INSTANT FIX for your Mazda MX5 NC gearbox!

[@Alias1431]

The plate is more than just a reverse lockout, and it absolutely needed to be changed. That "dust" you commented on is the left side of that bracket disintegrating. The shifter slides along the left and right side to aid in travel between 1-2 and 5-6. 1-2 commonly wears down from more frequent use, as you can see in this video- the left side was eroding away (which caused the dust). Not only can this make it more likely you accidentally shift into reverse, but the travel between 1 and 2 is compromised, and shifting between those gears can get stuck or grindy. I just replaced mine on a 100k mile 2006, and wow was it overdue. A good half centimeter of material was just gone. No wonder my 1-2 shifts were garbage! Now it's smooth as butter.

[@markmckay4964]

Where do you get the selector plate from please mate?

[@tom77468]

Hey man, I have an ‘07 and have occasionally noticed some trouble getting into 3rd when shifting up (no issues downshifting) is this something you’ve come across too? Any recs? I already have MT-90 redline in it btw

[@DamienMorrissey]

@@tom77468 On my 06 I ended up finding a few things and between them all it came good: 1. MT-90 Redline has good reviews. I tried, but ended up with the Ford Motorcraft stuff that gets rave reviews. 2. The reverse plate is essential. Change it. 3. There is a bushing at the bottom which is plastic and wears out. I replaced with a brass one. Helps more positive engagement. 4. I found I had a leaky clutch master cylinder. Definitely not great. I replaced both master and slave, bled and that made it more consistent. A leaky master is just bad news. 5. I adjusted the clutch so that it had the minimum amount of freeplay while still having a TINY bit so that it would definitely disengage. 6. Patience. I found that the new oil took a while to help. I don't think I gave the Redline enough time to work its way through the synchro rings, etc. 7. Daily patience. The shifts into 2 and 3 can be rough in the morning if it is a bit cool Normal. 8. Attention to detail. Make sure your floor mats if you have them do not work their way under the clutch. You need to get that sucker to the floor. 9. Turret oil. Not critical, but feels nicer to shift with. 10. Seat position. My wife struggled until she was positioned correctly. So yeah- there's loads you can do to improve your shifting feel.

[@horatiosmith5827]

Enjoyed the video HB. The change from first to second is the primary concern. It's slightly crunchy unless you take your time, exacerbated in cold weather. It's a common and known condition of the MX5 NC. 6 speed. The most economical solution is this gear oil, which helps significantly. There is a retro fix from Japan, but it is prohibitively expensive. The gear selector plate was done as a precaution as they have been known to perish in older cars. I enjoyed the meeting up with Steve and Charlie, dedicated, knowledgeable, and professional. I wish them every success in the future and highly recommend them.

[@cbuzz2371]

There's separate oil in the gearstick turret too

[@TNDTutoring]

Like the compressed air trick for the gear oil if pumps not working 👍

[@HomeBuilt]

Thanks

[@urisluckin5253]

Followed both your suggestions and the gear change on my 2013 MX5 NC is like hot knife through molten butter...thanks and more, please

[@HomeBuilt]

Brilliant, glad its helped.

[@MalteseMafia]

Great job 👍 love the tip about checking the filler cap before draining 👍 great tip on using the compressed air on the oil container. Everydays a school day.

[@youmongrel]

I just used some of the same Ford Motorsport lube as in the transmission oil change.

[@turboman6680]

Great video. I have a mk3 also and planning on doing diff and gearbox oil along with cleaning and treating the underside. Can you help by advising where i should have axle stands please and also where to jack up? Thanks, D

[@slackdaddy1912]

Works like a charm, I use the same gear oil in both the manual trans and the differential, works perfectly.😊

[@HomeBuilt]

I think a few people have tried it now

[@trucker5722]

I wonder how many lads have been ripped off for a new MX5 gear box when really all it needed was a oil change. Hope you get your 10k subs soon I have pointed a few of my mates you your Chanel, as they say every little helps.

[@HomeBuilt]

Very true. Thanks for sharing the channel, I'm sure we will hit the 10k soon 🤞 Thanks again.

[@scuba6936]

I believe you should mix the mt-90 with the redline shockproof 50/50.

[@scuba6936]

Did that with mine, 50/50 mix. Smooth as when changing and whine quieter

[@Badger66]

Love the compressed air as a pump!

[@HomeBuilt]

Thanks mate

[@richardmounfield7822]

Handy to know Steven. Maybe spray the underneath with the old gearbox oil to slow the tin worm advancing on it.

[@HomeBuilt]

Cheers Richard. Someone had undersealed the whole car but didn't clean and treat it first so its coming back to us to have Lanoguard applied.

[@richardmounfield7822]

@@HomeBuilt Wife has an 04 cooper thats usually off the road more than its on and thinking its defo time for something sprayed under it to try and protect it so look forward to the lanoguard demo.

[@rhythmstic]

Thanks for the gearbox oil tip.

[@HomeBuilt]

No problem 👍

[@Citroenloeb48]

Perfect as usual lads

[@norb0254]

I will guess that the american oil is thicker ,.if the syncro is worn ,then it can't slow down the bulk ring to enable a smooth crunch free change ..So a thicker oil will help the synchro slow the bulk ring ..But it seems to work so result .....The biggest cause to excessive synchro wear is people keeping their hand on the gearlever ..Instead of letting it go and it sitting happily with no pressure on the synchro they ,keep their hand on the lever applying constant pressure to the synchro which causes premature wear...good video

[@HomeBuilt]

No mate, its the same grade that we would use, i think its to do with the additives they use maybe but it seems to have very good coating properties when i tetsed it. Just far bettet quality i think. I kniw what you mean about the syncros but these MX5 's tend to do it from very low miles, dealers often tell you its a characteristic of the car.

[@drumtochtyglen]

Sorry you have not done your homework on this one. The GL4 spec for gear oil does not demand any specific viscosity at lower temperatures. Most GL4 oils only look at meeting the 40C and 100C approx viscosity or oil thicknesses. In the case of Redline MT90 and also Castrol Syntrans Multivehicle now with a name change to Castrol Transmax Multivehicle 75/W/90 both fully synthetic oils. Do not use any other Castrol gear oil in these boxes that is not termed Multivehicle. They are both 75W/90 grades, the oil blenders have used the latest technologies to get the oil thinner at lower temperatures of say -30C and 0C than other GL4 gear oils. While still having good high temperature properties and having the correct thickness at 100C. As noted by the Homebuilt guys the oil blenders have used all the tricks in the oil additive tool box. Good results on the Mazda 6 speed also comes from Millers CRX 75/90 NT

[@qdawg4033]

Back in the day I used molyslip in the old mini's if the gearboox was wee bit notchy,seemed to do the trick 👍

[@HomeBuilt]

I've heard that was good but i havent seen it for a while, ive used the Lucas and Slick 50 before

[@MrSunnyBhoy]

Great video , never thought this issue could be fixed 👌🏾

[@HomeBuilt]

Nice easy fix

[@Paulb19]

Hello Lads hope you are all well , great video, what happened to the BMW X5 is it still a project ?

[@HomeBuilt]

Hi Paul, Black one has gone back to the customer and the silver one is still in my drive at home waiting on me deciding what to do with it 🤣

[@phill282011]

Where did u get ur box of crush washers and o rings from. Do u have a link? ❤️

[@HomeBuilt]

AUTOPARTS mate, I can get one out to you if you need one.

[@phill282011]

Yeah would like a link for it

[@ianjsallen100]

Cool KZbin thanks , we're abouts in Scotland aew you based ?.

[@MegaWayfarer]

In my NC2 it was in fact the gear shift guide that improved it by 70% but still looking for a 100% fix. Oil has not made a difference. BBR suggest weak selector fork which is revised in the NC3 box.

[@mazboost]

Its the lockout plate the makes the major difference in shifting between 1-2, not the oil. The material gets worn away from the shifter rubbing against the plate

[@ragnarironspear1791]

Keep up the great work love the videos 👌🏻

[@HomeBuilt]

Thanks mate

[@garypreston266]

Great Fix Guy's

[@HomeBuilt]

Cheers Gary

[@fulwell1]

I've used Opie Oils for a number of things in the past and can happily vouch for their good service - really swift and good folks to deal with. Another name to keep in your memory is Tayna Batteries - absolutely superb and really well priced.

[@stevo4649]

thankyou gentlemen,a couple of great tips re the gearbox etc,,never seen the compresser trick before,👌👌,and the next project sounds great,,👍

[@HomeBuilt]

Thanks Stevo, ive used that trick a few times, charlie laughed at me and asked if i was trying to impress him with basic physics 🤣🤣🤣 hes a wee bugger sometimes 😂

[@stewartwalker7740]

Absolutely amazing stevie and Charlie another amazing video and Peter said the Audi is running as sweet as a nut

[@HomeBuilt]

Cheers Stewart. Imnglaf hes happy with the Audi, it was a nice drive back from wheel alignment.

[@johnelbro127]

Enjoyed this video and good info. 👍👍👍👍

[@HomeBuilt]

Thanks John

[@raymondpearce5245]

A great job guys

[@larsson7709]

C’mon guys ..smash the bell ..let’s help Stevie and Charlie get those 10k subs 🏁These guys work super hard in the background to bring us good solid content👍

[@HomeBuilt]

Thank you, we really appreciate the support.

[@dielaughing73]

Well worth pre-emptively replacing that reverse lockout plate. It's a common fault on NCs for it to wear and just generally be a pain in the backside. Mine was WAY too easy to slip into reverse when taking off, and with no gear indicator on the dash it was easy to miss. New plate solved the problem (which was evident at 82,000km). I will add that as an Aussie I went with the Penrite GL4 oil with added "Shifteze" additive. It's only been in for about one tank of fuel but it has already improved out of sight

[@ThomasSwegsda-sd9zv]

I went to order the mt90 and shockproof and it came in a pack labelled as gearbox service kit but it only has one bottle of mt90 and one shockproof and it says both go in the gearbox so I contacted redline by email and they said don’t use shockproof at all got any advice please

[@ShiftyIntentions]

The only trans fluid that should ever go in any NC MX5 transmission (and Mazda RX8 for that matter) is Ford Motorcraft XT-M5-QS. These transmissions are used in a variety of cars, and have brass syncros. For whatever reason, the Ford fluid seems to work best. It’s expensive, and sounds strange to put “Ford fluid in a Mazda,” but trust me… it’s worth it.

[@ArtVandelayOfficial]

The AZ6 transmission is nothing to do with Ford It's made my Aisin which is Toyota Japan It's used in the S15,Brz/86 and Altezza

[@mathster]

How much oil for the dif please?

[@philtree5668]

I believe it's just under a US quart so about a liter?

[@johnelbro127]

Meant to say video was bit ‘foggy’. ✅✅

[@HomeBuilt]

I did notice that, dirty lens, amateurs 🤣

[@limpethead]

I have bought a NC. And there is deffo something not right with the gears. Crunchy.

[@Music-Tech-Life]

What's the issue?

[@HomeBuilt]

Crunchy gear changes

[@foggyf8662]

Hi Guys, I've been using Redline Oil for a year now in my 09 NC, it is fantastic. I also use Redline engine oil which is equally as good and it boosts your MPG by a good 5-6mpg, its expensive but excellent. Foggy

[@KN-kh3zh]

Fab video guys 👍👊

[@vokesy78]

Weak aluminium (aluminum) selector and a weak synchro are the problem. Oil will not fix. Speaking from experience.

[@HomeBuilt]

Oil has fixed it mate, even the owner has commented on the video to say how good the fix is.