First and reverse gears difficult to put on gear

Technical Area Engine, Transmission, Exhaust etc
1

Continuing the discussion from Gearbox and diff oil change:

Is it easy to change the oil in the gear box? I have a 2016 MX5 mark 4. First and reverse gear is really difficult.

2

Changing the gearbox fluid is straight forward, well I’ll caveat that with if you’ve got the correct equipment and assuming you don’t have access to a lift.

This how i did it:
Jack up the car and support on axel stands, i always use jack pads to protect the pinch weld on the sills.
Removed mid cross brace and connecting panels.
Crack off drain plug and oil level fill plug, remove drain plug and loosen fill plug so it drains easier. Inspected drain plug for metal contamination or excessive fillings. Refit drain plug with new washer and torque up to 39-59 N.m (so 50 N.m was about right).
Removed loosened fill plug and pumped in two litres of Transmax/Syntrans GL4. I used a 12 Volt oil suction pump in reverse because i had one and couldn’t be bothered hand pumping it in. At two litres it will start dripping out of the fill hole, refit plug with new washer and tighten up. Checked for leaks then refitted the brace and access panels, torqued up brace to 22Nm.

Took about two hours, however i did the diff at the same time and stopped for a brew a few times !
If you have access to the tools and stands etc plus a cheap hand pump its a cheap job, probably £35 in oil and a few quid for washers.
Whether it will improve first and reverse selection for you, i’m not so sure but it might be worth a go as it wont cost much in time or money.

Just to clarify, i supported the car on four axel stands so it was level.

Jon

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3

Hi Jon

Thank you so much for the infomation and hope this will solve my problem with the gears.

I love my Mazda as its such a lovely car to drive and for the past 4 years we have had no real issues with it.

Once again thank you so much for your quick reply.

All the best
Jan

4

All the gearboxes are variable in build quality and not all oils work. I tried Syntrans and it didnt work in my gearbox. Millers CRX 75w/90 NT+ worked for me and others but again not for everyone. The Ford oil XT-M5-QS has a very good reputation for working in ND gearboxes.

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5

Still having problems with gear change, do you think its clutch? How do i bleed the clutch?

6

Did you change the gearbox oil?

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