First Transmission Drain and Fill on 2016 CX-5

[Shortafoot]

Just bought my wife a used 2019 CX-5 Touring with 95K miles and my daughter a 2016 CX-5 Sport with 108K miles. Despite both having regular 5K or 6K oil changes neither have ever had the tranny serviced. Yeah, I know, can of worms here, but after owning many Asian cars, I am convinced that you gotta get fresh fluid in there regardless of when you buy it. It has worked for me so far. Anyhow, did the 2016 a few days ago. Just a drain and fill. I'll wait 25-30K before I drop the pan and replace the strainer/filter. Just figured, I need to get some old ATF out and new in. Went as expected. Observation No 1: The factory fill was RED, not FZ BLUE. Question: do they use FZ factory-fill that isn't dyed blue? I wonder why? Observation No. 2: I have never seen a bolted in dipstick! Why, Mazda? Is it so high pressure in the case the dipstick might blow out if not secured by a bolt? Observation No. 3: FZ is thin compared to most red ATF's I have used i the past Very runny for sure. Sure is a pretty blue! I guess to cut down on internal pump friction, they used the FZ with its low viscosity? At least I can get a trans kit with a rubber gasket for the 2016. I have never used RTV except to dab the corners on my old Mazda powered Ford Escort's valve cover and don't trust myself to use the RTV properly on the CX-5's trans pan.

Will do my wife's 2019 soon. Just drain and fill as well. Unfortunately there are ZERO Mazda specialty independent shops in Bham, AL area so the STEALERSHIP is the only option. I hate to find out what they want to charge me to drop the pan and service the transmission. I haven't found a rubber gasket yet for the 2018 and up cylinder deactivation 2.5's. The trans pans changed slightly from what others have posted.

Anyway, got some fresh blue juice in the slushbox so we are good to go for a while! Carry on!

 

[madar]

I would say it wasn't the factory fill fluid, should've been a dark blue, not red. Looks like some one might have changed the fluid and put in either the wrong type or a non-Mazda brand equivalent.

 

[Shortafoot]

I would say it wasn't the factory fill fluid, should've been a dark blue, not red. Looks like some one might have changed the fluid and put in either the wrong type or a non-Mazda brand equivalent.

The owner, a USAF Pilot, was adament that the tranny had never been serviced, ever. I have all the receipts from where he had it serviced only at Mazda dealers and no service write ups of the tranny being serviced so the mystery will be unresolved I guess!

 

[ruthrj]

The first time I drained my old ‘13’s ATF with 50k miles of use, it didn’t look blue at all. It looked dark maroon. Like the color was most definitely not blue and made me question FZ fluid as the appropriate replacement as well as my sanity. Did 3 drain and fills with OEM FZ and didn’t touch it until 50k miles later. Drained that same dark maroon color. It doesn’t seem to hold the blue hue with age and use very well.

 

[Lazy2.5]

Unfortunately there are ZERO Mazda specialty independent shops in Bham, AL area so the STEALERSHIP is the only option.

You don't need a "Mazda specialty shop." Any good mechanic or transmission shop will be able to drop the pan. I've already had it done on my Mazda 4x by different mechanics.

I hate to find out what they want to charge me to drop the pan and service the transmission.

I've never heard of a dealership actually agreeing to drop the pan.

 

[Boland01]

If it was a very dark red color I guess it's possible that it's the old original very dirty FZ fluid. If it's a bright red then no way.

 

[Shortafoot]

The first time I drained my old ‘13’s ATF with 50k miles of use, it didn’t look blue at all. It looked dark maroon. Like the color was most definitely not blue and made me question FZ fluid as the appropriate replacement as well as my sanity. Did 3 drain and fills with OEM FZ and didn’t touch it until 50k miles later. Drained that same dark maroon color. It doesn’t seem to hold the blue hue with age and use very well.

Probably just a marketing thing. I like the way the Mazda bottle says to "Do Not Mix With Red ATF Fluid". There is a Mazda tech on another forum that swears by Castrol Transmax and an unspecified additive(my guess is LubeGard) in Skyactiv trannys and I have no doubt he is correct. I have run Maxlife and LubeGard in many Asian auto transmission and all did great. Daughter's Lexus has 320K miles on it and my wife's 245K mile CX-9 was just sold and it shifted like new thanks to regular drain and fills with Lubegard.