Clicking/Clunking Transmission - 2021 CX-5 Signature

Hi Folks,

I have a 2021 CX-5 Signature with 22k miles on it. When slowing to a stop and the auto transmission gears down from 2nd to 1st gear there is a clicking/clunking sound. It can also be heard when feather on and off the throttle slightly between 10 and 20 mph. It's easier to hear when the car has been driven for a while. The transmission feels normal with no lunging or jerking. It's just the sound I hear and I am wondering if this is an early warning sign of the transmission failing down the road. I did not hear this sound when the car was new.

I took it to the Mazda dealer and both the service tech and service manager drove it and said they could not replicate the sound. Which is funny because I heard it as I was driving home. Next time I will drive with the service tech and point it out. They said despite not hearing the sound they checked if there were some transmissions software updates available but there were not. I do not think a transmission software update would have made a difference anyway because the noise is mechanical from the transmission.

Has anyone else had this sound on their CX-5? Did you take it to the dealer and what did they do or say? Is this a normal sound? Like I said, I did not hear it when the car was new, nor have I had any cars in the past that made this noise from the transmission. Thanks for any insights!
 
Hi Folks,

I have a 2021 CX-5 Signature with 22k miles on it. When slowing to a stop and the auto transmission gears down from 2nd to 1st gear there is a clicking/clunking sound. It can also be heard when feather on and off the throttle slightly between 10 and 20 mph. It's easier to hear when the car has been driven for a while. The transmission feels normal with no lunging or jerking. It's just the sound I hear and I am wondering if this is an early warning sign of the transmission failing down the road. I did not hear this sound when the car was new.

I took it to the Mazda dealer and both the service tech and service manager drove it and said they could not replicate the sound. Which is funny because I heard it as I was driving home. Next time I will drive with the service tech and point it out. They said despite not hearing the sound they checked if there were some transmissions software updates available but there were not. I do not think a transmission software update would have made a difference anyway because the noise is mechanical from the transmission.

Has anyone else had this sound on their CX-5? Did you take it to the dealer and what did they do or say? Is this a normal sound? Like I said, I did not hear it when the car was new, nor have I had any cars in the past that made this noise from the transmission. Thanks for any insights!
I have heard this on my rigs. It's normal in my experience.

Not to discount your experience but I spent over a week driving a new Ford Explorer and their 10 speed transmission. The noises and strange shifting that transmission did for the entire trip made me appreciate my Mazda 10 fold.
 
Hi Folks,

I have a 2021 CX-5 Signature with 22k miles on it. When slowing to a stop and the auto transmission gears down from 2nd to 1st gear there is a clicking/clunking sound. It can also be heard when feather on and off the throttle slightly between 10 and 20 mph. It's easier to hear when the car has been driven for a while. The transmission feels normal with no lunging or jerking. It's just the sound I hear and I am wondering if this is an early warning sign of the transmission failing down the road.
The clicking/clunking noise could also be from the drive shaft between front transfer case and rear differential.


I did not hear this sound when the car was new.
This’s the key. There’s a behavior change, and there’s something wrong to cause that.


I took it to the Mazda dealer and both the service tech and service manager drove it and said they could not replicate the sound. Which is funny because I heard it as I was driving home.
This happens all the time. ”It’s normal!” is the sentence the dealer will use for those hard-to-diagonise problems.


Next time I will drive with the service tech and point it out.
Yes, you definitely should do that if you know how to duplicate the noise.


They said despite not hearing the sound they checked if there were some transmissions software updates available but there were not. I do not think a transmission software update would have made a difference anyway because the noise is mechanical from the transmission.
I agree. The software update can’t fix a mechanical noise which doesn’t exist before.


Has anyone else had this sound on their CX-5? Did you take it to the dealer and what did they do or say? Is this a normal sound? Like I said, I did not hear it when the car was new, nor have I had any cars in the past that made this noise from the transmission. Thanks for any insights!
I agree with your thinking and I’d at least try another time to show the tech, preferably a “master tech”, the noise. Emphasizing your point that the clicking/clunking noise wasn’t there when the car is new. You can also ask to drive another CX-5 at the dealership and see if you can hear the same noise for comparison. Even if the dealer still refuses to acknowledge your CX-5 is having issues after your try, at least they logged your complaint on their system (ask for an invoice of course), and you can have something to say if the problem is getting worse without warranty.
 
All of what yrwei52 ^^^ said. At least your problem is documented if it worsens.

I think the only "new" noise several of my mazda's have made that were not there before is a little play developing with the brake pads in their bracket slots. After some time, after braking in reverse then the first braking going forward I can hear/feel the brake pads move. i.e. backing out of the driveway then at the 1st stop 100 feet up.
 
My 2021 Signature has just over 25k miles and I have not heard any unusual driveline noises. I'm not sure that means very much because after working over 45 years in a machine shop (and counting) my hearing is not what it was. It's also rare that I don't have the Bose cranked-up playing tunes.

Just how loud is this clicking/clunking? Windows up or down when you hear it? And have you tried manually downshifting to see if makes the same noise?
 
Hi Folks,

I have a 2021 CX-5 Signature with 22k miles on it. When slowing to a stop and the auto transmission gears down from 2nd to 1st gear there is a clicking/clunking sound. It can also be heard when feather on and off the throttle slightly between 10 and 20 mph. It's easier to hear when the car has been driven for a while. The transmission feels normal with no lunging or jerking. It's just the sound I hear and I am wondering if this is an early warning sign of the transmission failing down the road. I did not hear this sound when the car was new.

I took it to the Mazda dealer and both the service tech and service manager drove it and said they could not replicate the sound. Which is funny because I heard it as I was driving home. Next time I will drive with the service tech and point it out. They said despite not hearing the sound they checked if there were some transmissions software updates available but there were not. I do not think a transmission software update would have made a difference anyway because the noise is mechanical from the transmission.

Has anyone else had this sound on their CX-5? Did you take it to the dealer and what did they do or say? Is this a normal sound? Like I said, I did not hear it when the car was new, nor have I had any cars in the past that made this noise from the transmission. Thanks for any insights!
Here I described the same issue:
 
The clicking/clunking noise could also be from the drive shaft between front transfer case and rear differential.
I thought about it too, however my first Subaru Forester (it's AWD too) never had the same issue.
The reason why I said that, the clunking noise could also be from the drive shaft, is because there was a TSB a while ago for the problem.
 
So an update on this noise. It turns out it was two broken engine mounts. The clicking/clunking when braking was the engine sliding I guess because the mounts are broken. Strange given the low mileage. Guess that's better than a bad transmission or other drivetrain issue.
 
So an update on this noise. It turns out it was two broken engine mounts. The clicking/clunking when braking was the engine sliding I guess because the mounts are broken. Strange given the low mileage. Guess that's better than a bad transmission or other drivetrain issue.
Good to hear they figured it out for you
 
So an update on this noise. It turns out it was two broken engine mounts. The clicking/clunking when braking was the engine sliding I guess because the mounts are broken. Strange given the low mileage. Guess that's better than a bad transmission or other drivetrain issue.
So who figure it out?

The same dealer?
Another dealer?
Local mechanic?
 
So who figure it out?

The same dealer?
Another dealer?
Local mechanic?
Same dealer. This time I found I quiet road near the dealership beforehand and had the technician drive with me while I was driving so I could point out the sound. He heard it plain as day and kudos to him as he said it sounded like the engine sliding from a broken engine mount which turned out to be the case upon further inspection.
 
How does one break two motor mounts in ~ 25K of driving?
Remember a coworker once that ran over railroad tracks and ties...
One of those places where the tracks weren't level with the road and he hit em at considerable speed.

Or OPs Mazda was seriously defective?

Or maybe hit some speed bumps at high speed?
 
How does one break two motor mounts in ~ 25K of driving?
My guess is a batch of inferior engine mounts got introduced into assembly line. It isn’t the first time we heard such story on CX-5.

The newer engine and transmission mounts were introduced for gen-2 CX-5 since 2017. There’s at least one TSB on engine mounts which caused severe vibration in cold weather and Mazda had revised one of the engine mounts since then.

The failing engine or transmission mounts isn’t uncommon even in this community.
 
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Does anyone know how many engine mounts a 2021 CX-5 Signature has? In doing some research online it seems like there are 3. The dealer is telling me they are going to replace 2 so I'm wondering why they wouldn't replace the 3rd?

Yes, there’re 3 engine mounts for the 2.5L. This TSB shows 3 but only the No. 1 engine mount is having issues and needs to be replaced with a revised one. You have a 2.5T and the mounts may be different. Not all 3 would fail at the same time. You can ask your dealer to find out which one doesn’t get replaced and why.

TSB No.: 01-022/18 BODY VIBRATION WHEN ENGINE STARTED AFTER PARKING IN EXTREMELY COLD TEMPERATURES

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Yes, there’re 3 engine mounts for the 2.5L. This TSB shows 3 but only the No. 1 engine mount is having issues and needs to be replaced with a revised one. You have a 2.5T and the mounts may be different. Not all 3 would fail at the same time. You can ask your dealer to find out which one doesn’t get replaced and why.

TSB No.: 01-022/18 BODY VIBRATION WHEN ENGINE STARTED AFTER PARKING IN EXTREMELY COLD TEMPERATURES

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Are motor mounts covered under powertrains warranty? Or only under B2B ?
 
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