went_postal

I am so mad right now I can't friggin stand it.

I bought my RX on Friday with 2000 miles on it. The dealer was driving it and the car seemed to be in very good shape. I just told them that I wanted it cleaned up and checked out before they gave it to me.

Well I am an idiot. I assumed (you know what they say about that...) that they had checked/filled the oil and whatnot.

Since Friday I have put about 200 "easy" miles on the car. Temp on the car has been good, the oil pressure seemed good. No problems from what I could see.

Went to WalMart this evening to get the oil fixin's for my wife's car and decided to pick up some Crisco (i.e. 5w-20) to put in the car. Bought two bottles of Penzoil and two of Castrol GTX. I forgot which was popular on the board.

I came home, read up on the board and decided to give the Castrol a go since the other preferences really seemed to be Royal Purple and Mobile One. I have made the decision to stick with Dino-Oil so Castrol it is.

Took the car around the 'hood to get the temp up and then let it cool down for about 5-10 minutes. Checked the oil and it was barely touching the bottom line!!!! I added a quart of oil and it still does not hit the top line!

Um.... whiskey tango foxtrot, over!

If you cannot trust the dealership to prep this car.....

UGH.

My faith in humans is lost again. I am going to buy one of those islands off the coast of Fiji and have it paved with a giant road for just me. Me, the car, and the wife if I can fit her on the boat with all my crap. =)

Sea Ray

The car may use up to a quart every 1500 miles so that maybe considered a normal amount in 2000 miles. Now the fact that the dealer did not check it is pretty bad.

I was given a used 8 to drive for the weekend while my new one was being picked up and checked out, and it was over a quart low also. I usually don't bother adding oil to mine until it is at least half way down between the marks.

I would think your car is ok since temp and oil pressure seemed fine. The oil light coming on at high speeds generally means that it could need the new oil pan as per a TSB.

Good luck

went_postal

Just out of idle curiousity... Will the engine by any chance burn more oil if a lower octane gas is used? Who know what the dealer was putting in the car... I put in 93 today but for all I know they were using 87.

Sea Ray

A lot of members here have found that 87 works fine for them, depending on brand. I use 89 shell, but premium if I don't know the other brand. 87 won't hurt the car but may reduce performance.

went_postal

Here in NC we have a warehouse club called BJs. They are just like a Sam's Club but a little more like a Costco. They have their own gas station and members get a discount on the gas. I have never tried their gas and to be honest I typically try to stay with Amaco/BP.

From what I understand BP/Amaco recertifies their gas in the tanks at the station every 30 days. Apparently not many gas stations do that. Since BP is 1.90 or so for 93 octane and BJs is 1.76 I am sure the tanks are emptying faster than once a month anyway.

Some people say gas is gas but I do not know about that. I have always tried to stay away from the smaller vendors...

We will see what Bulk gas does. =)

ArvinC

...clubs here as well. I'm on my third full tank of their 93-premium and found no difference from the Exxon/Mobil 93 I usually use. I just went over the 2000 mile mark this weekend and have not yet tried using anything less than 93 octane in my 8. But, as far as I can tell, the BJ's 93 seems just fine...and for $1.74/gal. it undercuts the local 89 by .03 cents!

Arvin

sferrett

Low to Full on the dipstick is 1.8 quarts, so if it was near the bottom, one quart should probably only take it above halfway.

If the oil was low enough to be an issue, the low oil light will come on. If you lose oil pressure, then that's another story - you really don't want to do that. Just check the oil every thousand miles from here on out and you should be fine.

As others have said, the dealer probably never changed the oil or topped it up, so the usage sounds about normal for that many miles. Still a bit of a worry that they didn't even bother to check it for you - especially since you asked them to. Whether or not it's worth mentioning to the dealier next time you take it in is another story...

went_postal

When I bought the car I also told them that I wanted the oil changed before I took it. They said that Mazda recommends at 5k and that they would do it then and I just need to bring it back for that. I am going to change in before that but still make them do it at about 5k.

Just annoying that the dealers cannot take care of this stuff as well as the customer can.

Meowloud

Hello Postal! To err is human. Unfortunately, we don't want our 8s to be involved! ha ha
If you want some good info on gas, I learned all I needed from a member here named hac. Here is some GREAT posting on gas (a little down the 1st page) https://www.rx8club.com/showthread.p...threadid=20976

went_postal

Wow... HAC seems to really know his stuff. Now I am kinda worried about using the BJs gas... I don't recall if the pump mentioned ethenol being added or not.

I remember a long time ago that I had heard ethenol was good for carbs but bad for injectors. My 1966 Chevy would get Citgo all the time. For the newer cars I have always used Shell or BP/Amaco.

I am sure that BJs more than likely buys from some other company instead of having their own gas. I just wonder who they buy it from.