I'm not sure, could be a normal thing for Mazda engines but hard to say since I'm not well versed in fluid analysis. Typically, most of the break in and metal shavings occur during the first few thousand miles of the car so what we're seeing could be just that and maybe nothing alarming. I'll do another analysis with another lab as well next time to confirm maybe at the next 10-20k miles. I don't think I'll be doing another pan drop anytime soon though until maybe 120-150k since it's very annoying and time consuming to know whether or not it will leak.
So far, it's been about 2 days with no leaks and I adjusted the fluid level today. Now it's touching the center point line perfectly. I poured in about
5 quarts and 26 fl oz (0.81 quarts) of fluid previously and today, I extracted about
4 fl oz back out (0.125 quarts) giving a total of
5.69 quarts.
6th Container (Few days ago): This bottle wasn't fully utilized
View attachment 227494
Container (Today): I used this bottle to pour back in the extra fluid
View attachment 227495
Observations:
So far, the throttle response seems much better and crisp. I only have one issue so far but I'm not sure if it's related to the ATF fluid change. When I have the car in sport mode and I rev around 2-3k RPM, I hear some weird noise. Sounds like a metal noise or a clunk, can't really tell. It can be replicated over and over again if I keep revving around that range. I can't identify what it is but it sounds to be coming from the outside (bottom) of the vehicle or maybe it's from my trunk....If I figure it out I'll let you guys know but hope it's nothing serious. What if it wasn't the ATF that was leaking previously but the front differential fluid LOL
I have an extra bottle of opened ATF fluid that's just sitting here and I'm not sure what to do with it. It also appears that once the ATF fluid is opened, it'll start to leak for some reason even though the cap is tightly closed. Maybe I should just extract one quart out of the dipstick hole and then pour this underutilized ATF after driving a bit longer?
Recommendations:
- If you're planning to do multiple drain/fills + a pan drop, I would probably recommend to do the pan drop first because you could end up like me and mess up the RTV process near the very end and have to purchase more ATF to correct your mistake.
- I would suggest to have a syringe handy with long clear plastic tubing at least the 100-150 ML ones in case you mess up and overfill your ATF. This way you can still extract the extra amounts out.
- Make sure to use the front and the back of the dipstick as a guide to double check if the fluid level is correct as the front of the dipstick can be tricky if you have very transparent fluid like me and it touches the lip of the dipstick hole.
- If possible, keep the drain plug open and let it drain overnight so once you take the pan off, clean everything up and then get to the RTV portion, you don't have ATF still dripping down because it'll ruin the whole entire process and you'll need to start from scratch.
- Definitely get a measuring container to see how much fluid drained. Yes, I know it's expensive for a 12 quart container but it'll save you a lot of trouble.
- I would recommend to apply some RTV to the transaxle case as the RTV on the transmission pan will most likely adhere better and not slide off once it touches the bare aluminum surface and this creates a nice seal..
- Take your time with cleaning up the surfaces/prepping, it's definitely a chore and there's no time limit. It took me about 2-3 hours for each surface and I did the best I could. It's not 100% cleaned but it's good enough that there shouldn't be leaks.
Lastly, here are some troubleshooting tips that may help:
- Even after applying the RTV, do you have a leak/puddle on the floor?
Possibilities:
a. Some ATF dripped onto your RTV when you were installing the pan back
b. You did not degrease the pan/transaxle surface
c. You may have a dent/bent pan lip/bolt hole so it isn't sealing properly and may need to hammer it back to make it even
d. You did not wait 24 hours or whatever the instructions says for the full cure time
e. Not all of your bolts were tightened/torqued correctly
f. You may have extra RTV on the tip of the bolts which caused there to be a gap between the pan surface/transaxle surface
g. The old RTV wasn't fully/properly cleaned off the surfaces
h. You applied too little RTV or there was a gap which caused a poor seal