Miata Mailing List: October 1992, Message #8
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   From: (none)
Subject: RE: Chasis lube
   Date: (none)

>Is it realistic to expect the Miata to last 100K miles or more with only
>the permanently sealed chassis lubrication? I'm used to lubing my auto
>whenever I change the oil, and I feel I'm somehow neglecting my Miata.
>I know that Norman has said, in a fairly recent issue of the MCA magazine,
>that the lube should last the life of the car. But on the other hand, my
>brother-in-law insists that, on vehicles so equipped, you should remove the
>caps installed and replace them with real grease fittings.
     On many recent cars, and the Miata appears to be no exception, there are *NO*  `
caps, plugs, or anything else which could be removed to install grease
fittings.  In my younger days, I worked in a jiffy-lube type of place, and
some cars, particularly GM's, had a small bolt in the hole where the grease
fitting should have been, which was intended to be removed and replaced
with a fitting.  Non-factory replacement parts are also frequently sold
this way.  The Miata does not seem to have anything that can be removed.
    If you look at the maintenance schedule for a car with grease
fittings, you'll probably find that the chassis should be lubed every 30k
miles, with the oil changed every 3-7k.  With this in mind, and also the
Japanese talent for perfect oil seals, it is plausible that the permanently
sealed joints will not need lubrication for 100k miles.  Also, consider that
most of the points where grease fittings are installed, like kingpins, tie
rod ends, idler arms, ball joints, u-joints etc. really don't have much
movement when compared to other greased parts like wheel bearings.  You just
don't have a lot of motion in these parts, either to cause wear or use up
grease.
     Also, my observation has been that most oil change places do not clean
the grease fitting prior to adding grease, so an awful lot of grit gets
injected into a place where only clean grease should be, possibly causing
more harm than good.
>
>Any help? Thanks.
Hope this was some help.  Maybe the first person who breaks 100k with a
Miata will let us know whether the "permanantly lubed joints" made the
journey or had to be replaced.
One other thought:  I believe there is a small hole on the top of each
door hinge where grease can be squirted in with a grease needle if the
door starts squeaking, and the clutch release lever will definitely need
lubrication (see letters about squeaking clutches).

Steve Grossman
Software Engineer
Storage Technology Corp.

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