240,000 mile Tranny Testmonial

[Bgallodoro24]

Fellow 08 cx9 owner here. Thought I would help you guys a little since my car has more miles than probably a one here lol. With 240,000 miles it still runs like new no lie. All highway miles. Oil was changed every 10k using Mobil 1 full synthetic. I got this car from my mom with 230,000k on it so I know the maintenance schedule. Trans oil has never been changed because they claim it's a sealed system and I know that debate has been going on. I'm here just to perk up the guys that are worried. Oil is not red of course but does not smell burnt and still has viscosity. This is more or less a testimonial of how long these trans actually go without oil change. I'm in the process of deceiving whether or not I should even fool with drain and refill or just leave well enough alone. What do you guys think?

 

[nsbio]

Is it FWD? I do not believe an AWD can make it that far without replacing a bunch of Ford sourced parts including the transfer case.

 

[Bgallodoro24]

Yes fwd. so far all brakes and coil overs have been changed. Also a/c blower got replaced as well

 

[hornsfan10609]

At this point I would not replace the fluid, the fluid flush would likely kill the trans. It happens all the time.

 

[Bgallodoro24]

i didn't plan on a flush just a drain and fill. but the more i think about it the more i think its best to let it be. my wife only drives about 8,ooo miles a year so this trans could last alot longer.

 

[Bgallodoro24]

Well I deceided to do a drain and refill. Reason being is upon further inspection, the tranny fluid isn't as bad as I thought. It is a very light brown with a hint of red in it still. I think it's safe to do a drain and fill a couple times. Don't think I will go as far as a flush. I think that's pushing it.

 

[Bgallodoro24]

Well did the drain and refill today. I was amazed at how the oil looked after 250k miles. I should take a pic and post it for you guys. I've read all the threads on here about tranny oil and I have to say you would be amazed at the condition of the oil. It still has a red hue to it but mostly brown. Smelt like trans oil still and felt the same. Anyways I drained out 3 quarts and put 3 back in. ( on a side note, don't fill to quickly like I did at first cause it ran down the filler tube and under the car. )
I then drove it for about 10 minutes and drained another 3 quarts. This time it was like new again almost. I filed her up again and then drove for about 20 min. I shifted through all gears manually and everything was great. Can't say I notice any difference from before cause the trans never gave me any problems before. I will do one more drain in a couple days after I drive it around some more.

Bottom line guys, stop stressing over you trans. Either I got a very rare one made out of titanium or these are just well built trannies with really good oil life spans. I can promise you this trans has never been touched before. I also noticed a little bit of clutch material in bottom of pan but it was so little I had to look for it.

Now go be at peace and stop doubting our awesome car!!!!!

 

[S197GT]

Bgallodoro24,

Careful speaking the truth. Some people don't want to hear it!

i've gotten into arguments on bimmerforums about their "lifetime fluid". the conspiracy theorists will not listen to reason no matter what. they really believe that bmw wants their transmissions to fail by giving bad maintenance advice!!

we bought our 06 e90 (330i) with 30k miles on lit. now it has almost 130k miles. we change the oil every 18-20k miles... whenever the car tells us. lots of highway miles. car runs awesome! never touched the transmission fluid and won't unless issues arise.

was pleased to hear our cx-9's transmission fluid was "lifetime" as well. just traded in a jeep grand cherokee and the maintenance schedule is absurd. DIY or go broke. IIRC, transfer case fluid changes (30k miles), both differentials (30k miles), transmission drain/refill and spark plugs every 60k...

my wife bought a 2000 jeep cherokee brand new. her dad has it now with 170k or so miles. never changed the transmission, transfer case, or differential fluids. he some times tows a small trailer. electronics in the suv SUCK but engine/transmission are solid.

fact is manufacturers have done way more R&D than any mom/pop shop that tries to scare you with anecdotal incidents. a certain amount of failures are gonna happen, no doubt. best advice is to follow the directions provided by those who know best... the manufacturer.

 

[Bgallodoro24]

Well did the third and final drain today. Oil looked just like the stuff in the bottle. I'm hoping this helps hold this trans for another 50k or more. I mean we only put about 8k a year so that would make this car pretty old by then. I will say that I'm not going to touch the trans again after this. I'm not going to say who is right or who is wrong here. I know myself that's it's hard to sleep at night worrying about something that your not even sure is going to break. I'm just letting people here know what I know now from having a vehicle to actually look at and drive. If it makes you happy to change the oil all the time then so be it. I know if I had this car from new I would do the same thing not ever knowing it would make it to 250k miles with no maintenance!!!! There is really no way to convince someone that they are doing something wrong if I myself can't believe that this tranny made it this long. I just thank The Lord everyday that it does because at the end of the day we can all use a little help from above.

 

[StevieB]

By and large, ALL flush jobs (no pun intended, but how apropos, eh?) are scams. Don't even get me started...

 

[Bgallodoro24]

did notice the axle going to passenger side is leaking enough to make the metal a little wet. Is that seal something i can change or is it to complicated. I might not even worry about it since we dont put many miles on the car. It might last awhile longer.

 

[S197GT]

By and large, ALL flush jobs (no pun intended, but how apropos, eh?) are scams. Don't even get me started...

Actually, Stevie, I'd be curious as to why you think that?

We just got our CX-9 and like I said I had an 05 Grand Cherokee prior which we traded in. I only had it for 2.5 years and bought it used with 87k miles on it. Not knowing the service history I sprung for a transmission FLUSH. That is to say, numerous quarts of fluid were pumped through the system to clean out all the old stuff all at once. It was not a drain and refill.

Now, Jeep does not recommend this service but it was at a Jeep dealership so I figured I was covered... at least I was willing to take a chance. Honestly, couldn't tell a bit of difference, but I had some piece of mind. Put another 20k+ miles on it and never acted up.

Another reason I did was because they installed a tow-package at a crazy low rate on accident. About $250 cheaper than another dealership quoted me; so I sprung for the flush otherwise I just planned to do a drain and refill.

People talk about flushes killing transmissions but no one ever knows anyone personally who had that happen to them. They just read it on some website or some mechanic told them that it can happen. A have a friend who is a mechanic (I know, here we go again) and he just retired after 40 years of mechanic work. He has the missing thumb (replaced by his big toe! never noticed till he told/showed me), bad joints, and daily pain pills to prove his knowledge and experience. He did hundreds of flushes years ago at Firestone and he said in all that time they only ever had one transmission fail after a flush... and he said that it was already exhibiting problems and a fluid change was a last ditch effort to revive it.

 

[CyBrian]

By and large, ALL flush jobs (no pun intended, but how apropos, eh?) are scams. Don't even get me started...

I agree totally with this along with flushing the brake system and a few other scams dealerships try to push off on us. There are a lot of unneeded service that is "required" that is a joke.

And S197GT, I have a friend(certified GM mechanic) who doesn't always think flushes will damage the transmission, but he says that if you have issues going on where a mechanic might think a flush job would fix the issues is usually when the flush job can finish off the transmission. Not always, but he has had some experience with that.

 

[hornsfan10609]

This is a gray area, as far as the necessity of fluid flushes. Are they needed as frequently as recommended by the dealer? Absolutely not, but that does not mean the fluids do not break down and need to be flushed, especially coolant, oil and brake fluid. Don't go telling everyone not to flush their fluids just because your trans hasn't failed yet.

 

[mpvue]

generally I don't trust automatic transmissions, but my experience is that lots of them fail by 100K. but my suspicion is that those people never did any service at all.
IDK yet the service schedule on my CX-9, but many other cars I've known recommend at least a filter change yearly or 30K miles at least.
all that being said, I would agree to follow the recommended schedule from Mazda, NOT what the dealer says.

 

[blackntan]

Bottom line guys, stop stressing over you trans. Either I got a very rare one made out of titanium or these are just well built trannies with really good oil life spans. !

Where are people stressing over their transmissions in here? These cars have Aisin transmissions, which are pretty much bullet-proof. You won't see or read about many Aisin transmissions failing. Toyota's use Aisin transmissions also, and you won't hear or read about many Toyota's with failed transmissions. We own this Mazda CX-9 and 2 Toyotas, all 3 vehicles have an Aisin transmission...I don't ever anticipate having any transmission problems

For our CX-9, it will take 10 years to get to 100k miles. I will probably take a sample of the transmission fluid and send it in to Blackstone for analysis. Depending on what they say will determine if I will change the fluid or not. Thankfully we don't have a transfer case in our CX-9, so I'm not expecting any major problems out of this car at all. (cabpatch)

Oh, and CONGRATS on getting that many trouble-free miles on your CX-9!! It is certainly good to hear stories like yours....

 

[mda185]

I am glad to hear that the original poster's car has done such high mileage reliably without fluid change but I don't think it should apply as a universal rule. The type of service the vehicle sees is a big part of making that decision. He points out that his CX-9 has done a lot of highway miles. I doubt the same maintenance philosophy would work for one driven in an urban environment or anywhere that it sees lots of short trips in stop and go conditions. Personally, I will continue to change my transmission fluid every 30-50K miles depending on how the car is driven. That's how I was taught 40 years ago and it works for me now. I know lubricant technology has improved over the years but modern trannies also run a lot hotter than the old ones. I don't buy into any vendor's lifetime fill claims. YMMV.