just got my car back from oil change and all the recalls.first of all the good news the new pcm upgrade is recall#MSPO4 which came after the M flash .tech told me it was to support the m flash not replace it.then recall #1604B which is supposed tobe the airbag have not found the recall #yet to confirm .now the news that pissed me off was they used10w30 oil in my 8 he said 5w20 is not recommended for the rotary .and the manual should be changed . i told him i always top it of with 5w 20 he told me too stop using it .is this BS or not ?

 

It's BS! We've debated this issue soo many times. I think you could get away with a high grade of synthetic oil but I wouldn't allow anyone to change the grade. I would take it back and demand that they drain and refill it with the correct spec.

 

if i used 10w30 they would say i have just voided my warranty ,so they just did the same thing right.

 

I hate hearing this stuff. Especially when I just bought a case of 5w20 at lunch TODAY!

I figure the car says 5w20 right on the oil filler cap so unless Mazda sends me an offical notice, that's what I'm using.

 

I thought the Magnusson-Moss Act of 1975 concluded that auto manufacuters could not void a warranty for something like an oil type?

But either way, if youre not happy with the service, i'd go back and request an oil change with the weight you requested.

 

Agreed- I go with what's on the cap and in the manual. Since when does a tech know more than Mazda about what type of oil to use? Maybe they didn't have any 5W20 on hand and made up some terrible excuse to get you out of there.

 

actually, i believe, it is that the brand of oil can not void the warranty but the type can. for example if you put straight 90sae oil in your engine instead of 5-20 then mazda will void your warranty but if you use penzoil instead of valvoline or somethign like that then no it will not void your warranty but you still have to use the correct type. and as far as i know it is still 5-20sae for the rotary not 10-30 take it back and make them either show you in writing from mazda factory not just from theior dealer or make them drain it and put in 5-20w at no cost to you. you can also call mazda customer relations hotline at (800) 222-5500 and see what they have to say about using 10-30w

 

There are many debates on the oil weight issue as well as sythetic oil debates on this forum you could search for.......

here's one example of one going on....

Amsoil Synthetic

 

Mineral is the same as synthetic in Renesis engine. Personally I found synthetic burn much faster.

Rating of oil depends on the temperature range in the region. There is a chart in the back of the owner's manual

 

I had mine changed today at Mazda. I ask what grade are you using , he said 5w20 . Then ask ,if that was all right . I said ,thats exactly what i wanted to here.I would not be happy if they had not put in 5w20 .

 

This is off topic from your oil mishap, but did you say their was a new flash for performance that came after the "M" flash. I was wondering because I took my car in for service and inquired about it. I had averaged about 15 M.P.G. city and informed them that the 6-7 thousand RPM range seemed lethargic. They informed me that no flash existed, yet I noticed the car has more power and my gas mileage in city driving improved to about 18-19 M.P.G and that's not driving easy.

 

On another post, I saw a scan of the page in the Australian Manual that we don't have showing region temp ranges and the different weights you can use. On page 8-10 of ours there is only 5w20 listed for the entire temp range....

 

yes the reflash is a recall as of 6/04 #mspo4 cant tell yet if it made a difference.still pissed about my oil .i 'm calling the dealership today and i'm asking for a new oilchange with 5w20and get an extended warranty on the engine.if that does not work i will call mazda headquarters.

 

Here is the above-mentioned page.......this is only for info, I would not be following it if your manual says 5W-20 only. Our flash is different, as are our driving conditions......

 

Oh, and "except Europe" means Australia/New Zealand (and maybe some Asian markets...)

 

no that is not true. we have enough problems with dealers giving false info do not spread it around for them!

the most current flash for the rx-8 pcm is the M flash. there is no newer version of it and there is nothing after it yet. also there is no "recall" for the M flash or any other flash. there is a MAZDA SPECIAL PROGRAM called MSP04. a recall is mandated by the Government the MSP is not. The only thing similar is that when you go in for service and the service writer puts your VIN into their comp it will show that you are in need of the service outlined in MSP04. Mazda made the special program because they feel that every RX-8 should at least be brought up to M. this was addressed in the TSB that was updated awhile ago. However as many of you know the dealers were reluctant to do the flash even if they had that TSB in hand. Mazda read those stories here on this forum and created MSP04 so that the owners would not have that problem anymore. But let me re-iterate- the PCM flash they are directed to do in MSP04 is the same M flash- not a newer version of M and not an N or O or anything else. as of today there is NO NEWER FLASH THAN M.

if you have anymore questions on this issue feel free to PM them to me.

 

I would not accept the 10W-30 oil.

I would use what the engine cap is marked with.

Until Mazda wrote me a letter telling me different, I would not change oil viscosities. Although 10W30 can be used in very hot climates, Most of us do not live in climates that extend beyond the recommended oil.

 

my dealer had 10w/30 on the invoice too after my first oil change. when i questioned them about it they said 5w/20 was used but the invoice prints out 10w/30 for all cars. now they dont even print out which viscosity is on the invoice. and they overfilled it too. $ricks.

 

I had my car flashed to M 2 oil changes ago. I just had my oil changed last weekend and upon picking up my car the attendent mention that they reprogrammed my ecu to bring it up to the latest code. I immediately mentioned that I had my ecu reprogrammed last time and I asked what version of the flash it was upon which he just mentioned the latest. I knew then that he really didn't know much but figured if there is a later flash I've got it.

 

Talan7 what happened in your case is this- when you first had the car flashed they didn't mark it as having been done in the mazda system. then when you went in this time the MSP04 showed up in the warrenty work your car needed to have done. So then they went thru the steps they are instructed to take. this time making sure the system knows it has been done.

 

My dealer put in 5w30 when i got my first oil change so that is what I have been using since then.....

 

 

sorry for calling it a recall ,but they toldme it was a support for the M flash when i ?them that i already had the M flash done on my last oil change.

 

The only way this "supports" the "M" flash is...

It tells ignorant service dept's to do the "M" flash, since they wouldn't comply with the TSB.

 

Just took my car to the Mazda dealer for two recalls they had; one to inspect something about the gas tank (don't have the two letters on front of me since I'm at work); the other one was for ball joints I believe, either way (don't matter) I was told they had to inspect the car first and order parts if need to and that repairs were not for for all cars. They gave me a rental for a day and next day when I picked up my car I was told they took care of all the car needs including an oil change I requested of course as I need it; as usual I don't believe anything that Mazda dealer tells me as they're a bunch of liars(sorry, past experiences are hard to forget) I know for sure they re-program the PCM for the fan to come on earlier as they had problems in certain areas of the country of cars overheating and loosing engines as I was told; but to make a long story short even though I've been discoraged before I had no choice but to take the car to the dealer to asure that warranty is not voided(not sure if it would or not) though I've never pleased with anything they done. The car has always been a hog on gas, gotten 10 to 13mpg and max of 19-20 MPG so I never bother to even think of any improvements this time around, when I got my car back early morning and gone a couple of days now driving all over the place now I realize that whatever they did caused my car feels more peppie on take off and getting more MPG; I had my car on 1/2 tank when I got it back and still driving on the same tank of gas; that to me is amazing; I would have had to gas up already by now, I know that for a fact; I usually gas up every other day and drive 50.2 miles one way to work and that means one trip back and forth and gas up again next trip to work. This time I saw an actual improvement for the first time ever, it seems that I'm finally getting 24mpg like I was supposed to from day one or perhaps even more(don't know yet). I'm finally enjoying driving my car for the first time ever without having to worry about how much gas is going to suck; unreal but true. I was telling my wife already that I might have to get rid of my car because of the gas prices; thought someone else might benefit from this and thinking that perhaps we might finally have a breakthru.