2008 Mazda 5 transmission failure

[reMarkable]

Just a word of advice... if you can, go get a second opinion. My experiences of late with Mazda dealerships hasn't been too favorable. I expect that just like with their engines, the dealership doesn't like to crack the case of a transmission to work with the bits inside. An independent shop or a transmission specialist like AAMCO might be able to offer more insight and a possible fix that's not as expensive.

In retrospect, that might not have been a bad idea. In speaking to the service department, they said that they basically don't go into transmissions. So unfortunately your advise didn't come soon enough. The dealer said there was a temprature related code they pulled and they felt the transmission was "cooked." (Don't know what code that was, my garage didn't find that - but who knows, since I drove it on to the dealer.) In the meantime my car has been sitting awaiting this used, 46k replacement transmission for over a week now - and the part isn't expected until Wednesday or Thursday :-(

 

[spacerat]

Well its been over a month and my 5 is still at the dealer..

 

[jmcglynn]

Seriously?! That's unacceptable!

So do you have any new information from them? When was the last time you talked with them? How often have you been talking with them? If it were me I'd be visiting the dealership daily. If you could, please recap where you are with the whole situation so we can see if any of this makes sense.

Based on what I've been following here so far, I'd have to say it's time to face facts... neither Mazda nor this dealership consider you nor your vehicle to be a priority. Time to get your car back and take it somewhere else.

The fact is that the dealership has already made it's diagnosis and recommendation... The transmission is cooked, you need to replace it. They're not going to do anything else unless MANA gets involved... and I wouldn't expect to get any help from MANA if they haven't responded by now. Are you talking with them directly or through the dealership? You need to be talking with them directly. What are the details on that? Who have you talked with and what have they had to say? When you get a minute, please give us an update....

 

[reMarkable]

Follow-up on Transmission Replacement

So I'll get more detail when I get the full write up from the dealer - but that won't be for days - but basically it's some kind of torque converter failure- and the transmission is officially shot.(sad1)

My extended warranty offered a used transmission with 46k on it for no cost (of course I still have my deductible) or pay the difference between that and what the dealer was offering for a remanufactured transmission - but that's $900 more than the cost of the used transmission - and I don't have an extra $900 - so the used one will have to do. They do warrant it for 13,000k or 13 months - for what it's worth. So that's the basics on my situation.

Now I'm disappointed that the original Mazda transmission didn't live a particularly long life - and I went out of my way to maintain it as best possible with Mazda AT fluid and I think I have pretty gentle driving habits as well. So it goes. (unamused)

Just an final update to my transmission replacement situation:
The replacement transmission arrived -but a week and a half later than expected. The shop said the used replacement was in decent shape, but they still needed to pull some senors and whatnot off of my original transmission to put onto the replacement. They did all the work in about a day - but discovered a broken engine mount and both the front struts shot and the rear shocks shot too. My insurance company had to send an inspector to confirm (which they did) - but this took a couple more days - and then the actual repairs on the engine mount and front struts took a day. All in all, I was without my car for about 3 1/2 weeks. (The shocks, which I had replaced at about 60k miles (?) had a lifetime warranty on at my local garage.) So as soon as the dealer was done, I got it into my local garage for the shocks (under Monroe lifetime warranty.)

So my car has been back on the road for a few weeks. The transmission I have to say, shifts slightly more smoothly than I recall - which means maybe the old one had actually not been 100% right BEFORE it actually caused the "A/T" light to come on - but it'a subtle difference. I've hit 98k miles in the meantime, hopefully this car has a many more miles in it.

 

[spacerat]

Seriously?! That's unacceptable!

So do you have any new information from them? When was the last time you talked with them? How often have you been talking with them? If it were me I'd be visiting the dealership daily. If you could, please recap where you are with the whole situation so we can see if any of this makes sense.

Based on what I've been following here so far, I'd have to say it's time to face facts... neither Mazda nor this dealership consider you nor your vehicle to be a priority. Time to get your car back and take it somewhere else.

The fact is that the dealership has already made it's diagnosis and recommendation... The transmission is cooked, you need to replace it. They're not going to do anything else unless MANA gets involved... and I wouldn't expect to get any help from MANA if they haven't responded by now. Are you talking with them directly or through the dealership? You need to be talking with them directly. What are the details on that? Who have you talked with and what have they had to say? When you get a minute, please give us an update....

Ive been on the phone with MANA almost daily. I actually succeeded after all this time to get them to agree to pay 50% ($1500) of the repair costs however now I cant get them to send the written authorization to Centennial mazda here in Las Vegas so repairs can start (car has been there since 24 Aug). Im so frustrated now that I have sourced a used one and will probably just replace it myself. On the bright side, I will save myself even more money by swapping an a low mile one from LKQ.

This sucks because me and the wife have been loyal to the brand for over 10 years and were looking to replace the 08 with a newer 5 here shortly, but now I may go look elsewhere.

 

[spacerat]

Well, after over 2 months of waiting, MANA signed off on the 50% and we have the car back. Total bill $1300. Renewed faith in the Mazda brand.

 

[reMarkable]

Glad to hear you've got it back. What repair was actually made? Did they replace the transmission with new one?

 

[spacerat]

If you count a factory reman as new. Otherwise, no.. Its just a reman..

 

[benpVB]

I know your issue has been since fixed, but I've got a similar problem and wanted to get some similar advice. I've got a 2008 Mazda 3 with 76,000 miles on it. I bought it used 2 years ago. I had the ATF changed about 2 months ago, and had the A/T light turn on a week ago while driving out of town. I had it towed to the dealer and they pulled a P0744. So it's the torque converter clutch pressure control solenoid. They're quoting me $2,900 for a new transmission, $2,350 for a used one, and $3K pluss for the labor to pull apart the tranny and replace the solenoid. Mind you the solenoid costs +/- $50, maybe $250 for a new torque convertor? I'm shopping around to see if I can find someone else to replace the solenoid for cheaper, but does anyone know the labor required for a job like that? Also, has anyone else experienced this issue? I found a post for a 2006 Mazda 3 where the guy had a similar issue not too long after changing his ATF (http://www.justanswer.com/mazda/5mteg-mazda-s-hello-all-this-will-long-question.html). Thanks, and I'll start a new thread as well

 

[Silentnoise713]

Now that I have an auto, these tranny post concern me

Now I need to reconsider and take the overly cautious maintenance approach.

 

[Robotazky]

I know your issue has been since fixed, but I've got a similar problem and wanted to get some similar advice. I've got a 2008 Mazda 3 with 76,000 miles on it. I bought it used 2 years ago. I had the ATF changed about 2 months ago, and had the A/T light turn on a week ago while driving out of town. I had it towed to the dealer and they pulled a P0744. So it's the torque converter clutch pressure control solenoid. They're quoting me $2,900 for a new transmission, $2,350 for a used one, and $3K pluss for the labor to pull apart the tranny and replace the solenoid. Mind you the solenoid costs +/- $50, maybe $250 for a new torque convertor? I'm shopping around to see if I can find someone else to replace the solenoid for cheaper, but does anyone know the labor required for a job like that? Also, has anyone else experienced this issue? I found a post for a 2006 Mazda 3 where the guy had a similar issue not too long after changing his ATF (http://www.justanswer.com/mazda/5mteg-mazda-s-hello-all-this-will-long-question.html). Thanks, and I'll start a new thread as well

Do the math. $3K for labor is absurd. They are blatantly telling you that they're so incompetent that they require an entire week to do the job. That's ridiculous. Please help the world by finding a better dealer and starving the one you went to.

 

[rodslinger]

I know your issue has been since fixed, but I've got a similar problem and wanted to get some similar advice. ... I had the ATF changed about 2 months ago, and had the A/T light turn on a week ago while driving out of town.

First thing is who changed the fluid? The ONLY place I've ever been to that had it in stock or even knew about the M-V fluid spec was a Mazda or Ford dealer. Every other lube shop in town would always try to tell me that Mercon V IS M-V, just an abbreviation. Lets you know right there how well they are trained. If you had your transmission flushed anywhere other than the dealer I can probably gurantee with certainty that they used Mercon V. You'll be in luck if it is listed as such on your receipt and can put them at fault for the failure.

 

[Robotazky]

First thing is who changed the fluid? The ONLY place I've ever been to that had it in stock or even knew about the M-V fluid spec was a Mazda or Ford dealer. Every other lube shop in town would always try to tell me that Mercon V IS M-V, just an abbreviation. Lets you know right there how well they are trained. If you had your transmission flushed anywhere other than the dealer I can probably gurantee with certainty that they used Mercon V. You'll be in luck if it is listed as such on your receipt and can put them at fault for the failure.

Excellent point. I've found that even some Ford and Mazda dealers can't be trusted. My original dealership argued up and down, back and forth, that Mercon V is M-V. I couldn't resist telling them they're ignorant asses to their faces.

OP, please let us know where you had it done, and if you can, scan in the receipt and post it.