No transmission maintenance interval recommended in owner's manual?
- Thread starter jadmt
- Start date
In the owners manual for my 2016.5 CX-5, in the Maintenance Schedule section, it mentions the transfer oil and the rear differential oil.
Change frequency isn't shown in the table itself, but the notes indicate the following -- both for Schedule 1 as well as the Schedule 2 severe driving conditions sections:
Of course, that means if none of those conditions exist then Mazda's suggesting that there is no recommended interval for changing the trans/diff fluids.
Many do these every 30Kmi. I acquired my own vehicle pre-owned at just under 80Kmi. Did the fluids then, at ~35Kmi more I did them again. At 150-160Kmi, it'll be time for the next swap. IMO, better to treat it conservatively than to let it go as a so-called "lifetime" fluid. Particularly with the trans, since there's a filter in there as well.
Change frequency isn't shown in the table itself, but the notes indicate the following -- both for Schedule 1 as well as the Schedule 2 severe driving conditions sections:
*5 If the vehicle is operated primarily under any of the following conditions, replace the rear differential oil at every 48,000 km (30,000 miles).
a) Towing a trailer or using a car-top carrier
b) Driving in dusty, sandy or wet conditions
c) Extended periods of idling or low speed operation
d) Repeated short trips of less than 16 km (10 miles)
*6 If this component has been submerged in water, the oil should be replaced.
Of course, that means if none of those conditions exist then Mazda's suggesting that there is no recommended interval for changing the trans/diff fluids.
Many do these every 30Kmi. I acquired my own vehicle pre-owned at just under 80Kmi. Did the fluids then, at ~35Kmi more I did them again. At 150-160Kmi, it'll be time for the next swap. IMO, better to treat it conservatively than to let it go as a so-called "lifetime" fluid. Particularly with the trans, since there's a filter in there as well.
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- 2023 CX5 turbo
doesn't say that in my 2023 OM...The local dealership told my buddy that his warranty could be voided if he didn't get it done...he does his own oil changes and he took it in to have his air condition checked because he said it is not blowing cold air...they did find a leak and said they needed to order parts and told him he needed his tranny fluid and rear diff oil changed to the tune of $800 he told them he needed to research and they told him he was risking his drivetrain warranty by not doing it..he is around 30000 miles. I told him to have them show him in the owners manual where it says that
Hm. Well, the language sounds much the same (for 'severe conditions' driving), even if the table for maintenance timing doesn't even mention the trans/diff component fluids.
Can't imagine the transaxle, transfer case or diff are that much different from 2016 to 2023 that the 2023's equipment never fails despite never changing the fluids. No matter how good engineers might be, that'd be a first.
My own suggestion would be: change the fluids on a schedule that roughly comports with the owners manuals from prior years that clearly suggest swaps when 'severe driving' conditions apply. But everyone is different and can do whatever floats their own boats.
a69mach1377
2025 CX5 Turbo Premium
There have been improvements in tranny fluid...but I'd do at least 60k intervals nonetheless.
When I asked my dealer about a transmission fluid change, they told me the interval was over 100k. I got a price anyway, which was insanely high (600 or so), and went elsewhere as they didn't seem to want to do it. The indie shop was about 250. I had mine done at 30k. What my dealer said invalidates what your dealer told you. If it were a warranty issue, it would be in the manual. I need to have my rear diff fluid changed as well.
My dealer did a drain/fill for $120.
it's tricky doing this... without a proper scan tool to check the fluid temps, you can screw up the amount you put in... it needs to be checked at around 50 degrees celsius (122 degrees fahrenheit) or you'll get it wrong
since these trannys don't have real dipsticks anymore, they're very picky about what kind of fluid you use and how much you have in it... even a couple of ounces makes a big difference in how it works
I changed our 3's at 50k, using full synthetic ravenol ATF-FZ (the only aftermarket ATF-FZ available) because the mazda ones aren't synthetic... paid my dealer to do it so that they could use their flushing machine to change it all out with 3 gallons of that synthetic fluid, which costed a fortune... buddy hookup of 1 hour legit labor cost plus the $35 rip off of their flushing chemical lol... the old fluid just looked gray with no bad smell yet, but it was at the right time to change it, since 2/3 the miles on the car are highway miles, so it's easier on the fluid
it does shift way better now than even when the car was new... if you plan on keeping yours for a long time, I'd go with ravenol rather than the overpriced dealer dino juice
from now on, I should be able to just do drain and fill at 75-100k since it's synthetic lol
At $63 per 4L bottle of Ravenol ATF FZ, and the my 2016 Mazda CX-5 needing ~8L per swap, a 3x swap of the ATF fluid would be ... $378 or so. Plus the filter. Plus the labor to drop the pan, scrape the RTV, make a new seal, reassemble. Ooof.
Oh, goodie. My next ATF fluid swap is coming in ~20Kmi or so.
I used all 12 liters of Ravenol to use with my dealer's flushing machine. If you're planning on flushing out everything that's in the trans now, you should account for fudge factor. It's not easy flushing on these newer mazdas compared to any other old school car, so that's why I didn't want to mess with it on my own driveway... doing multiple drain and fills is just wasteful and stupid... you're not even sure if you got every bit of dino juice or old fluid out of there anyway... do it right and flush/fluid exchange it
Blauparts is the official distributor for Ravenol (what you linked is run by Blauparts). If you sign up for Blauparts' spam, you will see deals once in a while. I missed out on their Black Friday sell that would've saved me 30 bucks... oh well
They just had a 4th of July sale too
If you dropped the pan once because you didn't trust that it's a used car, you shouldn't need to again since you've changed the fluid often enough.
I didn't drop the pan nor changed the filter. It works fine and it will be fine for many thousands of miles.
If it ain't broke, don't fix it
Blauparts is the official distributor for Ravenol (what you linked is run by Blauparts). If you sign up for Blauparts' spam, you will see deals once in a while. I missed out on their Black Friday sell that would've saved me 30 bucks... oh well
They just had a 4th of July sale too
If you dropped the pan once because you didn't trust that it's a used car, you shouldn't need to again since you've changed the fluid often enough.
I didn't drop the pan nor changed the filter. It works fine and it will be fine for many thousands of miles.
If it ain't broke, don't fix it
Great... I dropped the in our 30+ year old Toyota minivan years ago... always had drain and fill and it just had a strainer, no real filter... there wasn't any significant "sludge" build up on the pan or magnet and looked just like a "new" transmission pan that had its pan dropped at 30k miles... when the pan got dropped, it had 200k miles on it... there was never any shifting issues before then nor afterwards
when I used to turn wrenches, half the cars that came in got requests/got upsold to get the pan dropped... regular 30k changes... not anything abnormal... typical "sludge" buildup on the pan/magnet, nothing to write home about in the old filter... others that haven't had the pan dropped for many miles but drain and fills before, same thing... others with cheap customers who never dropped the pan but just drain and fill, it still worked fine while the rest of the car was falling apart
changing the fluid at regular intervals is more important than dropping the pan and changing the filter... you get most of the junk out of it... any left over is insignificant to matter long enough before it really starts to wear out or the car rots away or you get bored with it and move on
aside from less mess/ease of changing the fluid, if the japanese manufacturers really wanted you to drop the pan/change the filter to change the fluid, they would've took away the drain plug long ago, among the many things they have cheaped out on over the years ago, especially since these transmissions are "sealed for life", "lifetime fluid"
so it's not a big deal just doing a SINGLE drain and fill every 30k miles... getting 300k+ miles out of it like this, is plenty long enough for most people... and if you flushed out all of the original dino juice with full synthetic like I did, you're going to assured that there will be less wear, less junk floating around or building up inside of it... this further makes changing the filter anytime soon moot, especially since the filter is designed to still work well beyond 50k-60k miles you get out of the original fluid, and the magnets in the pan keeps the rest of the junk from floating around
good japanese transmissions with good track records (not all of them are this way) don't need to be treated like your typical domestic that DO require the pan to be dropped because of the lack of drain plug... there was this other thread where this guy having bad past experiences with broken starters and alternators at around 100k miles with non-japanese cars, proactively changed it, on a japanese made mazda... should bad past experiences with other, non-japanese cars dictate how we perform maintenance and preventative maintenance on japanese cars? I don't think so... "japanese reliability" has been a saying and thing to be proud about for decades, and that should be and can be depended on as their components last much longer than many competing, non-japanese makes
like many things in cars and life, it's easy to go OCD over things... it's not a big deal and you don't need to go OCD over maintenance... maintain your car yes, but don't go crazy over it
when I used to turn wrenches, half the cars that came in got requests/got upsold to get the pan dropped... regular 30k changes... not anything abnormal... typical "sludge" buildup on the pan/magnet, nothing to write home about in the old filter... others that haven't had the pan dropped for many miles but drain and fills before, same thing... others with cheap customers who never dropped the pan but just drain and fill, it still worked fine while the rest of the car was falling apart
changing the fluid at regular intervals is more important than dropping the pan and changing the filter... you get most of the junk out of it... any left over is insignificant to matter long enough before it really starts to wear out or the car rots away or you get bored with it and move on
aside from less mess/ease of changing the fluid, if the japanese manufacturers really wanted you to drop the pan/change the filter to change the fluid, they would've took away the drain plug long ago, among the many things they have cheaped out on over the years ago, especially since these transmissions are "sealed for life", "lifetime fluid"
so it's not a big deal just doing a SINGLE drain and fill every 30k miles... getting 300k+ miles out of it like this, is plenty long enough for most people... and if you flushed out all of the original dino juice with full synthetic like I did, you're going to assured that there will be less wear, less junk floating around or building up inside of it... this further makes changing the filter anytime soon moot, especially since the filter is designed to still work well beyond 50k-60k miles you get out of the original fluid, and the magnets in the pan keeps the rest of the junk from floating around
good japanese transmissions with good track records (not all of them are this way) don't need to be treated like your typical domestic that DO require the pan to be dropped because of the lack of drain plug... there was this other thread where this guy having bad past experiences with broken starters and alternators at around 100k miles with non-japanese cars, proactively changed it, on a japanese made mazda... should bad past experiences with other, non-japanese cars dictate how we perform maintenance and preventative maintenance on japanese cars? I don't think so... "japanese reliability" has been a saying and thing to be proud about for decades, and that should be and can be depended on as their components last much longer than many competing, non-japanese makes
like many things in cars and life, it's easy to go OCD over things... it's not a big deal and you don't need to go OCD over maintenance... maintain your car yes, but don't go crazy over it
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