Sure is, for the 2.5 NA. Unfortunately we're talking about the 2.5T.
Here are the most important parts (IMO) of the original post:
I have a new GTR
I saw a few post here that state that their initial oil fill on new CX-5 had dipstick reading sometimes as low as midway between Min and Max. Some state that when changing oil that they need to add more oil than what the owner’s manual specifies in order to bring oil up to the MAX line.
I'm new here and new to CX5 but I might suggest that those CX5 delivered with less than full oil readings from factory may have possibly been filled below max and done so purposefully.
It would make sense that the CX5 dipsticks was calibrated to be accurate when oil levels were taken when hot. Manufacturers more and more are recommending hot readings with calibrated dipsticks because they know that oil expands or volume increases when oil is hot and presume most people don't want to wait around if on the road until car cools completely down to check their oil.
I believe this is the case with our CX5s. Otherwise the manual would not describe the process of checking the cars oil like it does. A few Google searches using phrases like 'are oil dipsticks calibrated for cold or hot oil" led me to many credible posts saying that yes - some manufacturers calibrate dipsticks to read accurately when engine oil is hot. Also saying that measurements taken when not hot will not be accurate on a dipstick calibrated for hot readings.
Getting back to what I personally observed I can concur completely with this. MAX line on cold morning reading and noticeable above MAX line when using the recommended oil check procedure in CX5 owner’s manual.
Maybe one of you could kindly verify this if after you fill your sump to what is seemingly low level. I'd appreciate it if you would then check it following guidelines in the owner's manual. I would like to know what you find - specifically if you get a hot reading at the MAX line. I will not happy knowing I have been breaking in my new car with an oil overfill.
So I will call Mazda corporate tomorrow to get a straight answer for ‘Is the CX-5 calibrated for hot oil or cold oil temperature.” I’d also like to make sure the GTR has a different dipstick than the non-turbo since it states it has a slightly larger capacity.
Basically, OP saw posts about oil being "underfilled" from factory, and posts suggesting that oil needs to be added upon delivery. After confirming that the oil level in his
GT Reserve (not 2.5 NA) is at the MAX line when cold, and
above the MAX line when level is read using the procedure outlined in the manual, he suggested that those posts were actually wrong, and that people may have been checking their oil levels incorrectly.
Now, in
@yrwei52's case (and others with the 1st gen CX-5 and/or 2.5 NA engine), it appears that checking oil level when cold and checking according to the procedure in the manual may result in similar readings. Nice that it works for the 2.5 NA in practice, but if you were to bring this same argument to Mazda when filing a warranty complaint for your engine, they would simply see that you were not checking oil levels as specified in the manual, and they
could potentially use it as a reason to deny warranty coverage. I personally don't think it's worth the headache.
The procedure for checking oil level in the 2.5 NA and the 2.5T engines is the same. See screenshot below, which was pulled from a 2015 CX-5 Owner's Manual (USA), with highlighted info that some users conveniently left out..
Now again, in
@Steve88's experience with his 2.5T engine, the oil level was at MAX when the engine was cold, and was above MAX when the oil level was checked using the procedure above.
@Steve88's experience shows that oil reading method described by
@yrwei52 doesn't work for the 2.5T, BUT that is only one person's experience, so it should be interpreted as a data point and not fact. Thus the reason for
@Steve88 asking other CX-5 owner's
with 2.5T engines to do the same thing he did and check oil level when cold, then check it according to Mazda's procedure to see if there is a difference.
@Steve88 suggested that all CX-5 owners (both 2.5 NA and 2.5T) who thought their engines were "underfilled" from the factory were wrong in thinking that. Based on the highlighted excerpt from the screenshot above, I would agree. Your oil is truly underfilled if it is at or below the LOW/MIN mark on the dipstick. Otherwise, it is normal, and filling it to the MAX mark is just personal preference and/or an added safety margin.
@Steve88 has not replied with an answer from Mazda, but based on the procedure outlined in the manual and the fact that the 2.5T's engine uses a different dipstick than the 2.5 NA, I think it's fairly safe to come to the conclusion that the 2.5T dipstick is calibrated for hot oil temps.