I have a 3S five window/2.3 liter/5 spd.
The tensioner pulley on the serpentine belt broke about six weeks ago and the car got hot for about two minutes.
It didn't overheat, it just took me that long to see it and get off the road. Mazda replaced the pulley and the car runs fine, but I THINK I'm beginning to notice greater oil consumption. I drove it about 800 miles and it appears to have used almost a half-quart on oil.
I drive about 75-85 mph so the engine is turning pretty well at those speeds, but I don't run it up in the gears or accelerate hard.

Anybody want to weigh in on what they believe to be normal oil consumption and any opinions on the situation?

 

I drive the **** out of my 2.0L and don't have any problems with oil consumption (sustained speeds 80-90 mph, 6500-7000 rpm shifts.) I've got 23,000 miles on it so far with no issues.

If your serpentine belt broke, you should have noticed it right away as your power steering/power brake booster shouldn't have had any power driving the pumps. How did you go a couple of minutes like that? (It's worse than driving a manual steering/brake vehicle.) I had the belt brake on an S-10 Blazer I had while going through a corner at ~70 mph. The steering damn near froze up and I hardly had brakes.

Your belt braking shouldn't have anything to do with oil consumption. The belt merely drives the accessories (alternator, AC compressor, power steering pump, etc.) off of the power provided from the engine crank.

 

ive got a 2.3l sedan 5spd and have never had problems with oil consumption to begin with( currently at 12k miles). are you sure your filter cap and drain plug were screwed on properly- maybe a leak? if your burning oil at that rate (which isnt normal as you know), keep a log of your mileage and how much oil you needed to add to bring it back up to full. With that information it might be easier for a mazda tech to address the problem when you bring it in - which you should...just a note, if your actually burning oil, youd smell it. Take a whiff of your exhaust, or look for soot all over ur shiny chrome tailpipe.

Also, make sure your checking the oil in someplace consistant. If youre guna check the oil in your garage, make sure ya check it in your garage all the time.

(im just thinkin of what i did when my JettaVR6 burned oil like a mother. in that situation, my valve guides were shot, which is normal for a VW with 120k miles on it (german engineering for ya)...i dont think thats the problem in your case)

 

The steering wheel obscures the temperature gage.
The only clue I good within about 30 seconds that something was wrong was the alternator light came on.

When you're driving down an interstate at 75 mph, how much power steering assistance do you need? like zero.
I pulled the car off the interstate through an intersection into a parking lot with absolutely no trouble.
I also loaded it onto a flat bed tow truck with no extra effort (after it cooled down).
The car doesn't weigh anything.
I have a Ranger and losing steering and brakes in that would be an issue, but not in a little car like this.

I'm going to change the oil and make sure it's topped off and monitor it for a while.
I don't drive it much (12000 miles in two years) so it'll take a while before I get some relevant data.

 

If the water pump is driven off of the serp belt (probably is) that would be why you were starting to overheat. (coolant not flowing through the radiator)

Have you checked the condition of your oil/coolant to see if you have contamination (oil in the coolant or vice versa?)

 

I can tell you from experince to keep an eye on your oil, last month my mazda dealer had to install a new motor into my car (04 , 3 , 2.3) i always told them i was noticein the oil was always low , and they said nothing was wrong till that fine morning when the motor went , so i would steady bitch to your dealer and get them to really look at it .