running heavy oil?????

[got_psi]

hey guys, turbo seals have seen better days @ 173,xxx, and she smokes a little bit after a quick 5 second 8psi boost, currently running 5w20 syn, was thinking maybe running a 15w40 syn might reduce oil burn a little bit? would just like a little input....thanks!!

 

[protege3690]

ive been running 5w40 syn. no smoking, and has helped my oil consumption some also. i used to need about 1 1/2 qts of oil between oil changes. now i use about 1/2 - 3/4 between changes if that.

 

[dmention7]

Why go from 5w-20 to 15w-40? If anything I would try switching to a 5w-30.

A XXw-20 is already thinner than the engine is designed for, and a 15w-XX is going to hurt your startup and cold weather lubrication.

 

[malcantry]

i like a good solid 10-30. im in houston and its hot as hell. good solid mid-grade oil that has all around qualities to it. dont need anything lighter/heavier.. always freakin hot here...

 

[hornsfan10609]

First of all, the car is SUPPOSED to run 5w-30 anyway. I wouldn't run heavier than a 10w-40. I recommend you stick with the 5w-30.

 

[turbomsp2003]

I run 10-30 and never have to add oil in between changes or never smoke either....but its hot here in arizona thats why i dont use oem specs of 5-30

 

[MP3DG]

Did our cars come with mazdaspeed oil caps? My cap says 10w30 on it and that's what I've been using here in wisconsin

 

[hornsfan10609]

MSPs had regular black plastic oil fill caps. Mazdaspeed Miatas had silver metal oil caps with a set screw and the Mazdaspeed3 had a red annodized metal cap. The MSM and MS3 caps read Mazdaspeed on top. Many MSPs have the red MS3 cap swapped. Only 1st gen MS3 caps will fit, the design was changed to a 'quick release' half turn style in 2010 instead of the screw type that fits the protege. On the 2nd gen MS3 it reads '5W-30' on the cap which is the correct oil weight for the MS3. All Mazdaspeed models (Protege, Miata, 6 and 3) take 5W-30 oil

 

[got_psi]

went with the 10-30 syn and noticed a little less oil burn after a pull, so i think im just going to have to live with it until i find a used gt2554...cant justify 700$+ at 173xxx

 

[hornsfan10609]

You will never actually be able to tell the difference by driving the car

 

[got_psi]

You will never actually be able to tell the difference by driving the car

with the 5-20 i would do a 3rd gear pull 4k-6k and let off to shift and when i got back on the throttle it would roll a noticable amount of blue smoke you could see from the rear view, but it wouldnt smoke during the pull or at 0% throttle, only after the pull when i got back into it

 

[got_psi]

could it possibly be another issue besides turbo seals?

 

[hornsfan10609]

Could also be valve seals or piston rings, even a head gasket. Most likely if it is when the turbo is spooling or immediately after letting off when boosting it is the turbo

 

[malcantry]

Could also be valve seals or piston rings, even a head gasket. Most likely if it is when the turbo is spooling or immediately after letting off when boosting it is the turbo

i agree.. i'd be looking at piston rings to be completely honest. i know its the last thing you want to hear but after you boost a little you dont see anything, but under heavy load/boost youll get a blueish/smokey stream coming from your exhaust.. the piston rings have to be filed to any correlating boost your putting through there and with any wear or distortion (from overheating in the past?!@ or from simply over-boosting) with any modifications you do youll have cause/effect.. if anything you have done to your car results in higher boost (manual or electric boost controller) (OR EVEN JUST SUPPORTING MODS LIKE EXH MANI) your lines will change with more airflow into the block. after higher stress/boost you might be combusting and pushing through those gaps in your rings..

I had my rings filed to support boost pressure between 18-25 psi.. and thats the sweetspot.. too little boost/engine rpm and my rings wont have enough expansion in em to close the minute gaps.. too much boost/internal pressure and the rings will touch/bind and not seal..

engines are funny animals and have to be observed whenever ANYTHING has changed to them.. having a higher mileage engine like yours, maybe theres just some carbon buildup in your piston sleeves and needs to be honed..

you can do minor work on the block without having to completely disassemble your car.. but things will have to be taken apart if you want to solve the problem.. maybe not even necessarily replace parts, but a tune-up and cleaning of engine internals would make your car like new!! new rings/seals/gaskets and a quick polish/hone of the block might run you a total of 1000$ but would practically be a new engine- something to think about

the blue smoke though is a tell-tale sign of oil burn and not coolant burn.. if you had a problem with your headgasket you'll more then likely see different colors of smoke depending on what was primarily leaking, but will generally be a combination of both if it were head gasket..

cheers

 

[got_psi]

hey well thanks for all the input guys, i might look around for a junk fs-de and make a winter project of it

 

[tweety2300]

Have you checked ic piping for oil? If there's oil in the cold pipe and throttle body it's the turbo

If there's oil in the intake pipe before it gets to the turbo it's blow by from the line that goes from the valve cover to intake

 

[got_psi]

Tore off the cold pipe and found a little puddle in the base of the ic, thinking turbo now

 

[malcantry]

great find! now it's just a question if you want to get your turbo worked on or replaced! . generally speaking, the seal would be maybe 20 bucks.. depending on how savvy you are you could do it with some basic tools or have a shop do it for upwards of~250$

I got a stock turbo if your interested. 90,000 on it and no problems lol