early 30's crisis

I've had my oil changed twice now since getting my 8.
The dealer BOTH TIMES has put in 1 full litre (or more) too much.

Both times I have gone back and got them to drain the extra litre...
What gives? They told me it was 'no big deal' but it was so full, it was right off the measuring grid on the dipstick.. they blamed it on the oil in the filter (ugh).

I didnt notice the first time until 100km later when I decided to check it, the 2nd time, I checked it the second I got home (13km).

I asked if this had done anything to the car, they said no, because it burns oil.. (what??). I would think 1 litre is a significant amount to go over... in my typical use its taken me 5000-6000km to use 1 litre.

I'm wondering, and a little concerned... whats up with these guys? Or am I being paranoid...

nycgps

iTrader: (1)

Tell them that they can suck it. How the Hell can they blame the problem to something when its so damn obvious its their own damn fault.

You said Litre so I guess u're in UK. 1 Litre is ALOT.

IF its just drain and fill (thru the oil pan) , with new Oil filter the MAX the system can take is about 4 US Quarts. its a bit overfilled already, cuz its about 3.8 to be exact.

Damn your dealer.

Tanaka826

what retards...thats the reason why i never take my car to the dealer....

davidh

Same thing happened to me here. In my case it did effect the running of the car. Once the engine had warmed up there was a vicious vibration throughout all the controls and the engine sounded totally different. Checked the oil level myself and found that it was so full I couldn't even get a reading. Took it back and told them what I thought was wrong, they drained it and it's been fine since. No idea if the MAF or air filter is contaminated or not but everythings running fine so reckon we caught it in time.

early 30's crisis

Thanks for your post david.. you know she's always been a little crabby, idling hard (really hard) but new to rotary I dont know if thats one of her quirks or not...
I dont know about these guys. I wonder if they smell money, if we can afford more than a base Mazda 3 then we must sleep on a mattress stuffed with money.... I wish!
I will keep my eye on it, and it is duly noted..

early 30's crisis

I also want to add that the bill from the dealer noted 9 1/2 litres...
I mentioned this when I went back... I spoke of how the manual claims 3.3L without filter, 3.5L with in an oil change as max capacity...
They told me that the 9 was an estimate, and it wasnt REALLY 9 1/2 litres (4.5).

Ugh! I wonder if I would get better service in a skirt for crying out loud... or maybe, I should show up in a ball cap and coveralls and request to be in the shop area???

Landon

I wouldnt go back to that dealer. Find another local dealer thats good and stick with them. Once you find one do a search in here for their name and see if anyone posted any reviews about them. This was a great help to me after my "dealings" with a previous dealer who shall remain nameless...

puch96

This problem tends to be common practice for dealers when performing oil changes to the Rx8....

They did the same to my car (over fill)....
I guess they think that it is ok and they are trying to protect the customer since the majority of the non-rotary knowledgable consumer does not check the oil, so it is enough extra oil until the next oil change....

When I went in the second time, I asked them to use Mazda oil, which comes in bottles (instead of using Motorcraft stuff) which is the dealer's "bulk" oil.
It appears that this time, they filled up the oil exactly to the full line....

Rhythmic

Same happened to me. It actually came out my intake (k&n v.2). I would definately check your MAF and air filter. Sounds like if you have rough idle your MAF could have been fouled up with oil backflow. Get some MAF cleaner and spray that thing down real well (check the DIY), and you may want to get a new air filter, or clean it really well if its a reusable one.

msrecant

My dealer routinely overfills. Yes, they will drain the extra oil (which you are charged for) if you ask and no, they will not stop overfilling. They also don't consider it a big deal. It still costs me an extra visit to the dealer ever time I want it fixed.

I agree with puch96, I believe they deliberately stuff as much oil as possible in to mitigate customers running low on oil. I would not be suprised if it is standard Mazda policy to overfill.

kartweb

The first time my oil was changed it was done by the dealer. They filled it to the limit of what it would hold. Wreaked havoc. Apparently when there is no space left for air the internal pressure changes were mostly hydraulic leading to cracking the oil fill spout. There is still a very small oil leak somewhere no one seems to find - but you can sure smell it after driving 50 miles. That started after it was overfilled.

Dealer service sucks. Unfortunately Mazda doen't have much leverage to correct this with their franchises and that will probably prevent them from ever being a major player in the auto biz.

ken-x8

In the one change my dealer did, they overfilled it by about a quart. Listed 5 quarts on the invoice. Didn't cost me anything, since I get free changes for the first two years, and didn't seem to do any harm.

I do virtually all the oil changes on the family cars myself. My recollection from the few times I've let others change the oil is that most places tend to overfill. Usually, though, it's just from putting in enough whole quarts to get to at least the full line. Never had anyone overfill by a full quart before.

When I bring Zoomy in for his next change, I'll tell them to not overfill. Any takers on whether they'll listen?

Ken

ryan031581

Hmmm. Looks like my dealer over filled too, with 10W-30. After going 1000 miles I check my oil and it is still over the recommended zone.

silencer_tk

Thats funny. I bought mine friday and checked the oil, it was right up to the "indented" part of the dipstick. I thought that was full. Until i checked the manual and noticed there are actually marks on the dipstick.

Changed oil myself and come to find out, the dealer had it overfilled by a qt. crazy peeps...

zoned

you peeps should remove your stock air box and look in the intake tube, i would be willing to bet there is oil collected in the corrugated intake tube. if so take a picture of it and go back to your dealer, tell them to fix the problem with the foamy oil stick tsb ( that also relocates the tube from the air intake) and rechange your oil to the proper amount. they could very well be causing your engine damage by over filling.

BlueFrenzy

What dealership are you taking it to? I have all my service done at NorthHill and never had an issue with overfilling of oil there. From what I gather, the techs at NorthHill have been around forever. I remember guys from when I first bought the car in 2004. Perhaps you got the newbie at the other dealership?