I noticed a small oil leak coming from below the driver's side oil cooler. Upon taking this apart, I saw that the oil leak was coming from the oil cooler hose and the oil cooler hose fittings were very rusted. I ordered the part to replace the driver side, costing me $350. I haven't received the part yet and will be without a vehicle for one week. I have read up on this problem, and I have found that there is a recall affecting my make, model, and year that my car was built, but only for people who reside in Canada. Mazda usa will not acknowledge this recall.

- Eagle, WI, USA

Oil cooler lines in front of vehicle rusted out after 60K miles. Oil leaked onto tires/brakes.

- Carmichaels, PA, USA

I own a 2004 Mazda Rx-8. I noticed there was oil leaking from the vehicle while it was parked in my driveway. I took it to a Mazda dealership to be repaired. The oil hose was badly corroded and rusted, causing it to leak oil onto the tires, brakes, and road. The oil hose and gaskets had to be replaced with new parts, costing over $600. Mazda Canada has re-called the oil hoses on the Rx-8 in Canada because road salt was tending to cause corrosion of the oil hose. However, Mazda usa refuses to re-call.

- Sandusky, OH, USA

2004 Mazda RX8 has a known issue with the external oil cooler. The pipe that Transport oil from the engine to the cooler and back is exposed and subject to corrosion from environmental exposure, in particular the aluminum reinforcing material in the pipe is vulnerable to road salt. This problem is known to Mazda. In Canada they have issued field action number 142-36, which is a recall in which they replace these pipes with a redesigned part that is less susceptible to this defect. They have chosen not to extend this recall to the us because (quoting from the recall document): "the Mazda Rx-8 is sold in the U.S., however through review of field reports and warranty claims where road salt is used, there is very little evidence of this condition in the U.S. Mazda has concluded that no field action is required in the U.S. market at this time." The reason I believe this is a safety issue is that in my case, the pipe perforated while the car was in motion, spraying a large amount of engine oil at high pressure into the internal engine compartment, and onto the road behind me. Had I not killed the ignition almost immediately, I believe the engine would have voided all of its oil onto the road. I believe this exposed those driving behind me to hazardous conditions, and could have contributed to a serious accident (although none occurred in this case). Again quoting from the Canadian recall document: "the small amount of potential oil seepage will be evidenced to the customer when the vehicle is parked and is not believed to present any risk to safety." Clearly I do not agree with their assessment here!

- Lafayette Hill, PA, USA

I'm having problems with my 2004 Mazda RX8 I had a replace engine on my car and the car had a engine flooded before and now last night doesn't want 2 start and there's are a few recalls for this car and I want 2 take actions with Mazda.

- Newyork, NY, USA

Drivers side oil cooler lines have metal section and connector as they pass from engine compartment to wheel well. This metal section has corroded through and produced a hole in the metal oil line allowing engine oil to be sprayed onto brake system, front tire and rim, and consequently under rear tire track. This resulted in hard pulling to right (passenger side) under stiff braking, skipping and loss of traction of front left (drivers) tire due to oil soaked condition and loss of traction of left rear tire from tracking in oil pattern. Mazda Canada has issued special service program (ssp 76) for this issue. Mazda europe has initiated a similar program, there is no us recall or ssp as of this date. Ssp replaces effected parts and provides for redesigned wheel well liner to protect oil fittings from corrosive road salts and water.

- Parkersburg, WV, USA