Transmission fluid flush

I know nothing about this so thought I would ask here. Went in to the dealership for my 88,000km service which is usually just an oil and filter change but they told me the transmission fluid was black and recommended a flush. Only 36,000km on this car but mainly city driving.

I would think that at 3 years or my next 4 year service something like that would have been done already -- or at least partly drained and refilled?

Manual or Automatic?
IIRC there's no Mazda specified interval for flushing the transmission fluid for either. Someone here will know for sure.
...and since I'm in Manitoba as well, what dealership are you dealing with?

A fluid flush is cheaper than a new transmission. Did you pull the dipstick yourself to verify what they're saying about the fluid's condition?

I'm a little confused by your post. Does your car have 36K, or 88K on it?

If your fluid is dark, it's either dirty, burned or a little of both. I'd change it.

I do not own a Mz5 (yet) and hove not done this on a Mz5.

That said, changing transmission fluid is not much different than an oil change (without the filter even) but the process is slightly different in a manual vs auto. Unless the Mz5 is somehow magically different the process should be pretty standard in all cars. I would recommend this be done at the 60K to prolong the life of the transmission -it is a vital component. Steps below are summarized so you get an idea.

Manuals have both a drain and fill plug. On a level surface, remove both the drain plug and fill plug to let out the fluid. Close the drain plug and use a siphon pump to fill it back via the fill plug (or you can take apart the transmission consol to get access downwards or flip your car upside down). Fill back what you took out and check the transmission dip stick done.

Autos dont have a fill plug, only a drain plug. You would need a funnel with a long tube to fill it back via the transmission dip stick tube. Drain via drain plug, close plug, and fill via dip stick tube. Check to make sure you put in what came out done.

It is recommend to cycle through the gears when draining and filling up. You can also drop the transmission drain pan to really clean the fine metallic gunk but it is not necessary unless you are really high mileage or tough on your transmission (a little more tedious but also simple process). I HIGHLY recommend using higher grade gear oil, if you plan on keeping the car a while. It cost a few bucks more but prob wont have to deal with another transmission flush for a while dare I say the remaining life of your car. I recommend one of the following: Royal Purple, Amsoil, Red Line.

Side note: Considering the Canadian winters, your coolant is prob the most important if you have not done so. The constant cycling of hot (driving) and cold (nights/winters) will break down oils and solvents faster. Everything needs to be flushed or at least drained/refilled at some point b/c no oil/fluid last forever. Not changing them is what causes seals to break down, gunk to build up, and rust to occur (coolant systems, block). It sucks to pay for this b/c you dont see tangible results as the benefits are long term and intangible.

do a search over in the Mazda 3 forums for atx fluid, changing the fluid, various words and do some reading. One thread I found lists some details about what fluid to use. here is the link i found

http://www.mazdas247.com/forum/showthread.php?t=123752863&highlight=atx+fluid+change

Since the service is JUST an oil change/filter, I'm guessing its the 8800 km change. And yes, many AT owners have reported black trans fluid before 45,000 miles. 36000 km seems really early tho. If you can verify it IS indeed black, also attempt to smell it. Good fluid smells like a repair garage, but the burnt stuff will smell, well, burnt.

SuperWanda said:

I know nothing about this so thought I would ask here. Went in to the dealership for my 88,000km service which is usually just an oil and filter change but they told me the transmission fluid was black and recommended a flush. Only 36,000km on this car but mainly city driving.

I would think that at 3 years or my next 4 year service something like that would have been done already -- or at least partly drained and refilled?

Click to expand...

Not unusual for these cars to have gray/black fluid at 36,000km. It's a bit worrying when you compare the colour to new fluid. You'll find reference to this all over the web. I don't think anyone has determined why the fluid looks bad after so few km's. It would be nice to know if this colour change is due to a heat problem, wear materials, or what?

With other cars such as Honda, they just drain off 3 litres or so and add that much to freshen up the fluid. With the super dark fluid of the Mazda 5 and 3s, a simple drain/fill probably wont refresh your fluid enough. Plus, my dealership tells me that there is no drain plug for the auto tranny (ha haits a 8mm hex and is in plain site)

There is a way to do what is called a cooler line flush yourself, but probably not something everyone decides to do. I did it on my car and probably spent $110 dollars on synthetic fluid to do the job. So far so good, 5000+ km and the colour of the fluid is looking good, but only time will tell. If youre comfortable with the job or have a friend who is, there is good information on how to do the job yourself.

I guess the simplest option is to let the dealership do the job. My dealership charges $200, which I think is a bit steep.

Thanks for all the info.

I went ahead and had the dealership flush it for $206.

It is an automatic with 36,000 km. I was in for my 44 month or 88,000km service (whichever came first).

I was just surprised/concerned that a vehicle with this low km would need to have this done.

Tsuru -- this was my first visit to Gerry Gordon's. All my prior services have been at Destination where we purchased the vehicle. I live in the South end so I thought I would give GG a try.

SuperWanda said:

Thanks for all the info.

I went ahead and had the dealership flush it for $206.

It is an automatic with 36,000 km. I was in for my 44 month or 88,000km service (whichever came first).

I was just surprised/concerned that a vehicle with this low km would need to have this done.

Tsuru -- this was my first visit to Gerry Gordon's. All my prior services have been at Destination where we purchased the vehicle. I live in the South end so I thought I would give GG a try.

Click to expand...

It will be curious to see how the fluid looks after a couple of years? Better or worse than this time before you changed it. I'm waiting to see how the new atf in my 5 looks after a couple of years.

I want to determine if special synthetic helps the lifespan over the Mazda fluid or not.

If you can change your own oil, you can change your own automatic transmission fluid.

There's a thread here somewhere on how to do it, the cost would be the cost of the transmission fluid, funnel, and rubber tubing, maybe $20 or $25 total? I'm not sure of the automatic transmission fluid volume, my Mazda5 has a manual transmission.

But if you don't want to do it yourself, for something like that go to an independent mechanic. The cost would be substancially less than the CAN$208.

Stupid question, but how do you designate Canadian currency? CAN$208 or C$208? As opposed to US$208? It's probably a moot point since the Canadian dollar is now worth US$0.97, so the CAN$208 = US$201. Very close.

Canadian Dollar (CAD)

It's C$ 100

Actually it's CAD$100

in your example CAD$208 = US$201