I’d try to follow the procedure from Mazda FSM closely. If the price of OEM RTV is not outrageous, I’d use that one too.
7. Apply a light coat of silicon sealant (TB1217E) to the contact surfaces of the oil pan and transaxle case.
CAUTION:
- Clean any remaining silicone sealant on the contact surface of the transaxle case and oil pan, and degrease the sealant area. Otherwise, oil could leak.
8. Install the oil pan with new bolts before the applied sealant starts to harden.
- Tightening torque 8—10 N·m {82—101 kgf·cm, 71—88 in·lbf}
I’d also review Digbicks1234’s posts on his RTV experience and he used Permatex Automatic Transmission RTV the second time and it’s a success.
2016.5 CX-5 Transmission fluid change questions
Finally, RTV is applied on both ATF pan and transaxle case. I thought sticking wood dowel rod into the bolt phole is mainly for applying the RTV around the hole without letting the RTV get into the hole and crack the aluminum case when your put the pan bolt in. There’s a caution about this in FSM. Now I believe those wood dowel rods manly are for the pan installation alignment like the Fel-Pro 6mm bolt oil pan snap-ups for.
And not sure I’d want to replace all ATF pan bolts like FSM suggested.