Skyactiv Drive internal walkthrough

[sinistriel@]

This is the first video in a technical series I'm putting together on the Skyactiv Drive transmissions. The transmission in the video is from a FWD CX-9 and is the one used in all the factory turbo cars and 2.2 diesels. Mazda calls it a GW6A-EL and the CX-5, 9 and Mazda 6 Turbo use this specific version. The Turbo 3, CX-30 and CX-50 use a slightly different version that has a case shape in the rear to allow it to fit in the smaller chassis. The important parts are all the same. This video is longer and much more in depth than some of my other ones, I go through each clutch set, planetary gear set and how they interact with each other to create power-flow through the transmission. I do not have the torque converter apart in this video as it is currently at one of my vendors getting measured and specced out for higher horsepower applications. I'll have a separate video coming up showing it's internals vs the smaller version of the Skyactiv Drive as well as another video directly comparing the internals of the smaller transmission to the larger version.

A look inside the Mazda Skyactiv Drive

In this video I've disassembled a Mazda GW6A-EL out of a CX-9. I show the clutch sets, planetaries how they interact to make the gear ratios. #mazda #mazda3t...

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[Gozo]

I look forward to seeing the series. Thanks for doing it and posting.

 

[RedBaron]

Wow. Thanks!

 

[190018]

Excellent video.

 

[jadmt]

awesome. I am always impressed by these type of videos.

 

[HyFlyer]

Finally had a chance to take a look at the video. Thanks @sinistriel@ for your efforts and time to post. I enjoyed the inside look.

 

[sinistriel@]

I'm glad you are enjoying it. If anyone has any specific questions feel free to ask.

 

[yrwei52]

This is the first video in a technical series I'm putting together on the Skyactiv Drive transmissions. The transmission in the video is from a FWD CX-9 and is the one used in all the factory turbo cars and 2.2 diesels. Mazda calls it a GW6A-EL and the CX-5, 9 and Mazda 6 Turbo use this specific version. The Turbo 3, CX-30 and CX-50 use a slightly different version that has a case shape in the rear to allow it to fit in the smaller chassis. The important parts are all the same. This video is longer and much more in depth than some of my other ones, I go through each clutch set, planetary gear set and how they interact with each other to create power-flow through the transmission. I do not have the torque converter apart in this video as it is currently at one of my vendors getting measured and specced out for higher horsepower applications. I'll have a separate video coming up showing it's internals vs the smaller version of the Skyactiv Drive as well as another video directly comparing the internals of the smaller transmission to the larger version.

A look inside the Mazda Skyactiv Drive

In this video I've disassembled a Mazda GW6A-EL out of a CX-9. I show the clutch sets, planetaries how they interact to make the gear ratios. #mazda #mazda3t...

www.youtube.com

The ATF capacity on 2.5L NA has changed from 7.8 qts to 8.2 qts since 2018. It should be related to cylinder deactivation which added a fulcrum inside of transmission to fight engine vibration. Mazda still uses the same model number on transmissions, FW6A-EL (FWD) and FW6AX-EL (AWD) with or without cylinder deactivation. And transmission with cylinder deactivation has the same capacity as GW6A-EL (FWD) and GW6AX-EL (AWD) used on 2.5T and 2.2D diesel. Hopefully you’ll have a chance to find out the differences among the 3.

 

[sinistriel@]

The ATF capacity on 2.5L NA has changed from 7.8 qts to 8.2 qts since 2018. It should be related to cylinder deactivation which added a fulcrum inside of transmission to fight engine vibration. Mazda still uses the same model number on transmissions, FW6A-EL (FWD) and FW6AX-EL (AWD) with or without cylinder deactivation. And transmission with cylinder deactivation has the same capacity as GW6A-EL (FWD) and GW6AX-EL (AWD) used on 2.5T and 2.2D diesel. Hopefully you’ll have a chance to find out the differences among the 3.

Yes it's related to the volume of fluid inside the torque converter. The GW series has a larger volume due to a larger pump/impeller. I'll illustrate that in my next video. For the cylinder deac cars the pendulum/fulcrum is inside the converter and takes up a significant amount of space and so the lockup clutch is not the same multi plate stackup as the non cylinder deactivation cars. The 4th gen 3/CX-30(Non turbo) use a different version of the transmission which has a different reduction planet. They are called the EV6A-EL and ET6A-EL depending on whether it's a cylinder deactivation and use the same X denotaion between AWD or not. There is also a small version used in the Yaris/Mazda2 and some CX-3 configurations called the CW6A-EL.

 

[yrwei52]

Yes it's related to the volume of fluid inside the torque converter. The GW series has a larger volume due to a larger pump/impeller. I'll illustrate that in my next video. For the cylinder deac cars the pendulum/fulcrum is inside the converter and takes up a significant amount of space and so the lockup clutch is not the same multi plate stackup as the non cylinder deactivation cars. The 4th gen 3/CX-30(Non turbo) use a different version of the transmission which has a different reduction planet. They are called the EV6A-EL and ET6A-EL depending on whether it's a cylinder deactivation and use the same X denotaion between AWD or not. There is also a small version used in the Yaris/Mazda2 and some CX-3 configurations called the CW6A-EL.

Appreciated the info on different versions of SkyActiv-Drive transmission. Looking forward to seeing your next video!

 

[sinistriel@]

This is the next video in the series I'm doing on the Skyactiv Drives. I walk through the 2.5 turbo converter and then compare it to the non turbo converter.

Skyactiv Drive, Turbo vs Non Turbo Torque Converter

I show a torque converter from a Skyactiv Drive GW6A-EL that is used in the factory 2.5 turbo cars and 2.2 diesel cars. I compare it against the smaller Skya...

www.youtube.com

 

[Kedis82ZE8]

@7:34

Was damage caused by abuse, maintenance, etc?

 

[sinistriel@]

@7:34

Was damage caused by abuse, maintenance, etc?

This type of damage is usually caused by a few things. The first is a hydraulic leak, this transmission has air checked perfectly throughout the transmission and valve body so not a hydraulic leak. The only damage is to the 3-5-R clutch set. There are quite a few transmission family's that operate with this sort of clutch arrangement and failure in this instance indicates it was a type of abuse. When a vehicle is in elevated idle such as cold start and the rpms are still above 1000 or so the person just puts it in reverse and goes before the idle drops. The 3-5-R clutch is a brake instead of a driving clutch and it puts a bunch of very quick sharp stress on the clutch set. This is my assumption of what happened to this one based on every other clutch set to be working correctly and no mechanical damage found.

 

[erhayes]

Thank you so much for this wonderful essay on the transmission. Ed

 

[jakeuten]

I’d love to see the AWD system broken down in the same fashion if that’s a possibility. Super interesting video, super appreciate it!

 

[sinistriel@]

I’d love to see the AWD system broken down in the same fashion if that’s a possibility. Super interesting video, super appreciate it!

I made one about the newer version in the 3, CX-30/50. They are very close mechanically, software is different and slight mechanical differences. I'm waiting on a few more pieces to do a video that shows everything town down.

Mazda evolved i-ACTIV AWD real world examples.

I've been talking about making this video off and on and had some time to put it together. The evolved version of i-ACTIV has some neat tricks up its sleeve ...

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[madar]

This type of damage is usually caused by a few things. The first is a hydraulic leak, this transmission has air checked perfectly throughout the transmission and valve body so not a hydraulic leak. The only damage is to the 3-5-R clutch set. There are quite a few transmission family's that operate with this sort of clutch arrangement and failure in this instance indicates it was a type of abuse. When a vehicle is in elevated idle such as cold start and the rpms are still above 1000 or so the person just puts it in reverse and goes before the idle drops. The 3-5-R clutch is a brake instead of a driving clutch and it puts a bunch of very quick sharp stress on the clutch set. This is my assumption of what happened to this one based on every other clutch set to be working correctly and no mechanical damage found.

You'd be waiting a good 5 minutes or more on a cold Pennsylvania morning, say around 35 degrees F, until that RPM dropped below 1000, personally speaking about the 2 CX5s I've owned. Would shifting it into D (after RPMs have come down a bit) and then throwing it into R quickly while the RPMs are down be more advisable?

 

[RonK]

I think I'll wait the "5 minutes" before I put it into gear. Better yet, I'll remote start the engine five minutes before I leave the house. This is one of the main functions of the CONNECT services.

 

[jakeuten]

People are waiting until the RPM's drop to 1000 to drive off? I'll usually let it settle to 1200-1300 in the winter. There are mornings where it's 20 below here and the car doesn't manage to warm the cabin on my ride to work... even with 20 minutes of remote start before hand. The car warms up quickly when driven.

 

[madar]

People are waiting until the RPM's drop to 1000 to drive off? I'll usually let it settle to 1200-1300 in the winter. There are mornings where it's 20 below here and the car doesn't manage to warm the cabin on my ride to work... even with 20 minutes of remote start before hand. The car warms up quickly when driven.

The issue is when you throw it into reverse at over 1000 RPMs, not just driving off before RPM drop below 1000 RPMs. Reread post #13.