Whoben

I also had this turn up in my oil. One interesting thing that kind of makes sense (I guess) is that it has only shown up during the really cold months. I carried mine to the dealer for a look and he expressed no reason for concern. I love this car, but it does make me a bit nervous when I see this stuff on the stick. Everyone seems to think this is OK, all the way from the Mazda techs on down..... So I'm just gonna keep on enjoying the ride.

Crazy8er

Well, the Mystery is solved and thankfully before I panicked too much. I’ve had the car for two weeks now and on the weekend my brother-in-law and I were poking around under the hood when we noticed the foamy brown oil on the dip-stick. He is a mechanic and we both quickly feared the worst, like coolant mixing with the oil.

Well a few minutes on this site eased my mind. Turns out it is condensation being whipped up by blow back gases in the engine. I even found the Mazda Service advisory, which i brought with me this week when presenting the issue to the Mazda dealer. Was a good thing I had it with me, as the dealer was not aware of the problem. After a few minutes educating the service advisor, he ordered the insulating sleeve an new dipstick as prescribed in the advisory.

I had some other concerns as well. Moisture in the tail-lamp assembly. After some discussion Mazda agreed to replace them both, second problem solved.

My third concern was with regard to the rusting brake rotor hubs. All four rotors are showing rust on the hub, where the wheels bolt to the brakes. I don’t think this is very impressive, when you consider how open to view the brakes are. This issue required more perseverence on my part as the service advisor dismissed my concerns as being normal. My request to discuss the issue with the service manager proved to be more fruitful. We did the pre-requisite dancing and ritual debating, with his position being it’s normal and mine being on a car where Mazda spent this much effort to detail, does this unsightly rust strike you as the look they were going for. He initially agreed to have them cleaned and repainted, but eventually I was able to move him to agree to replace all four rotors. I just hope this is not a re-occurring problem.

I guess I’m still getting used to the quirky new vehicle.

Crazy8er

Well, the Mystery is solved and thankfully before I panicked too much. I’ve had the car for two weeks now and on the weekend my brother-in-law and I were poking around under the hood when we noticed the foamy brown oil on the dip-stick. He is a mechanic and we both quickly feared the worst, like coolant mixing with the oil.

Well a few minutes on this site eased my mind. Turns out it is condensation being whipped up by blow back gases in the engine. I even found the Mazda Service advisory, which i brought with me this week when presenting the issue to the Mazda dealer. Was a good thing I had it with me, as the dealer was not aware of the problem. After a few minutes educating the service advisor, he ordered the insulating sleeve an new dipstick as prescribed in the advisory.

I had some other concerns as well. Moisture in the tail-lamp assembly. After some discussion Mazda agreed to replace them both, second problem solved.

My third concern was with regard to the rusting brake rotor hubs. All four rotors are showing rust on the hub, where the wheels bolt to the brakes. I don’t think this is very impressive, when you consider how open to view the brakes are. This issue required more perseverence on my part as the service advisor dismissed my concerns as being normal. My request to discuss the issue with the service manager proved to be more fruitful. We did the pre-requisite dancing and ritual debating, with his position being it’s normal and mine being on a car where Mazda spent this much effort to detail, does this unsightly rust strike you as the look they were going for. He initially agreed to have them cleaned and repainted, but eventually I was able to move him to agree to replace all four rotors. I just hope this is not a re-occurring problem.

I guess I’m still getting used to the quirky new vehicle.

Go48

Sounds like you are one persistent dude. Good on ya!

Unfortunately, the new rotors will likely rust just like the originals since they will come from the same source I suspect. You may have been better served by letting them paint the originals with a decent high-temp paint. That's what I plan to do with mine come summer.

oosik

21700 miles engine light came on. drove the last 2 miles to home and pulled into garage. noticed and odd aroma, wasn't sure if it was car or something else in garage.....the smell soon went away. let car sit for about 15 minutes and checked the oil.

off-white froth along the dipstick and what appears to be random small droplets along the upper part of stick. wiped it and checked again, same thing.

is it water? what little knowledge i have of things tells me its water, this is the first time i've sen this on the 8.

nearest dealer is 45 miles away.

oosik

sorry no digicam for pics

StewC625

Does it look greasy, like Crisco? If so, that's normal - there's even a TSB out on it - do a search. It's caused by blowby gasses with moisture in them condensing on the dipstick. Go for an hour drive and look again - it will be gone.

Not to panic ...

kesslti

I have a 2004 - same thing happened to me - there is a TSB on it.

Mazda told me it is nothing - some moisture gets into the dipstick holder (not inside the engine) - and they have a special sleeve that sits around the dipstick to prevent any moisture getting in there (which is what causes the milky substance)

I go in next week to get mine fixed.

JM1FE

<sigh>

It's not an emergency.

It's not a problem.

It's just benign condensation.

https://www.rx8club.com/showthread.php?t=49652

How can you have over 300 posts here and not have seen this discussed to death already?

Chodapopp

If it's nothing to worry about, then why are you getting it fixed?

oosik

that 300 posts since 2003 which compared to some ppl aint' much, besides i havne't been on the boards in eons, you can check my last few posts, haven't even lurked.

oosik

kind of greasy but not think like crisco, but has a similar color. but seeing as tho ppl have seen it before i won't panic as much.

sorry to me it was an emergency.....BUT, why the check engine light????

Gomez

Because there is something else wrong.....

StewC625

yup - unrelated issues ... also CEL's don't necessarily mean anything. It tells you that something anomalous was noticed by the engine computer. If it goes out and stays out, chances are it was a transient issue and doesn't mean anything. It could be anything from a loose gas cap, to some bad gas, to water in the gas being pulled through the engine and burned (which changes the O2 content of the exhaust, which triggers the CEL), etc. If it comes on and stays on, that's when to visit the dealer. If it comes on and then goes out and stays out after cycling the key, chances are it was a transient.

In my business (IT), our tech support guys have a sign on the wall that says "if it only happened once, it never happened at all ..."

Also, don't feel bad ... I posted a similar thread a couple of months ago ... called "Crisco on my dipstick" ... at least the topic name was funny.

Stew

Air Force RX8

Make sure your service guy is smarter than the average bear. Otherwise they will read the TSB and swear that the dipstick will fit because the TSB says vehicles built after Aug 04 need the new dipstick and not previous builds. DUH, the thing barely fits in there now and you want it to fit after you shove a sleeve in the tube? My service manager used to be a salesman...I think I need a new service dept.

truemagellen

have you heard of a Creampie?

Hellbreed

Here is the link to the TSB in case someone needs it.

http://www.finishlineperformance.com...09-05-1450.pdf

robertdot

Yay. Another thread to merge. READ THE STICKIES!!!!

bmmcmillan

Thank God we are all out here together. I had the same problem on my beloved 8 appear about 1 month ago. When I brought it in for an oil change yesterday, the dealrer stated that it was just condensation and to take it out for a long drive - anyone have a spare room in California :-)

Happy Rotarying!

slllygrl10

Hmm mine had light brown foamy stuff on the dipstick.

Rotario

Guys and girl,

Not to be rude, but there are several existing threads where this has been discussed almost to death. As for a cure, there is a TSB out to replace the dipstick with a new, graduated dipstick, and to replace the tube with a new insulated one to prevent the condensation. If this issue bothers you, run it down to your dealer and ask them to perform the TSB with the new 'stick and tube.

http://www.finishlineperformance.com...09-05-1450.pdf

HTH,
Bill

Edit: I haven't had the tube or stick replaced in mine (yet), but it is covered under warranty.

Air Force RX8

Well Rotario don't be rude then because these folks have revived this thread from 12-12-03 and last I checked it is more than a couple months old and the last post before today was last month... none of today's posters was asking for your or anyone else's assistance they were just putting in their $0.02

Rotario

Well, then please forgive me for trying to help. I'll abstain in the future.



Bill

jqsn00

hey rx 8 drivers ,I got the white stuff on the dip stick,called the dealer and they said its a common thing with the rotary,however thier is a new dip stick assembly that corrects the condensation problem . They are ordering it for me and said its a covered item under the warrenty. When I get it I will let you know if the white stuff disapears.

Go48

Been discussed before. Just a foam insert into the dipstick tube. IMO, the cure could be worse than the problem. Like pieces of the foam getting chipped off and falling into the oil pan. The white gunk is an emulsion of condensation and oil and it has been noted on the RX cars for years. It is only a cosmetic problem and it disappears when the car if fully warmed up. So get the "fix" if you like, but don't worry about it in the meantime.

expo1

You know it’s getting colder when the Milky Dipstick posts begin to show up.

http://www.finishlineperformance.com...09-05-1450.pdf Contrary to what you dealer told you there is no ‘ correction’ for this issue. If you would look at the TSB Mazda issued for this ‘problem’

All this ‘fix’ does is hide the gunk from your view, it’s still in the motor. I for one like to ovoid having my 8 at the dealership for things that are not critical. In this case all they are going to do is install a tube that scraped the gunk off the dipstick and back into the motor.