these things take to fill from empty?

Time for another rebuild then

I don't get it, 25k miles is very low! I've just found some prices and looking at 3k for a rebuild?!

25K miles is indeed very low... but not for a badly kept car that ran with an oil leak for god knows how long. The problem also happened right after a dealer "major" service. I sai they fucked something up.

Actually it's been very well looked after, only serviced by Mazda dealers and always had plenty of oil. Apparently some corrosion caused a major oil leak and I lost a lot of oil on the last journey I made before the problems began.

Did you follow Mazda Europe's advice on service intervals? If so... good luck, they're all wrong.

Taking care of a car also means checking things up for corrosion, not just doing an oil change every now and then. Same goes for coils, plugs etc.
I already told you who you should contact anyway, good luck!

Well I'm not a mechanic, but had regular services at Mazda dealerships etc. I've pm'ed shifty, thanks for your help.

Try to get VERY precise with the dealer, in a pleasant way:

What was the cause of oil loss prior, what was corroded and leaking?

Make sure you can identify your smoke in color and odor. Coolant is very white and smells sort of sweet. Oil will definitely have a blue tinge to it and smell distinctly like a petroleum product.

Check to ensure they do not have too much oil in presently and check for oil in your intake. Find someone else local that can make sure they have routed things properly with ventilation on the engine and pan.

Paul.