The cooler line which suffers from this common fault is due to a built up of rust on the line which often corrodes and eventually bursts and then begins leak oil. As the RX8’s engine requires the oil to be fed into the engine under pressure, such a leak in the system causes the pressure to drop and driving the vehicle under this condition causes excessive wear on the main engine bearings – and the only cure for that, is a full strip down and Engine Rebuild.
The first sign that a cooler line is damaged, to most owners, will be the sight of oil on the road or driveway where the car is parked.
You will most commonly see this, just in front of the passenger-side front wheel, as this is the area, where the cooler line is, most prone to corrosion. If you do spot any kind of oil leak in this area, we strongly advise that you have your car recovered immediately, for repair. Or for those of you more oh-fay with the workings of the RX-8 engine, you may prefer to order the replacement parts from our online Store and replace the damaged line yourself on-site.
» In either case, do not attempt to start or drive the vehicle.
As part of our standard servicing, we routinely check and assess the condition of your oil cooler lines at every service point. It’s also one of the checks made as part of our 60-Point Health Check.
This assessment can be difficult however, and relies quite heavily on a mechanic’s experience and ability to accurately judge the condition of the line. Most oil cooler lines will look a little worse for wear at the best of times, although more often than not, still be in actual good working order. In our experience you can expect to have issues with only one of the three lines on the car, and possibly a second line, but this is far less likely to occur (we have actually only ever seen two or three ‘second-line’ problems out of the hundreds of RX-8’s we have worked on and serviced over the years). Typically though, the cooler line most prone to corrosion and fault, is the line most difficult to replace out of the three.
If you have noticed an oil leak, are worried or feel your car may be suffering from oil cooler line corrosion, give us a call or get in touch to discuss the problem with one of our friendly team who will be happy to speak to you and advise you on your current situation.
In terms of prevention (and rock-solid repair)… there are various after-market cooler lines available to buy. We sell our own braided stainless steel lines which ensure the problem will never occur again and we highly recommend them because of this. Additionally, (unlike other suppliers) our lines are also available to buy individually, so you are never forced to buy a set of three when only one or two actually need replacing.