New Transmission Costs

[Spudly]

Hello,

I have a 2018 CX-5 Grand Touring Edition - 95,000 miles. Every time the car shifts out of gear it "jerks", mechanic said I need transmission. I am not savvy enough to know if he is right or wrong but he is trusted. How much should I expect to pay for a new and/or reconditioned one? I am in PGH, PA FWIW.

Thank you,
Glenn

 

[N7turbo]

Every time the car shifts out of gear

Can you explain what you mean by this?

 

[sinistriel@]

Hello,

I have a 2018 CX-5 Grand Touring Edition - 95,000 miles. Every time the car shifts out of gear it "jerks", mechanic said I need transmission. I am not savvy enough to know if he is right or wrong but he is trusted. How much should I expect to pay for a new and/or reconditioned one? I am in PGH, PA FWIW.

Thank you,
Glenn

Have you tried resetting the transmission into learning mode? It can work well to clean up undesired behavior and is used as a diagnostic step often. If the behavior cleans up and stays away you don't have a mechanical issue, if the behavior comes back then you may have something starting.

Skyactiv Reset

Share your videos with friends, family, and the world

youtube.com

 

[TheMAN]

and at 95k miles, it's probably not too late to change the fluid if it hasn't been done either

make sure you use the proper fluid, not whatever "one size fits all" red fluid lol

 

[AL Cx5]

X2 change the fluid and trans filter. While the pan is off, look for any metal in the bottom of the pan.

Have you pulled the trans level stick and looked at the ATF? Does it smell burnt? Is it red, dark red or brown? Red is new. While you into it, confirm the ATF level is correct...

 

[TheMAN]

if the pan is taken off, the bolts must be replaced... mazda says so

 

[Lazy2.5]

Hello,

I have a 2018 CX-5 Grand Touring Edition - 95,000 miles. Every time the car shifts out of gear it "jerks", mechanic said I need transmission. I am not savvy enough to know if he is right or wrong

He is wrong.

but he is trusted.

No, he is not. I would stay away from this mechanic.

How much should I expect to pay for a new and/or reconditioned one?

You should not expect to pay for a new transmission period.

@sinistriel@ please input here - my understanding with the jerk into drive, is that, assuming fluid level OK, that there is wear in the valve body. The transmission would need to be dropped and inspected inside, cleaned, new fluid added, and if that doesn't resolve it, then valve body rebuild would be needed?

 

[AL Cx5]

if the pan is taken off, the bolts must be replaced... mazda says so

Most likely I'd reuse the bolts unless the threads are full of rtv.

I might order bolts from McMaster-Carr. There is nothing magical about trans pan bolts.

Honestly, Mazda over engineers many items on this car, then puts rtv on the trans pan....

Like they really expect folks never to service it!!

 

[sinistriel@]

He is wrong.

No, he is not. I would stay away from this mechanic.

You should not expect to pay for a new transmission period.

@sinistriel@ please input here - my understanding with the jerk into drive, is that, assuming fluid level OK, that there is wear in the valve body. The transmission would need to be dropped and inspected inside, cleaned, new fluid added, and if that doesn't resolve it, then valve body rebuild would be needed?

There is really not enough info of the concern to give any sort of accurate diagnosis. I'd need to experience it to see. If they have CD and its on every shift besides engagement it could be a failing torque converter, it could be failing/failed motor mounts, etc.

 

[TheMAN]

Most likely I'd reuse the bolts unless the threads are full of rtv.

I might order bolts from McMaster-Carr. There is nothing magical about trans pan bolts.

Honestly, Mazda over engineers many items on this car, then puts rtv on the trans pan....

Like they really expect folks never to service it!!

they don't expect people to service it, that's why there's no transmission service interval in the manuals

and a well maintained transmission doesn't really need the pan dropped... there's plenty of evidence out there that the magnet in a 30k mile interval pan drop is pretty clean... with that in mind, your choice to drop the pan and clean it up, but it's not necessary and it's purely an OCD thing

RTV is more reliable than gaskets anyway... everyone practically switched to RTV for engine oil pans decades ago and it's been fine... they do a better form fitting seal than a gasket... plus gaskets can swell and shrink, whereas RTV Doesn't

 

[AL Cx5]

they don't expect people to service it, that's why there's no transmission service interval in the manuals

and a well maintained transmission doesn't really need the pan dropped... there's plenty of evidence out there that the magnet in a 30k mile interval pan drop is pretty clean... with that in mind, your choice to drop the pan and clean it up, but it's not necessary and it's purely an OCD thing

RTV is more reliable than gaskets anyway... everyone practically switched to RTV for engine oil pans decades ago and it's been fine... they do a better form fitting seal than a gasket... plus gaskets can swell and shrink, whereas RTV Doesn't

The op thinks he has a trans issue. Dropping the pan will allow for inspection for metal and change the solenoids and or valve body.

While it's open, now is the time to change the trans filter. As the filter captures clutch material it has higher and higher pressure drop until it starves the trans for fluid and or comes apart. 100k mi on a trans filter is a lot. It's past time to change it.

Properly designed gaskets are equal and better than rtv. Mazda cheaped out in this area. Today's gaskets seal extremely well and can be reused.

Mazda is trying to kill this trans after X miles to get the owner into a new car by not recommending changing the atf and filter. We can correctly assume Mazda knows how long that trans will last without service.

In the HD pickup world a properly maintained trans will go well past 250k mi. Atf and filter is changed ever 30k mi. I know of one that has over 430k on the original trans. He services the trans every 30k mi.

 

[TheMAN]

The op thinks he has a trans issue. Dropping the pan will allow for inspection for metal and change the solenoids and or valve body.

While it's open, now is the time to change the trans filter. As the filter captures clutch material it has higher and higher pressure drop until it starves the trans for fluid and or comes apart. 100k mi on a trans filter is a lot. It's past time to change it.

Properly designed gaskets are equal and better than rtv. Mazda cheaped out in this area. Today's gaskets seal extremely well and can be reused.

Mazda is trying to kill this trans after X miles to get the owner into a new car by not recommending changing the atf and filter. We can correctly assume Mazda knows how long that trans will last without service.

In the HD pickup world a properly maintained trans will go well past 250k mi. Atf and filter is changed ever 30k mi. I know of one that has over 430k on the original trans. He services the trans every 30k mi.

I said "a well maintained transmission"... you missed that part didn't you? I wasn't disputing the fact that the OP should get the pan dropped for cleaning/inspection because its condition/maintenance history is unknown... but my point still stands that on any well maintained one, it's pretty unnecessary unless you're OCD

there's plenty of Japanese (especially toyota) transmissions out there that just had 30k drain and fills all of their lives and last well past 250k until the car either wrecks out or rusts out or the owner gets tired of it and moves on

there's also evidence out there that some skyactiv mazda owners never touched their transmission at all, and it lasted well past 200k miles and much more beyond.. exceptional? maybe, but it wasn't just 1 person but a handful... will I put my faith in the "sealed for life" nonsense? no, I'll still regularly change the fluid, but I have faith it'll be fine with just timely drain and fills without needing to spend more time with a pan drop and filter change... you can leave that for domestics (almost all of which have no drain plugs) and their crappy transmissions

and all gaskets are designed for one time use... if you think/want to risk reusing a gasket, go ahead.. I wouldn't do it at all, let alone non-critical parts... it's not worth my time having to redo something just to save $20 on a gasket plus money spent on new fluids on a redo... you can argue that mazda "cheaped out" using RTV, but like I already said, it's been proven better and more reliable for decades with sealing pans, blocks, and cases with many manufacturers, even toyota back in the 90s where they weren't known for nickel and diming on engineering/production expenses... you might think RTV is cheap because you might be used to buying the crappy $10 consumer grade tubes at the parts stores, but what the factory uses and what you can buy from the dealer are leaps and bounds better... might look the same, but not the same in chemical composition, pressure tolerances, heat tolerances, chemical tolerances, and durability/reliability