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nice to see everyone again :> long story short my S1 totaled by a GMC a year ago. t-boneed on my driver side and i was sent to hospital :> im getting a S2 and per owner's manual page 8-12 its clearly stated DO NOT USE SYNTHETIC OR SEMI- SYNTHETIC OIL OR ENGINE STARTING PERFORMANCE COULD WORSEN :>
What a bold statement! How do you suggest measuring the amount drained?
I keep an extra 5+ quart oil bottle around and just pour my used oil into it. That way I know exactly how much came out and I can put that much back in.
When you take your oil to autozone or checkers you can ask for your bottle back, they will just pour it into their drum in the back and give you the empty bottle.
Originally Posted by accorday999t
nice to see everyone again :> long story short my S1 totaled by a GMC a year ago. t-boneed on my driver side and i was sent to hospital :> im getting a S2 and per owner's manual page 8-12 its clearly stated DO NOT USE SYNTHETIC OR SEMI- SYNTHETIC OIL OR ENGINE STARTING PERFORMANCE COULD WORSEN :>
CHEERS!
You know the recommended 5w20 oil will most likely be semi-synthetic right?
Well using 5w20 is not very good at all IMO but lets not get into an oil debate. Lots of people use synthetic and semi-synthetic without issues. Some swear it ruins engines but I'm not sure if there is any proof of that. I change my oil every 3k miles so I don't bother with a synthetic as it would get very expensive.
so this past weekend I changed my oil and decided to go through the driver side wheel well (wheel was off to remove spacers anyway). Let me tell you, it is a lot easier than having to unbolt that sumpguard and such. As long as you dont mind leftover filter oil pissing all over the frame, down the sump guard, and then onto your drain pan.
I just tried it this way since I had the wheel off already as well. I'm not sure it is any easier - maybe. It was a little tricky to loosen the filter this way. Perhaps I made it harder for myself since the filter was still slightly too hot to handle.
I placed some shop towel under the filter before loosening it and there was very little mess to wipe up after.
Also, I did the double change thing - I worked out I have about ~14% old oil left in the system after that.
Here is my math: 6.5qts in engine (capacity is 7 but was 0.5qt down on the dipstick), replaced 4 - now 38% old oil, then replaced 4.5 with the filter - 36% of the mixed oil left, which is 38% old, 0.36*0.38*100%=14%.
Last edited by blu3dragon; 07-06-2013 at 10:43 AM.
I just tried it this way since I had the wheel off already as well. I'm not sure it is any easier - maybe. It was a little tricky to loosen the filter this way. Perhaps I made it harder for myself since the filter was still slightly too hot to handle.
I placed some shop towel under the filter before loosening it and there was very little mess to wipe up after.
Yea getting grip on the filter is a PIA this way, i guess it isn't as good of an option as i first thought. honestly now that I got a nice impact driver, i have no qualms about taking off the sump guard.
Thanks for the write up. The second gen is definitly easier to change then the first gen by far.
You have that backwards. And if not, I have no idea how you can arrive at that opinion. Series 1 doesn't require extra pan removal from bottom, filter removal from bottom, and therefore little or no elevation of the car. With an extractor pump, all operations can be done from on top on the Series 1.
I don't even bother lowering the car while draining or jacking up side by side either. I just make sure to change my oil every 2k-3k miles and always add fresh oil when it needs it. Even without lowing it to drain you can still get out almost 4 quarts which I know isn't ideal but it is enough to freshen the oil up I think.
You know, I almost wouldn't mind the pan, oil filter location, and so on, if the damn plug was in the right location to drain a front elevated car!
I don't have a:
Pit
4 post lift
Oil extractor pump...
I do have a floor jack, and I could see the use for purchasing a good set of ramps, but NEITHER will allow me to drain this car properly.
Cumon Mazda. Just engineer a drain pan that allows you to drain from the back. It can't be that difficult.
So many other cars have a drain plug location that makes some kind of sense...
I just spent over an hour changing my oil tonight. It never takes that long on any other car.. not even my lowered 'speed6.
I would not get to worked up about it. You are only changing about half the oil anyway. This is not a piston engine. A good chunk is still in the housings lubing the eccentric shaft, inside of rotors, and stationary gears. Plus more in the lines going to the oil coolers, and the coolers themselves. I think the official capacity of the engine is around 9 quarts. But you only change 4-5 at a time.
My question is, has anyone tried other high quality filters on the S2 yet? Like Royal Purple and K&N?
Just changed my oil for the first time, just realized the jackasses at Lexus replaced the oil and filter before I bought it and used an aftermarket filter . . . anyway, there was absolutely no way to get my filter wrench on the filter, the frame is in the way so when it compresses around the filter as it is trying to spin, the frame just pushes the wrench off the filter, after about 15m of trying, I ended up using the screwdriver method. Messy but effective. I know I have seen specific wrenches that fit on the end of oil filters, or better explanation would be a filter wrench attachment for a socket wrench. Has anyone used one of those on the Mazda OEM filter? And if so, what size and where to get one? I would pay good money for that!
Prophet, you should not use an aftermarket oil filter, the bypass is too low for the S2 and you will be operating in bypass mode most, if not all, the time. You should just order the OEM filter. There is a long write-up about it somewhere. Same about the air filter, the flow from the stock filter is far more than ever would be used. I believe some racing teams use the stock intake as it doesn't get much better that what Mazda designed.
Thanks very much for your great article.
Two questions:
I saw that you bought a valve adapter ADP-106 and the Fumoto F-106 Engine Oil Drain Valve on the layout of parts. Did you need to use the valve adapter? Wondered it it was too short, too long, etc.
I haven't had a chance to start this, yet, but wanted to know where the filter is, driver side, pass side, back, front, top, bottom. I looked around to top, where the old filter was, but didn't see it.
Thanks again
Last edited by bbooth1017; 11-13-2015 at 09:56 PM.
Not sure why you need the adapter, on an S2 the correct Fumoto Valve only seats directly on the Oil Pan drain hole, simple and easy to drain oil, (I have one on both cars, my NC needed the adapter though)
Those under cover (under sump shield) bolts - all 7 of them are M8 bolts. I recently returned from having my oil change and found one of them wasn't installed back. Dealer cannot find it so I substituted a M8 x 10 bolt and washer. The M8 x 10 bolt was slightly smaller in length than the OEM.
keywords: under cover bolt oil cover bolts under sump bolts
More info please - what Fumoto part number was installed on what car MY. Any alterations to the under cover or pan?
I was about to purchase the Fumoto 106 for faster oil changes for my 2010 GT.
Ed
Fumoto 106
2009 RX8 R3
Stock pan etc
interference with the valve and the stamped ribs on the oil pan. An extension would be necessary for clearance. The pic below is for reference; not the actual valve but similar enough to show the area of interference.
ASH8 or others - do you have a standalone parts list for the Series II - I wonder if they had different part oil pans for different markets (not logical).