Mazda 3 2005 Oil cosumption

[mazdaUser]

Hi,

I have 2005 mazda 3 1.4 petrol with 44000 miles on the clock.
The car starts fine, always first time starter, has great fuel economy.

I recently discovered that it consumes oil, particularly it has consumed 2 litres in the last 3000 miles.

I am looking for diagnosis and advice.

[HustleRussell]

Did you really need to start four seperate threads about this?

First of all, how was the two litres measured? Was the level checked in the same way each time, does it consistently use this much oil or is there a chance that you're over-estimating?

Secondly, is oil leaking out of the engine?

As you can tell, I'm finding it somewhat hard to believe that a small 4-pot engine with 44k miles on the clock can consume so much oil.

[dumfriesdave]

As above - is there any sign of oil leaking out?

My other half has had a Mazda 3 1.6 for 5 years and has used 1 litre of oil in all that time.
These engines are not known for oil consumption.

[mazdaUser]

I am desperate to know what is going on with the engine and so I started few threads in relevant sections of the forum, sorry about that.
So.. I bought the car four months ago and changed oil and filters right away, the level was at MAX. Then few days ago I checked it and the stick was dry, so I topped up - two litres went in and it is at little below MAX now. A slight underestimation here...
The oil is not leaking and it was measured the same way in the same spot. I measured twice so at this point can't tell if the usage is consistent.
The mileage is documented and genuine.
I am in the process of replacing elements of suspension and asked my mechanic about it, all he said is that "mazdas like oil" and I should just keep checking the level every now and then and top up if needed. I browsed internet in search for discussions about similar problems with mazdas and found quite a lot of them, although none has been answered enough to make conclusions.

Edited by mazdaUser on Thursday 30th April 18:13

[Ynox]

It's a 2005. It's a 10 year old car. Admittedly low mileage though. My thoughts would be that- a litre every 1500 miles isn't the end of the world? If blue smoke is belching out of the exhaust then it's another matter though.

[mazdaUser]

Ynox said:

It's a 2005. It's a 10 year old car. Admittedly low mileage though. My thoughts would be that- a litre every 1500 miles isn't the end of the world? If blue smoke is belching out of the exhaust then it's another matter though.

There's no blue smoke coming out, there is some smoke when the engine is cold but it is not blue and there's not much of it.
I have read somewhere else that catalytic converter can "pick" some smoke up, which makes it look non-suspicious. Is that possible?

[paolow]

mazdaUser said:

Hi,

I have 2005 mazda 3 1.4 petrol with 44000 miles on the clock.
The car starts fine, always first time starter, has great fuel economy.

I recently discovered that it consumes oil, particularly it has consumed 2 litres in the last 3000 miles.

I am looking for diagnosis and advice.

Are you the original owner? If so how did you run the engine in? I am assuming you are not - (otherwise thie wouldn't be such a surprise) has it got suddenly worse or has it always been like this? I take it there is no staining of the driveway etc? How would you describe your driving style? What journeys is the car most often taken on? What is the grade of the oil? What is recommended by the manufacturer?

[mazdaUser]

paolow said:

Are you the original owner? If so how did you run the engine in? I am assuming you are not - (otherwise thie wouldn't be such a surprise) has it got suddenly worse or has it always been like this? I take it there is no staining of the driveway etc? How would you describe your driving style? What journeys is the car most often taken on? What is the grade of the oil? What is recommended by the manufacturer?

I am not the original owner, I bought the car four months ago.

The service book says it was serviced:
(service due at 12500 miles or 1 year, whichever occurs first) - year after registration at 7900 miles,
(service due at 25000 miles or 2 years, whichever occurs first) - 2 yrs and 5 months after first service, at 25000 miles
The next time it was serviced by me 6 years after second service, at 41000 miles

There are no more service records in the service book.

No staining of the driveway.

I usually cruise at 60mph on motorway but occasionally I drive faster, the car is used for commuting to/from work 15 miles at a time + driving in town ~6-8 miles at a time.

The oil that is in now is Castrol 5W 30 fully synthetic, I do not know what oil is recommended by the manufacturer...

Edited by mazdaUser on Thursday 30th April 19:20

[jagnet]

mazdaUser said:

(service due at 25000 miles or 2 years, whichever occurs first) - 2 yrs and 5 months after first service, at 25000 miles
The next time it was serviced by me 6 years after second service, at 41000 miles

Six years between services And in that time it's averaged just 2.6k miles per year, so quite possibly short journeys. That oil must've been like tar.

mazdaUser said:

The oil that is in now is Castrol 5W 30 fully synthetic, I do not know what oil is recommended by the manufacturer...

According to Opie Oils' site, 5w30 is the correct grade but it should tell you in your handbook.

You may be lucky and with some frequent oil changes using good quality oil your consumption may settle down as the engine gets cleaned up. Certainly I've experienced higher than expected oil consumption after giving a second hand car a service, which did then improve over time. If not then perhaps book it in for a leakdown test.

Time is just as important as mileage when it comes to oil changes.

[mazdaUser]

jagnet said:

According to Opie Oils' site, 5w30 is the correct grade but it should tell you in your handbook.

You may be lucky and with some frequent oil changes using good quality oil your consumption may settle down as the engine gets cleaned up. Certainly I've experienced higher than expected oil consumption after giving a second hand car a service, which did then improve over time. If not then perhaps book it in for a leakdown test.

Time is just as important as mileage when it comes to oil changes.

Good to hear that mate...
Which oil would you recommend as good quality one?
Also, I'm thinking about using a bottle of fuel system cleaner like Red Line SI-1, or Techron to see if it may help. Is it a good idea? Is it a good idea to keep adding little amount of that to each tank of fuel?

What is leakdown test? I'm a complete greenhorn when it comes to car mechanics

[jagnet]

The Castrol will be fine, alternatively Shell Helix Ultra works out a little less expensive, or you could use the Fuchs Titan Pro S ester based oil.

I wouldn't be inclined to add a fuel system cleaner tbh.

A leakdown test will show up any problems with bore wear etc. I'd hold off on it for now though and see if the problem persists first.

I would definitely be inclined to switch to annual / 10k mile oil changes as a maximum; perhaps 6 month / 5k mile ones for the next 12 months.

[mazdaUser]

jagnet said:

The Castrol will be fine, alternatively Shell Helix Ultra works out a little less expensive, or you could use the Fuchs Titan Pro S ester based oil.

I wouldn't be inclined to add a fuel system cleaner tbh.

A leakdown test will show up any problems with bore wear etc. I'd hold off on it for now though and see if the problem persists first.

I would definitely be inclined to switch to annual / 10k mile oil changes as a maximum; perhaps 6 month / 5k mile ones for the next 12 months.

Cheers mate

[mazdaUser]

bump

[HustleRussell]

Blue smoke when cold and high oil consumption suggests the car, specifically the engine, hasn't had a particularly nice life- particularly since it is exibiting these symptoms after so few miles.

I am still surprised and so I'm still questioning your method.

Did you check the oil level in the same way both times? Parked on the same level gradient? Engine up to temperature but switched off for both tests?

I'm not en expert but if it is genuinely using that amount of oil I'd wonder if the bores are glazed and the rings are clagged up, in which case I'd be tempted to take it for a drive and give it a proper caning once warm.

[steveo3002]

check any breathers are clean as blocked ones can cause problems

other than that id also be tempted to use it hard , lots of revs once warm

are there any options in the handbook for thicker grade oil? if so try that too

[one eyed mick]

This may be a little off thread I 'm running a 22 year old mx5 1.6 at the moment it is recording 251,000+ kilometers, since last sept it covered 5+ k and used aprox 1 litre of oil ,2 topups of .5 litres it is driven briskly not babied at all , I would think that the car in question has never been worked hard in its life ,short runs never above 3k rpm , the first ting Iwould do is treat it a can of Forte, after a good Italian tune up change the oil and filter run it for around a thousnd miles at brisk speeds and repeat the treat ment and drive it regularly always geting up to correct working temps , you may find it improves vastly or the other thing to do is get rid of it !

[Moos3h]

I had the 1.6 model, same year. Mine LOVED the golden stuff, figures very similar to yours. No other symptoms and drove fine so I didn't worry after the initial shock and just made a point of checking it at the weekend.

[mazdaUser]

HustleRussell said:

Blue smoke when cold and high oil consumption suggests the car, specifically the engine, hasn't had a particularly nice life- particularly since it is exibiting these symptoms after so few miles.

I am still surprised and so I'm still questioning your method.

Did you check the oil level in the same way both times? Parked on the same level gradient? Engine up to temperature but switched off for both tests?

I'm not en expert but if it is genuinely using that amount of oil I'd wonder if the bores are glazed and the rings are clagged up, in which case I'd be tempted to take it for a drive and give it a proper caning once warm.

I checked the oil the same way, at the same spot with engine cold and switched off.
Please explain what good can come from "caning once warm", I'm a noob when it comes to mechanics

steveo3002 said:

check any breathers are clean as blocked ones can cause problems

other than that id also be tempted to use it hard , lots of revs once warm

are there any options in the handbook for thicker grade oil? if so try that too

What are the breathers?
Also, same question as above - what good can come from revving the engine up hard?

one eyed mick said:

This may be a little off thread I 'm running a 22 year old mx5 1.6 at the moment it is recording 251,000+ kilometers, since last sept it covered 5+ k and used aprox 1 litre of oil ,2 topups of .5 litres it is driven briskly not babied at all , I would think that the car in question has never been worked hard in its life ,short runs never above 3k rpm , the first ting Iwould do is treat it a can of Forte, after a good Italian tune up change the oil and filter run it for around a thousnd miles at brisk speeds and repeat the treat ment and drive it regularly always geting up to correct working temps , you may find it improves vastly or the other thing to do is get rid of it !

What is a "can of Forte" and "good Italian tune up"?

Moos3h said:

I had the 1.6 model, same year. Mine LOVED the golden stuff, figures very similar to yours. No other symptoms and drove fine so I didn't worry after the initial shock and just made a point of checking it at the weekend.

It drove fine since you noticed that it consumes oil and is it still driving fine? How long ago was it since you noticed? What was your course of action?



Thank you for your replies.

Edited by mazdaUser on Wednesday 6th May 19:02

[one eyed mick]

Forte is an engine flush product used widely in the motor trade there are others but I have personaly used it and believe in it . An italian tune up is a colloquilsm for and extended run in say third gear at close to maximum rpm to blow the crap out of the engine

[steveo3002]

google gummed /stuck piston rings and heave a read

gentle use isnt always good for a car , using all the revs up the redline once warm will do it no harm , its made to do that