FWD & AWD Differntial Gear Oil

Lbear said:
Is the FWD version a "one wheel peel" or does power get distributed to both front tires?

If the FWD only gets power to one tire, then the AWD version puts down power to both front tires and of course the rear tires.
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I dunno. I think mine was 1-wheel peel when the REAR diff went out. It sure seemed like it. That may be because the whole system said "Screw you", or it may be because it really is only 1 wheel peel. That wouldn't make sense to me though. I think the whole system just told me to screw off and shut down.
 
Lbear said:
I believe the differential case gets moisture inside of it when idling or driving at low speeds since it cannot burn it off from the heat. Sort of like an engine that idles forever, it gets a lot of moisture in the crankcase oil that cannot be vaporized due to the low heat caused by idling.

I just know from numerous mechanics I talked to and being in the muscle car scene years ago. New differentials put out tons of clutch plate material when they break-in. Once broken in the material released drops tremendously. That's why guys would change the fluid relatively quickly on new differentials.

The drain plug magnet had over 1/4" of metal shavings on it. It cannot hold much more since the magnet isn't that powerful. The fluid was nasty and material floating in it. I don't see the harm in spending $12 and a few hours changing it, especially if you plan on keeping the CX5 after the 50k mile warranty is up.
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I've got varying opinions on this. I have literally NEVER had ANYTHING improved by changing the fluid in it. That includes manual gear boxes, diffs, etc. They either break shortly after, or they just ever "feel" the same. My new 370Z, my pre-owned WS.6. None of them shifted as well as BEFORE I had the fluid changed, even though in the Z I went with MT-85 (specifically formulated FOR THAT BOX by Redline), etc.

It's counter-intuitive that maintaining the vehicle "properly" would harm it/do nothing, but man, that's what I've seen on EVERY CAR IVE OWNED.

-WS.6=Diff went out (pinion bearing spun) when I changed fluid and went to Royal Purple.
-WS.6=Trans got VERY NOTCHY when I went with Mobil 1 synthetic, and even when I went BACK to GM's fluid, it was NEVER THE SAME AS when it had that 75k mile old black as sin OEM in it...
-370Z=Could barely FORCE it into 1st gear when it was cold/humid out (go figure...seriously, that was odd), and it would randomly grind on the first cold shift (Yes, I hit the fire-wall with the clutch pedal...)
-Infiniti G20=Dead transmission 5k miles after 110k mile fluid change
-2010 Grand Jeep Cherokee=Transmission "shifted funny" for about 10K miles after a 68k mile fluid change.

So, I really do NOT know if changing fluids is a good idea or not. As you can see, I've changed fluids at the 1K mile interval from new, at the "scheduled point" when used, and "beyond schedule". None netted good results. That is why I have not changed my CX-5 trans fluid yet. I don't know if it's a good idea orn ot honestly.
 
Unobtanium said:
I've got varying opinions on this. I have literally NEVER had ANYTHING improved by changing the fluid in it. That includes manual gear boxes, diffs, etc. They either break shortly after, or they just ever "feel" the same. My new 370Z, my pre-owned WS.6. None of them shifted as well as BEFORE I had the fluid changed, even though in the Z I went with MT-85 (specifically formulated FOR THAT BOX by Redline), etc.

It's counter-intuitive that maintaining the vehicle "properly" would harm it/do nothing, but man, that's what I've seen on EVERY CAR IVE OWNED.
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The LONGER you wait to change out things like trans fluid, the possibility of making it WORSE increase. Transmission fluid needs to be changed out before 30k or if you wait until 80k to do it, the possibility of damage is greater. The reason/logic behind this is that trans fluid is very high in detergents. An old trans with old fluid is being "held together" and doesn't slip because the fluid is thick and gritty. By putting in new fluid it cleans/flushes out the gritty fluid and now the trans can slip.

With differentials the same can be true because they use clutch plates like transmissions use.

So the moral of the story is if you change out the trans and differential fluid, it's best to do it EARLIER, if you wait too long, the damage is done and changing it can clean it out to the point where slippage occurs.

No denying that fresh fluid is better than old nasty dirty fluid. Timing is everything with transmissions and differentials. Better to change it out earlier and then do so every 30k miles or so. That way it stays clean and fresh. I've done this with all my vehicles and I never had a differential or transmission failure.
 
Kedis82ZE8 said:
As you can see from this pic on mine...nothing over the top of the dipstick on mine. Maybe NA models are different?
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I understand what you are saying but that gearbox is used in the CX-3 and CX-5 globally and what they are saying is, IF your vehicle has them, remove them first. That PDF is out of the CX-5 manual.
 
Lbear said:
The LONGER you wait to change out things like trans fluid, the possibility of making it WORSE increase. Transmission fluid needs to be changed out before 30k or if you wait until 80k to do it, the possibility of damage is greater. The reason/logic behind this is that trans fluid is very high in detergents. An old trans with old fluid is being "held together" and doesn't slip because the fluid is thick and gritty. By putting in new fluid it cleans/flushes out the gritty fluid and now the trans can slip.

With differentials the same can be true because they use clutch plates like transmissions use.

So the moral of the story is if you change out the trans and differential fluid, it's best to do it EARLIER, if you wait too long, the damage is done and changing it can clean it out to the point where slippage occurs.

No denying that fresh fluid is better than old nasty dirty fluid. Timing is everything with transmissions and differentials. Better to change it out earlier and then do so every 30k miles or so. That way it stays clean and fresh. I've done this with all my vehicles and I never had a differential or transmission failure.
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I changed trans fluid in my 370z at 1k miles. Shifted like crap.

The diff failure in the ws.6 was a bit unique. It wasn't a fair example really. Those diff sucked.

That said, my dad ran his cars for 200 to 300k miles. Hard. Never changed diff fluid. Never had a diff fail. The clutches would wear out from him constantly flogging the cars, but the diff itself never had a problem.

I think awd is different though for sure. I agree it should be changed by the book. I'm just saying I've not seen it improve anything. I do know on my jeep, expensive issues could result from failing to service the diff though. Those elsds were money!

Just curious, how many miles do you typically get out of your vehicles? I think my dad's work van is coming up on 440k. Still on stock transmission fluid :p
 
I wouldn't advocate that not changing the fluid at all is better than changing it too soon. I would also avoid experimenting with alternative oils and stick very close to the original oil - either supplied by Mazda or the company that supplies Mazda if we can identify them.
 
Anchorman said:
I wouldn't advocate that not changing the fluid at all is better than changing it too soon. I would also avoid experimenting with alternative oils and stick very close to the original oil - either supplied by Mazda or the company that supplies Mazda if we can identify them.
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I agree on a technical note , but I've had a checkered history with it. I've never had anything die with old fluid in it though.
 
Unobtanium said:
I agree on a technical note , but I've had a checkered history with it. I've never had anything die with old fluid in it though.
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Well maybe old correct fluid is better than new incorrect fluid ;-).

My old RAV4 with a 6 speed manual box needed straight 75 oil which is as thin as cooking oil. It was very expensive so some tried Redline which was half the price. You needed both feet on the dash to get from 1st to 2nd, it just wouldn't work and that is because it wasn't compatible with the triple synchros in the box. It then cost them the original big bucks for the proper oil and the redline got sent to the recycle center. An expensive error.
 
Anchorman said:
Well maybe old correct fluid is better than new incorrect fluid ;-).
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I agree.

And I was wondering why Mazda has never specified any maintenance schedule for their SkyActiv automatic transmission but for everything else? I'm not saying changing ATF with correct Type FZ fluid is not a good practice, but changing it with drain-and-fill at 30,000 miles seems to be an overkill?
 
I wouldn't deviate from using the OEM Mazda FZ fluid in the AT but I have no concerns about my use of Amsoil of same spec'd OEM weight in my rear diff and transfer. IMO... changing fluids early shouldn't harm anything... later on a real gamble. If I had 100K miles on a SkyActiv transmission that was on stock fluid I would probably leave it as-is.
 
Anchorman said:
I understand what you are saying but that gearbox is used in the CX-3 and CX-5 globally and what they are saying is, IF your vehicle has them, remove them first. That PDF is out of the CX-5 manual.
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Ok.. I now get what you are saying.
 
My oil cooler is further to the left of the dipstick. The silver piece on my picture above on far left side about half way down.
 
Anchorman said:
Well maybe old correct fluid is better than new incorrect fluid ;-).

My old RAV4 with a 6 speed manual box needed straight 75 oil which is as thin as cooking oil. It was very expensive so some tried Redline which was half the price. You needed both feet on the dash to get from 1st to 2nd, it just wouldn't work and that is because it wasn't compatible with the triple synchros in the box. It then cost them the original big bucks for the proper oil and the redline got sent to the recycle center. An expensive error.
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Infiniti put the new correct fluid in. Died 5k miles later. Of course, it was changed out of schedule. My Grand Jeep Cherokee was changed at 68K miles, schedule was 60K. Shouldn't have mattered, but it did. They used the OEM fluid, too. Shifted funny. My WS.6 never was right, even going to the OEM fluid in its gearbox. The MT85 was developed SPECIFICALLY for the 370Z's gearbox by Redline. That doesn't mean it was better than OEM though, I guess, to be fair.

Regardless, I had issues with OEM and other fluids.
 
yrwei52 said:
I agree.

And I was wondering why Mazda has never specified any maintenance schedule for their SkyActiv automatic transmission but for everything else? I'm not saying changing ATF with correct Type FZ fluid is not a good practice, but changing it with drain-and-fill at 30,000 miles seems to be an overkill?
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That is what B&G, I believe, recommends (they make the machine that does it). That said, Mazda has deferred to the dealerships on this one. Of course...how could they not? They want their dealers to make money, after all...

I remain conflicted where the trans is concerned.
 
Unobtanium said:
Just curious, how many miles do you typically get out of your vehicles? I think my dad's work van is coming up on 440k. Still on stock transmission fluid :p
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I would usually unload the cars before 200k miles but whoever bought them would later tell me they never had any failures. I would lose touch with them after a year.

The other factor is to make sure to replace the trans and differential fluid with OEM fluid. These differentials are very unique and sticking with OEM fluids is best practice. Redline had some foaming issues with differential fluid years ago but I believe they have since resolved it. Anyone using Amsoil should be fine but the SkyActiv transmission is unique so sticking with OEM Mazda trans fluid is best practice.

Remember, both your and my "evidence" is all anecdotal. The reality is that fluids break down and replacing them is key to keeping the mechanical component alive. No fluid engineer would agree with keeping dirty and old fluid circulating in your components. No matter how much anecdotal evidence we present, the reality is fluids break down and lose their ability to protect the part they are circulating in.
 
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Lbear said:
The reality is that fluids break down and replacing them is key to keeping the mechanical component alive. No fluid engineer would agree with keeping dirty and old fluid circulating in your components. No matter how much anecdotal evidence we present, the reality is fluids break down and lose their ability to protect the part they are circulating in.
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This is true but there is still no evidence to say that major damage will ensue if they are not changed early. I will do mine at the recommended interval.
 
I think the rear diff fluid change may be overlooked by some at 30K for the following:

a) .....using a car-top carrier
d) Repeated short trips of less than 16 km (10 miles)
 
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