Went out this morning and saw a big puddle of oil under my RX-8.

After moving the car I found several more spots big and small.

Looking in the engine bay there is a lot of oil where the steering shaft enters the steering box...right under a rusty oil cooler hose fitting. This is a real ****-off because I had the oil cooler recall done in 2008 right when the recall was announced. They replaced one oil pipe (part # N3Y6-14-S70).

This happen to anyone else? I wonder if the recall still applies to me, since the original tech clearly should have replaced all the pipes prophylactically when he had the chance.

And I hope my steering box isn't pooched.

 

i think its the fitting itself. it happen to my 04. it gets like a sandblasted effect on earlier models i think?? i was shitting my pants when it happened. i actually got out of the car at red lights to add oil getting it back the place i bought it from. the leak was that bad. get it to a dealership....turns out that motor only had 10k on it. i ran it for another 100k strong. no hiccups. one coil change. one complete fluid flush. go rotaries!

 

Windsor Mazda would not submit it as recall/warranty work. I will contact Mazda I guess. $140 for the part and 1 hour labour.


The worst thing was that my car made a mess of our driveway. Said my wife: "my driveway is worth more than your car!!" She may be right...

 

TSP with small amounts of water and a scrub brush for the driveway. Unfortunately it's a bit cold out, so I don't know how that's going to work out for you.

Mazda doesn't seem keen on helping people with reasonable issues.