u/Local-Candidate1232

Hi all,

I was planning to replace the coolant expansion tank on my NC and bought the IL Motorsport one, thinking it would be pretty similar to the Moroso tank.

When it arrived, though, I noticed it doesn’t have a sight glass / level window to check the coolant level, which seems a bit of a hassle.

Is this still considered a good upgrade? And is the installation doable DIY?

I’m planning a roughly 1,000 km road trip soon, so I’m wondering whether it’s a good idea to replace the tank before leaving, or if I should avoid touching the cooling system right before a trip (maybe the original one is not too chewed up).

I’ll post photos of both the new and old tank.

Thanks!

Hi everyone,

I have a 2007 Mazda MX-5 NC 1.8 and I’m having some confusion with the engine oil level readings.

The car had an oil service about a month ago at an official Mazda service center. A few weeks later I checked the oil using the original dipstick and it seemed low, so I topped it up with some Castrol Edge 5W-30 C3 that I had. Later I started worrying that I may have overfilled it. That’s when I started reading on Reddit that the original dipstick is not trustworthy. So I bought a new one from IL Motorsport (one with the two holes) and it read 1,5 cm above the max.

I’m not a mechanic so I tried my best so today I used an electric oil extractor through the dipstick tube and removed accidentally too much (around 600 ml) oil. After that, I thought I may screwed up even more, so I refilled roughly 300–350 ml with the same Castrol Edge 5W-30 C3 I had.

So overall, compared to before, the car should now have around 250–300 ml less oil than when I suspected it was overfilled.

I have two main questions:
Is it normal for oil extracted after only one month from a service to look quite dark?
The oil I extracted looks much darker than I expected. It does not look milky or foamy, just dark brown/black. Is this normal on these engines, or should I be concerned that the oil was not actually changed?

Why do the original dipstick and an aftermarket IL Motorsport dipstick seem to give so different different readings?
The original dipstick seems to show a lower level and is easier to read. The IL Motorsport dipstick seems to show more oil, but it also comes out smeared with oil all over the measuring area even after cleaning it, which makes it hard to trust. Is this a common issue on the NC dipsticks?

At the moment, after the extraction and partial refill, the level seems to be around the upper hole on the new dipstick and at the minimum on the old one, but I’m getting inconsistent results.

What would be the best way to get an accurate reading on this engine? Should I trust the original Mazda dipstick more, check it cold? I’ve always checked it after 10 minutes of cooldown.

Thanks in advance — I’m trying not to keep chasing the level and making it worse!