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Hello. When cold, my 1993 NA6 seems to experience far more clunky gear changes. As the car warms up, gear changes are far smoother and quieter. Could this be something as simple as the incorrect transmission fluid? I did not notice this during the summer, but am seeing it regularly on cold starts at the moment.

Hey mate, not a real problem but i have found switching to Redline transmission oil solved the problem your talking about, my car is also a 93' na6. hope it helps.

Super common winter complaint from every manual car on the planet.

Change the fluid.

Dann

Thanks for the replies.... I have seen Redline mentioned a few times, but have never stumbled across any in auto shops. Any clues as to any of the chains that carry it?

Thanks again

Troy

None, its a real performance fluid like amsoil. Go to a performance shop/internetz.

Dann

I'm sure some of our forum sponsors stock redline products, MX5 Mania do as that is where I got mine, check out the forums sponsors and go from there

Thanks! Didn't think of MX5 Mania, even though I have got stuff from them before.

Nulon 75W90 Fully synthectic will fix your problems

Thanks Spikes

After searching for Redline MT90 locally (and failing miserably), I walked into my local Autobarn and had a chat. They advised me to use the Nulon product, so I figured it was worth a try. It cannot be worse than the fluid in there at the moment! While the car has only done 140000 and has always been serviced by Mazda, I could not specifically see when the last transmission fluid replacement was done.

As I am horribly impatient, rather than waiting for some MT90 to arrive by snail mail, since I had some time to spare this weekend (which is rare), I thought I would try the Nulon. I chose the 75W90 Performance Smooth Shift, which is what they recommended for an MX-5, so we will see how it goes. Once I have done the change, I will report the results. Its not as pricey as the MT90 ($89 for four litres), so it works well it will be a bargain. I was not tempted by the $30 / 4 ltr options!

Penrite manual gear oil has always worked for me.

Noddycar wrote:Thanks Spikes

After searching for Redline MT90 locally (and failing miserably), I walked into my local Autobarn and had a chat. They advised me to use the Nulon product, so I figured it was worth a try. It cannot be worse than the fluid in there at the moment! While the car has only done 140000 and has always been serviced by Mazda, I could not specifically see when the last transmission fluid replacement was done.

As I am horribly impatient, rather than waiting for some MT90 to arrive by snail mail, since I had some time to spare this weekend (which is rare), I thought I would try the Nulon. I chose the 75W90 Performance Smooth Shift, which is what they recommended for an MX-5, so we will see how it goes. Once I have done the change, I will report the results. Its not as pricey as the MT90 ($89 for four litres), so it works well it will be a bargain. I was not tempted by the $30 / 4 ltr options!

yea i have the Nulon 75W90 smooth shift fully synthetic version for a few months and it definitely improved cold shift though most say that redline is tops though others say cant notice diff, each to their own eh................

Job done! Replaced the diff fluid as well, while I had it up on the stands...... Usually leave this stuff to my mechanic, but is fun to start messing with cars again. On first impressions, definitely smoother (especially from first to second). Time will tell!

Glad I did it, because the fluid in both diff and gearbox were looking a bit murky.

My local Burson's stocks Redline so it must be a stocked item for that group. The debate as to whether it is is necessary is another thing.

Grrrrr. About to raise the car again, as it appears to have a small leak at the drain plug. Stupid me did not change the fibre washer (because it looked perfect). Torqued the plugs etc, but still a leak. Looks like I will be re-draining and heading down to buy a fibre washer. Stupid!

I hope my local Repco has the corect sized washer.......

Noddycar wrote:Grrrrr. About to raise the car again, as it appears to have a small leak at the drain plug. Stupid me did not change the fibre washer (because it looked perfect). Torqued the plugs etc, but still a leak. Looks like I will be re-draining and heading down to buy a fibre washer. Stupid!

I hope my local Repco has the corect sized washer.......

Don't drain it, just turn the car upside down and the fluid will stay in!