Checked the oil 5 days ago, it was at the full line 5 min after shut down. Checked it this morning, stone cold, and it read a full QT low. Added a quarter of a QT which was all I had...then drove 15 miles and then checked it again 5 min after shut down and its at the full mark again. All checks were on level gound...What the hell is going on?

No wonder so many rotaries grenade you never really know what the level is.

 

Is there any reason you aren't taking measurements under the same circumstances each time?

 

Take note that motor oil has a slight volumetric increase when heated up.... that is why you should be doing your checks on a 'warm' engine instead of stone cold / hot.

 

It isn't matching your expectations, but how do you know it isn't accurate? I suspect the dipstick is a better authority on the oil level in your engine than your imagination is.

Anyway, a rotary engine is not going to "grenade" just because the oil is less-than-full. They "grenade" because they're delicate (as engines go) and most owners treat them like Chevy small-blocks.

 

Isn't that what you're supposed to do with the rotary, wind it out?

I'm about to make it into the Series 2 100,000 mile club--I'm at 97k now. Is there one guy here ahead of me? Not one thing has gone wrong.

Just 5W20 all the while, plugs every 25k, and "C" coils and fresh coolant at 72k.

And I drive at least 10 miles per outing.

 

Your reply is off topic on the thread. You don't wind out Chevy small blocks though. You keep them under 5k typically. A rotary that lives under 5k is a rotary that dies early from being choked to death with carbon.

 

Back on Dip Stick/Oil level, provided you 'stick' to the same regime each time you should not have any issues, I do, and never have.

Oil will always ''measure'' at a higher expansion (volume) when hot to when engine or it's oil is stone cold.

On a level ground/floor surface mine after 5 minutes hot engine off is on the Full mark, next morning (stone cold) it is about 4-5 mm (1/4 inch) below the F or where it was the day before when hot, so my car does not need any fresh oil top off in this instance....now if it was about 10 mm or 1/2 inch bellow F mark (when stone cold) it would take about one Litre or one US Quart top off.

For me, I prefer to check on a stone cold engine, this suits me to top off this way.
You get to know how much she needs and there is no need to re-check level after top off with cold fresh oil.

I have always done this over my 40 years of driving and owning cars, each to their own..

Beefy, Congrats on your 97K (nearly 100K Miles) that is 160K or Kilometres here which is big, and great to see your S2 IS going the distance.

IMO, it proves yet again that so many problems are driver owner related as the majority enjoy typical Mazda reliability....everyone raves how reliable the Miata/MX-5 is, most call them bulletproof, well in the NC case the engineering is virtually identical to the Series II (the S2 has some beefed up fittings for cars extra weight and HP), and the only other difference is the RX-8 has a Rotary Engine....so keep the RE running and reliable then it should have the same standard as a Miata...I also like to remind Miata owners that many never use them in winter (particularly Northern Hemisphere)...so if they are not driving they won't wear out or become 'unreliable'.

I would have thought you would have a system of Oil Top off also after 100K!?

Beefy, you are not concerned that something is wrong?, it would be interesting to get a compression test done, just to see her numbers...

 

I've had two odd incidents where oil became overfilled. I think it's best to work with a hot engine. Suspect that the oil coolers are out of the equation when the engine is cold, and retained oil returns to the sump once engine is hot resulting in overfilling. Entirely a WAG, but all I can think of as an explanation - nothing else makes sense.

 

clarification on above - refilling after an oil change.

 

You need to be checking your oil warm. Run the car for a nice drive, take it through the gears till she's all nice and toasty. Then go home, park the car, pop the hood and go inside for five minutes. Come out, check your oil. If your low then, then your low. Ash if cold works for you it works but many of these members dont have the time or experience with cars let alone their 8. It's better for them to just check it warmed up n be sure. Thats IMO of course.

 

You could check it right after you fill it with gas, pull up, turn it off, open the hood, fill it with gas, by then it has cooled enough, check the oil and go from there.

 

I had a question about oil too. I have a 2010 R3 and have finished my 27000 mile oil change. I change it every 3000 miles and have so since I bought the car with 6000 miles on it. After my last change a couple hundred miles ago I noticed I am getting a very high reading on my dipstick. I checked it 5 minutes after driving it and only added 4 quarts of oil (as usual) during the change. Any idea what's going on?