Oh man. I just bought a 2017 CX-9 GT. I never even thought service manuals wouldn't be available. That really sucks. If Mazda is blocking the service manuals, then I guess this is my last ever Mazda. And I'll probably get rid of this soon. That is depressing.
Well, part of it is just the principle of it. I hate how corporations are making it hard or impossible for us to fix things.Is there something specific you need the service manual for? I ask because some of our members have created DIY guides for basic maintenance tasks, and others have paid to get access to the service manuals for things like electrical schematics, then screencapped and posted them here for others to use as reference.
See here: https://www.mazdas247.com/forum/index.php?threads/2016-tc-cx9-workshop-service-manual.123859597/
Apparently you can purchase one-day access for $40, or one-year access for $1400. I personally wouldn't dump my CX-9 over a $40 service manual access charge, but everyone's different. Hope you stick around.
What you say is reasonable, and yes, my hope is that more information is collected and documented. And yes, I'm aware of the EPB procedures, and yet, I have found comments on various forums of people who attempted a rear rotor change and ended up replacing a caliper or motor because of it - mostly because they were unaware of the EPB peculiarities. So there's that.Regarding torque specs, you don't have to guess. Those important specs in the service manuals are certainly worth a one time fee of $40 (to me, at least).
For the record, there are published resources for recommended torque values for specific bolts. Here's one example. There's also the US Recommended Bolt Torque Table. Of course, these aren't specific to the bolts used in the CX-9, but you can use these free resources as a reference and make more of an educated guess if absolutely necessary. But hopefully by the time you need these specs, someone out there will have already bought the one day pass, recorded Mazda's torque specs, and posted them online so everyone has access to them.
Maintenance mode for EPB-equipped Mazdas has been extensively documented. Lots of people have used the guides here to perform their own brake work with no issues. With the 2nd gen CX-9 out and about for 4+ years, most of the common procedures and even some uncommon procedures have already been documented by others. If you were to come across a procedure that you aren't familiar with, and that nobody has performed according to your own research on forums and other resources, then it would probably be best to let a professional perform the procedure.
PS: Where do you buy access to shop manuals for $40 a day? Google hasn't been helpful with that. I've found some dead links to what used to contain shop manuals, but they all appear to have been removed.
And here's where you can get official Mazda tech info: https://www.mazdaserviceinfo.com/
Subscriptions are as follows:
It's pretty steep but better than nothing I guess. It's not very DIY friendly. Perhaps Mazda thinks they're Apple and can just bleed their customers for cash.
- $29.95 - 24 hours subscription
- $249.95 - 30 days subscription
- $2250.00 - 1 year subscription