Oil recommendations for a daily driven 99 Miata?

[nighthawk355x]

Originally Posted By: Miata04
BTW, if you have a manual, try the Motorcraft Full Synthetic Manual Transmission Fluid, worked very well for me, better than the Redline MT-90.


Thanks for the advice! That was going to be my next question. That's what I've been leaning towards since I started researching that a week ago. It seems to go over really well in other miatas. Now I just have to figure out where to get it. It's probably a dealer only thing right? And am I reading right? People are saying it's like $20/qt or something?

 

[Miata04]

Nighthawk,

You should be able to get it at any Ford/Mercury/Lincoln dealer. The part # is XT-M5-QS It's a 75W-90 GL-4 which is correct for the Miata MT. It will take 1-2K to realize the full benefits. Now, I say "should" because a lot of Ford parts guys will try to give you the "thats been replaced by 75W-140" or "it's not available" or some such rubbish. The part # is correct and they do have it in the supply chain, so just go to another dealer if you run into this. Expect to pay anywhere from $14-20/qt depending on how friendly the parts guy is. I got 3 qts to be sure, my '06 6-speed holds 2.1 qts, but you may spill some. If you go to the Miata.net website and check in the "Garage" section you will find detailed instructions on how to change the trans oil (as well as the diff, I use M1 75W-90 GL-5) It is important to check to see if you can remove the "fill" bolt, BEFORE removing the drain plug. and see your local Mazda dealer for new washers for the fill & drain plugs.

Hope this helps...

 

[Norm Olt]

Originally Posted By: Miata04
Nighthawk,

It is important to check to see if you can remove the "fill" bolt, BEFORE removing the drain plug.
Hope this helps...


Now, THIS is good advice for everyone, regardless...

Cheers!

p.s. It really is a bit$h to drain a diff or tranny only to find out you can't get the fill plug off!

 

[hominid7]

A little off topic, but i was interested to see the other day that my local Mazda dealer switched from using Motorcraft oils to using Mobil oils as their bulk supplier.

To the OP: From what i've read on Miata boards, Mobil1 5w30 or 10w30 seem to be the oil of choice for a great deal of older miata owners.

 

[rrtx2007]

I've always removed the fill plug first so the fluid would drain faster (akin to loosening my oil fill cap before draining the motor oil) never considering that I may not be able to get it off. But that does make a lot of sense ;-).