I only rang them this morning to book my first visit to get gearbox and diff oil changed on my 2018 1.5 ND. They didn’t answer at first but rang me back off the missed call! Who else does that! Think I chatted to Paul nice guy squeezed me in for next week and I look forward to my car getting some TLC.
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Nice to see someone reporting good experiences of a garage/dealership. All to often people are quick to report the negative, but not the positive.
I’m obviously thick though- I didn’t think you changed the diff oil on the 1.5 which don’t have an LSD. I kind of thought it didn’t have one at all 
I know there’s the ‘open diff’, but I just thought that’s basically just words, not an actual diff. Shows what I know about cars in general lol
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Basic overview of types of differential used in automotive application.
What are the four types?
- Open differential – As one of the more common types of differentials which is found in most family saloon and economy cars, the open differential splits the engine torque in two and allows the wheels to rotate at different speeds.
- Locking differential – Also known as a welded differential, this connects the wheels so they go at the same speed. This made turning a little more difficult. Most full-sized trucks have this type of differential.
- Limited-slip differential – Found in sports cars, the limited-slip differential acts like an open differential by default. Once a wheel loses traction, then it shifts to act as a locking differential so there is more traction and control on the road.
- Torque-vectoring differential – With additional gear trains, the torque-vectoring differential can fine-tune the amount of torque delivered to each wheel.
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Thank you and yep there is no LSD but am sure there will be oil in there that needs replacing!
Mazda don’t change gear box oil until the 9th year service!!! Rang them and they weren’t aware when the diff needs doing!
This is my third MX5 I did both gearbox and diff on a NB years ago for peace of mind. My second a 2.0 ND I didn’t keep long enough but I have had this 1.5 SEL with BBR remap and exhaust back box (bought like that) for 18 months and taking to France soon so I wanted some peace of mind and some expert TLC hence Roddisons!
Will get my next service done there now as they are more in tune with the cars than dealer imo👍🏻
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Actually, the diff oil (as per the owner manual) is apparently ‘never changed’ in the ND unless it’s submerged in water and the manual trans oil is at the 5th service.
I actually got them to change my (2L, LSD) diff oil 2 years ago. I bought that SG1 Mazda diff oil and gave it to them (with full instructions!). The car was then on about 14K miles, 3.5 years old. I’ll get them to do it again next spring, when the car should be on about 17K miles 6.5 years old. Gearbox oil was done at the 5th service, April '23.
Good to get in there and change it. I’m sure you’re in good hands with Rodders, who gets great feedback on here. I’d go there myself if I wasn’t 250 miles away.
Also, you should be alright anyway with the 1.5L. Literally every horror story case with the trans has been with the 2L version. Not everyone of course!
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Thanks and interesting about submerged in water!? I use my car daily in the sticks of North Yorkshire and the back roads are always covered in surface water giant puddles and sometimes the full width which I have to traverse! Never gone deeper than a few inches but still plenty of water splashing over the diff but am sure that is safe enough!? Can’t avoid the rain in this country! Just makes me wonder what actually submerged means on a drive!??
Never chance flooding my car in flood water!
If the diff is submerged then surely the car is deep enough to be damaged water ingress into the engine?
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Good points, but I actually don’t drive mine in the rain, except for exceptional circumstances like a pre-booked service ends up being raining, so I haven’t looked much into it
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This is also a modification made “Drift” cars. “Drift” car drivers take a standard diff and weld the internals so that the drive shafts are in fact locked to each other to deliberately make them loose traction (and drift) when not driving in the straight ahead direction. Of course this is only on rear wheel drive cars and it makes nearly totally unmanageable to drive on public roads 
Are you sure?
The likes of Russ Swift who drive on two wheels with front wheel drive cars have been known to do this. The hand brake becomes the ‘steering wheel’ on these cars.
I understand that you can steer with the handbrake (handbrake turns) to a certain extent and use the handbrake to initiate a drift at the rear (on a slippey surface) but I would have thought that a locked up differential on a front wheel drive car would cause terminal understeer with excessive power. But, if I am wrong I stand corrected.
Vehicles driven on two wheels have only one modification – a locked differential. This car will be driven on two wheels, with a bit of luck!! Russ gets a maximum of 3 miles from a set of tyres.
Taken from here About Russ – Russ Swift Stunt Driving
In my autotest days there were a few entrants using welded diffs in the rear wheel classes. The ‘chirping’ of ditressed tyres when maouvering a slow speeds was very comical. Front wheel drive cars with welded diffs are virtually undrivable which is why the hand brake is invaluable.
You do not need a ‘slippery surface’ to steer on the hand brake as this Facebook shows.
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Absolutely. I used to do a fair bit of auto-testing in Spitfires and MG midgets in my long and distant past. You don’t need a slippey surface but it certainly helps. My favourite auto-tests were either on grass or diesel oil soaked lorry parks in the wet 
I used narrow Triumph Herald wheels and tyres (pumped up hard) on the rear to reduce grip on the Spitfire, making doing doughnuts much easier as the car didn’t really have enough power on a very grippy surface unless you ragged it mercilessly which I did not like to do as it was also my daily.
I ran in the FWD up to 1100cc class with a Mini. Stripped out, plastic body panels, battery and fuel tank up front and a 1071 s engine. Competed without mercy, 1st in class was the aim, the diff pins gave up on a regular basis, all part of the no compromise approach. Those were the days------
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Those certainly were the days, when taking part in motorsport could be done at a relatively low cost. The Spitfire was great for Auto-testing because of it’s incredibly good turning circle (21 ft). This allowed you to maneuver the car out of trouble in tight situations without having to back up 
Met Paul Roddison great guy changed my diff and gearbox oil. Showed me a few things that need doing including a bit a play in the rear bushes!
Booked in later in the year to fix with the poly bushes! Much much cheaper than dealer.
In fact Paul will be doing the rest of the car services from now on! Dealers do the bare minimum to keep it ticking over til out of warranty! Mine is now 6 years old had same said oils til now and no plug changes(til next service ) Mines a daily driver all year round and a keeper so needs a proper care plan!
Paul is worth the travel as knows the cars and races them why go anywhere else! 
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YOu nust be plughing the miles on. Sparks got no time interval, just 75K miles
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Mine were changed at age by the dealer at 19 k miles . Saves me doing them anyway . Luckily the previous owner paid for them .
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I agree with Touche Paul Roddison gives excellent customer service & satisfaction.
A Tech evening at Roddisons is not to be missed, hopefully there will be one this
coming Autumn.
Keith
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19K miles for a park plug change with states 75K miles/no time interval in the manual. Either a solid enthusiast, someone rich, someone with a particular liking for spark plugs, or someone the dealership saw coming!
More than likely they think the 6th year service is the 75k mile service, rather than its 6 years old. My wifes Cupra Formentor is the same. They say 20 k miles on a oil change. I get it done every nine. Next service is the plug service but will be 21 k miles . We bought it at 3k miles , then serviced at 12k and are at 16k now , so a little more to go…
Still stuns me the servicing costs the previous owner was paying. For doing a thousand miles PA , there is no bill I have below £500 
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