Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Morgan Three Wheeler & Super 3 A few recent observations.

I have been developing a mild hearing loss and find the wind buffeting my ears has become a big nuisance. I just started wearing a Bell Pit Boss half helmet with cushioned ear pads, and this has eliminated the wind buffeting of my ears. I can hear my exhaust note much better and my driving experience has significantly improved. I’ve also read that eliminating wind buffeting allows you to hear horns and sirens better as well. That makes sense to me.

I’ve been reading through the Mazda Miata forums to see what kind of transmission oil they have been using. Many of them have highly recommended Motorcraft XT-M5-QS transmission oil. This is a fully synthetic SAE 75W90 GL4 transmission oil which my manual recommends. They have raved about how silky smooth shifting is with this oil even in lower temperatures. My transmission oil was due for service, so I put this in today and I notice a difference. Agree. Silky smooth shifting. Shifting before was not a problem, but I agree there is a difference in how smooth shifting is with this oil.

My bevel box has been howling at certain speeds. I called Morgan Motors of New England and they recommended Redline 80W250 GL-5 gear oil. Wow! I can still hear a soft whine of my drivetrain, but no bevel box howling. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

I always rode my Harleys with a screen in place (and a helmet on), if I was riding out with a large group of bikes, as usually following in the wake of loud exhaust pipes and wind buffeting on occasion would leave a ringing in my ears at the end of the day. On one occasion the ringing didn't stop within a few hours, so off to the hospital emergency, talked to their ear, nose and throat consultant (a South African biker) and apparently there was nothing they could do, the ringing would either go of its own accord, or I had permanent ear damage, Fortunately after a very worrying 3 days it went, but as the consultant advised from that time on I always wore ear plugs under the helmet. It isolated most of the wind and exhaust noise but allowed me to still hear the muted background traffic and my wife riding pillion..

It’s a good idea to wear earplugs at any speed above 40-50 to protect the ears from wind buffeting. When I’m pootling around town in my three wheeler I don’t worry about it but on a longer journey they’re essential. These are the ones I use:
https://www.alpinehearingprotection.co.uk/collections/motor
My three wheeler is a good deal quieter than the M3W, though…

Tim

I'm not sure about the science, but I've found that when I drive my open car with my ears covered (flying helmet or similar) I find it far less tiring over long distances.

I am a bit surprised to hear that you had good results with this gear oil Sportster. A few of us in the UK clubbed together and bought a (US) Gallon of this to try about 5 years ago, it's not easy to get here. It even made claims in the advertising that it, "reduced noise of M3W bevel boxes" or something similar. All of our small test group found that it didn't seem to make any improvements and actually seemed worse that the Millars EP140 or Redline Heavy Shockproof 75W250 that we had been using before. It is very thick when cold and quiet, until the BB warms up.

I know it is fatal to get into "best oils" but several MX5 forums recommend Castrol Transmax 75W-90 fully synthetic GL-4 oil for the gearbox. Probably very similar to the Motorcraft oil, I will add that to the Alternative Parts List, on your recommendation. I can say that the Castrol certainly does improve the already good Mazda gear change and is worth using if you are changing the gearbox oil.

Hi Planenut,

Thanks for documenting your experience and listing more alternatives. All good to know.

I wasn’t trying to promote these as a best product to use, only as an alternative if people needed one.

I was only pointing out a positive experience I had with these products with my M3W.

I have no doubt there are a few transmission oil favorites in the Miata crowd.

With respect to the Redline 80W250 gear oil, the temp yesterday was mid 70s and the oil was very runny when I put it in and immediately significantly reduced my bevel box noise when I started driving. However, I have to say that my bevel box noise has been increasing lately and it’s possible I was overdue for an oil change. I previously had Shockproof in the box the last time I changed the oil but honestly I don’t remember how quiet the bevel box was when I first changed to Shockproof last time I changed the oil ( getting old ). So it is possible just changing to new oil and having the proper volume itself may have made a big difference. Time will tell. So far I’m very happy.