Monday, October 20, 2014

99 Miata Build Part 6

The journey continues...

Today fellow autocrosser Harlan joined the action at the NMS South garage to assist with some fluid changes.  Harlan's tearing it up in a MINI Cooper S in Novice class but is looking for a Miata for next season, so it was time to get some hands on with the roadster.
I jacked up the car and started poking around the rear, inspecting everything when I saw a part I didn't recognize.  I grabbed it for some reason and it immediately broke free.  My initial guess that it was a CIA GPS tracking device from the car's previous life as a spy car turned out to be incorrect.
Almost even better, it turned out to be a hidden key.  Unlike the 2 keys I got with the car, this one is a Mazda OEM key and is in much better condition.  Woo hoo!  Now onto fluids...
After the weird sounding 1-2 shifts I thought I might as well flush and change the fluid in the transmission and differential.  The diff was pretty gunky and after a few minutes I managed to shave another few kilograms off the rear end of the car.  Both of these jobs were really easy to do with a hand from a friend to make sure all the fluid goes where it needs to.
Based on an experienced recommendation, I had some Amsoil oil that would work for the shifter turret, the transmission and the rear differential.  This is a sample of the gooey fluid from the shifter, but I guarantee both the transmission and diff looked equally bad.  Everything is now topped off with high quality fresh stuff and shifting is smooth like butter.

2 comments:

  1. Just curious if you measured the old 99 original rear differential fluid to see if it was low, or if you just filled it with new stuff.

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    1. It dribbled out when the fill plugs were first removed, so that was a good sign it was full. The goop that came out just about filled the containers of new stuff that was put in, so I think the levels were good.

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