Question(s) on changing ATF (2019 CX-5)

[wlong01]

2019 has a little over 50k and we plan on keeping it another couple years. Plan on having a drain/fill on the ATF next dealer visit (that's if the dealer will do it, if not Indy shop) along with changing the coolant to the newer fluid that protects against corrosion better.

Question -- should the filter be changed? If so is the filter easily accessible, don't have to drop the pan or anything that severe. Also, can it be any filter or are there requirements like the tranny fluid, only Mazda OEM. Would this be a filter a competent Indy shop would have if I have to go that route?

 

[ceric]

wlong01, watch this. It should answer most of your questions.

 

[Lazy2.5]

This has been talked about soo much all over this forum and many others.

If your car has a filter thats replaceable, replace it.

Some advice - skip the dealer.

 

[RL911]

I have a 2019 with 36k miles. I’m getting ready to do the first service on the transmission in about a month or two. I’m just doing a diy drain and fill. It’s a lot of labor to drop the pan to change the filter, mainly because it takes a lot of time to clean the mating surfaces. I just did a drain and fill on my son’s 2018, plug was clean, no shavings. I think if I saw any debris on the plug, I’d consider doing the filter.

It’s a really simple process to drain and fill. No idea why the dealers won’t do it. Despite what some videos show, you do not need to remove the air box or anything from above. Just remove the lower cover under the car, use a long extension from the top to remove the screw holding the dipstick on. From underneath, pull the dipstick off, remove the drain plug. Drain and fill. Rinse and repeat every 15k miles thereafter.

 

[GFrosty]

2019 has a little over 50k and we plan on keeping it another couple years ... Question -- should the filter be changed?

Another way to look at this is: your 2019 vehicle only has 50Kmi. Another "couple of years" won't likely be straining the ATF filter. It's easy enough to swap the fluids in the AT, transfer case and differential. If you're likely to sell it within 2yrs, it might well be worth it (money-wise) to skip the dropping of the pan to swap the filter.

At 50Kmi I probably wouldn't bother with the filter, particularly if intending to soon sell. By the second fluid swap, I would.

 

[wlong01]

Thanks for all the advice. Will just do a drain/fill.
Hopefully will replace in 2026 with another CX-5, hopefully Mazda will have a decent hybrid by then.

 

[wlong01]

wlong01, watch this. It should answer most of your questions.

Thanks for the video. Not sure if he said the actual mileage at start but I tried to look at the dash mileage and it looked like 45750. If that's the case it doesn't sound good that he found sludge in the pan at that mileage. Maybe that was one of the trip odometers.

 

[sinistriel@]

The "sludge" in the bottom of the pan is normal. Most of the clutch material in the units is a dark grey/black material that has a high metal content in the disks. Its a mixture of resins, aluminum oxides, and ferrous material. The sludge is just normal clutch shed that units have and is not a concerning issue. When you want to be concerned about wear in a Skyactiv is the first picture linked. 2nd pic is some of the friction material, all the lighter flecks are some of the metal content in the friction. FZ will always look dark after its run for some time, 3rd is a pic of how the color changes based on mileage.