Guide ATF Drain/Fill

[theblooms]

Drain and fill is completely different from a flush.

The vast majority of commercial flush machines will not use the correct ATF while they're doing their thing. Those generally use "Universal" or "Multi-vehicle" ATF which is absolutely wrong for our transmissions. That's why you don't do a flush.

 

[yrwei52]

What is the reason for this?

I'm coming up on 130k (previous 1x drain and refill at 75k) and planning to do a 2x drain and refill and filter change on the the second drain and refill. I'm curious why you say not to - I'm struggling to imagine the harm in doing a flush with the filter change.

Many believe the AT flush especially on higher mileage vehicles would actually stir up some gunk which could clog some small passages inside of valve body hence would cause transmission failure.

In addition, due to the design there’s no way to flush Mazda’s SkyActiv-Drive automatic transmission with an ATF flushing machine as there’s no external ATF ports to hook up like other auto trannies. You can remove the engine coolant cooler attached to the transmission and use a special adapter to intercept the ATF flow. Then it’s possible to hook up the ATF flushing machine but I’m not sure if such adapter is commercially available at this time.

 

[keeif]

Ahh my bad. I didn't realize you meant a machine flush instead of multiple drain and refills. That makes sense - thanks!

 

[Kedis82ZE8]

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[Conrad 16.5]

What is the reason for this?

I'm coming up on 130k (previous 1x drain and refill at 75k) and planning to do a 2x drain and refill and filter change on the the second drain and refill. I'm curious why you say not to - I'm struggling to imagine the harm in doing a flush with the filter change.

Without a special adapter fitted to the heat exchanger it's not possible to flush a Skyactive transmission. These adapters are fairly rare so...

 

[LeadMonkey]

First time attempting to drop the pan, just looking to confirm this is the right product to reseat it… will be doing this 3 times over the next 2 months to drain/fill a 2016 CX-5 recently acquired at 100,000 miles.

 

[theblooms]

Just get a gasket.

 

[ruthrj]

I used Mazda OEM silicon gasket maker (gray).

 

[LeadMonkey]

Just get a gasket.

Where? Part number? Wasn’t aware there was gaskets available…

 

[theblooms]

Wix filters come with a gasket in the box.

 

[LeadMonkey]

Wix filters come with a gasket in the box.

Went with Hengst, just opened the box and surprised to find a gasket in there! Woohoo!

 

[LeadMonkey]

Just checked the level while running for 20 mins but I don’t know what the high/low marks for level is supposed to be it’s not clear from the dip stick.

 

[RedBaron]

Just checked the level while running for 20 mins but I don’t know what the high/low marks for level is supposed to be it’s not clear from the dip stick.

They two lines in the middle of the stick.

 

[ColoradoDriver]

Just checked the level while running for 20 mins but I don’t know what the high/low marks for level is supposed to be it’s not clear from the dip stick.

View attachment 319957

The line of fluid should be in the rectangular block between the two lines as measured at 122F.

 

[LeadMonkey]

So as it is up at the F of 122F then it’s overfilled from factory for the last 100,000 miles huh.

 

[ruthrj]

So as it is up at the F of 122F then it’s overfilled from factory for the last 100,000 miles huh.

Mine was between the 5 and 0 (underfilled) when I checked it at 50k miles, lol.

 

[theblooms]

Mine was between the 5 and 0 (underfilled) when I checked it at 50k miles, lol.

It changes level with temp. Did you check it with the engine idling and hot?

 

[LeadMonkey]

It changes level with temp. Did you check it with the engine idling and hot?

Idled for 20 mins nice and hot, shut it off and quickly removed air box to access screw, took reading.

I’m in the middle of trying to remove a stuck pan that seems to be welded on with silicone, tried everything over the last hour, rubber mallet, hitting edges with soft wood and hammer, tried slipping thin scraper tool between seal to get it started and nothing will get in there to break the bond… thinking of going to heat with propane torch but that seems extreme. I don’t know what else to try.

 

[theblooms]

Idled for 20 mins nice and hot, shut it off and quickly removed air box to access screw, took reading.

I’m in the middle of trying to remove a stuck pan that seems to be welded on with silicone, tried everything over the last hour, rubber mallet, hitting edges with soft wood and hammer, tried slipping thin scraper tool between seal to get it started and nothing will get in there to break the bond… thinking of going to heat with propane torch but that seems extreme. I don’t know what else to try.

If the engine isn't idling, you won't get an accurate reading. The transmission pump has to be running.

As far as removing the pan, the factory RTV can absolutely be tough. When I removed mine for the first time, I used a 2" paint scraper to break the bond. I started at one corner, then worked my way around. Once you break about 6", the rest will come off.

 

[ruthrj]

It changes level with temp. Did you check it with the engine idling and hot?

Sure did. I’m not alone on that though. Lots of folks reported slight underfill on the transmission on earlier models (mine is a ‘13), and the rear differential fluid being way less from the factory than the volume reported in the owners manual.