New Transmission Costs

[SparkYellow]

Its obvious that Mazda amongst other manufacturers don't want their transmissions to be serviced properly for a corrupt method of profit.

I believed that was the case at least with MINI.

@AL Cx5 These transmissions have a strainer, not a filter.

The oem filter that I ordered for my CX-3 seems to be the paper-element type. I didn't have to order the rubber rings separately. Is the strainer type on pre-Skyactiv transmissions?

 

[sinistriel@]

All Skyactiv use a paper element that are made by Denso or Filtran for Mazda and are high quality. The 'filled for life' comes from a few things. 1st oems receive CAFE credit if there is not a fluid recommendation because the thought process is the vehicle will put less oil out into the world through its life cycle. 2nd to protect themselves. Transmission warranty claims fall substantially when a 'filled for life' philosophy is adopted by an OEM. The amount of DIY that believe they can do a transmission service correctly is much higher than can actually be accomplished. Using the wrong fluid, witches brew concoctions that 'someone on a forum' said you should really try! Even checking the fluid level correctly, the amount of times people ignore the part about the vehicle being running and at the correct temperature is astounding.

Mazda internal training documents call for service to be done for correct service life, called out in the first attached picture.

I personally recommend a pan drop and filter change at 30k miles. These units shed a good amount of clutch material and the magnet usually has quite a bit as seen in the second picture.

 

[AL Cx5]

All Skyactiv use a paper element that are made by Denso or Filtran for Mazda and are high quality. The 'filled for life' comes from a few things. 1st oems receive CAFE credit if there is not a fluid recommendation because the thought process is the vehicle will put less oil out into the world through its life cycle. 2nd to protect themselves. Transmission warranty claims fall substantially when a 'filled for life' philosophy is adopted by an OEM. The amount of DIY that believe they can do a transmission service correctly is much higher than can actually be accomplished. Using the wrong fluid, witches brew concoctions that 'someone on a forum' said you should really try! Even checking the fluid level correctly, the amount of times people ignore the part about the vehicle being running and at the correct temperature is astounding.

Mazda internal training documents call for service to be done for correct service life, called out in the first attached picture.

I personally recommend a pan drop and filter change at 30k miles. These units shed a good amount of clutch material and the magnet usually has quite a bit as seen in the second picture.

OK then, 30k intervals, drop pan and change the filter. Scrap the RTV off one time and use a gasket in the future.

How long do the solenoid valves normally last?

After looking at the filter pictures, I like that the filter is corrugated to get more filter area in a small footprint.

Not much has changed in trans service. My 06 Domestic, recommends changing fluid and filter every 30k. We also adjust the front and rear bands. And about every 100k mi we change the valve body solenoids. A Domestic, Dodge, 48re goes and goes if one follows the above and puts a shift kit in the VB. As mentioned, one documented 48re has over 430,000 miles. About every 200k mi they need a front band that slips over the drum.

I think the CX5 trans when serviced every 30k will live longer than I'll keep the car, 8 to 10 years.

Is there a valve body shift kit in the works? I don't see much out there about tuning these transmissions?

Thanks for chiming in!

 

[sinistriel@]

The direct linear solenoids in these are far and away different technology than the garbage pressure transducer and solenoids in a 48RE and I've not seen or heard of a failed solenoid. Thankfully bands are largely gone from the industry in almost every unit in production.

I rebuild valve bodies for these but haven't seen a large need for any type of shift kit. I have a few things cooking regarding tuning but that's entirely up to software release.

 

[madar]

No matter how condescending you continue to reply we will continue to disagree.

Gaskets have come along way. On my German Nag1 the gasket is aluminum with flex material on both sides. Same thing on my Domestic Dodge, 48re.

Fwiw, I took out my Domestic 48re when changing out a band incorrectly. It had 250k mi and was going strong. My buddies 48re has 430k mi on it behind a Cummins and he tows a 5th wheel trailer.

Blanket, all inclusive, statements usually are not true.

The point, metal gaskets are reusable, I NEVER had to go back and replace because they leaked. These are light years better than the best rtv.

Time will tell if not changing your transmission filter is okay or not.

For me, the extra time to drop the pan, scrap off the rtv while berating Mazda, so I can change the filter is worth it.

Changing engine oil and transmission atf, includes changing the filters.

Enjoy

My 97 Voyager had RTV sealing the trans pan which was a pain to scrape and reseal every time I did a fluid change (no drain plug). I found one of those metal gaskets with the silicone inlay and it was great. Multiple times of changing fluid with no scraping. If anyone knows of one available please provide a link.

 

[Lazy2.5]

I was also going to suggest a pan drop at the 30-40k mile mark, because this is when most of the clutch friction material and metal shavings are shed (During the break-in process.)

However, after that first pan drop, you can do future drops probably around 50-60k mile mark (@sinistriel@ thoughts?)


I came back here after seeing this post on the mazda 6 forum I follow. Take a look at the pictures:

2.5 AT fluid and filter change at high mileage

The car is a 2017 Mazda 6 2.5 with 130 000 miles. I bought the car last year and just changed the automatic transmission fluid and filter. The car was an ex. company car with full history at Mazda dealer. Because the transmission has "lifetime oil" it was never changed :( What I feel from the...

www.mazda6club.com

Not bad for 130k miles, but certainly wouldn't want my transmission getting to this point

 

[Lazy2.5]

I believed that was the case at least with MINI.

... And more.

The oem filter that I ordered for my CX-3 seems to be the paper-element type. I didn't have to order the rubber rings separately. Is the strainer type on pre-Skyactiv transmissions?

That is the strainer; what you showed in the pic.

No idea re. pre skyactiv's.

 

[AL Cx5]

The direct linear solenoids in these are far and away different technology than the garbage pressure transducer and solenoids in a 48RE and I've not seen or heard of a failed solenoid. Thankfully bands are largely gone from the industry in almost every unit in production.

I rebuild valve bodies for these but haven't seen a large need for any type of shift kit. I have a few things cooking tuning but that's entirely up to software release.

I agree, I switched to Borg Warner solenoids and transducer on my 48RE. They still fail every 90k mi or so. Bands are SO old tech too. Yet these trans keep on working under high torque and loads of a Cummins.

That's good to hear I can scratch off solenoid replacement.

We don't beat on our CX5 Turbo. It should be good.

Lastly, at what point does a strainer become a filter?

 

[sinistriel@]

A strainer vs a filter is an important distinction and many Japanese OEMs will use the term interchangeable, it may be a translation issue. The difference in the tranmsisison world is a metal screen with no filter media is called a strainer and not meant to be replqced but cleaned. A filter would have a filtering media like a Skyactiv does. A great example is Toyota. The Filter in my picture is for a U660, the second is a metal strainer used in early Toyotas.

 

[ColoradoDriver]

All Skyactiv use a paper element that are made by Denso or Filtran for Mazda and are high quality. The 'filled for life' comes from a few things. 1st oems receive CAFE credit if there is not a fluid recommendation because the thought process is the vehicle will put less oil out into the world through its life cycle. 2nd to protect themselves. Transmission warranty claims fall substantially when a 'filled for life' philosophy is adopted by an OEM. The amount of DIY that believe they can do a transmission service correctly is much higher than can actually be accomplished. Using the wrong fluid, witches brew concoctions that 'someone on a forum' said you should really try! Even checking the fluid level correctly, the amount of times people ignore the part about the vehicle being running and at the correct temperature is astounding.

Mazda internal training documents call for service to be done for correct service life, called out in the first attached picture.

I personally recommend a pan drop and filter change at 30k miles. These units shed a good amount of clutch material and the magnet usually has quite a bit as seen in the second picture.

Also a big part of why manufacturers keep pushing out oil change intervals. Can some cars do that? Yes. But I'd say a lot burn up oil between intervals and extending out the oil changes is going to be trouble for the vast majority who aren't regularly checking their oil levels but are going 10k between changes.

 

[SparkYellow]

A strainer vs a filter is an important distinction and many Japanese OEMs will use the term interchangeable, it may be a translation issue. The difference in the tranmsisison world is a metal screen with no filter media is called a strainer and not meant to be replqced but cleaned. A filter would have a filtering media like a Skyactiv does. A great example is Toyota. The Filter in my picture is for a U660, the second is a metal strainer used in early Toyotas.

I have never handled a transmission fluid strainer before. Is the mesh inner tube in this inline fuel filter similar to the strainer in your second pic?

 

[SparkYellow]

Also a big part of why manufacturers keep pushing out oil change intervals. Can some cars do that? Yes. But I'd say a lot burn up oil between intervals and extending out the oil changes is going to be trouble for the vast majority who aren't regularly checking their oil levels but are going 10k between changes.

Some folks would even believe that OCI beyond 15K is ok, as I did with my 2011 R56. I was told that the ECU analyzed how the car was driven and determined when an oil change was due. My first oil/filter change on the MINI was at 19K+ miles, next at 38K+ miles. Had a lot of growing-up to do when the warranty went out.

 

[SparkYellow]

My 97 Voyager had RTV sealing the trans pan which was a pain to scrape and reseal every time I did a fluid change (no drain plug). I found one of those metal gaskets with the silicone inlay and it was great. Multiple times of changing fluid with no scraping. If anyone knows of one available please provide a link.

Many after market transmission filter makers include a paper/fabric gasket for the pan. However, the reviews suggest that the fitment is poor or the gasket would shift during installation. My search wasn't exhaustive and I decided to take on the RTV challenge. A few weeks ago I found out that the Ravenol retailer offers a full kit that includes a rubber gasket.

https://www.blauparts.com/mazda-cx-5-transmission-fluid-atf-change-kit-2013-2021-mazda-atf-type-fz.html

 

[SparkYellow]

...

Lastly, at what point does a strainer become a filter?

What we use to drain water out of spaghetti is a strainer. The paper towel we use to catch the grease under bacon is a filter. Let's see who yells at me first.