inittab

Ya had to say that didn't ya.

Traditionally dino is the way to go with the rotary. There are a few on the fringe that use synthetic but they most likely premix their fuel with 2-stroke oil for lubrication. Sorry for stating the obvious for many here but rotaries are designed to burn motor oil. It's injected into the rotor chamber on purpose. Synthetic supposedly does not burn cleanly and gums up the interals of the rotary that is why a good burning oil like Castrol GTX is recommended. But as Sputnik points out, the Renesis is a much modified engine and these rules might not apply.

rotarynews.com

DO NOT run your rotary engine 5000 miles without changing the oil. Any and all oils should be changed it at 2500 miles. Synth or Dyno. Change at 2500 miles, or whatever Mazda recommends in the manual. Period.

Now, back on topic, the following is they way I broke in my streetported 13b FC N/A motor (5 years ago)

First start: let run for 30 minutes
Then, on the road, nothing over 4000 RPM

500 miles: Change Oil
1000 miles: Change Oil.
Now ok to go up to 6000 RPM
2500 miles, Change Oil
Ok to go full tilt.

I replaced my engine in the FC when had 175,000 miles... it split a water seal. I put a street ported built by Atkins. I sold the FC over a year and a half ago, with over 200,000 miles. I'm told it is still running strong when I talked to the new owner a month or so ago.

Now, onto the RENESIS. Maybe Mazda has fixed the fuel dilution in oil problems. I would like to see the oil analysis after various miles, and would like to see their owners manual.

But, to play it safe, if you decide to run synth, please DO NOT follow the instructions on the bottle, thinking it will last longer than dyno oil. Those instructions are for piston cars, that don't tend to pollute the oil pool with gas. Use Mazda's recomendation, and change it at the same intervals as dyno oil.

Finally, if you must use Synth, use Royal Purple. Don't bother with the others.

With all that said, I run Dyno oil: Castrol 20w50. It is cheap, I change it often, and I've never had an oil related problem yet.

wakeech

wow, 50weight?? holy smokes... but you live in Vegas :p

anyways, the word from www.bobistheoilguy.com is that RedLine and Mobil1 are certainly as capable as Royal Purple, but we should certainly listen to Racing Beat if they say that Royal Purple works... even if Royal Purple is lining thier pockets a bit as a distributor...

wakeech

here's a thing i found on lucas oil additives, if it's any help:
http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/images/lucas/lucas.htm

follow the link at the bottom to the forum discussion: it's an interesting thought when considering oil additives of any kind...

Neddie Seagoon

>>> First start: let run for 30 minutes

Won't it have been run many times by the time it gets to the showroom, then us???

Cylo

THAT PICTURE REALLY FREAKS ME OUT!!!!

sorry, I just had to comment.

Buger

Nice link Wakeech,

I bookmarked that bobistheoilguy website a few months ago but I haven't visited it much since.

Their forum is an incredible source of information for any type of oil stuff.

Brian

RobDickinson

<-- Xcuse the n00b...

Isnt the new Renesis engine side ported? The older rotaries had the ports round the edge so when the (oil-lubricated) rotor passed them it lost a small amout of oil out of the ports (and added to tip wear)?

This shouldnt be as much of a problem inthe side ported renesis?

CraziFuzzy

Probably not much, The mechanics at the factory take the cars for about a 1 mile test drive, and then they get put on a truck to a boat to a truck to the dealer. My dealer said that most cars they recieve have 2 or less miles on them.. So when I get mine, Its going to idle for a while, until i know its good and warm, before i make the 1 1/2 to 2 hour drive home. And it's going to be babied on the way... As for changine the oil at 100 miles, I may not even be HOME by 100 miles!

lurcher

Seems so... if you look at the Car & Driver article here:

http://www.rx8forum.com/showthread.php?threadid=2942

it says that oil consumption has been reduced to 1 quart per ~10,000 miles, much lower than previous rotaries AFAIK.

DonG35Miata

I run Mobil 1 in my Miata as it is a keeper- I will probably keep it for 20 years and 200,000 miles. I change every 3,000- oil is cheap! My G35 gets dino oil from the Infiniti dealer every 3,750. As a daily driver, it will be traded in probably in 4-5 years so I am not concerned about saving the engine for the next owner. Fact is, it's a stout engine and with dealer maintenance and care it should go 200,000 miles anyway.

My RX-8 will get dino only. Ihave heard synthetic is bad for rotarires because it does not burn as well as dino oil.

Finally, why use Syntec? Years ago they changed the formula so it is no longer a full synthetic like Mobil 1! There is some marketing loophole they use to call it a full synthetic though it uses petroleum products in it. If you are paying for synthetic, may as well get REAL synthetic.

Finally, for those considering Amsoil, do a search at www.deja.com and check out the ng threads. It's marketed direct only, seems like Amway-style by some true zealots. Amsoil does not have API certification and I think this could lead to voided warranties with some manufacturers, if my remembrance of the threads is still correct. Many claims are made for its superiority, but I am VERY skeptical. It's fun to read people go back and forth about Amsoil on deja, kind of like Hercules and Skyline Maniac but there are lots more of them, and they are even more passionate about their beliefs. :D Amsoil dealers say it is the second coming, the others say a scam. Sparks fly!

Good old Mobil 1 for me... a true synthetic and priced right.

DonG35Miata

Many cars warn you not to keep the engine running at the same speed, such as a highway trip, when breaking in the engine. This is to help the piston rings seat properly.

I see on this thread that you should let the Renesis engine idle for 45 minutes as the first thing you do. Since rotaries are different, would a road trip be OK for breaking in the engine, or should engine revs be varied like a boinger?

wakeech

i'd suspect that the Mazda factory recommendations will not be any different from those of other engines: we've just got people saying "what i think is best"... it's true that you'd probably want the engine warmed ALL the way up, which would take the better part of 10 minutes (7-9 or something... just a guess), probably, if it's got the full 7L in there... but after that, i'd take it out for a conservative drive through some slow twisties, breaking in the synchos nice and easy, reigning back on the throttle (keep it to half at most *shrug*), trying to give the tyres a half decent heat cycle, and ensure the suspension joints get their kinks all stretched out

but certainly, variation in rpm can't be a bad thing, but overstressing the engine early certainly could be... be that taking it hard to redline for its first shift, or just leaving it running on the lot for an hour... i remember back to an interesting study Mercedes Benz did on semi-trucks, which if you live in a town with a half-decent truck stop, you'll always find perpetually idling. anyhoo, the MB boys tried a test of leaving an engine to idle for an hour, and starting it, turning it off immediately, and starting it again for a simulated hour (like they discounted the time that the engine spent off), and the idled engine showed far more wear that the one started than stopped and started again. this wasn't just for the wear-factor, but i believe it was a plea to idiot truckers who like to take an hour-long breaks at Tim's (well, if you're in Canada) leaving their freakin' trucks on the whole time, as a way of reducing unnecessary emissions...

Xlorn

Mazda manual says "Avoid long warm-ups. Once the engine runs smoothly, begin driving."

I found that interesting. I think some may be waiting too long or at least wasting some time. :D

But do let the baby warm up. For short trips be sure to follow manuals advice to prevent flooding, it's well documented in the manual.

sferrett

Holy thread resurrection batman!!

I just started reading through this one cause I hadn't seen it before and realized the posts were from nearly a year ago !!!!

Xlorn - you get the prize for best searching or something...!

I agree about warming the car up - I think you should make sure the engine is fully warmed up before you start to ask it to do anything too terribly strenuous (like blasting through 1st and 2nd to redline) - however that doesnt neccessarily mean sitting in the driveway for 10 minutes - just take it easy for the first few miles before you let loose.

Speed-ER doc

Since Lazarus is already risen, I'll add....
The RX-8 owner's manual states that no specific break-in is required, but recommends varying the RPMs the first 600 miles (no cruise controlled road-trips), and oil change at every 5000 or 7500 miles depending on specific parameters listed.

That being said, I have had to add a quart every 2000 miles and my oil looks like **** at 4K so I'm about to change it.