Best Oil for Miata Lifter Tick

There are three constants in life – death, taxes, and someone posting on a Miata forum worried that their car with lifter tick has a major mechanical problem.

If you’ve been around the world of Miatas for a while, you are probably familiar with the term “lifter tick”. It is the rather infamous ticking/tapping noise that these cars make at idle and low RPMs.

If you’ve never heard it before, it can be rather alarming and might make you think the car has something seriously wrong with it – like a broken rod. But unlike a broken rod, lifter tick noise generally goes away / quiets as RPMs rise. A broken rod generally gets louder as engine speed increases.

The good news about lifter tick is that it is generally harmless. It’s more of a nuisance than anything else, and that brings us to this post. A lot of MX5 owners want to know what the best oil for Miata lifter tick is, and how they can get that noise to go away.

If your Miata suddenly started making a ticking noise and you are worried – stop. Take a breath. Open a new tab and go to Youtube. Search for “Miata lifter tick” and watch a few of the many videos that are out there. Reassure yourself that your engine is not about to blow up. Then come back here and continue reading.

Cause of Miata Lifter Tick

Let’s start by talking about what the noise is – I promise it will be a quick and very broad overview! You might be tempted to skip this part and go right to the section on the best oil for Miata lifter tick. I can’t stop you from doing that, but it’s helpful to understand where the sound comes from to keep your expectations about fixing it in check.

You’re probably familiar with the basics of how an engine functions. As your camshaft spins, it controls the opening and closing of valves. Your lifter is involved with that process. In fact, it is the lifter that the camshaft actually “touches” in order to open and close your valves. Have a look the next time you are changing your valve cover gasket.

So, the camshaft touches the lifter. Or at least it should. The Miata has what are called hydraulic lifters. Hydraulic meaning filled with oil – engine oil specifically. The lifters are reliant on oil pressure to move up and down.

The trouble is, as oil degrades it gets thicker. The wee little holes that allow oil in to the lifter get plugged up. The existing, degraded oil inside the lifter breaks down in to more nastiness. The lifter can no longer get adequate oil pressure, results in a noisier “tick” as the cam lobes slap it. Que the sad music.

What’s the Solution?

Now that we’ve talked problems, let’s talk solutions.

The first thing we need to establish is that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. It’s a known fact that older oil breaks down and gets stuck in the lifter, so get in the habit of changing your oil early and often.

Next – let’s be realistic with our expectations – no matter what oil you try and use to resolve the problem, it’s unlikely to give you the results that you will get from replacing the lifters or physically removing them from the cylinder head and painstakingly cleaning the old oil out of each one. There’s no sugarcoating it – replacing or removing + rejuvenating your old lifters is the best way to (semi) permanently resolve your lifter tick.

But for those of us who don’t want to remove camshafts and yank lifters out of the cylinder head – what’s the best option?

Everyone is going to have their own opinions on this, but from my experience, the two best products I have found are:

• Rotella T6 10W-30 oil – Do enough browsing on Miata forums and you’ll find that Rotella T6 has a bit of a cult following, and for good reasons, it’s a great product. A few notes on this oil:
  • Yes, it is a “diesel” engine oil. I have run it for years in gas cars (not just Miatas) and never had a problem.
  • It can be difficult to purchase 10W-30 locally. My local auto parts store only carries Rotella T6 5W-40. You can run 5W-40 if you wish, but if you want to stick to the Mazda-recommended 10W-30 oil weight, you may need to purchase it online.

• Marvel Mystery Oil – I’m not normally one to recommend “mechanic in a can” type solutions like this. Marvel Mystery Oil is probably my biggest exception. I typically will “top off” my oil at each oil change with about half the bottle. Common sense applies here – obviously do not exceed the “full” line on the oil dipstick. Additionally, when I am getting ready to change my oil, I will add a small amount of MMO (call it ~1/4 of the bottle) to the crankcase, go for a drive to get the oil nice and hot, and then change the oil.

My experience has been that the combination of these 2 products keeps lifter tick at bay. I won’t lie to you and pretend I never hear it, but generally when I do it’s a sign that I am approaching my 3000 mile oil change interval. It’s still unpleasant to hear that ticking, but it’s not the end of the world either.

Comment below what your solutions and tips are for combating the infamous Miata lifter tick!