Hi all,
I’ve been the proud owner of my 2014 Mazda3 Sport GS 2.0L since April 2014. Being my first brand new car, I’ve babied it every time I’m behind the wheel. I took possession of it with 84 kilometers on the odometer, and I’ve been diligent with breaking in the engine as optimally as humanly possible. I’ve been very thorough with oil changes, flushing and replenishing every 5,000 km (+/- 500 km). Also to be said, I do my own oil changes (as I’ve been doing in all my past vehicles) and have kept receipts from Mazda for oil, filters and plug washers each time, using only products over Mazda’s parts counter.
Lately, I’ve been noticing some oil consumption. Nothing serious yet, but definitely concerning, since my car just rolled over 30,000 km of life. In 5,000 km, it looks to have taken half a quart of oil. This upcoming oil change, I will monitor in depth and accuracy exactly how much oil I’m putting in, and how much oil I’ll be draining. I know it is not leaking from any seal or from the plug.
This is definitely alarming to me, as all of my previous cars, even those with mileage beyond 250,000 km, never took any noticeable amount of oil between oil changes. And my car being a single year old, oil consumption will only worsen as time progresses; I had intended on keeping it for the long haul (12+ years, 350,000 + km) if it gets there.
If I had been driving it aggressively and carelessly, I would still be surprised at any noticeable oil consumption this early in its life. But I would like to emphasize that I am the 1% who take the time to let the engine warm up properly before loading it (especially in the winter), I don’t drive aggressively at all, I am very smooth and gentle while shifting (it’s coupled to a manual transmission) and I try to drive smooth highway driving as much as possible, avoiding city driving like the plague. There literally isn’t any reason for the engine to consume oil; I can only imagine that other owners who are far rougher than I am must be seeing quite significant oil consumption, especially since Mazda recommends 8,000 km oil change intervals (as opposed to my very conservative 5,000 km intervals)
I really would like to know what is causing my oil consumption and if this was a calculated factor of engineering with the design of my engine. Does the engine go through sacrificial lubrication under higher load situations? Has Mazda received any complaints or comments about oil consumption on its current Skyactiv engines? And lastly (and more importantly to me) will Mazda do anything to rectify the issue if this is determined to be abnormal? I understand that any internal combustion engine (or reciprocating piston motor) requires some consumption of oil for proper function, but it shouldn’t be noticeable. Certainly not with a new engine, designed for efficiency and cleanliness.
Has anyone been noticing similarities?
Cheers,
James
I’ve been the proud owner of my 2014 Mazda3 Sport GS 2.0L since April 2014. Being my first brand new car, I’ve babied it every time I’m behind the wheel. I took possession of it with 84 kilometers on the odometer, and I’ve been diligent with breaking in the engine as optimally as humanly possible. I’ve been very thorough with oil changes, flushing and replenishing every 5,000 km (+/- 500 km). Also to be said, I do my own oil changes (as I’ve been doing in all my past vehicles) and have kept receipts from Mazda for oil, filters and plug washers each time, using only products over Mazda’s parts counter.
Lately, I’ve been noticing some oil consumption. Nothing serious yet, but definitely concerning, since my car just rolled over 30,000 km of life. In 5,000 km, it looks to have taken half a quart of oil. This upcoming oil change, I will monitor in depth and accuracy exactly how much oil I’m putting in, and how much oil I’ll be draining. I know it is not leaking from any seal or from the plug.
This is definitely alarming to me, as all of my previous cars, even those with mileage beyond 250,000 km, never took any noticeable amount of oil between oil changes. And my car being a single year old, oil consumption will only worsen as time progresses; I had intended on keeping it for the long haul (12+ years, 350,000 + km) if it gets there.
If I had been driving it aggressively and carelessly, I would still be surprised at any noticeable oil consumption this early in its life. But I would like to emphasize that I am the 1% who take the time to let the engine warm up properly before loading it (especially in the winter), I don’t drive aggressively at all, I am very smooth and gentle while shifting (it’s coupled to a manual transmission) and I try to drive smooth highway driving as much as possible, avoiding city driving like the plague. There literally isn’t any reason for the engine to consume oil; I can only imagine that other owners who are far rougher than I am must be seeing quite significant oil consumption, especially since Mazda recommends 8,000 km oil change intervals (as opposed to my very conservative 5,000 km intervals)
I really would like to know what is causing my oil consumption and if this was a calculated factor of engineering with the design of my engine. Does the engine go through sacrificial lubrication under higher load situations? Has Mazda received any complaints or comments about oil consumption on its current Skyactiv engines? And lastly (and more importantly to me) will Mazda do anything to rectify the issue if this is determined to be abnormal? I understand that any internal combustion engine (or reciprocating piston motor) requires some consumption of oil for proper function, but it shouldn’t be noticeable. Certainly not with a new engine, designed for efficiency and cleanliness.
Has anyone been noticing similarities?
Cheers,
James
