Mazda Speed 3

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Check your service manual again carefully.

My service manual lists 5W20 for the non-turbo Mazda 3's and 5W30 for the Mazdaspeed 3 (listed as "with turbo").

Also, SM spec is only listed under "Other than US & Canada" while ILSAC is the only required certification/spec/whatever required for US & Canada. There has been some discussion this weekend on one of the Mazda forums regarding discrepancies in manuals from cars that were produced earlier in the production run.

The manuals coming with most of the more recently manufactured MS3's list as I have stated above. (5W30 and ILSAC only for US & Canada)
 
That should be fine. Though, according to the more recent manuals, SM is only required for the models made for outside the US & Canada, so you could probably use Amsoil and be fine (assuming it meets the ILSAC spec, which IS required for US & Canada MS3's).
 
Heh. Cool. I'm going to try 5W30 PP once I hit 5,000 miles on dino juice.

What mileage are you switching over at and what OCI do you plan to run? Would be interesting to compare after similar OCI's if we are both switching form dino juice around the same mileage.

BTW, I had my oil changed this past weekend with 2200 miles on the clock to get the factory stuff out now that it should be mostly broken in. I kept forgetting to check my oil level with the car cold until today before going to lunch and it turns out the dealership overfilled it by at least half a quart past the top mark on the dip stick. I talked to the tech today who changed my oil on Saturay and he admitted it was the first MS3 he'd seen come in for an oil change so he didn't know not to just stick 6 quarts in and call it done. He drained a good bit out and slowly added oil again until it was right at the full mark. Fortunately, I only put 75 miles on it in between getting it changed and noticing the overfill and those were mostly easy cruising miles, so no harm done, hopefully.

I'll definitely be checking my levels ASAP after each change now though just to be safe.
 
You would've probably been fine being a half quart overfilled. I know the last time I had my car's oil changed at a dealership they did the same to my car, and I ran it for 3000 miles overfilled, no harm done.
 
Perhaps. But with a turbo car, and a brand new one I'll be making payments on for the next several years at that, "probably fine" is not acceptable.
smile.gif


Or, as the sign in one of my class rooms in college said: "Good enough is not enough".
 
I had the factory oil changed at 750 miles and replaced with the dealer provided Quaker State 5w-30 conventional and will be around 4,700 miles when it get the Mobil 1 put in. I won't spend the money for UOA so a comparison isn't an option.

I purchase 8 quarts (1 ea 5-quart jug and 3 ea 1 quarts containers) because I want the dealer to have more than enough and I always carry 1-2 quarts in the car of whatever I'm running for emergency purposes. Right now I have a single quart of Quaker State in the back that will be going back to Walmart along with the two quarts of Castrol Syntec that I'm carrying in my 4Runner pending a switch to synthetics.
 
Oh, I almost forgot...I plan to run 5,000 mile OCI per the manual to meet warranty requirements.

Does your oil look like it has some type of black something in it? I'm not sure how to describe it other than possibly some type of break-in grease or something similar. The oil appears to be clear other than the secondary product that seems to be somewhat seperate.
 
Blackdiamond,
A friend of mine has a Speed 3, very cool car. Anywho, check this link to see a discussion on a problem some Audi direct injection motors were having with "normal" oil. At the very least I would recommend you do a few early oil analyses to see if the Mazda motor has a problem with putting too much fuel in the oil and lowering the flash point of the oil. If some problems show up in the analyses, you could either consult with Terry or simply buy the specially blended oil they have already put together for the Audi's. Your motor may not have the same problems, but is turbocharged and has a high specific output, so it's worth checking.
 
Thanks for the reminder link for that thread. I saw it several days back, shortly after it was started, but somehow missed the direct injection aspect/similarities. Going to have to keep an eye on that and will definitely do some UOA's now just to be sure our MZ3's don't have similar issues.
 
Thanks for the link, I suspect that it may have as much to do with the block design as it does the DI. Maybe someone can explain why "how" the fuel gets into the chamber on the opposite side of the piston from the oil would matter. I may be all mixed up, but it seems that the only real way for fuel to get into the oil is by going past the rings? What am I missing?
 
I'll have to find the source, but I seem to recall seeing that our MS3's direct injection is injecting fuel at around 1600 PSI compared to non-direct injection systems that are typically well under 300 PSI. This increased pressure at which the fuel is being injected coupled with the fact that it is injected directly into the cylinder instead of further upstream may be the source of the problems on the Audi at least (since we don't know yet if the MS3's have similar issues or not).
 
I don't have a mazdaspeed3, but I do have a 2006 Mazda3 with the NA 2.3 L and I have another car that is a 4 cyl Turbo.

If I were letting the dealer change the oil on a MS3 I would just use whatever synthetic 5w30 they stocked. I would not use dino.

BTW I got my mazda3 about 3 weeks before the Mazdaspeed3 came out. I really wanted the turbo but the GF doesn't drive stick
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So teach her...

The dealer said the oil was very dark and said they might suggest shorter OCIs if it looks similar next time. This was 4k on conventional and I plan 5k on Mobil 1. The tech wanted to know how much I leaned on the turbo. I pulled the dip stick for the service advisor and showed them the "black" in the oil that to me seemed to be seperate from the oil. I think this was their way of saying that they noted the color and had no idea what it was. I can tell from the dipstick that the oil wasn't very dark. I didn't bother telling him that the color doesn't really matter and that I could build a case that the most wear happens in the first 3k.

Bringing in my own Mobil 1 only cost $10 more than the standard oil change last time with conventional so I suspect the cost is about even with using their oil.

The advisor also said that Mazda would warranty Redline in the car. I may ask the Service Manager to put it in writing for my records and then consider using it.
 
I noticed my dealer put the mileage for my next change at 3,000 miles and not the 5,000 spec'd in the manual. However, they still put 5,000 on my wife's naturally aspirated 2.3 L Mazda 3.
 
Quote:

I noticed my dealer put the mileage for my next change at 3,000 miles and not the 5,000 spec'd in the manual. However, they still put 5,000 on my wife's naturally aspirated 2.3 L Mazda 3.

Click to expand...


Maybe they know what theyve done; they know that the cheapest bulk 5w-30 was put in them both! (even though the NA engine requires 5w-20)
 
The first oil change the dealer put 3,750 I think and this time it is the full 5,000.

Now that I have put a few hundred miles on the car with Mobil 1 I can report that I can't tell much difference. I think I can "feel" a slight improvement in engine smoothness, but less than I have felt with other cars. It appears that fuel ecomomy may have gone up slightly, but there are a couple of other factors that could be the cause (summer grade fuel and the engine continuing to break in), plus I have not filled up enough tanks to see a consistent trend.
 
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