Changing your Gearbox oil.

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Delanor
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Changing your Gearbox oil.

Post by Delanor »

Based on the opinions of a couple of other owners regarding the quality of the gear change in their own cars I decided to change the oil in my own gearbox to a full synthetic.

I have used Mobilube SHC 75w90 synthetic gear oil as it is available locally in a trade motor factors that I use.

To change the gearbox oil is relatively easy to complete but I have discovered that the 6 speed box and the 5 speed box differ in that the 6 speed box has a single drain plug and refill plug whereas the 5 speed has two separate drain and refill plugs as my pictures demonstrate.

It would appear that the 5 speed has an extension fitted (as there is no 6th gear cluster) and although the oil is common to both parts you need to remove both drain plugs to remove all of the oil, if not then some of the old oil will remain in the extension part of the gearbox.

The 6 speed box is a single straight forward drain plug.

To refill the 6 speed box simply fill approx` 1.75 litres to the level plug hole and in the case of the 5 speed box I drained 2.2 litres of oil from the gearbox drain plug and 0.3 litre from the extension part and refilled accordingly.

If you are unhappy with the quality of the gear change in your own car I can recommend a change to a full synthetic oil as the improvement was noticeable straight away and is well worth the additional cost.

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Post by RotaryMC »

Del, what was involved in getting the new oil in? On the US forum people seem to suggest that some sort of pump is needed - is that the case or can you just use a 'squeezy bottle' of oil? Although I've already had synthetic put in my gearbox by the dealer, I'm still not completely happy with the gearchange, and I'm thinking of trying a different type.

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Post by Delanor »

There is sufficient room to use a squeezy oil pack, the filler plugs are easy to get to and you can kink the filler pipe of the oil pack to stop the flow of oil coming out while you invert the oil pack, stick the pipe in the filler hole and away you go.

If you have jacked the car up to do this job it is difficult to get the correct level in the level plug hole due to the angle of the car on the jack.

I usually jack the front up as high as I can get it to give decent access and put the oil in until it runs out of the filler hole (which will be to much due to the angle that the car is at) then if you put a container under the gearbox, drop the car down to the correct level position the excess oil will come out and you will then have the correct amount in the box.

Jack the car back up and refit the level plug - job done.

If you have the 6 speed box you need a 24 m/m metric socket for the 2 plugs and you should fit new sealing washers to the plugs (available from your dealer)

The 5 speed needs a 24 m/m socket and torx drivers for the gearbox plugs and a 13m/m open end spanner will do the other 2 plugs on the extension part and fit one new sealing washer to the drain plug on the gearbox part (the other 3 plugs are tapered threads so they do not need washers)

Incidently in the USA Redline oil is the favoured brand which is available from Demon Tweaks although check out Oilmans synthetic oil as well.

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Post by RotaryMC »

Thanks for the advice Del, I'll give it a try.

Marcus.
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Changed Gearbox oil

Post by RXSam »

Hi,

I changed the gearbox oil yesterday for some of oilman's finest.

I found it to be a complete pain in the ass!

I followed Druck's guide in the DIY section but thought I'd share my experiance!

First off, I had bought a new trolley jack cos I didnt fancy crawling under the car on the jack provided for obvious reasons. However, I then found to reach a decent jacking point I needed to jack the car up using the standard jack before I could get the trolley jack under the car!!!

My second mistake was the positioning of the tub to catch the used oil. Apparently the oil wanted to drain onto the garage floow, my arms and head instead of into the tub! :lol:

The hard part came up next as I tried to position the bottle of Silkolene SILKTRAN SYN 5. There is so little room to invert the bottle to try and get any flow intot he gearbox.

You can just about get the bottle wedged betweent he gearbox and the heatshielding to the side. The problem then is that to get any sort of decent flow into the gearbox you need to squeeze the bottle because its pretty much air locked. This is wear you spend an hr trying too squeeze the small bit of bottle you can still get your hands to. This is also when you manage to cut and graze your hands and arms!

So, 2 bottles and therefore 2 litres later my gearbox still doesnt seem to be up to the level and I really wanted to get it to overflow before I dropped the jack as Im not sure how much the angle of the car effects the level in the gearbox.

So, anyway, Im out of oil now so I drop the jack (witht he bucket still under the car) and low and behold about 200ml leaves the gearbox. Car jacked back up, plug replaced in gearbox and jobs done.

By the end it was getting dark out and my torch was dying slowly, it was also starting to freeze out and my hands were getting numb!!

The good news is that immediately the gear change felt so much smoother and less notchy from cold.

I can really reccomend the upgrade to the synthetic gear oil, but im not sure whether its worth the mess of doing it yourself!
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Post by CraigRX8 »

i hope you didnt actually crawl under a car with just a jack. what if it failed. you need to have axle stands in a suitable position. if that car lands on you your dead
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Post by ady »

Just a couple of pointers to over come the problems found by RXsam.

If your trolly jack won't fit under the front of the car, drive onto a couple of pieces of wood first. I find two layers of 19mm ply under each front wheel perfect for my jack. As Craig says use axel stands before you crawl under.

When draining the oil prop the catch pan up on someting so that it is as close to the drain hole as possible.

When you refill feed a short length of hose from the engine bay to the filler hole put a funnel in the top and you can fill from there. I have not don the gearbox oil on my RX8 yet but have found on other cars that this can be done with the car on its wheels so that you can get the right level, although whats in the hose when you reach the top will still P*** out so have a tray ready for this.
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Post by RXSam »

CraigRX8 wrote:i hope you didnt actually crawl under a car with just a jack. what if it failed. you need to have axle stands in a suitable position. if that car lands on you your dead
Nope, had axle stands.... But to use the axle stands on the sill location you need a trolley jack otherwise your jack is blocking a good place to put your axle stands.
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Post by Delanor »

When I did mine in the nice long hot summer of 2005 :-k I found it quite easy - if your trolley jack will not fit under the car it is a common problem and it is usual to use your car jack to raise it a little to give better access, warm the engine and box before you start and the oil will run out easily and as gearbox oil is one of the worse to change in cold weather it will not flow very well when cold so it takes longer to fill (tip if you must do it in winter, stand the bottle in hot water first for a few minutes it will then run out like water and if you can stand the mess make a small hole in the bottom of the bottle) which will allow air in.

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Changed my gearbox and diff oil,chuffed!

Post by slidey »

Just thought I'd let you all know how I went on. Now the actual draining etc is in the diy section, I'm lucky as a good friend of mine has a nice garage I can use, so I decided to use his MOT pit rather than the lift up ramps, it gets bloody hot under there lol
The gearbox oil actually came out quite clean, it's done 17k but the action of the gearbox was a bit stiff when cold, and 2nd gear is a wait and feel job until warm, then it's perfect, so I changed it for REDLINE MT90 fully synth gl4, soon as I pulled out of the garage it felt better and the drive home the box just felt alot easier and nicer in action, the test was this morning and a cold shift.........the box was lovely, just like it would be warm :D
The rear diff oil was changed, that looked rather 2nd hand, very dark and nasty smell, so glad I changed it, I went for MOTUL LSD, but can't remember the correct one off the top of my head dooh! anyway the diff! does sound nicer now,it did sound a bit whiney but that's gone :D
The change of gearbox oil is most impressive and well recommended 8)

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Re: Changing your Gearbox oil.

Post by DB2626983C »

How hard can it be?
I've phoned my local Mazda dealer to get the 2 plug washers for my 6 speed gearbox so I can change the oil to Silkolene. They say there is "possibly" 2 different types of washer. I have been given 2 part numbers. One covers the drain AND fill plugs the other just covers the fill plug ONLY. Unfortunately, they don't know which is which......not even the mechanic because the expanding diagram they are going off is not detailed enough! Seems there is a washer that goes on a switch also. No wonder this country is in such a mess!!!

Can anybody help? The part numbers are as follows:


Drain And Fill: Y60117361

Fill only: Y60217361

Cheers

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Re: Changing your Gearbox oil.

Post by cviewmaster »

They are only copper washers order all of them & return what you do not need, if they cannot advise you which you need they should accept a return, but they should not be expensive!
There is a section on changing the gearbox oil but i do not think that there is the part numbers for the drain/ refil plugs but it might be worth checking. :study:
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Re: Changing your Gearbox oil.

Post by TToP »

Can anybody explain why my dealer would need to use 2.8l of oil during the gearbox oil change? I supplied 2 bottles but also had another in the boot all I got back was 0.2l. There is no need to use this much right?
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Re: Changing your Gearbox oil.

Post by MetA »

yeah that's a litre over what he should be.
Any chance they did the diff with the same oil ?
WOudl account for the extra usage.

The other 'reasonable' excuse is that they took the bottles out and then mislaid/lost/didn't see the second bottle and went back into the boot.
Oil changes are often done by the new guy and passed between mecahnics. So can happen.
( Used to work in garage, long time ago and so am more willing to be "understanding":) )

THere's NO problem in calling the dealer and asking them about it. The reason is then easily given and if an oversight by them then a decent dealer will find and give you back your bottle or give you replacement.
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Re: Changing your Gearbox oil.

Post by ta88ycat »

Delanor wrote: I have used Mobilube SHC 75w90 synthetic gear oil as it is available locally in a trade motor factors that I use.Del.
I notice now that this oil has been superceeded now the Mobil recommended replacement product is Mobil Delvac Synthetic Gear Oil 75W-90, 80W-140.

I wonder if Halfords sell it?

Also would you guys confirm I need 1.75 litres? (I'll buy 2)

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Re: Changing your Gearbox oil.

Post by MetA »

^ yes, that's waht it says in the service manual.

Are you replacing/adding diff oil too ?
Need a litre there.

See what deals Opie Oils has on the go :)
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Re: Changing your Gearbox oil.

Post by ta88ycat »

might do diff too, is the same oil good for both or do I need 'diff oil' ?
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Re: Changing your Gearbox oil.

Post by TToP »

Regarding the extra oil usage I mentioned earlier. I called them up and apparently they have 2 empty bottles in the workshop but the mechanic that did the work isn't back in until Tuesday so they can't find out why he used so much until then. The person I spoke to is a sale/service man and suggested that there are "2 levels for the oil and he may have filled it to the higher level", I think he may be talking out of his bottom and trying to cover for the mechanic guy.

One thing I will say is that the gear change doesn't seem noticable better unfortunately and is still pretty notchy, I would even say that 3rd seems slightly harder to engage?

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Re: Changing your Gearbox oil.

Post by TToP »

Right!

Had a call today from the service manager who tells me that because I supplied the oil in bottles they filled the oil from above (somwhere near the gearstick) instead of from the drain/fill plugs, aparrently this means that more oil goes in the gearbox. I'm a bit worried now as would this not mean that it is over filled? Is it even possible to fill it from above? I'm not very good at kicking up a fuss and for now have accepted the explanation as to how so much oil has been used and was told that having a higer level is not a problem but want some clarification, is there anybody who can confirm if its ok as it is?

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Re: Changing your Gearbox oil.

Post by DB2626983C »

TToP

Which dealer is this so we can all avoid them and their lies.

Dave :x
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Re: Changing your Gearbox oil.

Post by TToP »

Thing is, there are a few traces of oil inside the car on the ciggy lighter cover and there was a stong smell of gearbox oil inside the car. Is it actually possible to fill the oil from some other hole above where the gearstick goes in or somthing? Without me having any proper knowldge of the gearbox and maybe a mechanic to back me up how do I prove they are telling fibs? I don't want to go down there and get fobbed off again or be embarrased when they show me how they did it and prove me wrong or somthing, would it be worth contacting another dealer?

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Re: Changing your Gearbox oil.

Post by DB2626983C »

TToP

Their method is not in keeping with the service manual. They still waisted your oil doing said method. If you car smells of oil it requires a full valet.

Good luck

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Re: Changing your Gearbox oil.

Post by TToP »

Well,

Spoke to TW Whites and they confirmed that it is 1.75l required for the 6 speed box and that it is possible to over fill it if filled from above although this could cause the tailshaft oil seal to fail due to increased pressure. After speaking to Bourne Road Garage again they at first said that they had not over filled it and that the fill plug was out when they filled it and that the gearbox mysteriously took an extra 1 litre of oil. I stated that thats not possible as it only has a capacity of 1.75l and they responded (after going away and coming back again) that there is a second chamber on the 6 speed that must also have been filled as they did not spill any oil, he suggested that Mazda might have got the capacity wrong!. Told them that I wasn't happy and won't be taking the car back to them in future, absolutely fuming now though, cant believe they would blatantly lie to me and cover their own arse instead of just replacing the ******* oil and keeping a customer!

James
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Re: Changing your Gearbox oil.

Post by rexxy1988 »

how much do they charge to change the gearbox oil?
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Re: Changing your Gearbox oil.

Post by Naz »

TToP wrote:that there is a second chamber on the 6 speed that must also have been filled as they did not spill any oil
what complete BS. only the 5 speed has the extra chamber and therefore uses more oil. complain to Mazda CS.
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