GM Synchromesh is teh ROCK!!!!

[Black Majik MSP]

Wow.. that looked like alot of work for just changing the tranny oil... I just crawled under there and did it.

I have 4 jackstands & 2 floor jacks at home that I use for rotating my tires & other installs, but I was up in Orlando at the time. I was confident that I could do it without raising the car, but when I got under there, I didn't have enough room. Once I took off those 2 plastic pieces, it was simple. The only other difference is that I used an oil pump (as recommended by Equinox) instead of a funnel because I didn't see any possible way to get at the fill hole from the top of the car.

 

[DistantTea]

Yeah it looks like you can't use a funnel, but I got one of those flexible funnels with the screen to filter crap out... then I disconnected the calloway elbow on the airbox and the whole thing reached just fine with only minor drippage.

 

[Black Majik MSP]

I had never used an oil pump before, but I had no mess on the car. It was really easy once I remembered that the liquid you're pumping has to be higher than the place you're pumping it too (thus the chair). Almost everything else was messy though (oil containers, pump, hoses, me ).

 

[CONEH8R]

I swapped my tranny fluid last night. Did it on a lift at a friend's shop. Nice and easy to get at the tranny that way.

I used Redline Shockproof Light. Difference was noticable immediately. Much smoother. Kartboy bushing are on the way.

 

[ONRAILS]

We finally found a damn 23mm socket and went to work replacing the crappy dealer supplied Mobile 1 tranny fluid with GM Synchromesh. Holy crapola I have a first gear! I might actually be able to drive this thing in traffic now.

Highly recommended mod for ALL mazdaspeeds. I used a long flexible funnel... from the time the car was jacked up to when I pulled the jack out was less than 20 minutes. Easier than an oil change.

My funnel reached much farther when I popped my little Calloway intake elbow off a bit... everything held itself in place.

Thanks to everyone who did this before to make this so easy. 50000% improvement over the crap that was shifting in there before.

Just curious... the GM Syncromesh fluid you bought, what weight is it? Is it all the same, cause I don't see the weight on the bottle. GR 8.800?

 

[MP3skaterNC]

I use the penzoil version, but yes, it is teh w1n.

 

[Newf]

Any Canadian's have any luck getting any of this stuff?

 

[MazdaDryvr]

Not yet, but I am searching. I'll let you know what I find.

 

[mattybo]

Just curious... the GM Syncromesh fluid you bought, what weight is it? Is it all the same, cause I don't see the weight on the bottle. GR 8.800?

yea i have that same question....

 

[ONRAILS]

yea i have that same question....

Anyone know???

 

[blynzoo]

You want 75w90 MT fluid.
If you stay in a hot climate (see owner's manual) you can move to 80w90.
75 works for all climes, though.

 

[ONRAILS]

You want 75w90 MT fluid.
If you stay in a hot climate (see owner's manual) you can move to 80w90.
75 works for all climes, though.

yea... I know that. But my question was on the syncromesh bottle. It doesn't give the weight. Is there just one weight for syncromesh?

 

[DistantTea]

I think Syncromesh is a standard weight. I don't think they have varrying types. I could be wrong though. We only had the one option for purchase.

 

[davens]

I'm going to confuse a few people with a choice they will face at the GM parts counter that hasn't been addressed yet.

1. Regular GM Synchromesh, GM part # 12345349
2. Friction modified GM Synchromesh, GM part #123777916
3. GM Friction Modifier added to any 75-90 gear oil

There is no right answer afaik...The Honda guys bickered about which is the best choice. Both apparently help. I'm running option number 1 in my Integra transmission and it does work better then anything else I've tried over the years.

If you've got the time and inclination, you can get your fill here:
http://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=549469

While everybody says nice things about Redline, coming from that Honda background, there is a popular suspicion with those guys that Redline will help your synchros at the expense of your bearings. You obviously want the right balance of friction for your synchros and slip for your bearings.
And I'm speaking from personal experience on a 89 CRX...less then 10k after switching to Redline, my input shaft and mainshaft bearing started getting noisy. But that was a tranny with 150k on it already...circumstantial, yes, but noteworthy.
Using the Honda folks experience is great. Their stuff is typically older and very beaten on...you can see long term trends that you won't pick up on a single generation Protege board.

 

[jflo]

well, yeah...hondas have been more inclined towards heavy racing and more people have abused a honda (think about all the rice out there) than a protege. and this is a totally different car, although the general technology/mechanics of a transmission still applies.

 

[mp3moose]

I was told that synchromesh was too light for our bearings and would blow the tranny under hard shifting. Hence I went with royal purple.

 

[xxxcool21]

i see where to empty the old oil where do i fill it up....

 

[ONRAILS]

oh... geez. It's good, it's bad, it's good... what is it already? Can we make up our minds.

 

[MazdaDryvr]

yeah, it's sorta got me all froze up with uncertainty now.

 

[ONRAILS]

Well... I figured I'd throw caution to the wind today! Put in the synchromesh, in addition to the kartboy shifter bushings. So far... all I can say is that it's different. I'm gonna wait a week and decide if it was worth the money or not.