New guy, general service / tune advice.

specmiata · Postby **specmiata** » Fri Sep 10, 2010 11:28 am

Hi all, i am a 'new guy' to the forum, but a long time MX5 fan having owned three NAs to date. My current car of which i have only had around 1 year is purely a club car and i am about to give it a service after it being hidden away for most of winter. Thought i would 'lash out' and get new plugs and leads as well as a general oil change and tune. Just like your recommendations on oils (engine,gearbox,diff) / plugs / leads etc.
The car is an '89 NA6, with extractors, big exhaust and cold air intake (through firewall), i hadn't even got around to doing the 14 degree timing 'tweek' yet either so that will be on the agenda also. Thanks guys.....

manga_blue · Postby **manga_blue** » Fri Sep 10, 2010 1:31 pm

Nothing like a good freshen up before spring, is there? FWIW my recs are:

Engine oil: the cheaper end of the real synthetics is a good start. Castrol Edge 5W-30 is popular here. It retails at $50 but is often on special down to low 30s.
Oil filter: Mazda OEMs are (usually) cheap and work well
Gear oil: it's really worth lashing out here. The slickness of the change is really sensitive to oils in our gearboxes. RedLine MT90 is magic at $50 from http://www.performancelub.com/Redline%20pricelist.htm for the 2 quarts you need. Harold posts it at pretty low rates if you're not in Melbourne.
Diff oil: any good brand GL-5 SAE 90 oil will do
Brake and clutch fluid: any good brand of DOT4 or SuperDOT4 will do.
Plugs: standard NGKs are all you need
Leads: first question is do you really need to change them? A race ignition shop like http://www.performanceignition.com.au in Mitcham (Vic) will test the leads and caps for you. If they're stuffed then they replace the leads on the spot with quality components. They charge around $50 for a full set of leads fitted. Otherwise it's very easy to overspend on leads for specifications higher than you'd ever need.

specmiata · Postby **specmiata** » Fri Sep 10, 2010 3:59 pm

Thanks, great advice. i knew you guys would have all the answers. Let's face it i don't want to spend anymore than i need too. Re: leads, i had just read in some posts that they are a 'weak link' so not knowing how old they are thought i would invest $100-$120 in a new set. Maybe worth the test first.
Looking forward to being part of the 'community'.
Thanks again......Tim