Stock is what, 75W-90, right?
So 70W-90 would help the cold-shifting issues... though I'm curious as to how well 70W-80 would hold up.

:edit:

I was wondering what fluid Mazda uses for OEM?

i am at about 2000. i'll try to remember and get you a more exact #. it's funny you're installing our tranny after all the complaining i hear everyone doing about how much our tranny sucks!

ha!

i don't mind it, though. bunch of whiners!

The final gear ratio is .843 i think and thats REALLY tall. The stock tranny in my car's final gear ratio is .68, so you can see why I would ask. Gearing wise you guys could get an extra 2-3 mpg if your tranny wasn't as tall, which is why I would like to have the 6'th gear exchanged with the fifth, throw the 5th out and have AISIN make a new 6th gear with a ratio of .65-.68 ish.

Oh and about the tranny, I have found a tranny that will easily bolt right up, actually several and from what i have heard they all SUCK so thats why I'm here LOL

I have about 400 miles now after changing from Amsoil to Motorcraft.
Motorcraft is smoother.
Took about 200 miles for the LSD whine to go away.

My car has never had a smoother shifting feeling as it does today, and the XT-M5-QS fluid might have made the biggest difference (about 500 miles on it so far). My current setup is as follows:

JBarone SSP
TWM Shifter Base Bushings
3" shifter extension
CP-E RMM

got to try this, sounds promising. this transmission is a pain in the ass.

Anyone know any difference in the Gen2s?

I know this is the Gen1 forum but you guys seem to have the more readily avail answers and smarts.

I have a 2010 MS3 and second gear rubs at 600 miles (now at 3k miles) when cold. It's freaking crap and notchy when cold. Lately i have to force her into gears when the trans is cold. I feel as if synchro damage is evident soon.
I shouldn't have to bear a brand new car.....ridiculous,......but I love her. lol

So consensus is 3 qts........friction modifier or no? and anyone have any idea if the second gens trans is different?

Ugh, wanted to order the motorcraft stuff this weekend... but they only have 1 quart in stock on that site! lame.

Just so you know the GEN 2's trans use a different thickness oil than the Gen 1's, so this Motorcraft stuff is probably not the right one to use it.

I heard Amsoil makes one that's to specs but I'm not sure how good it is.

General consensus is to runt he motorcraft tons of GenPus are running it with tons of luck.

Mine turned out to be a bad second synchro and was rebuilt by the dealer. They denied and denied until it start rubbing just to get her into second. She shifts like butter now since it's warmer and the rebuilt. Once it's broken in i'm changing to Ford Syn.

Anyone happen to know what the thread pitch/size is on the gearbox drain plug? I think i'm going to try and find an aftermarket magnetic one.

24mm

thats the head size not the thread or pitch size

Atleast he tried. I have magnetic drain plugs for both the oil drain plug and transaxle drain plug on order. I ordered them from magneticdrainplug.com and it was only around 22$ shipped if I remember correctly. (ordered them at work, so thats where the invoice, etc. is.) They didn't have a direct listing for the transaxle so I contacted technical support. They got back to me within a few hours, and had a plug they said should work, and they mentioned up front that if it didn;t work, they would get me the correct one asap. Great customer service so far. Also just ordered my motorcraft fluid. I'll report back in a week or two with all the information.

Just wanted to update with my recent tranny experience. I'm at about 8K miles on the motocraft fluid and my transmission started grinding really bad in 2nd again. I was ready to blame the trans fluid but then I replaced my 40K mile Medievil RMM with a new Torque Solutions mount, and now the transmission shifts better than brand new. No grinding at all in any gear and the shifter will even slip back in to first around 18-20 miles per hour with no effort. It just slides in to gear now without having to wait for the syncros or force anything.

If anyone with transmission issues hasn't replaced their RMM I would highly recommend it.

Well seeing all this praise I'm in. probably pick some up soon and give it a shot because i grind like a mother from 2nd-3rd, probably because ive only driven 5k in manual cars and i learned in the MS3 (Bad call, those RE50s arent meant for several burnouts repeatedly.) So ill grab some tomorrow and pray that it helps. almost got beat by the new v6 mustang due to a miss shift. That would have been terrible.

GM has something similar.

I called Ford today using United Auto's (my place of employment - I'm in commercial parts) account... $18 and change. Fuck you, Koerner Ford.

gotta say... i swapped to the motorcraft shit about 2 months ago.... havent really felt any improvements. I never had any complaints before... but everyone said it was buttery smooth.... maybe my shit was always smooth, who knows... just saying... it didnt make any changes for me.
changed at 23,000 miles, im currently at 25,000.

Yeah I've been Red Line -> Amsoil -> Red Line and noticed a slightly louder whine from Amsoil. Never tried Motorcraft but Red Line gives me no issues or obnoxious noise so sticking with it.

I just switched from Redline to the Motorcraft stuff in my '08 with 50k miles.

It shifts much better and the loud diff whine is gone. Also my teeth are whiter and I'm even more attractive to the opposite sex than I already was.

AMSoil, which I had before the Redline, had diff whine as soon as I installed it. It was quieted with the Redline but gradually got louder over 30k miles. Perhaps some component of the oil wore out.

But the Motorcraft stuff is way better than either Redline or Amsoil. I wish I'd switched a year ago.

I have diff whine with my RP. It works better than what I can only assume was stock.

Can you both run faster and jump higher?

Purchased my 2007 Mazdaspeed 3 with 83,000 miles (don't know the history) and it was sometimes grinding going into 2nd and CERTAINLY when it was cold. Overall I thought the shifting was good.

I replaced it this weekend (87,000 miles) with the Motorcraft XT-M5-QS and thought it made it smoother in every way. I wouldn't say it blew my mind but I certainly think it's smoother and more enjoyable overall. The real test for me will come this Winter (Michigan native) as last Winter shifting was pretty horrible.

Man, you guys have me so hopeful. I've been having crazy 3rd gear grind for many miles and I've tried so many options (RMM, shifter plate, shifter bushings, shifter weight). I'm hoping this resolves and shifts like butter (as many have said).

Alright joined the club this came in today will be changing fluid nxt week & c how it goes

http://img.tapatalk.com/45700e60-da65-6c9a.jpg

Give us an update on how you think it is so far! How long does synthetic tranny fluid usually last? I have about 30-40k miles on the Redline MT-90 and wondering if I should change it at some point. Also, I have had issues with the tranny popping out of 2nd gear and have the AWR RMM. Anybody still have this mount? I have had it on for about 50k miles.

^^^noticed an improvement after a few days over factory fluid .But most noticeable difference is in cold weather the transmission feels like it runs so much smoother.
Shifting is a lot smoother in all gears.
:rolleyes:

145k on my 6. Using Amsoil with no issues. I am thinking about trying the XT-M5-QS in my sons RX8 because it grinds on higher speed down shifts into second gear.

I NEED SOME ANSWERS
 

So does this stuff really work?? I too am also having this 2nd gear grind when the car is cold.

Gonna swap out OEM Tranny fluid for the Motorcraft when I do my spin-on conversion. I have no grinding issues. Shifts take a bit more muscle on cold mornings, more noticeably in 1-2 but betters when it warms up. Tranny whine is there but it doesn't bother me. We'll see how this stuff turns out. I'll update after extensive "testing".

Update: Did the spin-on conversion and tranny fluid swap with the MotorCraft stuff and put on about 100 miles today. Feels like the oil warms up faster allowing for easier shifting when cold out. Shifting is noticeably smoother and even better when up to temp. I don't know how much better it can get but I am happy with the outcome so far.

I drained 2.5 quarts and it took three to fill, lol.

Are people putting the car up on jackstands at all 4 corners to do this? The car has to be level to put the correct amount of fluid in, which is keeping me from changing it out; don't want to put too much or too little in.

Jack up the side that the fill plug is on. Fill it with fluid. Put a drain pan under it and let it down off the jack. When the fluid is done running out, jack it up and install the plug. Now you have the correct amount.

Any reason not to use Mobil1 75w90?

I used two jack stands up front and then jacked the rear to level out the speed.

So just got my car back from the dealership for a tranny fluid change. Not sure what was in my car as I bought it second hand about 7k ago, but after the change they did today, I now have diff noise. What can I do to get rid of it? Does the motocraft XT-M5-QS have any differential noise when used?

Since I sell the XT-M5-QS, I shall have to try it :D

My car just hit 40k and in the mornings doesn't like 1st and 2nd. No grinding, but hard to shift.

gonna have to try this

I changed mine tranny fluid out on friday and put in XT-M5-QS. after about 200 miles of driving i have to say the shifts are definitely smoother. the clunk going from 1st to 2nd is less pronounced as well..

this shit really is the real deal.

if your still wondering about this stuff dont... do the swap now.

The gear shifts are smother forsure, but what I really noticed is at wot it seems like the pull is smoother. Dunno if anyon else has experienced this.

No. But gear changes are a pleasure rather than a cringe in anticipation of grinding now.

I've decided to jump in and change my tranny fluid last week, I had some Motul 75w90 GL4/5 gear oil laying around, I do have to say I've never had any shifting or gear issue with the stock fluid with 28000kms on the car, after I replaced the tranny fluid, I did notice it's hard to shift into 2nd gear when car it's cold, after it warms up than it's perfect shifting.....maybe next time i will give the ford fluid a try....

I did the Motorcraft XT-M5-QS this last weekend on my MS6 (not a fun job, try and find a 24mm offset closed-end wrench and remove the intake). It wasn't that different at first, but after 600 miles, there is a REAL difference. Before it could sometimes feel like metal on metal through the shifter, and that is gone.

I got it for $19 at a local dealer.

I did the Motorcraft XT-M5-QS this last weekend on my MS6 (not a fun job, try and find a 24mm offset closed-end wrench and remove the intake). It wasn't that different at first, but after 600 miles, there is a REAL difference. Before it could sometimes feel like metal on metal through the shifter, and that is gone.

I got it for $19 at a local dealer.

I truly hope you mean $19 per quart...otherwise you got the best deal on the planet on that stuff...

Sweet baby jesus, if I had got it for $6.33 a quart I would have bought a thousand of them. The 3 actually came to $57 altogether.

It takes about 2k miles for it to break in.

When it's cold and windy here, I get a very slight grinding feel. Now that it's summer it goes into 2nd fairly easily (takes a bit more force than the other gears) if you do it quickly, but I notice that if you hover between the gears too much (1 going down to 2) and try to ease it in, you can feel the gears bumping and then grind if you hover there too long. This only happens when the car is moving. When the car is stopped, no grinding or bumpiness is noticed while playing with the shifter in any way. I actually had this problem a bit with the 97 V6 Camaro I had after I got them to replace my clutch. Gears would not engage easily when the car was in motion and 3rd would grind in winter and was always harder to get into. Is this resistance to go into gear when a car is in motion normal? I drove the Camaro for 5 years that way and it never seemed to hurt anything or ever get any worse.

Can anybody link me to a How-to on transmission oil change please?
Thanks

This one's not bad, I used it when I changed out my transmission fluid to XT-M5-QS...

HOW TO: Transmission fluid change on MS3 *updated with some new info 11-15-07*

I did it a few weeks ago. Nice improvement. It isn't a miracle cure that suddenly makes the tranny become a joy to drive, but it is better than it was. Weird thing is that after a few days I had to adjust the shifter. Once the new stuff displaced the old it started getting notchy, whereas before it was just stubborn. Adjustment cleared that up.

I was ready to sell my Gen 1 until I found this post. Changed over this weekend and 2-3 shift stopped grinding! No idea why, but the car seems quicker too. A friend with a 335 usually blows me away going up a hill to work, but after the change I can stay with him (we both back out around 90). I'm not saying this is a world beater now, but a definite improvement.

Man I hope this stuff works....I have seriously reached the point of just selling my car! I love everything about the MS3, It is by far the sexiest looking hatchback (and i hate hatcbacks) but these transmission woes have pushed me to the point of breaking. I'm going this weekend to try this fluid out! Hopefully it works as well for me as it has everyone else, other wise Im selling it :(

hm, just to clarify - you guys are talking about tranny fluid, yet mentioning diff noise.. how so?

The differential is integrated into the transmission. They share fluid. Any lube you put into the transmission will be used by the LSD as well.

So, I believe my current dilemma is somewhat related so I'm very, very curious about shared insights here. Just recently (past week), after an install of a high performance clutch (10k ago) my car seems to absolutely hate reverse. Forward gears have always been finicky, but this is an odd one. The new clutch has a lot more pressure behind it as it should.

Example of issue: at cold start up with slightly higher rpms, I back out of my garage, but when I push the pedal down for perhaps a second time and start to release, the catch is instantaneous and the car bolts backwards. And now it gets interesting: The pedal stays mashed to the floor and the stick won't move and the whole car starts moaning. I brake, shut it down, it disengages and the pedal comes back up. Forward gears seem unaffected but also seem evermore uncertain. This repeats itself randomly and seems to occur if I'm having to nurse the clutch in and out when I'm leaving a parking garage or lot.

Car is heavily modded but used as a daily driver and rarely gets beaten. With that said, I'm also in bumper to bumper almost daily for runs between Boston and DC. Lots of stop and go.

So perhaps a fluid issue or something more?

So I am about to hit 30K on my gen2 and am thinking about replacing the trans fluid. My first question is: I just had the driver's side front axle replaced, should I wait longer before I swap fluid?

Second question: I have read thru the thread and it seems like theGen2 are supposed to run 75W80(atleast from the factory) instead of the 75W90 that the Motorcraft stuff is that I was planning on using. So 80 or 90? Motorcraft or Red Line MT90?

I tried the Motul stuff and it also seemed to be a bit grindier than the Motorcraft fluid for the first 200 miles or so. After that it is fucking awesome. Better than the Motorcraft. It is by far the best fluid I've tried so far. The gear changes are just a click now. Paid $75 for 3 quarts but was well worth the money. Next time I'll try the Eneos oil. OS Gicken recommended it as the best one last time I talked to them over the phone.

Are you referring to this oil? It is quite a bit cheaper than other alternatives at $57 for 6 quarts...that's 2 transmissions worth of fluid. ENEOS Synthetic Gear Oil 75W90 MT Fluid (6 QT)
Only thing is that gear oil says NON LSD differentials.

Yes. That's the one. It's from the Nippon oil company or some shit which is a big OEM oil supplier in Japan. The guy at OS Gicken said that it's the best oil they've tried for their LSDs even with the disclaimer that it's not for LSDs. It does not have a friction modifier which might make the LSD whine a little. But friction modifiers are like nitrometh if you know what I mean.

Well for the price, if it works as good or better than the Ford, it will be a great find.

I'm surprised that there's a vast number of owners with transmission issues.
- Gears popping out
- 3rd gear jam
- 3rd gear grind

I don't have any of those issues. I guess I lucked out? (1st gen MS3 here)

Anyways, long time Ford Motorcraft user here and I'm about to go on my 2nd oil change. I was reading that half a bottle of Friction Modifier is the perfect mix between buttery smooth shifts and taking care of LSD whine. My dealership absentmindedly pour the entire bottle in. Nothing's wrong with the transmission, but this time I'm going to write in bold, "ONLY HALF A BOTTLE OF FRICTION MODIFIER".

Or do it yourself...

Changed out from mt90 and put about 100 miles on it, no more dif chatter at low speeds and engagement seems much smoother, so what is the general opinion on "friction modifier" half bottle? full bottle? any at all?

Anyone use Redline MTL?
 

Just curious if anyone has tried the Redline MTL 75W80 fluid? It is the only one that I seem to find that is actually the recommended viscosity of a synthetic oil. The higher vis Ford oil and Redline MT-90 seem to have good reports, but I would prefer sticking with the recommended viscosity. Thanks

Okay to some people this may seem like comparing apples to oranges but I have some experience with t5 transmission.

There are two main versions of the t5 , one is classified as regular' and one classified as world class, the difference is world class' uses a needle bearing cartridge between the gear and the shaft and the regular version was a metal to metal gear to shaft, metal to metal transmissions require very thick oil and the world class requires a thinner oil such as dextron3.....yeah I know what you are thinking, that is automatic transmission fluid, right?

If you use thick oil on a world class it would destroy the needle bearings, it would basically gum them up, the oil has to be thin enough to be easily displaced through the bearing cartridges otherwise these bearing will not be free to essentially do their intended job which is to reduce friction....the aisin bg6/ am26-r uses gear needle bearing to shaft, this is why I mention the comparison concerning oil, but we use simple uncoated conical brass synchronizers, t5's uses a friction coated sync's....this also impacts the type of additives the oil must have or not have.

Just something to think about.

Having worked at Torrington Co, that manufactures needle bearings I agree that you want to be careful about using thicker oil. Under light loading the needle bearings can skid with thick oil which could ultimately shorten transmission life. For that reason among others I would want to stick with the factory specs. So far, I don't see any transmission issues, though only 2K miles so far.

Hey guys,

i'm in Europe, and we don't get Motorcraft here.

I've change my trans oil to something specs like GL5, but I hate how it feels. First gear is pretty resistant to disengage.. could this be cause of the oil?

If so, what would you guys recommend? We have Valvoline, Castrol, Mannol, Mobil1, Liqui Moly, Shell, Neste over here, of the more famous brands.

Anything tried and working..?

I believe the motorcraft we get here in the states is rebranded German vavoline, I could be wrong but you could check this out.

Never use anything like redline shockproof it is for differentials only and it will destroy synchros quickly ... I know people who have done this on other platform fwd transmission.

Another thing I noticed is that this transmission uses double cone synchro for 1/2/3/4 and single cone synchros for 5&6 so we are dealing with coated and uncoated synchros, dual cones use a thin layer of friction material which is similar to brake or clutch plate material ie it needs a lubricant that displaces well.

Just did the motorcraft switch for my car along with redline in the pto and diff. OMG what a difference, its just butter

I"ll be trying out the motul 75w90 gear 300 ls pretty soon. Doesnt really help you but if you havent changed out the fluid yet, it adds another option.

I use the redline 75w-80 in my pu, shifts like butter. I tried the 90 and had horrible grind when cold into 2nd and 3rd. May be able to get away with -90 in summer but I wouldn't recommend it.
Ford doesn't actually make there own oils they contract it out to major oil companies I'm still waiting to hear from People that have used it for a couple cycles.

I have valvoline in now.

Don't like it. First gear is sticky to disengage. I can feel the synchros spinning sometimes when cold.

Sounds like you should drain out that pdq (pretty damn quick) and try something else.

I was just going to post up a raging endorsement for it but I might as well agree with you.

One problem with having 2 diff's tho is spending is $110 in fluids.. But I wish I dropped the loot sooner.

After a week of driving it, the Motul doesnt seem to like the cold. Notchy, doesnt like to find 2nd from either 1st or 3rd. After a half hour of driving, its better but you still feel it. Either that, or they put the wrong fluid in the tranny. But in todays weather (car's ambient temp said 16 C.. sweeeet), it was butter.

valvoline
 

I was in advanced auto looking at gear lube for 2nd gen Mazda speed 3. Ford dealer only had 1 qt of GL4 Tranny juice. I found Valvoline full synthetic 75w90 for limited slip and meets GL4 and GL5 standards. Best part...$10 a quart. Anyone have thoughts on Valvoline? Thanks in advance

Look up about 5 posts.

Sorry to sound dumb, but what does that all mean. What product would you put in your tranny?

Wouldn't just changing out the stock fluid, with fresh stock fluid do the same thing? Most of the complaints seem to occur later in the life of the transmission.

My noob answer is yes but no. Look into the price of the OEM fluid compared to after market options, see if its worth it to you. Generally for myself, I dont like replacing OEM with OEM. I also think since if you go to mazda for even an oil change and dont tell them, they'll use non-synthetic so you have to wonder how good the OE/Mazda tranny fluid is.

As for what product, so far it seems the "ford" motorcraft, redline are the winners while I'm on the fence about Motul.

** auto merged here but

Another update regarding the Motul:

2nd is popping out lately like its going out of style. It hadnt done it in so long before the fluid change and it literally did it 4x in about 45 minutes. Both when speedy was cold and warmed up. No grind just a quick pop and a wtf as my engines rev's. I'm going to run with this though until the temps warm up and see how it behaves. I'm hoping its just an adjustment thing of some sort.

Has anyone on here used the GM synthetic transmission fluid. Part # 12346190? I read alot about the motor craft stuff breaking down. There is little mention of this fluid via search but those that use it say good things. I hate shifting my car in the winter especially 2nd now 1st sometimes needs a little extra force to engage.

Breaking down? I've been running XT-M5-QS for over 100,000 miles- changing it every 30,000. No problems here...

Lots of people have tried other brands, such as the Motul or Redline; none work as well as the Ford Motorcraft stuff.

Under hard conditions or heat after use it degrades lots of reports about it coming out like black water and ruined synchros on other forums. I tried to post links but my phone messed up and I have to leave for work I'll post them tonight. I'm ordering the GM stuff my friend put it in his because he found similar information on the motor craft stuff. I'll report my results going from stock fluid.

LOL good luck with that. Let us know how it goes.

There are "other forums"? Who knew?
Could you post refs as promised, or are you a just a GM troll?
(yes, i know this is necromancing, but I'm about to do the Shifter Pivot Seal replacement and am planning switch to Motorcraft. This breakdown claim needs to be challenged...)

Meh, I've seen worse neck romancing.

I vote for GM troll; I've been running the Motorcraft fluid since 30k miles using 30k mile change intervals. I just passed 148k miles; I'd think my transaxle would have died quite a while back if the Motorcraft fluid was actually breaking down in service...

Should I change my MTF again?
 

I bought my 2007 ms3 about 6 months ago, it had 25k miles on it but the tranny is so noisy and grinds 2nd and 3rd gear so I changed the fluid with motul and its the exact same. Think that motorcraft stuff is really the cure?

Where is the clutch releasing in relation to the floor during shifts? Have you tried to adjust the pedal or shifter at all?

The noise is definitely concerning, but it seems really odd that fluid would be causing the grinding of gears.

Its about 1/4 of the pedal being released it seems ok I think but not sure. I thought at first it was cause its cold out but it really doesnt get much better when warmed up. Its not a huge grind more of a notch in the 1-2 and 2-3 and when the car is at idle and quiet inside you can hear the transmission its a noisy car lol. I might try switching fluids to that motorcraft stuff just wanted to check. I should have just done that to begin with.

I posted this in another thread

MTL in my Mazdaspeed 3 | ATF, Differential, Trans, Brakes, P/S | Bob Is The Oil Guy

According to this guy the ford stuff isn't good in the 2nd gens.

That noise your hearing is probably just the transmission spinning, there's a difference between grind and notch, you could fix the notchyness with some aftermarket bushings or tranny mount, maybe the ford stuff might help but its not for sure it'll get rid of the notchyness.

... where the newest post is just over 3 years old.

And his post 3 weeks old...

Douche.

Whoa whoa. I thought we were ganna be nice and give everyone retard awards on MSF now? LOL

I just did. Guy was trying to troll a 3 week old post. Why?

He wins douchenozzle of the day award.

Because it was towards the top of the list in this forum. Figured if the unicorn jizz was a problem, it would have become quite clear in the the three years since the last post in the BITOG thread.

He vicariously resurrected a 3 year old thread through MSF. I guess we don't give shit to people over that anymore.

I completely agree with the douchenozzle assessment though. :bigok:

Can we discuss Gen2 vs gen 1 transmission oil requirements? I am currently running red line mtl 75w80 in my 2012.

Gen2 list 75w80 and gen1 list 75w90. I am currently running with the MTL like you are, I have a gen2. Shifts like stock fluid sometimes better, only con is lsd noise. This is for me at least.

In my case, after 60k miles on stock fluid, MTL is much better in terms of shifting. I can hear the LSD as well but I don't think that's an issue. I autocross the car hard with zero issues.

Why so long on the oem oil? How often you auto x? Any track time?

I just recently changed my transmission oil to the MOTUL GEAR 300 75W90. Car shifts great. Highly recommend this oil.