1990 Miata with a freezing shifter.

[zmzmzm]

My father-in-law recently purchased a 1990 Miata with the 5-speed transmission. It starts and runs beautifully, and he has had all of the fluids changed within the last week. It's been pretty cold here recently, and every morning the transmission is frozen into gear (he usually leaves it in first when he parks it). In the afternoon, when the sun has warmed the car a little bit, the transmission shifts out of first just fine and drives like normal.

As I mentioned, the transmission fluid has been recently changed. It was full before the guys at Jiffy Lube changed it.

Has anybody experienced this before? If not, do you have any suggestions of what to check or replace?

Thanks.

[kcbhiw]

How many miles are on the car? What weight gear oil did the guys at Jiffy Lube :shudders: use in the transmission? Synthetic or dino? I haven't experienced a frozen shifter, but when the car is cold, it's almost impossible to get it into second and sometimes third without forcing it. This goes away when the car warms up.

[seatbackfurther]

Some people will argue, but people say not to leave your car in gear when parked(this is exception for hills). Just use your e-brake.

[zmzmzm]

The car has just less than 150,000 miles on it. I've never felt it myself, so I'm not certain as to how hard it would be to pull or push the shifter into place. The freezing transmission has happened since it has been so cold, long before the fluid change. It was thought by some that a fluid change might solve the problem. It didn't.

Thanks for the reply.

Chris

[Mazdaspeedgirl]

Try Neo or Redline synthetic in the gearbox.

[kcbhiw]

Originally posted by Mazdaspeedgirl
Try Neo or Redline synthetic in the gearbox.

That's what I was leading up to. After I replace my clutch, I'll be using RL in mine (MT90 IIRC).

[Mazdaspeedgirl]

Redline is good. Neo is better.

http://www.neosyntheticoil.com/75w90hd.htm

[Keith@FP]

I think there's water in your dad's transmission. Check the fluid in the shifter turret - it's highly unlikely the Jiffy Monkeys paid any attention to that. Tranny fluid has a very low freezing temperature.

Keith

[Mazdaspeedgirl]

Right. Most are like "what's a turret?"
:D

[zmzmzm]

That was my first thought, too, Mazdaspeedgirl... "What's a turret?"

I'll figure it out, though, and we'll take a look at that.

Thank you!

Chris

[Keith@FP]

The turret is basically the top part of the transmission where the shifter sits. You access it from inside the car. There's a separate reservoir of fluid in there that does have a tendency to get out as the rubber shift boots crack. I haven't seen it happen before, but it's quite possible that there's some water in there.

Check the Garage section of Miata.net for info on changing the transmission fluid. All you'll need is a Philips screwdriver and a 10mm wrench. And you'll probably need two new shift boots, they're about $20 each.

Keith

[Luv2RedLine]

I used an old turkey baster to get the old oil out. And once the shifter is out I put the oily end in a plastic bag. These are a few more "tools" I thought were handy to have around. Changing the turret is not difficult at all.
Changing the tranny fluid though is a little tougher. The drain on mine was on pretty tight and took some work to get loose. Once drained, there isn't much room to work with to fill it back up. Takes a little manuvering but its not a difficult task either.

[kcbhiw]

Originally posted by Luv2RedLine
I used an old turkey baster to get the old oil out. And once the shifter is out I put the oily end in a plastic bag. These are a few more "tools" I thought were handy to have around. Changing the turret is not difficult at all.
Changing the tranny fluid though is a little tougher. The drain on mine was on pretty tight and took some work to get loose. Once drained, there isn't much room to work with to fill it back up. Takes a little manuvering but its not a difficult task either.

Jackstands are your friend :). Just don't get any gear oil on your face, you'll be smelling it for the rest of the day, no matter how hard you scrub.

OT, Paul, I've updated the pics of the Miata progress on my imagestation. PM me if you need the link.

[Luv2RedLine]

Originally posted by kcbhiw
Jackstands are your friend :). Just don't get any gear oil on your face, you'll be smelling it for the rest of the day, no matter how hard you scrub.


Been there....when i replaced the clutch for some odd reason maybe getting too excited about finially getting to take the tranny off I didn't drain the transmission. The oil poured out the driveshaft end of the tranny allllll over the floor and over me and my dad. Ehhhh...that was horrible. Definately remembered to drain it when the engine was scheduled to come out.
It's definately not do-able without jack-stands.
Kevin...you have PM.

[Keith@FP]

Remember that the fluid was just changed. I'd start with the turret only, as it's quick, easy, doens't need jackstands, it's fairly clean and hasn't been addressed yet.

Keith

[mazdadan]

Originally posted by Keith@FP
The turret is basically the top part of the transmission where the shifter sits. You access it from inside the car. There's a separate reservoir of fluid in there that does have a tendency to get out as the rubber shift boots crack. I haven't seen it happen before, but it's quite possible that there's some water in there.

Check the Garage section of Miata.net for info on changing the transmission fluid. All you'll need is a Philips screwdriver and a 10mm wrench. And you'll probably need two new shift boots, they're about $20 each.

Keith

This is very common on the Mazda RX-7 too. I wound up replacing all of the rubber boots and seals and using some RTV so the turret would not leak. When the boots went bad you could smell the gear oil because it was being splotched into the underside of the leather shift boot. Oh and the turkey baster works like a charm :) No garage is complete without one.

Another thing to try if the turret isn't the problem. Try using Redline MTL instead of the MT-90. It is a slightly thinner viscosity and should smooth out the cold shifts. In my Mazdas I used to run MTL in the winter and MT-90 in the summer. I also recommend using a fluid transfer pump for filling the tranny. They are less than 15 bucks and make it really easy when working in the tight space where the filler is. Good Luck.

[zmzmzm]

Thanks for all the help and suggestions. We'll be replacing the shift boots on Saturday.

On a side note, when I told my dad where I heard that the shift turret might be the problem, he said "Really? People talk about Miatas on the internet?"

I just chuckled and shook my head... "Dad, you have no idea."

Chris

[Keith@FP]

Chris - you're not that far from us. See if you can talk your father into coming out to Grand Junction for the Flyin' Miata Open House in August. :)

Keith

[zmzmzm]

Actually, Keith, I've been trying to talk him into a slow drive to Grand Junction and a really fast drive home, but he's not interested in boost. Yet. We'll definitely see about the open house, though. I'm always ready for a good road trip!

Chris

[RAAZ227]

I had a similar problem and then I changed to Synthetic.

[zmzmzm]

We put new synthetic oil in the shifter turret yesterday. The car shifts a lot smoother, but it's frozen stiff again this morning. There was only a little oil that we had to remove, and just a few drops of water there, too.

I don't know what else it could be, so I guess he either won't drive it until it's warm again or will have to let it warm up and thaw out for 30 minutes every morning!

I'll let you know if we figure anything else out.

Chris

By the way, Keith, is there a date set for the FM open house in August? We'll have to give our wives plenty of advance notice! Unless they drive the Protege5 down I guess; then we'll all come.

[Mazdaspeedgirl]

Originally posted by Keith@FP
Chris - you're not that far from us. See if you can talk your father into coming out to Grand Junction for the Flyin' Miata Open House in August. :)

Keith

Open House, eh? I'll be there. Let me know the date please.

Thank you.

[Keith@FP]

It's always the third weekend in August. Aug 20-22 2004.

As for the freezing - there's not supposed to be anything in the transmission that will freeze! Try a new bunch of transmission fluid, preferably something good. Who knows what's in there - it might be something like 120w instead of the 75-90 Mazda wants.

If there's not water in with whatever the monkeys put in the tranny then I'd look at the clutch hydraulics next - can he start the car when the tranny is frozen?

Keith

[zmzmzm]

Yes, the car starts fine. If we warm it up for 30 minutes or so, the tranny thaws out and we can shift it. But until it's thawed out, it won't move at all.

We'll be seeing you in August, Keith, so hopefully by then we'll have it all figured out! It's really driving us a bit loopy that we can't figure it out.

Chris

[Keith@FP]

If it's still freezing in August, you have other problems.

Keith

[Luv2RedLine]

Originally posted by Keith@FP
If it's still freezing in August, you have other problems.

Keith
Haha. I'm hopin it's gone by then.