What did you do to your Mirage today?

[7milesout]

Don't over-tighten the oil filter when you install it. That way you can remove it by hand from above in the engine compartment. The only thing I do from below on an oil change is removing the drain plug from the oil pan.

I touched the gasket down and went 3/4 turns more ... like it always says on the filter. Perhaps that's more than you go (let me know). It seems to tighten up (not by turning), or get sticky over the course of an oil change interval. Making it difficult to break it loose by hand. Maybe you can show me an "arm routing diagram from above" () because my big a$$ Shrek arms weren't getting much leverage on the oil filter, from above (I tried it).

[Mark]

I touched the gasket down and went 3/4 turns more ... like it always says on the filter. Perhaps that's more than you go (let me know). It seems to tighten up (not by turning), or get sticky over the course of an oil change interval. Making it difficult to break it loose by hand. Maybe you can show me an "arm routing diagram from above" () because my big a$$ Shrek arms weren't getting much leverage on the oil filter, from above (I tried it).

No one calls me skinny, & I can't torque with my hands either. I use a simple oil filter socket on a stubby handled 3/8" drive racket. I just came in from changing my oil for this coming winter. I reach down there with both arms at the same time (going around both sides of the radiator hose that's in front of the filter). I find it easier to manipulate things that way. Especially, when lining up the new filter. I tighten the filter with my finger tips of both hands. Then I reach down with my oil filter socket and give it another 3/4 crank. I don't think I could twist the filter off without the socket. There's not enough room for my hands to grip it good enough. My arms don't fit down there that well, but I much rather stand & do this. I have a Fumoto drain valve. I spend a minute opening the valve & a minute closing the valve. I am not on my back for very long during a Mirage oil change. I like that!

Next time you go buy a new oil filter, pick up an oil filter socket. They are cheap & you won't regret it. Take the new filter out of the box to pick out the right socket to get. I have an assortment of them for all my different vehicles I have owned over the years. I have a metal & plastic socket that works for my Mirage oil filters.

The last thing I want to happen is to drain my oil & then find out I can't get the oil filter off. Having the proper tool eliminates that concern, too.

[7milesout]

I done got me a whole mess of them there oil filter socket wrenches, of various sizes. They tend to torque off the filter. I had to tap it on further with a hammer. It worked. 2 oil drain pans is a good idea. I'll break it loose next time then transfer to up top, spin it loose and let it drain.

I have had 3 RX-7's. The 1st gen I had had a filter up top mounted to an oil cooler near the firewall. That was so nice. After spinning it loose, it would never drip because the holes pointed down and the excess ran down the whole time the engine was off. I never did an oil change on that car. It would burn and leak about 1 quart per 1,000 miles. So, after 5,000 miles, I had more than replaced the oil simply by topping off. I just pulled the filter off every 5,000 miles and slapped a new one on there. It was wonderful.


7milesout

[Mechanic]

Your Rx-7 that was using a quart every thousand miles was suffering from excessive oil consumption. Normal is 2,500 to 3,000 per quart. Not draining the oil on a regular basis is a big mistake. By draining the oil you are draining any contaminates that have built up in the pan. Not good at all.
GOD Bless and Thanks,
rich!

I have had 3 RX-7's. The 1st gen I had had a filter up top mounted to an oil cooler near the firewall. That was so nice. After spinning it loose, it would never drip because the holes pointed down and the excess ran down the whole time the engine was off. I never did an oil change on that car. It would burn and leak about 1 quart per 1,000 miles. So, after 5,000 miles, I had more than replaced the oil simply by topping off. I just pulled the filter off every 5,000 miles and slapped a new one on there. It was wonderful.


7milesout[/QUOTE]

[Mark]

Your Rx-7 that was using a quart every thousand miles was suffering from excessive oil consumption. Normal is 2,500 to 3,000 per quart. Not draining the oil on a regular basis is a big mistake. By draining the oil you are draining any contaminates that have built up in the pan. Not good at all.
GOD Bless and Thanks,
rich!

Nice to hear from you Rich! I've been wondering about you, because it's been some time since I have seen you on here.

My 2011 Forester has the oil filter on the top of the engine near the oil fill hole. That is nice!

My Forester was burning a quart of oil every 1,000 miles. Subaru felt that was excessive enough to give me a entirely new short block. I think a class action lawsuit helped in my case. Now I have a 95,000 miles Forester with 5,000 miles on the engine. Now that I use my Mirage 90% of the time I am hoping my Forester will do what I need it to do for a long time. I like AWD/4WD manuals, & I can justify owning one where I live. I save money by not liking anything on the market any better than what I already have.

[7milesout]

Your Rx-7 that was using a quart every thousand miles was suffering from excessive oil consumption. Normal is 2,500 to 3,000 per quart. Not draining the oil on a regular basis is a big mistake. By draining the oil you are draining any contaminates that have built up in the pan. Not good at all.
GOD Bless and Thanks,
rich!

Nope. It wasn't suffering from excessive consumption. A bit of detail in that post of mine you may not have caught. It was suffering from excessive leakage! But it didn't leak when it was parked, so it didn't mess the driveway. Only when it ran. It had the stock OMP (oil metering pump) which is what I remember it being called, and that was working correctly. But it also had an oil leak that only served to lubricate asphalt. I wasn't planning on driving it for 100k miles, so I just dealt with it. It was a great system.

[Mechanic]

Hello Mark,
. . . . I have probably developed cancer. If so I am dying. I have found several lumps in various parts of my body. Last week I went on a 5,500 mile drive. As you know I have been trying to drive all of the interstates before I die. I completed I-20 and I-90 on that drive. I have a small section of I-95 in SC to finish it. I now have almost 55K on my Mirage. I am changing the oil at 7.5K intervals and I don't use any oil between changes. I am averaging just at 40mpg and that includes a lot of 75mph driving with the A/C on. At 55mph I see 50mpg tanks on a regular basis. I just had new tires installed. They are Dunlop Winter Maxx 02s. I had over 50K miles on the original tires and if it was summer they would have been serviceable. How are you and the family doing?
GOD Bless and Thanks,
rich!

[Mechanic]

I am a retired master automobile technician and an expert rotary engine technician. 1K miles to the quart for a RX-7 is excessive whether it is burning it or leaking it. And not draining the oil on a regular basis is a bad thing to do. The rotary engines that I built always got at least 3K miles to the quart. My engine in my RX-3 had a separate reseviour of oil for the metering pump and yes, that is the proper name for it, and the engine got 10K plus miles to a quart. I changed the oil and filter every 10K miles on that engine after I switched to Castrol Syntech. When I was using GTX I changed the oil and filter every 5K miles.
GOD Bless and Thanks,
rich!

[Mark]

Hello Mark,
. . . . I have probably developed cancer. If so I am dying. I have found several lumps in various parts of my body. Last week I went on a 5,500 mile drive. As you know I have been trying to drive all of the interstates before I die. I completed I-20 and I-90 on that drive. I have a small section of I-95 in SC to finish it. I now have almost 55K on my Mirage. I am changing the oil at 7.5K intervals and I don't use any oil between changes. I am averaging just at 40mpg and that includes a lot of 75mph driving with the A/C on. At 55mph I see 50mpg tanks on a regular basis. I just had new tires installed. They are Dunlop Winter Maxx 02s. I had over 50K miles on the original tires and if it was summer they would have been serviceable. How are you and the family doing?
GOD Bless and Thanks,
rich!

Thanks for the update. I will send you a personal email later tonight. I hope you are wrong about your health.

[7milesout]

When I was using GTX I changed the oil and filter every 5K miles.

Rich, I follow what you are saying. But that 1st Gen RX-7 was only an interim vehicle. I wasn't concerned about getting another 100k out of it. It had 130k+ on it when I bought it. Ran it a couple years. No issues, until I sort of grazed a golden retriever. It dented the left fender (dog was OK), and from that incident, lots of electronics just went nuts. I was nearing the end of my tenure with it anyway so I just sold it as is. When I use non synthetic, I also run Castrol GTX.

Sorry about your lumps. I hope they're not what you think they are. I hope you get them checked out.