Howdy,

I popped into the dealer last week to have my oil topped-up and while there a fax arrived at the dealership from Mazda HQ with a list of RX8s that were to have a mandatory oil sump replacement (this included mine).

I know my July 03 build RX8 was/is affected by the oil sump issue, but I've never encountered the documented problem. Anyway, looks like Mazda will be changing all the affected sumps - getting mine done this Thursday/Friday (2 days to allow for seal curing) along with a loan car provided.

Anyone else contacted?

Pappy

 

Pappy,

I had mine done last October, after the oil light came on while driving, but the oil level was OK. Here is the NA Service Bulletin explaining the problem, and I was pretty sure MA had something to dealers here at the time. Sounds like they might be 'mopping up' those owners who haven't had the sump replaced.

 

You mean they may have done it during the first 1000km without telling us that it every happens?

What is the cars involved? Timbo you know?

 

No, it was only replaced if you mentioned the symptoms -- see https://www.rx8club.com/australia-new-zealand-forum-37/oil-light-13122/

 

While I was waiting for mine last year (Oct 03 build date) I asked about the sump issue and was told that my RX8 was being produced with the revised sump fitted. So I'm guessing build dates after then would be ok.

 

Yeah, I think that's right. I recall the great Hymeister was keeping a list of VINs -- can't recall if it was to track flash versions or also for the oil light/sump baffle problem

 

Timbo - it makes sense for Mazda to clear up any old lingering issues. Don't know how many cars are involved, but the fax sheet I saw at the dealer would have had around 10 cars for this specific dealership to contact.

At least it will remove this as an potential future issue.

Pappy

 

Greetings All,
I spoke to Nick at McGrath Sutherland Mazda about this problem this morning - I said to him that I had heard the sump replacement takes 2 days to allow for seals to cure doesn't it ?
He said - 'nah, it only takes a couple of hours and we've had no problems with any replacements'

FYI - ours is an early auto with vin ending in 152.

I'm also getting the latest auto flash that I told him I knew about already ! He said he had had it for a couple of months - hmmmm.

No joy on a free loan car either - $44 per day if you please !! I said I won't need one then. I also said that since it was warranty work I shouldn't have to pay for a loan car but he basically said he couldn't do anything so their mood has definitely changed over the last few months. I had been given a free loan car before.

I'm still thinking about taking my service elsewhere - can you tell me which dealer is providing a loan car for this repair ?

Regards
Jeffneil

 

mmm....
will mention that when i take the 8 in for service next tuesday.

another question..... how does your air cond compare to other cars (at full blast)? dont think my is cold enough..........

oh btw, managed to get a free loan car :D

e

 

My sump was replaced in a half a day. Never heard anything about seals having to cure. No probs since.

 

Hi,

John Newell Mazda at Waterloo - with the curing issue, maybe Mazda AU can give you a definitive answer. I guess if the curing wasn't necessary JN Mazda wouldn't have kept the car 2 days nor provided the loaner.

Cheers,

Pappy

 

Thanks Guys for the replies and Pappy for the John Newell info. All dealers are not equal are they ? Never been so true with this car.

Ezzy asked about the air con - well I was driving home from the Motor Show at lunchtime yesterday and the ambient temp said 38 degrees in Darling Harbour but inside it was nice and cool - true the air con does not seem to me to be up to the standard of an Australian made car (in my case 2 V6 Camrys in the last few years) but it is good enough since the cabin is not that large. I rarely use it on full blast as the noise is like a jet taking off !, so I try to keep it to the lower settings.

Ezzy - who is your loan car through ? If it is McGrath Sutherland heads will roll !

Other than that I was pleased to see the RX-8 that was getting all the attention from the public at the show was Winning Blue - I half expected to see a Strato Blue one there. The tricked up red one was getting ignored in its little enclosure....

Regards
Jeffneil

Winning Blue and loving it.

 

Greetings All,

Well I took your advice Pappy and called MA - just got off the phone from their technical department boffin Michael - who was friendly and helpful.

He said that the actual work does indeed only take 1 1/2 hours to carry out and if it is done in the morning it will be fine to drive later that day as the gaskets and silastic will be OK by then.

I asked him if he thought '2 days to let the seals cure' was being overly cautious and he said 'yes it was'.

I just said that since I was going to be driving it 100kms to home after this work I wanted to know if it was going to leak if driven too early.

So there you go - the answer is somewhere in the middle time-wise !

Now I have the 'Zoom Zoom' jingle on the brain from hearing it for 10 minutes while I was on hold with MA !

Regards
Jeffneil

 

Hi,

My car is also a July 03 build, but I have not been contacted either by the dealer or Mazda. I did get notified about the heat shield issue though (which they fixed).

Perhaps it's left up to dealer discretion when the cars come in for service? I've not had any problems though, and apparently the only change is a small relocation of the sensor and an extra hole - or something like that. There was a thread here a while back about it.

Anybody here from WA who did get a call for this issue??

 

I'll see if our dealer has any ideas about doing it next service - I might as well have the fix if it's available. But it's not been much of a priority for me after reading the post below (which I just found again). It was posted some months back by tpryor:

 

Jeffneil
If you haven't had your work done yet, how about giving Rockdale Mazda a call? They seem to to be rx8-literate and get a pretty good press from the members of this forum. They also offer discounts for standard services to members of the club.

 

mmm...... interesting, i will get them to check the air cond gas level anyway..... i have only just done over 3200km

the service will be done by Rockdale Mazda, where i got the 8 from. they offer 10% discount as well

speak to James Ferguson, he is always helpful

e