as one of the newest owners of an FD (picked it up 2 days ago), i checked the oil dipstick and there was almost no oil in it. well i threw in a quart and picked up some tools yesterday for an oil change today. i couldn't find a write up on this basic but very essential service required after every 2000 miles, so i wrote one.

i used purolator pureone since mazda wanted $10.25+tax retail for a freggin oil filter. the purolator features an anti-drain back feature that oem has and is smaller and comparable to oem quality. oil is oil, so i picked up a case at costco discount wholesaler. they also have a low profile jack similiar to shop floor jacks for a reasonable price. don't settle for a cheap $19.99 jack at kragen that lifts up to 15-3/4", which doesn't provide enough room. service on a rx7 will be difficult without a high lifting low profile jack.

PARTS:
-purolator PureONE oil filter PL14612
-chevron supreme 10w30 motor oil, 4 quarts
-oil filter cap (tool; size that fits filter, usually black plastic)
-3/8" socket wrench/rachet
-17mm socket (for 3/8" rachet)
-plastic funnel
-oil pan (to drain old oil, style: white plug middle, yellow air valve, white cap)
-low profile jack 3" to 21" @ costco $75.99
-jack stands
-large pieces of cardboard
-paper towels
-safety glasses IMPORTANT!

ONLY PERFORM WORK ON COLD ENGINE:

1. pop hood, raise hood and secure it with rod.
2. jack the car at the jack point after the front wheel on the left side. you can't jack it from the front center of car since the jack won't reach.
3. ALWAYS use jack stands to secure the car in place.
4. unscrew oil cap under hood.
5. slide cardboard then oil pan under the car near the drain plug. on oil pan, unscrew center plug, open air valve, keep white cap secured.
6. ALWAYS use safety glasses since working under the car. beware of pieces of caked on oil dropping from the car into eyes.
7. slide under the car, use 17mm socket with 3/8" rachet to unscrew drain plug and empty dirty motor oil into oil pan. wipe drain plug clean with paper towels and save for later. allow 10 minutes for oil to completely drain.
8. use oil filter cap with rachet to unscrew and remove oil filter located under the hood, under the silver elbow (piece next to upper intake manifold).
9. match the old oil filter to the new oil filter o-ring to o-ring to lube the new filter with oil without getting your hands dirty.
10. screw in new Purolator PureONE oil filter by hand, tighten if necessary. note: the existing napa brand (same size as oem) filter i replaced was taller and more narrow than purolator making installation and removal difficult (e.g. scraped knuckles). the purolator filter should make future oil changes easier due to its smaller size.
11. IMPORTANT: under the car, screw on cleaned drain plug saved from earlier. otherwise oil will leak all over the place.
12. use a funnel at oil cap location and pour 4 quarts of motor oil into engine. screw on oil cap. pull, check oil level and wipe dipstick with paper towel as necessary.
13. make sure the bottom of car is clear. remove jack stands then proceed to slowly lower car to ground.
14. check for any leaks before starting car.
15. plug up oil pan, put in garbage bag and take to local kragen for free motor oil disposal. throw oil containers in garbage, they are not recyclable.

disclaimer: information for comparison only. use at your own risk.

 

lol

 

ha is that so you dont forget?

 

i wonder how long it took him to type that out
for all the effort

 

I have to admit I would've liked a detailed description like this when I first changed the oil on my rx-7, the car is quite daunting to work on until you get to know it. Much harder than my old 351 bronco.

BTW - Did you ever figure out the smoking problem? And did you use 5w-30 or 10w-30?

https://www.rx7club.com/3rd-generation-specific-1993-2002-16/changed-oil-now-white-smoke-434649/

 

20w50 FTW

 

saburo says "oil change not rocket science"

 

WFT?! "ONLY PERFORM WORK ON COLD ENGINE" Where did you get that one? Oil change 101.....any fool knows the oil should be warm when you change it. You don't want it so hot it burns your hand, but certainly better hot than cold. You won't get all the impurities out of your engine with cold oil.

You're new to this car, so here's another tip. Don't start it up, run it for a short period, then turn the engine off. You could run into a restart problem. Any time you start this car up let it get up to operating temperature before you turn it off. I've never let my car run for less than 15 minutes before turning it off.

 

I'm usually extremely nice and indulgent with newbies, but for some reason this post rubs me the wrong way. If you're balking at a $10 oil filter, you may be in for a rude shock when it comes to other things about this car.

You forgot something else on your oil change laundry list: a new crush washer for the drain plug. If you bought your filter at the dealer you could also have bought a new crush washer at the same time for something like 25 cents. It's just good practice to use a new washer on the drain plug each time you change the oil. End of rant.

 

Nice thread... Needed a laugh

 

Im glad this community is filled with such helpful, openminded, and decent people. Very refreshing.

 

i think you must be talking about some other forum

 

Maybe he could do an in-depth write-up on the proper way to wash those pesky 3rd gens. Seeing how (after 2 days) he's an expert on oil changes.

Hey, at this rate he could tell us how to rebuild the motor by the end of summer. Well, at least how to rebuild the tranny after his 5th gear syncro goes.

Honestly, a write-up on how to change oil.................please.

If the monkeys at jiffy lube can figure it out I have to agree with SABURO, "oil change not rocket science"

Oil doesn't go "into the dip stick", it only shows how much you have in the pan.

 

for simplification purposes and avoiding injury, i stated cold engine. i read on the forum where someone mentioned leaving the car overnight for the oil to settle down blah blah. i know there are some of the well off rx7 owners with multiple cars in museum condition. but there are also some frugal owners like me that are saving up for tools, maint parts, upgrades, and rebuilds. by buying a $2 nippon filter from rockauto.com, you can save $8 for something else.

this is not a how-TO guide for anything, but merely a log of how-*I* or what i did to my car in chronology. i welcome fellow enthusiasts to share their thoughts, tips and precautions for comparison. e.g. how did you do it, what tools, what parts, how much, where buy?

 

pay the $30 at atkinsrotary.com and figure it out yourself.

maybe you should read the writeup about putting neo synthetic 70w90 in the tranny.

who said anything about oil go into the dip stick?

its ok, there is no stupid post. thanks for replying.

 

From what I recall, the thing with changing oil when warm is that you still have a certain amount of oil in the oil cooler. I'm not sure if it's cold there's less....

I still change my warm though, it comes out faster and I "feel" like there's more that's getting out.

 

rx76k...

Hope you enjoy your new car anyway...

 

Couple of things to correct you on. Hope you don't mind......I help design and build diesels for a living for the largest engine manufacture in the world.

1) Oil is oil, but the additives are different, and the compositions vary significantly. Since a rotary burns oil, I would suggest that the ash content (which varies from oil to oil) plays a role in how much deposition is left in the combustion chamber. Keep in mind that oil today is highly engineered. It will make a HUGE difference over the life of your engine.

2) One of the many purposes for oil is to act as a carrier for metallic fines, hence, it is a transport of debris and wear materials out of the engine. When you let the engine cool down before changing, you also let the particles in suspension settle out. These don't come out so readily when the oil is cold. Granted a good filter will keep the major particles out of the oil supply, but not the smallest fines. We run oil through a centerfuge, and can remove the the particles almost completely, but I always have to ask the question why the filter didn't stop them. By design, the filter must let fluid pass through, therefore there is always something circulating, as insignificant and small as it may be. Getting the particles all stirred up before pulling the plug is a good idea.

 

that is right.

VI Flash Pour % Ash % Zinc Brand (10W-30)

142 480 -70 <.5 --- AMSOIL (old)
162 520 -76 --- --- AMSOIL (new)
140 415 -33 .85 .12 Castrol GTX
150 401 -26 .96 .11 Chevron Supreme
135 392 -22 .70 .11 Exxon Superflo Hi Perf
133 400 -31 .85 .13 Exxon Superflo Supreme
139 430 -30 1.0 --- Havoline Formula 3
139 390 -25 1.0 .16 Kendall GT-1
160 450 -65 --- --- Mobil 1
140 410 -27 1.0 --- Pennzoil PLZ Turbo
156 410 -30 .9 --- Quaker State
139 475 -40 --- --- Red Line
155 410 -35 .9 .12 Shell Fire and Ice
155 410 -35 1.0 .13 Shell Super 2000
155 405 -35 1.0 .15 Shell Truck Guard
175 405 -40 --- --- Spectro Golden M.G.
153 428 -33 .92 .12 Unocal Super
130 410 -26 1.0 .11 Valvoline All Climate
135 410 -26 .99 .13 Valvoline Turbo
130 410 -26 1.2 .20 Valvoline Race
140 450 -40 <1.5 .12 Valvoline Synthetic

% sulfated ash is how much solid material is left when the oil burns. A high ash content will tend to form more sludge and deposits in the engine. Low ash content also seems to promote long valve life.


i can't seem to update the original post.

UPDATE: change oil when engine is warm so small particles will be in oil. a cold engine allows small particles to settle down and not exit when draining the oil.

 

wow wth lol thats way to indepth about motor oil


142 480 -70 <.5 --- AMSOIL (old)
162 520 -76 --- --- AMSOIL (new)
140 415 -33 .85 .12 Castrol GTX
150 401 -26 .96 .11 Chevron Supreme
135 392 -22 .70 .11 Exxon Superflo Hi Perf
133 400 -31 .85 .13 Exxon Superflo Supreme
139 430 -30 1.0 --- Havoline Formula 3
139 390 -25 1.0 .16 Kendall GT-1
160 450 -65 --- --- Mobil 1
140 410 -27 1.0 --- Pennzoil PLZ Turbo
156 410 -30 .9 --- Quaker State
139 475 -40 --- --- Red Line
155 410 -35 .9 .12 Shell Fire and Ice
155 410 -35 1.0 .13 Shell Super 2000
155 405 -35 1.0 .15 Shell Truck Guard
175 405 -40 --- --- Spectro Golden M.G.
153 428 -33 .92 .12 Unocal Super
130 410 -26 1.0 .11 Valvoline All Climate
135 410 -26 .99 .13 Valvoline Turbo
130 410 -26 1.2 .20 Valvoline Race
140 450 -40 <1.5 .12 Valvoline Synthetic

 

Wow, another expert

Anyone who isn't a fool knows that there are often many methods available to complete the same task ........ like changing oil. I like to change it when cold because more of the oil is in the pan, not in the engine, not in the filter. When changing cold oil, some small particles will have settled to the bottom of the pan. Well guess what?? The oil at the bottom of the pan comes out first. I have used this method for years. Recently, I had the oil pan resealed. Guess what?? When the pan was removed, it was free of deposits on the bottom. Nice and clean, just like it should be.

More bad advice. If your car is operating properly, you can start it and shut it off whenever you want. I do it all the time, and have NEVER had a problem. Of course, my car is running right. Sorry to hear that you are having starting problems, and can't drive your car normally.

Any more good tips

 

rx76k,

99.9% of the people on this forum have changed the oil on their car. Lessons are not required.

 

nice work adam c. I was just about to write a similar post. It amazes me how many ******* douchebag comments there had to be to a honest guy trying to add information to the board. Sure, it is common sense to most and is probably already here somewhere, but what the ****...these are the same people who yell at noobs and tell them to learn how to do **** or "seeearch" I'll take one of thes threads each weak as opposed to "where's my coolant leak??" (gee, I dunno, check the fuckng hoses perhaps!)

rx76k, although a repost of some sort...good work, don't let the folks with busted cars and a couple hundred posts here bust your *****.

 

rx76k: Welcome to the forum! It can be a little rough here getting started. Don't get discouraged. People wanting to help out...regardless of what it is...are valuable to the forum.

Sonny

 

For whatever it's worth,

1)I change the oil when the engine is warm. I believe more impurities/particles come out with the oil when it is less viscous.

2)To get the oil out of the oil coolers, I lower, and lift the front of the car several times. This drains more oil out of the engine/coolers. I have never lifted the rear of the car while draining oil from the RX7 but this may also cause more of the stagnant oil in the coolers to drain out.

3)I have not heard or read of any other way to drain the oil out of coolers. But I did briefly consider installing a drain valve in each of the oil coolers for that purpose. ***BTW, if you haven't figured it out, I am **** about oil changes.