ND Gearbox Oil change - now clunkier

Technical Area Engine, Transmission, Exhaust etc
1
  1. My model of MX-5 is: ND 1
  2. I’m based near: Chelmsford, Essex
  3. I’m looking for technical help or recommendations on: Gearbox

Hi I recently had the oil in my approaching 6 year old ND as I believe the recommendation is 5 years or 62K miles. Car only done 9K miles. I had it done locally at garage who has serviced it before.

The thing is that it now feels a lot clunkier especially going into 2nd. Even after a long run. I know this gearbox has some issues but is this normal after a change? Should I be taking it back? does iy take some time to settle?

Thanks in advance

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2

First you need to ask exactly what oil was used as it may not have been the correct one. It may be shown on your invoice.
:heart:

2 Likes
3

I have checked and correct grade but unsure if GL3 or 4, I have contacted them, and they will replace with GL4 if they use GL3 so perhaps that’s the issue?

4

What do you mean by clunkier?

Mine was ‘stiffer’ i.e. a little more resistance after a gearbox oil change at about 20,000 miles. It has since been driven about 2,300 miles and has loosened up a bit - or I have got used to it.

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5

I use Miller’s CRX 75w/90 NT+ which works well in the ND gearbox.

6

I had my ND2 gearbox oil changed on its third service,but I first brought the oil seperately from mx 5 supplies,along with the rear diff oil which has to be the correct oil,then I took in with the car for service and they put it in,the car is three years old having done 20 thousand miles,def the diff is slightly smoother and quieter,the gearbox also is smoother and I know the correct oil has been used,all happy,
All best Simon

7

thanks for all replies. so what Oil do people recommend? It’s a stock 2.0 ND1 don’t (unfortunately) do any track work.

8

Millers Oils CRX 75w/90 NT+ as recommended above, I use 75w/140 myself as I’m turbocharged but it does make it stiffer to use initially when cold (although slightly smoother than 75w/90 once warmed up).

9

I have forgotten where, but I have recently seen it pointed out that modern synthetic oils are highly sophisticated and specialised. The days when Duckhams 20/50 was the go to are long past. :slight_smile: :slight_smile: :slight_smile:

Why not put in the oil that Mazda sells and recommends for your car? I dont know what it is for the ND1, but presumably your local dealer does.

David

10

The Mazda oil is notoriously difficult to get hold of.

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11

The Mazda oils can be ordered direct from MX5 parts,then take it with the car for the oil change that is what I did,it was simple and worked well,and in all honesty because I tied it into the annual service,they charged nothing to change gearbox and axle oil at all.
Simon

12

Hi L,
I can only see the Mazda Diff oil for sale on the MX5Parts site, how did you get hold of the gearbox oil?
:heart:

13

Oil analysis has shown that the Mazda oil degrades due to the high temperature the gearbox sees, better to use a high quality fully synthetic oil like the Miller’s.

14

That’s an interesting counter-claim, BlueAgave. Do you have a reference to experiments that show that Mazda gearbox oil degrades in use?

David

15

I saw an oil analysis on Miata.net from Blackstone Laboratory which showed the oem oil had a low flashpoint and had degraded due to heat.

16

I have searched for this and cannot find it. Can you give more clues, please?

David

17

It was a few years ago David, and I didn’t keep any links to it.