2014 CX5 Tune-Up items to replace?

[PatrickGSR94]

Just an FYI to you younger folks (I am 66) that are amazed at the "key" to squeeze out the RTV sealant. They've been around for decades and were commonly used, at least in my "always use everything to the last drop" household, to get all the toothpaste out of the tube!

You can get a https://www.amazon.com/dp/ (commissions earned) on Amazon for cheap!

Yeah I figured it was nothing new and figured they were available on Amazon. I’ve just never seen one before. When I opened the package it took me a couple of minutes to realize what it was for. Then it hit me and I was like ohhhh dang that’s cool!

 

[PatrickGSR94]

Still would like to know this out of curiosity. If you can post some pictures that would be even better!

Don’t have any pics of the magnet before cleaning. But it was just a thin film of yucky stuff. Nothing really unexpected. No visible “flakes” of metal on the magnet. Just the sludge stuff that cleaned off fairly easily.

 

[edmaz]

I wonder if there is a certain type of RTV sealant with this kind of application in mind.

I would be concerned about how well the stuff would adhere to an oily surface

I would never expect any RTV to attach to an oily surface, which is why I wrote that it must be cleaned free of oil. So if the oil keeps oozing in, then this idea won't work. But if the oil flow stops and the area stays dry, then the end product should be a solidly attached wedge of RTV tapering down into the gap, which should block the oil from flowing out. That's the theory anyway.
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[AVC]

Yeah, that would be me. No matter how many zip ties I used, they all broke and I just could not get it done while lying on the ground. Took it my mechanic who had an easier time of it using a lift.

The larger/thicker HVAC zip ties (Home Depot) seem to work better. Metal zip ties or metal hose clamp might work as well--anything that pushes the belt above the pulley grooves and allows you to pull it off.

 

[Dbfl]

The larger/thicker HVAC zip ties (Home Depot) seem to work better. Metal zip ties or metal hose clamp might work as well--anything that pushes the belt above the pulley grooves and allows you to pull it off.

I used an old piece of a t-shirt and used it to pull the belt while I rotated the crankshaft with a ratchet.

 

[PatrickGSR94]

The larger/thicker HVAC zip ties (Home Depot) seem to work better. Metal zip ties or metal hose clamp might work as well--anything that pushes the belt above the pulley grooves and allows you to pull it off.

I think I had some larger zip ties somewhere on the shelf, but didn't think to use them. I was just using the regular 8" ties, which I needed two of them side-by-side to get the belt installed. I might have been able to use my hand or a rag to get it on if the car were on a lift and I were standing on the ground. But laying underneath the car just made it so dang hard. I was having to cross my arms over one another, using my left hand to turn the ratchet on the crank pulley, and my right hand to ensure that the belt and zip ties stayed in place.

Such is the bane of working on FWD transverse mounted engines.

 

[yrwei52]

I think I had some larger zip ties somewhere on the shelf, but didn't think to use them. I was just using the regular 8" ties, which I needed two of them side-by-side to get the belt installed. I might have been able to use my hand or a rag to get it on if the car were on a lift and I were standing on the ground. But laying underneath the car just made it so dang hard. I was having to cross my arms over one another, using my left hand to turn the ratchet on the crank pulley, and my right hand to ensure that the belt and zip ties stayed in place.

Such is the bane of working on FWD transverse mounted engines.

Honestly, I still believe the aftermarket Gates water pump belt is a bit smaller than OEM’s. That’s why it’s harder to put on.

So after reading all of this and why I had so much trouble with the water pump belt, here's my theory. From the pics, Dig used the OEM Mazda belt. I did not, using a Dayco "stretch" belt which is designed to be stretched into place and then it will stay snug. When I compared it to my old belt, it seemed to be significantly shorter which I attributed to the fact that the old belt was already stretched. But my theory is that the OEM Mazda belt is just slightly larger than the Dayco and requires less stretching to fit on the pulley. As much as I tried to put the Dayco belt on the pulley, it just didn't have enough length to grab onto the pulley and it kept getting pushed off just by the shape of the pulley itself (fatter in the center than at the edges. So I'm curious to know of those who were successful in replacing this belt, did you use the OEM Mazda belt or another one?

Oh, and Dig, for the record I was perpendicular to the vehicle with my feet sticking straight out the side!

 

[Jmaz]

Honestly, I still believe the aftermarket Gates water pump belt is a bit smaller than OEM’s. That’s why it’s harder to put on.

I don't use Gates belts anymore after past experience. After reading about installation difficulties here, a Mazda belt seems the best course.

 

[PatrickGSR94]

Oh well, done and done. If we keep the car long enough to need another belt change then I'll probably go Mazda next time.

 

[minnesotaart]

Oh well, done and done. If we keep the car long enough to need another belt change then I'll probably go Mazda next time.

Amen!

 

[PatrickGSR94]

Got back from our trip on Sunday afternoon, just barely beating the crazy snow and record low temps in the Memphis area.

Trans felt great. We stayed in the foothills around Gatlinburg, with some RIDICULOUS steep roads to get up to our cabin. Our FWD CX5 did great, although I did have to just about floor it to get up some of those hills, and also use manual mode a couple of times to keep it in 2nd gear going up the hills, or to keep it in a lower gear while coming back down.

One thing of interest was fuel economy. On the first leg of our trip from Memphis to Nashville, I kept CC at 75. After filling up, we had only managed 24.x MPG, which was just awful! One the second leg from Nashville to Gatlinburg, with rain the whole way, I took it easy at 65 MPH the whole time. By the time we got to the cabin, the readout showed 30.0 MPG! What a huge difference just from going 10 mph slower! And then with all the mountain drives, going down hill with no throttle, I still managed to keep the MPG average right at 29.0 when I filled up before we came back home.

Coming back home, with freezing fog and threatening freezing precipitation, I did 65-70 most of the way and we managed to get about 28 MPG coming back. The car didn't skip a beat after ~1,000 miles, although I did find some more oil around the OCV. I haven't had a chance to check around the edges of the trans drain pan. We parked the car Sunday and haven't moved it since, with single-digit temps outside.

 

[yrwei52]

Have you actually double checked the condition of new OEM sealant on ATF pan? Any sign of ATF leakages?

Do you plan to get OCV from partsouq in United Arab Emirates for much better price?

 

[PatrickGSR94]

No, haven't had a chance to put it on ramps yet and remove the lower cover. We got back in town Sunday before last just before the ice and snow hit and the car sat in the garage for a solid week until this past weekend and I was too busy this past weekend.

 

[PatrickGSR94]

Just checked it out, dry as a bone! Looks like I have a perfect trans pan seal. We’ve put about 1,200 miles on the car since resealing the pan 3 weeks ago.

 

[Dbfl]

What rtv did you use?

 

[PatrickGSR94]

What rtv did you use?

check out the previous page. I went with the OEM Mazda sealant, which looks and smells exactly like Permatex Ultra Grey RTV sealant. I followed the Permatex directions of going finger-tight on the bolts, waiting about an hour, then torquing them to final spec, and then waiting until the next day (18-24 hours) before starting the car.

The little tube key that helps push the sealant out, that came with the Mazda sealant, came in really handy.

 

[yrwei52]

Just checked it out, dry as a bone! Looks like I have a perfect trans pan seal. We’ve put about 1,200 miles on the car since resealing the pan 3 weeks ago.

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Great! And thanks for taking time to check and let us know! 👍

 

[yrwei52]

What rtv did you use?

See post #39 and #44 of PatrickGSR94’s.

 

[Dbfl]

Sorry I read that but forgot. 😬 Thanks for sharing all this.

 

[yrwei52]

check out the previous page. I went with the OEM Mazda sealant, which looks and smells exactly like Permatex Ultra Grey RTV sealant. I followed the Permatex directions of going finger-tight on the bolts, waiting about an hour, then torquing them to final spec, and then waiting until the next day (18-24 hours) before starting the car.

The little tube key that helps push the sealant out, that came with the Mazda sealant, came in really handy.

Just noticed that the expiration date on your Mazda OEM silicon sealant is 1/31/2021, but you did the ATF pan sealing job on 2/6/2021 ⋯