Mx5 mk2 engine oil

Author
Discussion

Arbo1970

Original Poster:

145 posts

153 months

Saturday 20th March 2021
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Hi there,

Just needing to top up the oil in my 99 plate mx5 1.6
The thing is I have no idea which oil to use. The general thoughts online are 10w 40 but semi or fully synthetic??

Any thoughts???

Thanks in advance

mazzer1

18 posts

81 months

Sunday 21st March 2021
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AFAIK these engines are robust and designed before synthetic, so either will do but you can run synthetic for about 30% further. Anything up to 40 viscosity will be fine, but I wouldn't go as thin as 20. The main thing is that the oil is changed every 10-14k km depending on type of driving and type of oil. If the car is new to you, pull the dipstick onto a bit of bog roll and if it is black or very dark brown, change it, if it is light brown ok, if it is golden, it's new. If in doubt, it is a cheap and easy job, the filter often being the trickiest bit. I have used 5w30 synthetic for about 5 yrs as I have a cheap source, and it works well.

BlueComet

6,632 posts

221 months

Saturday 27th March 2021
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From memory, I used Castrol semi synthetic 10W 40 and had zero problems (I went with what the Mazda handbook recommended).

My NB/Mk2 had been serviced every 10k miles from new and had 95k total miles. It was putting out exactly the same amount of power as when it left the factory (140bhp).

The engines in the NC cars are much more needy.. They need to have changes less than every 10k miles, and be taken on occasional long drives with plenty of revs to stop the oil control rings seizing due to carbon buildup.

Edited by BlueComet on Saturday 27th March 20:32