Rusted Oil Cooler Fittings
 

Just got back in from running a few errands, noticed a leak under the driver's side in front of the wheel - oil. Quick diagnosis revealed completely corroded oil line fittings with the lower one leaking like a sieve. Luckliy it looked like it just happened as my oil level was only down about 1/2 quart.

Spent a bunch of time searching. See it has come up before at that there was a Canadian recall for this (https://www.rx8club.com/canada-forum-35/received-recall-notice-oil-cooler-hose-146807/) that has been declined here in the US in the past when other folks asked about it.

Now looking for suggestions on a remedy. Anyone know of any good aftermarket replacements for the oil lines on an 03 build 6spd? May think about going full oil cooler kit repalcements as well. Have seen stealerships charging others here as much as $2400 for oil line replacements with stock parts. I've already got a toasted AC compressor needing replacement (rear mounting bolts on it are seized so have been putting it off for a while), so looking for some reasonable options at a more bearable price. :scratchhe

Update: wound up needing to replace all oil lines - housing to driver's side cooler, driver's side to passenger side crossover, passenger side back to housing - they all had badly rusted fittings. Because there is a standing recall in Canada for thsi issue, and because NH isn't all that far away and exhibits the same environmental conditions as were the underlying issue for our Canadian brethren, local Mazda rep agreed to cover all parts if I covered labor (all oil lines, etc came to over $1700 in materials, labor just a little under $500). Had to order the parts out of Canada it took quite a while to collect them all.

I expect there will be others North of the Mason-Dixon line in the US who start exhibiting the same corrosion issue as their cars age - driving in salty conditions (road salt, oceanside, etc) will contribute to the deterioration. If you are one of these folks, please take the time to pull the lower faring off under the oil cooler(s) and check for rusty oil line fittings. You don't want to spring a leak when your out on the road, especially if in a deserted place and you don't have enough oil on hand to limp home when your oil pressure drops off the scale.

UPDATE: Racing Beat now has their Oil Cooler Stainless Steel Braided Hose Set out for 2004-2008 RX-8. http://www.racingbeat.com/FRmazda4.htm :bowdown:

If you still need the compressor, I got one! :grouphug:

Per the oil cooler lines. . . My car has seen 2 Ohio winters with roadsalt and dirt galore, I'm hoping to just keep my OEM lines for as long as possible before going to the Racing Beats.

I'm shocked the dealership was willing to work with you.

My dealership (Werner in NH) has been good to me since the day I bought my 8 back in 2003. They have gone to bat for me on numerous occasions - I had one of the first engine failures in the Northeast and dealing with that got ugly. They stood by me all the way.

Thanks for the offer on the AC compressor, had it replaced with a new factory unit last year. Took 2 tries as the first unit I got was defective.

I did my whole Fluidyne 28" Oil cooler with Taylor Push lock fittings and hose with a real oil thermostat for half of what those braided lines sell for. Nice kit but way, way, way overpriced.

Looks like I have the same problem -- my driver's side hose is rusted clear through and starts dripping the moment I start the car.

I looked at replacing those with factory parts (and perhaps spraying them all over with rubberized undercoating). The driver's side part is $260ish, and I don't think I've found the passenger's side on the internet, but I bet it's comparable.

Knowing this, the Racing Beat braided hose set is looking better and better.

9krpmrx8, did the Fluidyne set replace the lines all the way back to the engine? I'm ASSUMING the Racing Beat set does.

Does anyone care to offer any guidance/warnings before I embark on this? I _am_ going to call the dealer tomorrow to see if they'll work with me, but when I called last week, their initial response was, "The RX-8 doesn't HAVE an oil cooler." Inspired with confidence in my dealer, I immediately began tearing my car apart myself... :-(

Update: Spoke with my dealer again and this time I got a guy who was much more knowledgeable. He quoted me $380 for labor, and the parts guy quoted me a total of about $614 for parts. Ouch!

We chatted a little, and he said he'd never seen this problem before. He'd never even had to look up that part. He also suggested I try a local place that makes hydraulic hoses to see if they'll make a set up for me. Has anyone tried that?

I think my next step is to pull out the hoses and go shop around. Good thing my son doesn't need my other car every day... :-)

Update: Mazda North America wants me to take it in and request post-warranty financial assistance. I figure it's $100 to have it towed there, $100 back, $50? diagnostic fee? I'd already be halfway to buying the Racing Beat hose set by then.

was this a custom kit? i have the same issue and i'm looking for a solution. Money is kinda tight right now so the RB kit is probably out of the question for me.

Same issue with me this week. Puddle of oil under the car. Luckily I carry 2 quarts in my trunk at all times - came in handy. Took it to the dealer and cost to replace lines was $2100 !!

I am in Massachusetts and I cant believe we dont have a recall just like our Canadian brethren :( How hard is it to change these lines yourself I wonder.

Tomorrow Mazda NA finally gets an earful from me - sigh. First transmission goes, then coolant warning light and reservoir, then the stupid starter (thankfully ebay helped me out with a 180$ mazda starter) and the list goes on.

i ended up going with the Racing Beat kit anyway, $449 was much better that the madzda alternative. http://www.racingbeat.com/RX8/Oil-System/11911.html I am not a professional mechanic, but i got the job done with minimal issues.. If you are planning to do the work yourself make sure you have a garage and enough time, personally I do not think this was a hard project but it is very time consuming. i suggest bringing a friend along to help out. Also the following link was very useful: http://www.blackhaloracing.com/shopmanual/
Thanx to black halo racing for the link and some info on my install!
Good Luck

furthermore, the racing beat instructions are very good and very detailed, if you follow them exactly you should have no issues, no short cuts, TRUST ME

thanks a lot for the info and encouragement guys.
I am going with the racing beat kit too then and will spend thanksgiving working on the car :)

I'll also create a DIY for it - since I am going to be taking a lot of pictures as i take things apart - so that I can put things back together again :)

so I also filed a complaint with the NHTSA here if you guys want to file one and have Mazda send out a recall for the US also :
https://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/ivoq/

The RB site says that this is best done with the engine removed. Did you replace the lines with the engine in place? If so , was it hard?

I'm not sure if I posted that I finished this job with the Racing Beat kit. But I did. It was very time-consuming. Make sure you do this in a garage instead of outdoors because it will take multiple days, unless you can go for hours. I'm through after a couple hours and I want to do something else.

I have attached the Racing Beat instructions. I hope they don't mind me doing this. They emailed this to me not knowing if I had actually purchased the hoses, and I called them once for support and they were very helpful. The instructions are excellent.

I didn't take the engine out. Had to do a lot of contortions. I didn't take the compressor or the intake manifold out either, but I had to cut the existing oil line and leave a piece in there where it shouldn't hurt anything.

One of my quick-disconnect couplers didn't disconnect quickly -- they were rusted together. I had to saw one of them off. Luckily I had a power hacksaw.

<soapbox>I really think this problem was caused by Mazda using dissimilar metals touching each other, not by inferior metals. My leaky oil lines were VERY solid -- a few years of weather should NOT do that to any metal, and I don't think it did. And it would not have caused the quick-connect couplers to rust together like that either. Mazda should have owned up to this obvious implementation flaw but they didn't. :-( </soapbox>

You have to take the old oil hose brackets out, pound them straight, and drill them. Buy a couple drill bits because you will ruin them on that very hard metal.

Get a 1" open-end wrench (I think). Don't use a crescent wrench. The Racing Beat instructions say their couplers take a 15/16" but it really takes a 1". Sent my kid back to the parts store for that one. Measure it first, don't take my aging memory's word for it.

Also the instructions tell you to disable the crank trigger sensor. On the 8 it's called the eccentric shaft position sensor.

This is a time-consuming job for a shadetree mechanic, but it's not impossible. Just be patient. Please feel free to write back or PM me.

I did mine with the motor in the car and i did it outside. I strongly suggest doing it inside and following the instructions to the letter. When I did mine, i did not remove the A/C pump, the coil packs, the oil vent, the tower brace, the eccentric shaft sensor plug or the intake. i did it this way to keep debris out of my engine and to "save time." in reality it did not save any time at all because as mmalson said, there is a section behind the a/c pump that is a huge pain, so the best way to get all of the hose sections out is to follow the directions exact. In the process of trying to remove the forementioned section I ended up damaging my Eccentric Shaft Sensor plug, but thankfully i was able to repair the plug myself.
Personally i did not see the project as hard, it is time consuming due to the amount of parts you need to remove, but the small amount of time you spend removing all of the correct parts is more than worth it because you have less oppertunity to damage other parts not involved in the project.
As i said before, i would bring a friend, (that part did save me time) and i would suggest a small pipe cutter because some of the sections are easier to remove if you cut them into smaller peices, and I ended up needing some large sized metric wrenches, 22 & 24mm if i remember correctly. Your kit should come with the instruction sheets in the box so if you are mechanically inclined and you have some metric sockets you should be in good shape. A word of caution, the pins that hold the inner fenders in place break very easily so take your time with them.
Take your time, follow the instructions, and good luck!

>paimon.soror I just checked out your pics, i have a series 1 Rx8, not a series 2 like yours, but i doubt the project is that much different.

How much is the RB kit?

Back then, they were like $375 from racing beat but I ended up finding a better deal through a 3rd party

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