Very important question

[markuszoom5]

I know this has been asked about 100 times. So my 2010 mazda 5 has 32000 miles and the dealer recommended a flush. I know people say you should drain. Well my wife's 2007 Civic has 31000 miles and is 7 years old (she does not drive a lot) and never flushed anything except changing the oil. My coworker has a Malibu with 130 k never flushed the tranny or anything, my other friend Subaru with 120 k never got flushed. I once drained a 1998 Kia at 30k and the gasket deteriorated and leaked, same thing with a 2001 Alero, the gasket leaked, after a drain and after like 10 k. So why should I mess with mine if everything is working fine and the manual does not even have an interval for tranny fluid. I think everybody is too damn paranoid with train flushes, jet every person I talked to never got it done. I will be happy if my car reaches 100 k and if the tranny blows then. That would make it the most mileage car I ever had.

 

[DougNuts]

I am personally a fan of draining whatever comes out of the drain plug and putting that much back in. Repeat every 20k.

Just my opinion.

 

[Silentnoise713]

How are you defining flush vs. drain (b/c you mention gasket)?

Draining is emptying fluid in the pan alone and refilling that; about ~3.6 quart. You don’t get the fine metal particles out and you don’t get clean fluid to start new. Would you change a portion of your motor oil (or anything else for that matter)?

Flushing is replacing all of the old with new fluid at once. This is a much better route as it nets new fluid but you also don’t get the dirty particles out. I highly recommend this route for this car once you are out of your standard warranty. Dealers typically use an extraction device and don't bother to drop the pan to clean the magnet or change the filter. I’m sure you can ask them but it’ll cost you.

Neither draining nor flushing requires dropping/cleaning the pan but you can choose to do it in either scenario. Considering you have ~31K, it’s probably overkill for you. Not sure if you’ve seen the pics in the ATF recommendation thread but you can see at 60K, the magnet is COVERED with fine metallic particles from the changing/grinding gears. This also means the transmission filter is probably saturated with more particles! If you’ve had problems with leaking gasket/seals, I will say this is 100% application error; either poor prepping of the mounting surfaces, using cheap aftermarket gaskets (I’ve seen some aftermarket ones that are HALF the thickness of OE gaskets), or not torqued to spec.
EDIT: Becareful what and where you buy your parts.
http://forum.miata.net/vb/showthread.php?t=215163


It is not wise to compare one car to another or someone else’s car to yours. If you must, only compare the same make and model of the same generation (parts get revised and specs change without advertisement). Much of car care absolutely depends on how/where you use your car. Some manufactures OE spec fluids are of a much better quality. Think about Mazda’s market/financial position, they cannot afford that. Longevity and durability has never been their game. Also, stop and go driving is much harder on the transmission and everything else on your car (drivetrain drag/moving the initial mass, and constant 1-2-1 shifts) than racking up highway miles (little resistance and coasting in steady top gear) so using mileage is not a good indicator.

 

[Olde English 5]

I wouldn't be happy at all if the transmission blew after 100,000 miles. That's really not alot of miles at all. A car that's well maintained should be able to go 200,000 and beyond.

Most people don't bother changing transmission fluid at all, but on this car it's so easy why not do it? It's simpler than an oil change because there's no external filter. Just take out the drain plug, drain about 3 to 3.5 quarts of fluid, put new fluid back in. That's it.

I too would be less inclined to remove the pan, but in that case I'd look to change the transmission fluid some other way (such as draining fluid out of one of the hoses)

 

[Secondtyme]

I'll be performing the major fluid flush as I like to call it when I perform my next oil change, which should be this week. I plan on dropping the pan, replacing the filter, cleaning the magnet and using a combo of suction gun and pulling the cooler return line to get as much of the fluid as possible. I know I can't get the fluid left in the torque converter, but that little bit shouldn't kill anything in light of the rest of the work I'll be doing. I consider this cheap insurance as I bought the car at auction with 110K on the clock. It shifts as it should, but TC lock-up has begun to get a bit unpredictable under load and the fluid has turned brown in color. It doesn't smell burnt, but I don't think it wise to wait until it does....

 

[markuszoom5]

Well, the problem is that between 2005-2010, I owned a VW Jetta, 5 speed manual, 5 cylinder, 2.5 L, and I did every imaginable service interval that was required, the intervals were every 10,000 miles. They cost me about $500 - $600 every 10,000 miles. In 2010, I traded in the crappy fall-apart Jetta for the 2010 Mazda that I have now. I had no problems with the Mazda 5 yet, and I had it for almost 3 years now. Then Jetta was blowing lights, and check engine light came on at 55000 k due to main wire harness to O2 sensors burning out, and nobody could figure out what it was but it cost me another $500. Oh I forgot 2 sets of tires, for $300 and $400 respectively because they cupped like crazy every 20,000 k. So with 5 x $500 on average, and $700 and $500. I paid about $3700 for a car that had a warranty. Since then, I have been convinced that German cars are nothing but tech loaded buckets that fail due to poor quality control, but get advertised very well and people like the German image.
And regarding transmission, a flush can drive all the particles out of nooks and cranies, and a drain is safe I assume but not as effective. But why even mess with something, if the manual does not indicate to have it done?
I have taken off the pan cover on an alero that I owned, and bought brand new, it was a 2001, and after I did the whole fluid exchange, the gasket leaked after 10,000k.
Also I did it on a 1998 Kia Sephia,and I experienced the same leak, due to gasket deterioration.

 

[Secondtyme]

Please, for the love of all mankind, do NOT base any automotive service assumption on past history with a VAG product (thats Volkswagen Auto Group) I was unfortuneate enough to have purchased a USED 2004 Jetta 1.8T 5 spd which was every bit, if not more an accursed piece of s*** than your brand new one was. I hate to have to tell you this, but just because VWs are a product of Satan, doesn't mean your Mazda has to be as well. Given your history with gaskets, i would perhaps counsel having a shop do the pan drop and fluid swap the first time. At least that way if it leaks you can return to the shop that did the work with receipt in hand and say "What Gives?" I am comfortable in saying that you will do more harm leaving your transmission with the same fluid for long periods of time and mileage than you will by changing it at the specified intervals. This is particularly true if your 5 happens to be in the danger zone of years where there are known problems with the tranny not holding up well. This is my second Mazda 5, the first auto trans I have owned in over fifteen years, and it daily renews my faith in the Mazda brand. HTH Ross

 

[markuszoom5]

Please, for the love of all mankind, do NOT base any automotive service assumption on past history with a VAG product (thats Volkswagen Auto Group) I was unfortuneate enough to have purchased a USED 2004 Jetta 1.8T 5 spd which was every bit, if not more an accursed piece of s*** than your brand new one was. I hate to have to tell you this, but just because VWs are a product of Satan, doesn't mean your Mazda has to be as well. Given your history with gaskets, i would perhaps counsel having a shop do the pan drop and fluid swap the first time. At least that way if it leaks you can return to the shop that did the work with receipt in hand and say "What Gives?" I am comfortable in saying that you will do more harm leaving your transmission with the same fluid for long periods of time and mileage than you will by changing it at the specified intervals. This is particularly true if your 5 happens to be in the danger zone of years where there are known problems with the tranny not holding up well. This is my second Mazda 5, the first auto trans I have owned in over fifteen years, and it daily renews my faith in the Mazda brand. HTH Ross

VW are a product of Satan, I remember on the day when I was goin to trade it in, the damn airbag light came on, as it it did not want to get traded in, but the dealer said that it was the harness in the left door and that is why the gas tank does not open up when it needs to sometimes lol. They still have me a decent trade in value and I was happy. I would not buy another VW if it was free, because the maintanence on it is like having another car payment.

 

[Silentnoise713]

Well, the problem is that between 2005-2010, I owned a VW Jetta, 5 speed manual, 5 cylinder, 2.5 L, and I did every imaginable service interval that was required, the intervals were every 10,000 miles. They cost me about $500 - $600 every 10,000 miles. In 2010, I traded in the crappy fall-apart Jetta for the 2010 Mazda that I have now. I had no problems with the Mazda 5 yet, and I had it for almost 3 years now. Then Jetta was blowing lights, and check engine light came on at 55000 k due to main wire harness to O2 sensors burning out, and nobody could figure out what it was but it cost me another $500. Oh I forgot 2 sets of tires, for $300 and $400 respectively because they cupped like crazy every 20,000 k. So with 5 x $500 on average, and $700 and $500. I paid about $3700 for a car that had a warranty. Since then, I have been convinced that German cars are nothing but tech loaded buckets that fail due to poor quality control, but get advertised very well and people like the German image.

Sorry to hear about your veedub experience and I can understand how it may have jaded you, but you really should not compare different cars. If anything, I hope the lesion you took out of this is that preventative maintenance (within reason!) can help to avoid costly repairs! Also, its not fair to generalize all German makes.

And regarding transmission, a flush can drive all the particles out of nooks and cranies, and a drain is safe I assume but not as effective. But why even mess with something, if the manual does not indicate to have it done?

A flush will NOT clear particles out of the nooks and crannies. It is just a process where you extract all of the old fluid at once (or close to it) VS. drain and fill where the new fluid mixes with the old so you will never get a clean start. Only physically disassembling the transmission can you truly clean the internal nooks and crannies of course this would be asinine. Metallic particles from the grinding gears have weight so they will naturally settle down when the pump and parts are not moving. This is why dropping and cleaning out the pan (and why theres a magnet down there and not up top) is good so it does not get recirculated through the gears again. It would not hurt to throw some more magnets on there, even if on the outside of the pan, near the drain hole. If you have already settled on following the manual to the T, why even both asking? I dont think anyone is in any position to challenge the manual. But I will say after your standard (or extended) warranty expires, you are on your own. Following the maintenance schedule does nothing for you other than to server as a general reminder.

I have taken off the pan cover on an alero that I owned, and bought brand new, it was a 2001, and after I did the whole fluid exchange, the gasket leaked after 10,000k.
Also I did it on a 1998 Kia Sephia,and I experienced the same leak, due to gasket deterioration.

Ive done two other cars as well as other gaskets/seals and have never had leaks, other than once due to user error (misaligned) and once due to poor quality part (best way to learn is to make a mistake). Did you use genuine or quality aftermarket parts? As I stated before, Ive seen some junk out there that vendors try to pitch as genuine OEM parts (see link above). The junky gasket did not last long for me either.

 

[thaxman]

A good rule of thumb is that one should NOT flush a tranny if it is near the century mark AND has the original fluid. In that situation, one would want to have the least impact on the trans while getting rid of the worn-out fluid. In that case, a drain-and-fill 3X with a new filter and a couple hundred miles between attempts is a viable option. Since you have 30K, just do the flush. Unless you are certain that there is internal damage to the trans and that flushing will be forcing those metal flakes around.


Oh, and why is this not in the engine/transmission subforum??

 

[Secondtyme]

Yeah, mine did exactly the same thing on the day it got traded in on the new 07 Mazda5 we had. I went out into the garage to start her up and the passenger side rear tire was FLAT. I said to her as I got the jack out " You are getting traded today, if I have to tow you there you evil POS" I watched the gauges like a hawk all the way to the dealer (which was in Gaithersburg 75 miles away) When I cut the ignition off in their parking lot I almost wept with relief. Owning that car was almost as bad as having a family member posessed by the devil. And being as how VAG owns most of the german brands I can afford (BMW and Mercedes are the only ones left) I think it is fair to categorize them all together. I would rather wallk than have another VAG product.
Back on topic briefly LOL I agree with Thaxman, if the fluid is good and you are under 100K a flush is probably sufficient. I keep injecting my fellings on the matter because my car is well beyond 100K and I really don't know its maintenance history.....