Transmission Service 2.5L Engine

Monterra said:
^^But Mazda is fine with customers having transmission failures starting idk @80k, 100k, rampant by 120+k? I hear what you guys are saying but I'm gonna roll with what they tell me- if it fails and they do nothing after me screaming at everyone about wtf do you tell ppl not to change/flush the atf (assuming I'm not an anomaly) then I won't buy another one. I highly doubt they want that.
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Good point and I'll even say I'm confident you can have an operating skyactiv transmission well through 150k miles. So why do I change my fluid then despite that statement? Its because I feel a noticeable difference in shifting and going into reverse. That in a nutshell is why I do it. If anyone were to drive my 75k mile CX-5 and compare it to their 75k mile CX-5 I'm confident mine would shift smoother. Okay I'm just bragging right now :)
 
madar said:
That's the key. If you do it at a higher mileage there's such a thing as "shocking" the trans into failure with fresh fluid. If you're going to do it at all it's best to start a maintenance cycle at a lower mileage.
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Monterra said:
^^But Mazda is fine with customers having transmission failures starting idk @80k, 100k, rampant by 120+k? I hear what you guys are saying but I'm gonna roll with what they tell me- if it fails and they do nothing after me screaming at everyone about wtf do you tell ppl not to change/flush the atf (assuming I'm not an anomaly) then I won't buy another one. I highly doubt they want that.
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Transmission failures conveniently after you're supposed to change the fluid which gets neglected...
 
GJ-Molestor said:
Not true. People have changed the fluid before at triple the mileage with no issues.



With regular fluid servicing it will last provided that the transmission was babied when new.
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Not true? Absolutely never ever? Nothing anyone says here says is %100. Everybody knows somebody who has done something and nothing bad ever came from it. I've changed fluid at higher mileages and have not had any problems on occasion with certain vehicles, but fluid shock is a real thing. Mixing old worn out fluid with fresh fluid might mot give the proper viscosity that the trans needs and may result in performance issues.
 
GJ-Molestor said:
Transmission failures conveniently after you're supposed to change the fluid which gets neglected...
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?? Even when Mazda specifically says not to? That's neglect? Maybe on their part- following their maintenance intervals to a T and their mechanicals failing under normal use is a Mazda fail, period!
 
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Monterra said:
^^But Mazda is fine with customers having transmission failures starting idk @80k, 100k, rampant by 120+k? I hear what you guys are saying but I'm gonna roll with what they tell me- if it fails and they do nothing after me screaming at everyone about wtf do you tell ppl not to change/flush the atf (assuming I'm not an anomaly) then I won't buy another one. I highly doubt they want that.
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Find them.
Where are these rampant failures by 120K due to fluid problems?
 
madar said:
Not true? Absolutely never ever? Nothing anyone says here says is %100. Everybody knows somebody who has done something and nothing bad ever came from it. I've changed fluid at higher mileages and have not had any problems on occasion with certain vehicles, but fluid shock is a real thing. Mixing old worn out fluid with fresh fluid might mot give the proper viscosity that the trans needs and may result in performance issues.
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That's not the problem. The problem is that old sludge can block one of the intricate passages in your transmission which will only happen with 200k+ of neglect. Before 200k you're not going to harm your transmission by servicing it just like you're supposed to.

Monterra said:
?? Even when Mazda specifically says not to? That's neglect? Maybe on their part- following their maintenance intervals to a T and their mechanicals failing under normal use is a Mazda fail, period!
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Suit yourself then. Manufacturers deter you from changing your fluid so you're transmission fails, you're only satisfying them. I find it odd that our transmissions have a drain plug ahd dipstick, but we can't service the transmissions.. if they actually made a magical transmission fluid that lasted the life of the vehicle, the unit would be sealed.

At the very minimum, check your fluid level to ensure you're not gonna fry your transmission in the higher mileage. At the very least.
 
GJ-Molestor said:
That's not the problem. The problem is that old sludge can block one of the intricate passages in your transmission which will only happen with 200k+ of neglect. Before 200k you're not going to harm your transmission by servicing it just like you're supposed to.



Suit yourself then. Manufacturers deter you from changing your fluid so you're transmission fails, you're only satisfying them. I find it odd that our transmissions have a drain plug ahd dipstick, but we can't service the transmissions.. if they actually made a magical transmission fluid that lasted the life of the vehicle, the unit would be sealed.

At the very minimum, check your fluid level to ensure you're not gonna fry your transmission in the higher mileage. At the very least.
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...because no manufacturer would ever want people to think of them as making reliable cars. That was a horrible image Toyota got!

Seriously?
 
GJ-Molestor said:
Suit yourself then. Manufacturers deter you from changing your fluid so you're transmission fails, you're only satisfying them. I find it odd that our transmissions have a drain plug ahd dipstick, but we can't service the transmissions.. if they actually made a magical transmission fluid that lasted the life of the vehicle, the unit would be sealed.
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This will not work in the manufacturers favor with me as their customer. If a manufacturer is known for transmission failures, I will not buy cars from them anymore. I think it is in their interest to make sure nothing like that happens, otherwise who will buy their car?

I've already had a transmission replaced on our CX-5. If one other major issue happens, I'll get it fixed under warranty then I will trade it in for something else.
 
Yeah I'm not saying there's not common sense in at least checking as you motor past 100k and beyond but I can't agree with the "I'm only satisfying them" via their s*** breaking due to improper servicing that they failed to recommend
 
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Unobtanium said:
...because no manufacturer would ever want people to think of them as making reliable cars. That was a horrible image Toyota got!

Seriously?
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Well, clearly they're more concerned about making more from dealership repairs just like BMW is. The transmission will run fine on the original fluid conveniently until your warranty runs out.
 
Unobtanium said:
Find them.
Where are these rampant failures by 120K due to fluid problems?
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Not a large enough data sample of these (particularly mated to the 2.5l engine 2014MY and later)with even 100k+ on them so while I honestly don't expect it- frankly with only a small percentage of cars eclipsing that mark (talking like ~25+k/year just on '14s)to date its really still too soon to say what we're gonna see from them wrt longevity.
 
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GJ-Molestor said:
Yea, I'm actually curious to know..
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For Skyactivs, TBH Zero transmission failures I've seen due to worn fluid.

Personal experience, forums, and other owner's experiences suggest improved transmission smoothness after fluid changes with or without the filter changed.

There's a youtube vid out there from Japan where a skyactiv transmission pan was dropped to show a good amount of sludge at aprox 30k miles if I recall.
 
CX-5um said:
For Skyactivs, TBH Zero transmission failures I've seen due to worn fluid.

Personal experience, forums, and other owner's experiences suggest improved transmission smoothness after fluid changes with or without the filter changed.

There's a youtube vid out there from Japan where a skyactiv transmission pan was dropped to show a good amount of sludge at aprox 30k miles if I recall.
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But....does it matter? If you're over 35, chances are, you have some plaque in your coronaries already...but really, will it kill you before something else by age 77? Who knows...not necessarily something you are stressing over, I bet, though, unless you have comorbidities.

The Skyactiv transmission has been around for almost a half decade, now. I have a 2015 with 63k miles on it. Works fine. I am sure others have more. Show me these failures, all of you who say they happen...show me JUST ONE.
 
Unobtanium said:
The Skyactiv transmission has been around for almost a half decade, now. I have a 2015 with 63k miles on it. Works fine. I am sure others have more. Show me these failures, all of you who say they happen...show me JUST ONE.
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ZERO Failures to date.

Noticeable difference should you decide to change the fluid. Simple as that.
 
Just to be clear I'm not saying there are failures (that I know of) or that there's going to be rampant failures north of 120k on OE fluid. I just used that number anecdotally based on others saying Mazda is happy to replace failed trannies outside the warranty and is in fact part of their business strategy- so as far as they give a crap 'lifetime fluid' equates to anything north of 60k..to which I'm calling bulls*** on both.
 
GJ-Molestor said:
Well, clearly they're more concerned about making more from dealership repairs just like BMW is. The transmission will run fine on the original fluid conveniently until your warranty runs out.
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Not all car companies are unabashed money ****** like BMW, Mercedes, Audi, Porsche, Rover- to name a few- I even threw in a non-German b/c its on many sides;)
 
Monterra said:
Not all car companies are unabashed money ****** like BMW, Mercedes, Audi, Porsche, Rover- to name a few- I even threw in a non-German b/c its on many sides;)
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My Dad's work van (GMC 2500 work van) has nearly half a million miles on it. OEM transmission fluid. Doing just fine.
 
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