How to service you mx7 gearbox

[LUVMTL]

Hi Everyone heres my guide on how to service your MX7 gear box .......

First you will need

1x 1/2 inch breaker bar

1x hammer

1x oil catcher

1x filler

Jack and stands

Oils and filler bottle and or funnel with 2 meters of tubing .

Okay here are the products i used



vmx80 ( Recomended for the box )

dxIII ( Or and dxII auto trans fluid )

Lucas heavy duty oil stabiliser



Now how to get the oil out and the new stuff in

First jack the car up so its running 8 second jumps like this
please make sure you check your stands twice safety first .



now on the drivers side of the car where the gear box is you should see the drain plug on the very bottom in the middle of the box it will look like this



now take your breaker bar and now push it away from you clock wise ( u will have to use your palm to add force so it becomes loose )

now once you get it moving use you fingers because you don't want burning oil all over yourself .


okay let all the oil drain out .

whilst all the oil is draining out look at the drain plug and you will see some metal shavings, clean these off with a cloth .



now replace the plug .


Next step is to get the filler bolt out, this is the hardest part, i found it is located on the driver side of the gearbox.

firstly u can use one of these bad boys



now u can get them from bunnings and i think supercheap

Or u can use WD40 to soak the thread then try to get it out . ( didn't work for me )


Okay so i heated up the area around the bolt in the pic below
(dont aim it at the bolt otherwise it will expand and u will have to wait for it to cool down )




Then i used the breaker bar and a hammer to loosen the bolt .


Third step filling the box up

i used the filler in my second pic ( got it from repco for $20 )
its a 1 litre bottle and the gear box takes 2.4 litres so u will need to fill it twice then .4 of a litre too .

Now after 20 mins of pumping the ****er the box will be full either the fluid will go all over you or you can use you finger and put it in the filler hole to see if it's flush with the hole .

Also u could use a 2 metre piece of tubing in the hole and wire tie it to something near the filler hole and fill it from the engine bay


Now i used a 50 / 35 / 15 mix

So 50 % vmx80 / 35% dexron / 15% lucas oil stabiliser

I found this to be a good mix as i looked all over the forum and people seem to use a 50/50 mix but i also heard the oil stabiliser works to quieten and reduce heat in the box (Next time i will add some more in to the equastion to stop more of the gearbox noise).

Now if you only use vmx80 it will crunch when is cold and not shift as smooth ....


thanks for checking this out and i hope it helps you achive a smoother and quieter gearbox

[paul_1989]

thanks for the post mate heaps helpful

[5spdvl]

An easier way to fill it is through the turrent cover by removing the shifter (you will need circlip pliers).

[aus880]

great work there

[NATH88]

Originally Posted by 5spdvl

An easier way to fill it is through the turrent cover by removing the shifter (you will need circlip pliers).

thats a joke yeah

[vl-nitron]

why would that be a joke?

[NATH88]

pull half your car apart or one bolt abit obvious

[vl-nitron]

Originally Posted by NATH88

pull half your car apart or one bolt abit obvious

it takes like 10 minutes

[FeRgO]

Originally Posted by 5spdvl

An easier way to fill it is through the turrent cover by removing the shifter (you will need circlip pliers).

thats how i used to do it.. dont fill too fast tho... u will get an air lock and its a bitch. had to wait 1/2 hour for the oil to go down 1 day

[mulkers]

Not even that, and it means that if your car isn't too low, you wouldn't even need to put it on jack stand and jack it up (except to check the level.)

[5spdvl]

Thanks for the validation mulkers. Not a joke NATH88; most MF5 and MX7 filler plugs I've encountered won't undo.

It's easy - unscrew gear knob, remove suround, remove shifter DONE NEXT

[NATH88]

ive done it both ways i know which way ill be doing it.

[VLT87Kal]

i might sound stupid wen i ask this mate but-
dxIII ( Or and dxII auto trans fluid )
u put 35% of this in ys that??
will i be ok to do just vmx80 and lucas oil stabiliser??

[Antranik]

Um. Why didn't you jack the back also so you don't get a false level reading?
Other than that, good thread.

As VLT87Kal said, I've also heard of putting 0.5Lt of DIII in the older manuals to help with smoother gear changing. Don't know of anyone doing it though.

[[T]Matty]

Im with 5spdvl.. putting the oil in with the shifter removed is a much better way..

old mates talking about heating, soaking on WD40 (that failed).. or remove one clip and a console center thats more then likly broken anyway..

[chunks]

Always remove the filler plug before the drain plug. Not only does it help it drain better, but also its a real pain in the ass if your fill plug is seized/rounded and you need to refill the box. I don't know why anyone would pull the shifter out to refill a box, there is a filler plug for a reason.

[t-rav]

I just filled my mx7 with shockproof (smurf blood)
I'm just curious has anyone had troubles using this ??

[calais25t]

Originally Posted by Antranik

Um. Why didn't you jack the back also so you don't get a false level reading?
.

Correct, car needs to be level.

---------- Post added 28-01-14 at 21:13 ----------

Also I agree with everyone else, much easier to fill through the shifter hole, no ****ing around with a pump.

[gold-vlt]

both fill and drain bolts on my mf5 box in my vl are seized and have been completely rounded off by a previous owner. I have tried gripping them with one of those locking tools and getting it to crack but they won't budge. All that happens is the soft metal of the bolt tears away. What other ways can I try to remove these?

I had to guess how much oil to put in through the shifter hole as the box already had some oil in it. How much though obviously I can't check, because the box can't be drained, apart from the small amount of oil that comes out of the rear seal when the tailshaft is removed.

[calais25t]

Originally Posted by gold-vlt

both fill and drain bolts on my mf5 box in my vl are seized and have been completely rounded off by a previous owner. I have tried gripping them with one of those locking tools and getting it to crack but they won't budge. All that happens is the soft metal of the bolt tears away. What other ways can I try to remove these?

I had to guess how much oil to put in through the shifter hole as the box already had some oil in it. How much though obviously I can't check, because the box can't be drained, apart from the small amount of oil that comes out of the rear seal when the tailshaft is removed.

You're going to have to use some type of screw extractor such as an easy out etc ie,


Failing that get somebody to weld nuts onto them.

[gold-vlt]

I've already considered that. I'm all for it as long as i can buy new plugs or find someone who will make them at a reasonable price.

[Geniee]

FYI, ive had very bad experiances with "eazy outs" one snapped inside the bolt, so you have to get even harder drill bits Cobolt to drill the eazy out ... out.... lucky for my it was not leading into a gearbox or anything critical of fine particles... but I invested in a good set of "left handed drill bits" and that's saved me a few times... you need to be VERY careful and slow , and step up the sizes, eventually, you will have almost like a shell / sleeve of a bolt that the drill grips and spirals it out... I'd be scared to try it on a stud or bolt into a gearbox tho... saying that.... I did use it on one of the diff plate cover bolts... it was an absolute mess from previous owner, I have also tried those IRWIN "bolt-grip" sockets and they saved me a few times from rounded bolts.

http://www.bunnings.com.au/irwin-5-p...e-set_p5610060


But not sure if they would help out here as its already round, ... you could always bash a size onto it and then get the ratchet onto the bolt-grip, but you have to be pretty committed to getting it out if you're willing to potentially destroy it.

[Turismo]

Bout to service mine think my bolts stuck lol.
Also ill not be filling it up from inside the car as oil and Calais fabric do go well to gather,
Why would you take the risk of soiling your interior?

I just think of all the once nice vl interiors out their that are now dekcuf and think how - how do some people use their interior's like a oily rag for the sake of an oil change or mechanical work is beyond me.

[5spdvl]

Well unless you're Michael J Fox, it's actually a lot easier to fill it from the inside. get some plastic sheeting if you really have to. Done it many times without incident.

Do you have a pump to fill it from the outside? Most people don't.