Yes, that was what was on the 20L drum they used.
And this is what Mazda said to me, via email, ref the IS long life gear oil after I questioned it
‘I can confirm the vehicle should have 75W-80’
Yes, that was what was on the 20L drum they used.
And this is what Mazda said to me, via email, ref the IS long life gear oil after I questioned it
‘I can confirm the vehicle should have 75W-80’
Fortunately wouldn’t say there is a cold 1st to 2nd gear change obsession with me. It was fine before and better after the change- in all gears.
There is one other thing to consider with all this which can have an intermittent problem especially when driving from having stood for a while, overnight, days, weeks maybe: the clutch.
My 25AE was crunching on almost any gear, but the oil level was correct in the box and it was beautifully clean.
Listening carefully, I could hear the clutch whispering rather more than I would normally expect.
So I adjusted the clutch pedal, bled the clutch system, and each made a vast improvement.
But it was still not what I was used to on my Niseko, and the bite point seemed to vary depending on hot or cold etc. So I assumed all the fluids needed changing.
Not so long ago I was stuck in traffic for almost an hour, and doing an awful lot of hill-starts and generally a lot of clutch slipping, and getting more and more twitchy about burning it.
However, after all that polishing, the clutch has been so very much more repeatable in bite-point, and a lot more precise between on/off with almost no woolliness.
I think the clutch’s steel facings were rusty! It is possible all that dreadful traffic jam has fixed it, given it a glossy silver lining instead of a rusty old red one.
Since then no problems.
This subject is obviously subjective to individuals car use & experiences , a 2L ND with track use would have different priorities to a 1.5 owner without track use.
My personal experience was a great gear change, then swapped out at recommend mileage for said 75/90 which then took Several miles to get to a non - notchy / borderline bulking change , I had to actually stop to get into 1st gear. Now with the Mazda IS , silky smooth again.
Maybe a 75/ 80 branded oil is the ultimate answer like previously mentioned ….anyone tried this?
But how about situations where someone is going to work in the morning, and lives near a junction which they have to pull out of straight off the bat. The person sees a gap in the committing rat run, but half way across the road a 1-2 gear fight begins, as the cars are approaching. Guy’s in the middle of the road fighting with his gears.
How about the same person then gets to a roundabout, and has a convoy of cars behind him, all too wanting to get to work. The person pulls out, as does the person behind, who don’t expect the person with the 1-2 shift issue to de facto stop as his car won’t go into gear. Granted one could argue that the person behind shouldn’t be so near behind, but that’s small consolation when the 1-2 cold shift person is rear ended, or aggressively beeped.
In an ideal world, if someone’s life style and roads are such that they can mosey with their sunglasses about for a mile waiting for everything to be hunky dory it might be able to work around, but it might not suit a person with a work life, having to get to work at 7am on Nov 17th at 2 degrees C in busy traffic.
It can then be a serious safety issue.
Deary me.
I was led to believe that the MX5 had the world’s best gear change……
Indeed.
It’s hardly obsessional is it. When you have a gearbox which is perfect in every other way and the solution is to change the oil to one which cures the only issue then do it.
The amount of posts devoted to avoiding doing the logical, obvious and right thing is beyond comprehension.
And don’t tell us, that involves getting your one
I may be wrong but engine oil is supposedly classified as dangerous goods. As the eBay seller is based in US and they may not use a specialist courier, you may not receive the oil in the UK.
Alternatively, your local Mazda dealer parts department should now be able source the following part number:
K001-W0-054
It’s physically labelled as “Long Life Hypoid Gear Oil IS” and is a 1 litre canister. This label is not to be confused with the differential oil.
Others who have ordered this oil recently, noticed another label underneath the topmost which says “Long Life Gear Oil IS”.
Label Source: ND transmission fluid cold weather - MX-5 Miata Forum
Easy: Ask the eBayer
An update on my situation. I replaced the 18k Mazda oil with Mobil Mobilube 1 SHC 75W-90 Fully Synthetic High Performance Manual Gearbox Oil but it was notchy in 1st & 2nd gear even when hot after a 100 mile run.
Yesterday I replaced it with Comma GO45L EP80W90 GL4 Mineral Gear Oil and whilst it was still notchy when cold, as soon as the car warmed up (10 miles), it was much better than before. Another 200 mile run is due in the next week so further reports then.
Maybe you should have put in the recommended 75w 90 fully synthetic gear oil, to GL 4 spec.
The gearbox gets quite hot and a mineral oil is not what you want in there. A fully synthetic oil is whats needed and the Ford oil XT-M5-QS works extremely well.
I did, but it was awful. Opie Oils spec for the oil I used previously showed it compatible with GL4 spec.
I don’t see that oil linked above being to GL 4 spec, it says GL 5.
GL 5 not good for the gearbox on the MX-5.
If you read all the blurb it says API GL-4 compatible so I don’t thing any harm will come to the gearbox.