Worst engine damaging driving habits?

[ms3jake]

What are the worst engine damaging driving habits in the Ms3? Things you just shouldnt do?
My Mods: sri, mid pipe, soon Dp. If mods matter.
Examples: Flooring high gears below 3000k? Over revving?

[superskaterxes]

if you watch the load PID then u dont want to be in low boost with load greater then 90%

[ms3jake]

I dont have anything to moniter PID.

[superskaterxes]

u should get a DH or an AP

[Sacrilicious]

the worst possible thing you could do to this engine (aside from obvious stupidities) is to get on the gas hard while it's not up to operating temp. at the MINIMUM, wait until the temp needle gets where it's supposed to be. even this is not quite enough, because the needle has a huge tolerance, and will hit it's normal place starting at like 150-160F...you really want to be at about 180F+ to be safe.

the reason this is bad for your engine is that you need to metal components expand and shrink as it gets hotter or colder. the engine was designed to be run at its operating temps of 180F+, so before that happens, your pistons and seals will not seat perfectly. leaky seals = bad news.

loading it up at low rpms is also bad, but doing that while the car is stone cold, and you're in a wooorld of hurt...=/

[Haltech]

Low boosting under heavy load isnt advisable, however, i do it everyday and i have had great success with my ride. 100's of test maps, boost up to 23 psi, lots of timing, etc during my testing. Is it recommended? Not at all, but in all honestly, i really dont care

Now, key things to do with a modded car:

• Get to operating temps before hammering on the car
• Change the OIL religious every 3K... we have a lot of washed down fuel into the cylinder walls that make it into the oil pan.
• Check your plugs WEEKLY. On to of that, use a step colder plug such as Denso ITV22 or 24's. I dont recommend the use of NGKs

[ptfire]

Maybe a catch can. If what was said in a previous thread regarding DSI engines and the intake valves not getting any lubrication. Who knows what to believe.

[Haltech]

Before going the CC route, 5/40 or 10/40 oil is a good option.

[bova]

i would go catch can no matter what oil you use.

[ms3jake]

I have always let any car I have had warm up properly before flooring it along with regular maintanance. How about partial boosting in any gear, ever bad?
Also whats your take on turbo cool down? Every time even if not boosting at all, only after fully boosting...

[08_ms3_gt]

Originally Posted by ms3jake I have always let any car I have had warm up properly before flooring it along with regular maintanance. How about partial boosting in any gear, ever bad? Also whats your take on turbo cool down? Every time even if not boosting at all, only after fully boosting...

i tend to baby it as i get closer to my destination i.e. the last few mile or so of driving. also, if i've really gotten on it, then i'll let it idle for at least 30 sec before shutting it down.

Haltech - three follow-up questions:
1) isn't it a PITA to check plugs with a TMIC? and why don't you recommend NGK's? i had good experience with them on my 1.8T and recently ordered a set for the ms3.
2) i changed my oil at 4k and Blackstone noted some fuel dilution but recommended i try 5k for my next OCI- per your recommendation, i should go against what they suggest?
3) 5W/40 oil helps with turbo seals, right? but also valve lubrication?

[superskaterxes]

Originally Posted by 08_ms3_gt i tend to baby it as i get closer to my destination i.e. the last few mile or so of driving. also, if i've really gotten on it, then i'll let it idle for at least 30 sec before shutting it down. Haltech - three follow-up questions: 1) isn't it a PITA to check plugs with a TMIC? and why don't you recommend NGK's? i had good experience with them on my 1.8T and recently ordered a set for the ms3. 2) i changed my oil at 4k and Blackstone noted some fuel dilution but recommended i try 5k for my next OCI- per your recommendation, i should go against what they suggest? 3) 5W/40 oil helps with turbo seals, right? but also valve lubrication?

1. once u get this down the IC removal only takes about 6 mins one way. people have had bad experiences with the NGK's. ive never heard a bad thing about the Denso's and thats why everyone runs them.
2. i also do their UOA but this car is diff and i try not to break 4k between changes. better safe then sorry.
3. yes and yes.

[Driverman5777]

Yea once I got the dashHawk I accidentally gave it a bit of gas under 3k and my dashHawk yelled at me for knock... I love that thing, seems like a great investment.

[Frequentflyer]

Originally Posted by 08_ms3_gt i tend to baby it as i get closer to my destination i.e. the last few mile or so of driving. also, if i've really gotten on it, then i'll let it idle for at least 30 sec before shutting it down. Haltech - three follow-up questions: 1) isn't it a PITA to check plugs with a TMIC? and why don't you recommend NGK's? i had good experience with them on my 1.8T and recently ordered a set for the ms3. 2) i changed my oil at 4k and Blackstone noted some fuel dilution but recommended i try 5k for my next OCI- per your recommendation, i should go against what they suggest? 3) 5W/40 oil helps with turbo seals, right? but also valve lubrication?

It isn't too hard to check the plugs. Once you've done it a few times, you can literally have the TMIC off in under 5 minutes. You could probably have the plugs checked and every back together again in under 25-30 minutes. It obviously depends on how bolted you are with mods, but I've been checking mine once a month. Note that the colder a plug you use, the more often you'll have to check them because they can foul quicker than a plug of standard heat range.

If you've got hard data from Blackstone that says your oil is holding up between 4-5k miles, than go 4-5k miles. If you drive the car hard with lots of stop and go, I would change it every 3k. I do near 500 miles a week with about 400 on the highway at near constant speeds. If I were to change mine every 3k, I'd be changing the oil every 6 weeks, so I go 5k and that takes me out to 2 1/2 months or so. I'm pretty confident my driving habits aren't murdering my oil that soon. I will be changing soon and will be sending my Rotella to Blackstone, which is something I've been meaning to do for a looooooooong time.


As for bad driving habits; use the tranny that Mazda gave you. Don't lug the motor. This is bad for any motor. Don't floor it at 2,000 RPM. I always cruise in the 2.5-3k range. Guess what, the motor is rated for peak torque at 3k. Perfect. I also wouldn't go much past 6k unless you've got some throttle flash, since you're losing power quickly and just making noise. Don't floor it in 6th gear on the highway doing 60mph to pass. Downshift to 5th. Let the car idle for 30-60 seconds before shutting it down. Lots of these are probably common sense. Check your oil weekly either before you start or at least an hour after you shut down to get an accurate reading on our wonderfully accurate dipstick.

[atomicms3]

Well, I'm still stock, and I purposefully rag the shit out of my car every day. I don't care if it's 9 degrees out and the car hasn't moved in two days - if I have to get in it and go boost my way down to the rescue squad to go on a call, I'm gone, and the car is getting flogged. I figure if I keep driving this way the car will either be better for it or I'll have a new engine sometime before my powertrain warranty goes out.

[mouse0330]

good thread, good info guys, thank you.

[ms3jake]

When you say, "low boosting under heavy load isnt advisable" Im assuming you mean, flooring 6th at 2000rpm up hill for ex? Sorry for any noob questions but I am mechanically declined.

[superskaterxes]

Originally Posted by ms3jake When you say, "low boosting under heavy load isnt advisable" Im assuming you mean, flooring 6th at 2000rpm up hill for ex? Sorry for any noob questions but I am mechanically declined.

this would prob be the most extreme case. i wouldent even do 3rd @ 3k up a hill. whenever doing hills always be sure to ease into it

[ms3jake]

Originally Posted by superskaterxes this would prob be the most extreme case. i wouldent even do 3rd @ 3k up a hill. whenever doing hills always be sure to ease into it

Ya, I would never do that 6th gear thing I said, just trying do give a clear example. I have by accident lost traction in 2nd quickly shifting into third up hill realizing it was at a low rpm one time while still flooring it. I realized what I was happening and let off.
So is partial boost(in any gear) ok below 3k rpm's on a flat surface or is it best to wait until 3k before you bost at all?

[Meder]

Seems like some people do not partial throttle/boost at all.


I do about 3700 or so, is this bad?

[Hectik1]

I drive the car. This means partial/full boost at varying throttle. This is way I drove all my boosted cars with no ill effects.

Now, why would you not step on the gas at 3k in 6th? You are in boost range.

[ms3jake]

Originally Posted by SilverSpeed3 I drive the car. This means partial/full boost at varying throttle. This is way I drove all my boosted cars with no ill effects. Now, why would you not step on the gas at 3k in 6th? You are in boost range.

I drive like you but just asking some questions since I keep hearing about knock and engines going prematurely. This is my 5th turbo car and I never thought much about all of this crap until I got my Ms3. Never had any problems with my past cars either. I dont have any monitering system but I just want to about the safest driving habits for this car .

[Haltech]

Ill be honest with you guys, i beat the piss shit out of my MS3. It has given me zero problems. The car boosts hard and sees high revs everytime i drive the damn thing. The girl drives it hard as well.

I do take care of it though. Regardless of the UOA, i dump the oil between 3-4K. I also check my plugs weekly and always have a spare set gapped and ready to go in. I think its important to break the car in with a good 5/30 for the first 5000 miles, but what we have learned since this forum started, the quicker you can goto 5/40, the better the life expectancy of your stock turbo will be. The thicker oil helps the turbo from leaking oil from the seals and gives better thermal protection.

Since our PCV system is a joke on this car, you could resort to a catch can.. But a more beneficial fix to the problem is to add methanol. it will clean the engine, provide cooler combustion temps, add octane and stop any knock.

[08_ms3_gt]

are there any 'cheap' spark plugs for the ms3/ms6? on my 1.8T, i can ngk bkr7e 'race' plugs, which ran great, had crap life which required replacement every OCI, but were $2 each. granted, the ideal spark changeout occurs around 15k miles, right? so there isn't necessarily a lot of cost savings to be had.

i'd be happy to throw in a catch can, and know of it's usefulness, but i'm trying to keep it as stock as possible for warranty purposes. any alternatives besides meth, which is also not easily swapped out?

are folks worried about loading the engine at low RPM's and/or on hills because of the mid-range torque spike? and therefore snapping rods? i'm rather surprised at this, i actually like that i can sit in 6th on the hwy as opposed to auto trans cars that downshift every time you touch the throttle. that said, i don't necessarily floor it and the revs are usually around 3k, so just at the low RPM threshold. only times i've floored it are just to see how lethargic the car is at those conditions.

[Haltech]

Originally Posted by 08_ms3_gt are there any 'cheap' spark plugs for the ms3/ms6? on my 1.8T, i can ngk bkr7e 'race' plugs, which ran great, had crap life which required replacement every OCI, but were $2 each. granted, the ideal spark changeout occurs around 15k miles, right? so there isn't necessarily a lot of cost savings to be had. i'd be happy to throw in a catch can, and know of it's usefulness, but i'm trying to keep it as stock as possible for warranty purposes. any alternatives besides meth, which is also not easily swapped out? are folks worried about loading the engine at low RPM's and/or on hills because of the mid-range torque spike? and therefore snapping rods? i'm rather surprised at this, i actually like that i can sit in 6th on the hwy as opposed to auto trans cars that downshift every time you touch the throttle. that said, i don't necessarily floor it and the revs are usually around 3k, so just at the low RPM threshold. only times i've floored it are just to see how lethargic the car is at those conditions.

Sound like a copper plug since they are so cheap. I havent found a copper plug that can hold up to the heat of the engine, let alone, work with the stock coils yet. Give it some more time and there should be something available.

[bova]

Originally Posted by 08_ms3_gt are there any 'cheap' spark plugs for the ms3/ms6? on my 1.8T, i can ngk bkr7e 'race' plugs, which ran great, had crap life which required replacement every OCI, but were $2 each. granted, the ideal spark changeout occurs around 15k miles, right? so there isn't necessarily a lot of cost savings to be had. i'd be happy to throw in a catch can, and know of it's usefulness, but i'm trying to keep it as stock as possible for warranty purposes. any alternatives besides meth, which is also not easily swapped out? are folks worried about loading the engine at low RPM's and/or on hills because of the mid-range torque spike? and therefore snapping rods? i'm rather surprised at this, i actually like that i can sit in 6th on the hwy as opposed to auto trans cars that downshift every time you touch the throttle. that said, i don't necessarily floor it and the revs are usually around 3k, so just at the low RPM threshold. only times i've floored it are just to see how lethargic the car is at those conditions.

this depicts the usefullness of a catch can. this was after 300+ miles. there is a lot of water in there probably due to the weather and the air that is pulled in through the valve cover containing a lot of moisture. at least the oil on top looks pretty clean (2500 miles on it)amsoil euro 5w40.

[08_ms3_gt]

Originally Posted by bova80 this depicts the usefullness of a catch can. this was after 300+ miles. there is a lot of water in there probably due to the weather and the air that is pulled in through the valve cover containing a lot of moisture. at least the oil on top looks pretty clean (2500 miles on it)amsoil euro 5w40.

i'm pretty amazed at how much oil comes thru the PCV system. i had a Saikou baffled top-o-the-line OCC on my old car and it barely caught anything. even despite the drain plug config that doesn't empty out completely. by barely anything, i mean to say that all of the stuff collected was condensate and not oil.

BUT can i put one in without kissing my warranty goodbye?

[bova]

yeah i dont use the drainplug that came with the saikou michi occ. i just use a simply npt plug so i can get all the contents out.

[Silver Ecstasy]

I've had my car since April 08.

Changed oil at 1k in June 08, changed oil again at 3k in October 08, changed again in January 09 at 4800. I haven't had any problems and continue to enjoy the car. Somehow, i've managed to stay stock, but my MSCAI patiently awaits installation. I'm real interested to hear about the 5w40 convo (as i've heard especially in colder temps, that the oil type is important). I'd hate to go outside of the manufacturer's recommended specifications then get totally dicked on my warranty if something were to go haywire yanno? But I trust what you guys gotta say on it.

[skeeter149]

the dealer never needs to know bro, just dont tell em its there and they will never know brother. the oil that is.

[Silver Ecstasy]

I like to have my oil changes done at the dealer, not only because it's documented maintenance, but also because they can be held accountable just incase. Ultimately, keeps me spending there, and that helps me out with mod friendliness. I've already gotten a lot of compliance and encouragement that mods will not be frowned upon. But i've already told them I plan to stay 100% responsible with it.

That being said, changing the spec of oil may be good, but it's risky imo. Goes outside of the manual lol.

[danesti]

see: Buildabong

[Phantom]

I have over 88k Km on my car and only 5W30 weight oil in the first 2 changes 9600 Km. After that I have used Elf/Total 5W40. No issues and dealer does the changes for me.

I think 40 weight is the way to go.

[MS3 Ventura]

Any issues with switching oil grades without taking off the oil pan to get every last drop out? When I took off my pan for the BSD, there was still a lot of oil in the pan that didn't drain out.

[Haltech]

Originally Posted by MS3 Ventura Any issues with switching oil grades without taking off the oil pan to get every last drop out? When I took off my pan for the BSD, there was still a lot of oil in the pan that didn't drain out.

No, it will take probably one change to get the rest of the old oil out of there.

[DaleNixon]

Subscribing. It's hard to find Pennzoil Platinum in 5w40, but surely I can order it somewhere from the Intertron.

Supposedly the Euro Mazda3 MPS manual shows various safe oil weights including 5w40.

[BlackMS3]

I have 42K on the clock, have probably 8k in hit and run damage on the car over the last year, beat on it as soon as the key is turned, boost whenever I want, bounce of the rev limiter in every gear, do 5K clutch drops, powerslides, jhooks, you name it... haul ass on gravel roads, over potholes, change the oil when I get the chance and clean the air filter... uh never. I drive 166 miles a day and beat on it every mile and my wife and daughter trash the interior constantly.

It's still kicking and strong as ever.... although I cannot wait for the day someone hits me so hard the car is totaled....


Anyways, do the opposite of above and you should be fine!

[ms3jake]

Originally Posted by BlackMS3 I have 42K on the clock, have probably 8k in hit and run damage on the car over the last year, beat on it as soon as the key is turned, boost whenever I want, bounce of the rev limiter in every gear, do 5K clutch drops, powerslides, jhooks, you name it... haul ass on gravel roads, over potholes, change the oil when I get the chance and clean the air filter... uh never. I drive 166 miles a day and beat on it every mile and my wife and daughter trash the interior constantly. It's still kicking and strong as ever.... although I cannot wait for the day someone hits me so hard the car is totaled.... Anyways, do the opposite of above and you should be fine!

Wow, I guess I should enjoy my car more. I feel anxiety every time I fully boost this car. Im only mildly modded(test pipe, intake,catted cpe dp coming soon) and if I had a defective motor Im sure I would know by now. Pushing 18k miles.

[Docnox]

My philosophy, if she goes, she goes, I'm not losing any sleep over it. No need to baby this thing all the time, as it was made to be ripped on, but if you're bouncing it off the rev limiter in every gear, you have cause for your anxiety.

[ms3jake]

I never rev over 6k, dont see a need to.