- My model of MX-5 is: 1.5 SE ND1
- I’m based near: Bristol
- I’m looking for technical help or recommendations on: Engine Rattle
I’ve got a 2018 1.5 ND1 which is on about 65k miles, about 5k miles since last oil change on 5w30 with nothing alarming picked up on last oil anaylsis (the noise happened once or twice before last oil change).
In late June after driving from Bristol to Mousehole i noticed on one cold start it would make a ticking sound which corresponded with engine speed, it did it once and then i never heard anything else so i moved on, about 3 weeks ago (after a long drive to innsbruck austria) i noticed it again and thought not much of it, however since then it has become increasingly more common to the point that on every cold start (anytime sat for more than 3 hours) it will rattle like a hell for about 3 minutes or so after starting, periodically building up in intensity before cutting off completely and then building up and cutting off until it warms up and it stops.
I have also started to notice a slight rattle when you pass 2k rpm on either revving up or revving down. I spoke to mazda about it and they told me quite bluntly unless there is an error code or drivability issue we probably won’t be able to do anything about it which i thought was fantastic.
I really love this car and have done 23k on it in the year i’ve owned it and am so keen not to blow it up if anyone knows of a solution to this or an explanation as the best i’ve got from mazda is it’s the lifters and apparently a common issue on MX5s (bar the fact i can’t find a single person online with a similar issue to mine apart from a mazda 6) but it’s not a worry unless it doesn’t stop after 10 minutes.
Watch PXL_20251011_165221785 | Streamable - Here’s the video, notice the sound which cuts off abruptley and then restarts.
Thanks for any help
