2014 Mazda CX-5 GT - Rear Differential Location

blackcx5 said:

Actually, can someone who has done the rear diff oil change confirm tomcat's photo, is that indeed the drain plug in his picture ? also is there enough ground clearance to do this without ramps ? I really don't like have all four wheels up in the air, scares the hell out of me.....

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mazdman said:

Just an FYI. I was at my local Mazda dealer, bs'ing with my parts guy after picking up a few things and he pointed to 3 2017 xfer cases on the shelf he was replacing and already had done 6 or 7 already. They overheated, puked all the oil out the breather and fried. The CX-5 xfer case is fine for the weight and power it has, but is way under engineered for the weight and torque of the new CX9. The diff in the 1st Gen is actually a better piece than the 2nd Gen, especially if you change the crap Mazda oil with a high quality synthetic. By the way these were all low mile jobs, anywhere from 700 to 3,500 miles. I'll keep my low mile (<17,000) 2012 GT AWD over the 2nd Gen all day long. YMMV! BTW, I test drove a signature when they first came out and the torque steer, wind noise, lack of top end power, less storage, styling, etc made me love mine even more! My wife's 2015 CX5 GT AWD is about to turn 70,000 miles and going strong. I did change the xfer, rear diff to RL very early, drain and replace the tranny with MZ, changed plugs, cabin and engine air filters regularly, etc.

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tomcat1446 said:

confirmed this morning, no need to lift rear wheels to service the rear differential,

there is enough ground clearance to get in there and service the rear differential,

as another member said, the fill plug space is tight, it'll be easier to use an open end wrench to remove it.

make sure to loosen the fill plug first before releasing the drain plug

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tomcat1446 said:

off topic: seems Mazda didn't learn from their 1st gen CX-9 transfer case problems,
new CX-9 are having issues already, undersized and leaking oil .... see link....

https://www.mazdas247.com/forum/showthread.php?123859423-Snow-with-my-2016-CX-9-issues&p=6501653#post6501653

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tomcat1446 said:

confirmed this morning, no need to lift rear wheels to service the rear differential,

there is enough ground clearance to get in there and service the rear differential,

as another member said, the fill plug space is tight, it'll be easier to use an open end wrench to remove it.

make sure to loosen the fill plug first before releasing the drain plug




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off topic: seems Mazda didn't learn from their 1st gen CX-9 transfer case problems,
new CX-9 are having issues already, undersized and leaking oil .... see link....

https://www.mazdas247.com/forum/sho...ith-my-2016-CX-9-issues&p=6501653#post6501653

Click to expand...