First Auto Tranny Fluid Change at 95k (2015 CX-5)

[yrwei52]

Honest question here. I'm new to this forum, but had my 2016.5 Mazda CX-5 AWD Grand Touring for over a year now..bought used. Has 110,000 miles, no issues.
I'm ready to change rear diff and transaxle oil, which I'll do myself. I'm hesitant about the transmission oil though, if dealers and mazda don't recommend it.
If some of you are so confident with it's benefits, why wait until the warranty passes? There has to be a reason why it's not recommended? Oil obviously doesn't last forever, but perhaps they think it will last 300k miles?
Why should I trust mechanics and backyard mechanics over Mazda's engineers?

ATF is different from engine oil in its operational environment. ATF is running in a sealed environment hence the service life is much longer than the engine oil. Car manufactures claim the ATF is lifetime, but they only support their claim for as long as the powertrain warranty lasts. People also send in the used ATF for UOA and those labs will tell you the condition of the fluid. Since Mazda doesn’t give a replacement schedule on ATF, people are change it based on their own experience for frequencies. I myself would change the ATF based on the maintenance schedule from some of my old cars such as my 1998 Honda CR-V and the manual says 75,000 miles. I’ll do it earlier than that though and my CX-5 doesn’t do any towing.

If you don’t want to drop the pan replacing the filter cartridge inside, you can do a simple ATF drain&fill 3 times which is almost as difficult as changing the engine oil. Make sure to use Mazda ATF FZ.

 

[Dobber]

I'll definitely do a drain and fill. Seems easy enough, and cheap insurance. Good advice.

 

[yrwei52]

I'll definitely do a drain and fill. Seems easy enough, and cheap insurance. Good advice.

Yes, do drain&fill 3X should give you about 87.5% of fresh ATF in your tranny. Even do it once to have 50% fresh ATF is better than do nothing IMO.

 

[Dobber]

Is there a safe alternative to the mazda hypoid sg1 oil that isn't $34 a quart?

 

[yieldchase]

Is there a safe alternative to the mazda hypoid sg1 oil that isn't $34 a quart?

iirc before 2016 they referenced 80W-90 GL5 in manuals

2013 - 2016 CX-5 Front Transfer Case + Rear Differential Fluid Replacement Guide

A. OEM Part #'s: (2 Bottles) - Long Life Hypoid Gear Oil - SG1 (0000-77-SG1-QT): You won't be using the full two bottles but maybe ~1.5 - 1.6 bottles depending on your fluid levels. (4 Gaskets) - Engine Oil Drain Gasket (99564-1800): There are...

mazdas247.com

2013~2016 - CX-5 Rear Diff and Transfer Case Fluid Change: Tools, Parts and Links

I have coming from Amazon OEM Tools 22297 23mm Metric Socket (THIS IS A VERY SHALLOW SOCKET) http://www.amazon.com/OEM-Tools-22297-Metric-Socket/dp/B00AXTK4RW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1439314949&sr=8-1&keywords=23mm+metric+socket&refinements=p_89%3AOEM+Tools OEM Tools 22298 24mm Metric Socket...

mazdas247.com

I just did this recently and personally went with 2 bottles of sg1. Like in tutorials I used about 1.5
gl

 

[yrwei52]

Is there a safe alternative to the mazda hypoid sg1 oil that isn't $34 a quart?

Yes the price on Mazda Hypoid gear oil SG1, $35.27 MSRP per quart, nowadays is outrageous.

But you have a 2015 CX-5 AWD, the manual says you can use much cheaper 80W-90 GL-5 gear oil.

Just make sure to get 2 bottles.

CX-5 Rear Diff and Transfer Case Fluid Change: Tools, Parts and Links

 

[N7turbo]

Honest question here. I'm new to this forum, but had my 2016.5 Mazda CX-5 AWD Grand Touring for over a year now..bought used. Has 110,000 miles, no issues.
I'm ready to change rear diff and transaxle oil, which I'll do myself. I'm hesitant about the transmission oil though, if dealers and mazda don't recommend it.
If some of you are so confident with it's benefits, why wait until the warranty passes? There has to be a reason why it's not recommended? Oil obviously doesn't last forever, but perhaps they think it will last 300k miles?
Why should I trust mechanics and backyard mechanics over Mazda's engineers?

1. Because Mazda engineers didn't write the manuals
2. A simple logic test reveals that if you wouldn't put old & used transmission fluid in your car, you acknowledge that it isn't ideal and that fresh is best.

 

[ceric]

Lifetime ATF started as a marketing talking point.
I think the German started this.
My '98 E39 BMW 540iA had this.

AT operates at lower temp (about 193F), much lower than engine oil.
It deteriorates slower. However, there is still debris coming out of the gears, plates, etc.
I have ATF drained-n-refilled every 30k miles.
Every DnR only gets to part of the fluid. Not all.

 

[JOETREE11@G]

I have a 2014 gt. Always had manual trans cars so new to autos. Do not believe the lifetime bs. Had car since new. At 150,000 miles changed auto fluid and filter. Before changing I checked trans fluid level while engine warm and running. No fluid on dipstick! Obviously it was low. Took off bottom cover. No obvious leaks. But fluid was leaking from axle shaft on transfer case, more about that later. Drained trans fluid and removed pan. Recovered about 3 quarts fluid. Fluid was dark but fairly clean. Magnet was full of gunk and filter pretty dirty. I let it drain overnight. I replaced with wix filter and gasket and added 3 quarts. I let engine warm up ,used obd tool for tran temp . Checked dipstik, nothing on stik! I had to add another quart and a half to get It between the marks (yes it was warmed up) so it was pretty low. I used aisin fz fluid since it is supposed to be oem (they made transmissions for mazda). I was not having trans problems, but was getting a weird whine at idle and reverse took longer to engage. Much snappier now and shifting like new. I changed transfer case fluid and rear dif. Rear was fine and pretty clean . I took the top plug off first on trans case to see how low it was since leaking from axle shaft. Well fluid poured out of it! (yes the car was level). It must of had a quart in there, way to much! No wonder it was leaking. I refilled it with gear lube, About 1/2 quart to top plug. This car has never been to the dealer so it came that way from mazda. It no longer leaks. First time I had the bottom cover off, noticed the oil pan was rusty. Decided to clean the rust off and paint it.Well as soon as I touched that rust it started leaking, had to replace the oil pan. Glad I did not change the oil first. Glad it happened in the garage and not on the road. When I had the oil pan off I let the engine oil drain for 2 days waiting for new pan. When I refilled with oil and started car the computer freaked out and threw malfunction codes and stalled. I restarted and it ran rough for 30 sec and then was ok. Cleared the codes and they never returned. Whew. When I changed the trans fluid, I let it warm up and shifted to each position leaving it for a few minutes. I drove for a mile or so and it seemed fine. Then the car started bucking like someone kept hitting the brake pedal and codes started flashing on dashboard tpms,bcm,abs. to name a few. I stopped and turned off and restarted the car but codes remained. I used obd tool to clear codes to see what would return. Car ran fine and codes never returned. Evidently the pressure sensors in the trans can get out of wack and can cause a confusing jumble of warnings. I've put 2000 miles on car since , no further problems. It runs great. That's my story

 

[HyFlyer]

Whew @JOETREE11@G , what an adventure. Good on you for DIY and staying with it to see it through.

Thanks for sharing your story.

 

[Lazy2.5]

Honest question here. I'm new to this forum, but had my 2016.5 Mazda CX-5 AWD Grand Touring for over a year now..bought used. Has 110,000 miles, no issues.
I'm ready to change rear diff and transaxle oil, which I'll do myself. I'm hesitant about the transmission oil though, if dealers and mazda don't recommend it.
If some of you are so confident with it's benefits, why wait until the warranty passes? There has to be a reason why it's not recommended? Oil obviously doesn't last forever, but perhaps they think it will last 300k miles?
Why should I trust mechanics and backyard mechanics over Mazda's engineers?

So that, unsuspecting owners such as yourself continue driving, without changing a serviceable filter, until their transmission fails, then take it to the dealer.

Notice how the dealer will never attempt to repair your transmission, at least not while it's still attached to your engine? They remove it, refurbish it, install another refurbished transmission into your vehicle, a SCAM which provides them with $$$ coming from the pockets of individuals such as yourself.

If I were in your position, I would not be questioning the decision of seasoned drivers getting hundreds of thousands of miles of useful life out of their transmissions, by replacing a replaceable filter and fluid.

Any good engineer or mechanic would tell you that the fluid and filter needs to be upkept. If there was no need to, these transmissions would have been designed as a sealed unit.

Your call.

 

[anyman]

@Dobber That's a good question and I think many will deflect with "They want your car to break so you buy a new one"...which makes zero sense. Unless you're a glutton for punishment why would you buy another Mazda? The other reason could be that they can publish lower costs of ownership...and I think that may be the real reason.

I changed mine out with 95k and the oil was basically black and smelled burnt (like burnt crayons). To me it's worth doing it...it's out of warranty so it's not like you're risking anything. The procedure itself is easy as well to just do a drain/fill. If it were me I'd at least do one drain/fill for peace of mind.

 

[ceric]

If automakers really believe in lifetime something, they should have lifetime warranty to go with it.
The fact is they don't, so don't ever believe it.

Do ATF change from time to time.