New Transmission Costs

[N7turbo]

There can't be anything wrong with RTV if that is that Mazda uses and calls for.

 

[AL Cx5]

There can't be anything wrong with RTV if that is that Mazda uses and calls for.

RTV seals, it's labor intensive to clean. It all has to be scrapped each time the trans is serviced. Mazda tried to seal it for life. LOL

IF the RTV is removed, an important step, then a gasket will work. I'll be cussing a scraping at the 30K mi mark and installing a gasket.

"If Mazda uses it" I'd still be using those boat anchor wheels, crap tires, struts, springs, sway bars, bushings and dusting/squeaking front brake pads....

BUT for those who want to go by the BOOK, RTV is your friend....

 

[Lazy2.5]

RTV seals, it's labor intensive to clean. It all has to be scrapped each time the trans is serviced. Mazda tried to seal it for life. LOL

IF the RTV is removed, an important step, then a gasket will work. I'll be cussing a scraping at the 30K mi mark and installing a gasket.

"If Mazda uses it" I'd still be using those boat anchor wheels, crap tires, struts, springs, sway bars, bushings and dusting/squeaking front brake pads....

BUT for those who want to go by the BOOK, RTV is your friend....

Lmao

 

[Lazy2.5]

I like the stock struts on my Mazda 6! The rears are still original and work great!

 

[AL Cx5]

I like the stock struts on my Mazda 6! The rears are still original and work great!

RTV will work "great" too....scrape, scrape!

https://www.amazon.com (commissions earned)

 

[ColoradoDriver]

I've heard from two different sources to use RTV (gasket paste), not a pan gasket. I'm kind of lost now.

Yeah, me too.

 

[AL Cx5]

Yeah, me too.

Have you hear the gasket is leaking ATF?

Here are two trans gaskets I use. The one on the left is for a 48re. It has NEVER leakes. The reusable gasket on the right fits a Nag1 transmission pan. It does not leak.

My 48re is due for a 30K mi ATF change this week. I will be using the gasket on the left without any RTV. I'll torque to 120 in lbs. These bolts are easy to strip....

I found to torque to 71 to 97 INCH #s for Mazda pans. These maybe smaller bolts than the Domestic 48re. I'll do 80 in lbs, go for a drive, get the trans warm and go for +90 INCH lbs.

 

[GFrosty]

Here are two trans gaskets I use. The one on the left is for a 48re. It has NEVER leakes. The reusable gasket on the right fits a Nag1 transmission pan. It does not leak.

@AL Cx5 --

Do you have a particular brand name/model of gasket you use? The 48RE transmission isn't on the Mazdas, but perhaps they make a Mazda CX-5 variant.

 

[AL Cx5]

@AL Cx5 --

Do you have a particular brand name/model of gasket you use? The 48RE transmission isn't on the Mazdas, but perhaps they make a Mazda CX-5 variant.

The gasket on the left, on post #47, came with the Wix trans filter. I forget who made the reusable on the right. You are right, 48re is a heavy duty trans to go behind high torque Cummins diesels.

Another trusted source is Feltpro.

Neither Wix or Feltpro offer trans filters or gaskets for newer Mazda's, yet.

For me, I'm not stressing on the gasket manufacturer. I'll stress more about getting two surfaces free of RTV. A small amount of RTV left on either surface could provide a leak path. I might spring for a new trans pan. We will see how flush and lazy I feel at the 30k mi mark.

Tomorrow, the pan comes off the Domestic 48re for an ATF and filter change. Part of the charm of a 48re are the antique kickdown bands that require being tightened 70 # inch. THEN loosen it 1 7/8 rotations. 7/8 of a rotation, go figure. 230k I messed up a band service and refreshed. Now at 280k, time for another ATF and filter change. This one should go well past the 500k mi mark.

 

[ruthrj]

Great thread! I never noticed a change in transmission behavior on my old ‘13 2.0L. It performed great it’s whole life when I did 3 drain and fills at 50k miles, and 3 drain and fills with a pan drop and filter change at 100k miles. I used RTV to reseal the pan without issue. I didn’t plan to drop the pan again.

Now that I have the 2.5T, I’ll likely drop the pan and replace the filter at 30k miles with a single drain and fill of the fluid. I’ll use a gasket on the new CX-5 vs RTV. Will likely do subsequent drain and fills at 30k miles, maybe a pan drop every 60k miles. Gasket will be useful for that. Scraping and cleaning the pan mating surfaces is a PITA and I don’t care for popping a RTV pan off the transmission. Have to be really careful not to gouge or pry at the transmission body, aluminum is soft! : )

 

[ColoradoDriver]

Great thread! I never noticed a change in transmission behavior on my old ‘13 2.0L. It performed great it’s whole life when I did 3 drain and fills at 50k miles, and 3 drain and fills with a pan drop and filter change at 100k miles. I used RTV to reseal the pan without issue. I didn’t plan to drop the pan again.

Now that I have the 2.5T, I’ll likely drop the pan and replace the filter at 30k miles with a single drain and fill of the fluid. I’ll use a gasket on the new CX-5 vs RTV. Will likely do subsequent drain and fills at 30k miles, maybe a pan drop every 60k miles. Gasket will be useful for that. Scraping and cleaning the pan mating surfaces is a PITA and I don’t care for popping a RTV pan off the transmission. Have to be really careful not to gouge or pry at the transmission body, aluminum is soft! : )

Yeah if I do end up trying this myself, I am inclined to try the gasket myself and since I plan to own this car long-term still, make it easy for any future pan drops.

 

[AL Cx5]

Great thread! I never noticed a change in transmission behavior on my old ‘13 2.0L. It performed great it’s whole life when I did 3 drain and fills at 50k miles, and 3 drain and fills with a pan drop and filter change at 100k miles. I used RTV to reseal the pan without issue. I didn’t plan to drop the pan again.

Now that I have the 2.5T, I’ll likely drop the pan and replace the filter at 30k miles with a single drain and fill of the fluid. I’ll use a gasket on the new CX-5 vs RTV. Will likely do subsequent drain and fills at 30k miles, maybe a pan drop every 60k miles. Gasket will be useful for that. Scraping and cleaning the pan mating surfaces is a PITA and I don’t care for popping a RTV pan off the transmission. Have to be really careful not to gouge or pry at the transmission body, aluminum is soft! : )

It's great to hear from a long term Mazda owner. I'm still a newbie...

I just completed a trans service on my 48RE at 280K miles. Replace ATF, filter and adjust the front and rear bands. It's a very old school trans. I do this every 30K miles. One of the pan SS socket bolt head stripped and was a major PITA to get off. I orders 3 sets of bolts yesterday, When they arrive, I'll replace all of the bolts and have 2 spare sets for the 310,000 and 340,000 mil services.

I'll replace the CX5 trans pan bolts too after the above encounter! I'm guessing RTV will be in the threads.

IF anyone knows the trans pan bolt size, please post. McMaster Carr is our friend! Amazon "suggests" these bolts are M8 1.25 x 20mm. The threads in the pic look like poor quality. I'll buy from McMaster Carr.

https://www.amazon.com (commissions earned)

 

[ruthrj]

It's great to hear from a long term Mazda owner. I'm still a newbie...

I just completed a trans service on my 48RE at 280K miles. Replace ATF, filter and adjust the front and rear bands. It's a very old school trans. I do this every 30K miles. One of the pan SS socket bolt head stripped and was a major PITA to get off. I orders 3 sets of bolts yesterday, When they arrive, I'll replace all of the bolts and have 2 spare sets for the 310,000 and 340,000 mil services.

I'll replace the CX5 trans pan bolts too after the above encounter! I'm guessing RTV will be in the threads.

IF anyone knows the trans pan bolt size, please post. McMaster Carr is our friend! Amazon "suggests" these bolts are M8 1.25 x 20mm. The threads in the pic look like poor quality. I'll buy from McMaster Carr.

https://www.amazon.com (commissions earned)

You’ve done some cool stuff souping up that CX-5 in a short time though!

Here’s a pic of the old pan bolts. I held onto them for some reason for a rainy day. Two on the top were original and the one on the bottom is a new spare. Old me would’ve saved a few bucks and cleaned them with a wire wheel on a dremel, current me said eff it buy new bolts.

I might end up buying a new drain pan for the ‘23 for the same reason. Forking out for a new one if the cost isn’t too bad would be a nice luxury, but unfortunately won’t save me from having to clean up the RTV from the transmission.

I just bought a used ‘20 Titan to bring the family camping in a travel trailer. Have a new transmission pan on the way for that one. Really odd design there as the transmission manufacturer used a Mercedes design. Filters are built into the pan!

 

[AL Cx5]

You’ve done some cool stuff souping up that CX-5 in a short time though!

Here’s a pic of the old pan bolts. I held onto them for some reason for a rainy day. Two on the top were original and the one on the bottom is a new spare. Old me would’ve saved a few bucks and cleaned them with a wire wheel on a dremel, current me said eff it buy new bolts.

I might end up buying a new drain pan for the ‘23 for the same reason. Forking out for a new one if the cost isn’t too bad would be a nice luxury, but unfortunately won’t save me from having to clean up the RTV from the transmission.

I just bought a used ‘20 Titan to bring the family camping in a travel trailer. Have a new transmission pan on the way for that one. Really odd design there as the transmission manufacturer used a Mercedes design. Filters are built into the pan!

What, you have read some of my ramblings! Thank you. This was the first time I did the mods in the first 2K miles. So far it's worked our very well. The tune really enhances the turbo, ie power. In Performance mod, passing, the torque steer almost pulled us into the lane of the car I was passing before I corrected. Now I KNOW.

YEP as suspected, the threads are full of RTV. They might go back in without harming the trans threads or not. Like you, I buy more parts now than in the past. I don't hold my stuff together with bandaids and bubble gum any more.

I did a quick scan of the Titan trans. They put a nice HD trans in that truck. If it's an Aisan, it's a beast!

Would you be kind enough to measure the diameter and length? I'll add this info to my Mazda log for in the future.

 

[ruthrj]

What, you have read some of my ramblings! Thank you. This was the first time I did the mods in the first 2K miles. So far it's worked our very well. The tune really enhances the turbo, ie power. In Performance mod, passing, the torque steer almost pulled the lane of the car I was passing before I corrected. Now I KNOW.

YEP as suspected, the threads are full of RTV. They might go back in without harming the trans threads or not. Like you, I buy more parts now than in the past. I don't hold my stuff together with bandaids and bubble gum any more.

I did a quick scan of the Titan trans. They put a nice HD trans in that truck. If it's an Aisan, it's a beast!

Would you be kind enough to measure the diameter and length? I'll add this info to my Mazda log for in the future.

No problem! I don’t have calipers handy so these are rough measurements with an old metric ruler. The diameter of the hex head is 10mm. Length of the bolt is 15mm from bottom of head to end of body. Theres 2mm of body length between the head and thread for the washer. The threaded section is about 8mm long. 5mm of body after the thread until you hit the end. Roughest measurement is ~5mm diameter, wish I had calipers for that.

These are from a ‘13, not sure if they kept using the same bolts for ‘17+ or for the turbo flavor.

 

[ColoradoDriver]

No problem! I don’t have calipers handy so these are rough measurements with an old metric ruler. The diameter of the hex head is 10mm. Length of the bolt is 15mm from bottom of head to end of body. Theres 2mm of body length between the head and thread for the washer. The threaded section is about 8mm long. 5mm of body after the thread until you hit the end. Roughest measurement is ~5mm diameter, wish I had calipers for that.

These are from a ‘13, not sure if they kept using the same bolts for ‘17+ or for the turbo flavor.

Where did you end up ordering the new bolts from?

 

[ruthrj]

Where did you end up ordering the new bolts from?

Onlinemazdaparts.com (dealer in NC). They were about $1.20 a piece, now they’re running $1.58 each there (PN 9YA010615A)

 

[SparkYellow]

Quick question about taking the pan bolts off for the first time, are they supposed to be on tight like torqued-tight? When I did mine last Monday, all the pan bolts came loose easily. I had expected to "crack" them loose first. The two bolts securing the filter were on tighter than the pan bolts. They have never been touched before.

 

[ruthrj]

Quick question about taking the pan bolts off for the first time, are they supposed to be on tight like torqued-tight? When I did mine last Monday, all the pan bolts came loose easily. I had expected to "crack" them loose first. The two bolts securing the filter were on tighter than the pan bolts. They have never been touched before.

That's normal. The transmission pan bolts are fastened kind of loose vs any other bolt on your vehicle. If you use a torque wrench you'll need one capable of measuring inch pounds. I can't remember the exact spec but it's in the ball park of 70-90 inch pounds. Double check the bolt spec for your CX-3, I'm only familiar with the CX-5.

Go nice and easy retightening everything in a cross/star pattern. Snug a bolt on side, and then do a bolt on the opposite side. You can do everything to like 30 or 40 inch pounds, and then go back and do the final tighten to 70-90 via a second pass. Using a gasket? Should be able to do that immediately. If doing RTV, I'd tighten the pan snug, allow the RTV to cure further for like an hour, and then do the final tightening.

 

[SparkYellow]

That's normal. The transmission pan bolts are fastened kind of loose vs any other bolt on your vehicle. If you use a torque wrench you'll need one capable of measuring inch pounds. I can't remember the exact spec but it's in the ball park of 70-90 inch pounds. Go nice and easy retightening everything in a cross/star pattern. Snug a bolt on side, and then do a bolt on the opposite side. You can do everything to like 30 or 40 inch pounds, and then go back and do the final tighten to 70-90 via a second pass.

Thank you! I did 85 inch-pounds at the time. I am starting to understand why OEM is RTV, it holds/sticks the pan to the transmission housing, whereas a gasket is more like a cushion. Will have to redo this if I find out tomorrow that it's leaking. Thank you and your collaborators for all the guidance here and in other threads!