TBH, I bet it would be more trouble trying to undo the drain/refill now anyway.
Plenty used diffs kicking around if it fails.
Diff is the only component that has escaped my otherwise rigorous servicing habits.
I think DIY servicing rather than via a trader but how do you prove the smaller garage is Bona Fide is stretching it a bit re the block exemption route.
In saying that, I service a lot of MX5’s and when required always do the gearbox and diff oil, flush the brake fluid and replace the antifreeze.
Most smaller traders do not do that as their clients are there for low prices and at a main service would use another trader if that small guy said at the next service rather than the usual £100 for a service I will be changing the gearbox and diff oil, the antifreeze and flushing the brakes and the cost will be around £225.
He would tell the folks at work and George would put him on to his garage that says that is only for the main dealer to rip you off, his local garage never charges more than £100 for a service.
When I went to the Subaru dealer for a fuel tank filter for the Impreza, the parts guy said that filter is over £60 even we have to ask the customer if they want it changed at say the 60k miles service because of the cost of the part and we do not want good customers going else where.
This thread got me thinking…
I bought my car with only 17,000 miles on it but six years old, and when I did my inspection underneath the only hint anywhere of an oil leak was the bottom half of the diff cover, and apparently not from the breather plug at the top. So I insisted the garage changed the diff oil as part of the pre-sale service (just in case there might not have been much left in it).
As soon as I got it home I cleaned off the oil stains, but a year later after only another 5,000 miles there were the signs of weepage again, but no drips on the garage floor - yet. So as part of the annual service and MOT in August I asked the dealer (Hughes) to change it again and also to check all the seals. They said they found that old washers had been re-used on both drain and fill plugs. I cleaned it off again, and so far it seems they have cured it. When I looked just now there is only the faintest hint of oil immediately below the breather plug and nowhere else. Good.
Moral. At least check the oil level with a finger tip, it should be no lower than 12mm below the filler plug hole (i.e. it wets a finger tip). This is easy, also it is a chance to look at and feel the condition of the oil. And of course always use a new washer when refitting the plug.
Qualify most.
By you analogy, most Scooby dealers won’t change a fuel filter.
Ok so after reading the above posts I decided to change the gearbox and diff oil as its done 45K and there were reports that one or both on some ND cars have only been partly filled.
On checking the diff it was short by a fair amount so changed using 75 - 90 oil
On checking the gearbox again this was short on oil, after some digging found that for the UK this to used 75 - 90 gear oil.
Now on asking the dealer there was some confusion and on trying to order the sealing washers they were lost so I went behind the counter and found them, they cost me £8.16 for all four.
The diff and gearbox on the 2.0 use the same seal rings/washers so you need 4.
There is a link showing the part number if they cannot find it.
I would strongly advise checking both the diff and gearbox oil or just change it, it costs oil around £25.3 for 3LTR then seal washers £8.16 worth doing to protect your gearbox and diff.
Big thank you to David Mortiboys for doing most of the work thank you mate.
I guess that Mazda put in a measured quantity of oil that is not like in the old days when you filled to the bottom of the filler plug.
I will be doing an ND next month and will measure the amount of diff oil and gearbox oil that comes out compared to the noted capacity that should be in there. I assume there will be a certain amount of retained oil. I will post the results.
I have a large box of copper and aluminium washers that I use and just change any crush washer that comes off. Sump, gearbox, diff and the ones between the brake caliper hose and the caliper. I replace the ones that are used and you can get them on ebay for less than £1 each.
Just a note for those that did not see my post earlier. The diff oil for the Mk4 is the only oil that Mazda DO NOT give an ‘alternative’ for. I have the part number for it if required.
I am reasonably confident that other oils will be OK but! All other Mks have a specification for the diff oil in the hand book but NOT the Mk4. An oversight or deliberate, who knows?
Tbh i’m one of those fastidious people who always change the oils etc on time and more often than most, this is more due to the fact i like to “drive” my cars and will regularly go for early morning blasts.
So next week it’s due for an oil change on the ND (every 6000 miles) and being as the car has now done just over 30000 miles i’ve asked for the diff oil to be changed as well, this is because i go to France again at the end of the month and the car will get “driven” around their glorious back roads. Will be interesting to see what comes out.
I suppose it comes down to yourself and how you are with maintenance. I’ve always been on the side of “prevention than cure” so tend to change fluids more regularly, some people don’t and go by “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”.
Your money, your choice.
I, too, like to change all the oils regularly. I did my gearbox recently (2017 ND1) using GL4 75W-90, thus meeting the ‘alternative’ spec in the owner’s manual. I’ve read all the very interesting posts about which oil to use but the odd thing is that the recommended Mazda product - Mazda Long Life Gear Oil IS - seems to be totally unobtainable from retail suppliers. The Mazda diff oil is indeed available from MX5Parts and I used that for my diff.
Does anyone know if the Mazda IS gearbox oil can be obtained in the UK? I’d be interested to know what a proper Mazda dealer uses … I’ve not asked one myself because I do my own servicing and generally steer clear of main dealers, but I’m interested to know.
I researched this also, and yes the Mazda gearbox oil doesn’t seem to be available in the UK.
I changed my diff oil, but got my dealer to do the gearbox, Johnson’s Gloucester and they used Shell Spirax 75w/90 GL4.
That was at 3 years old and I noticed a difference, it was a lot smoother, even from cold.
So in my experience I don’t think it’s necessary to use the Mazda ‘unicorn tears’ lol…
Interesting … so not available to dealers either. My shifts are fine after my change to the new ‘recommended’ spec once warmed up but when cold I sense a bit of resistance in the first to second shift, and it is sometimes not smooth from neutral to first either when starting off from cold.
There is this mysterious line in the manual ‘Mazda Original Long Life Gear Oil IS is superior oil for optimum shift-feel’ and also ‘If Mazda Original Long Life Gear Oil IS cannot be obtained, use standard oil (API Service GL-4 (SAE 75W- 90)). However, shifting in very low temperatures may become difficult.’
Both references resonate with what some of us notice in the feel of our shifts. I did notice when removing the original oil that it was black whereas the new stuff is light and golden. I just wonder if there is some secret ingredient in the IS stuff which improves the changes. It seems that whether we use the Mazda dealers or not we’ll never know.
I think might have something like a molybdenum disulphide MoS2 additive in it, that’s black.
https://products.liqui-moly.com/gear-oil-additive-9.html
You need Paul Roddison to comment, he races NDs and knows the gearbox well and it’s issues.
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