Transmission blown at 72K miles

Not to mention you’re mixing half of the Red Line ATF, which doesn’t meet the specs of SkyActiv-Drive transmission, with half of the left-over “dirty” Mazda FZ ATF. You can only get half of the old ATF out even if you take off the ATF pan. And there’s no ATF lines to hook up a transmission flushing machine to get old ATF out completely!


My 2 cents:

1 session of drain fill ATF fluid (OEM of course) at say 40k miles means introducing more lubricating properties into the system. BITOG analysis (well per a skyactiv owner in another Mazda forum) indicate the Mazda ATZ fluid's lubrication "additives" should last through 60k miles. Aprox throughout the 60k mile warranty.

1 session's max potential is introducing 40% new lubricating properties. A 2nd session 1 week later means oh 70% new lubrication introduced. A 3rd session 1 week later and the fluid drained becomes clearer thereafter meaning mostly fresh new fluid in there.

So although I'm not dropping the pan to remove the filter, my single drain and fill session at every 40-50k miles means the lubricating properties never reach the "spent" threshold. With the amount of money I'm saving DIY oil changes, cabin filters, spark plugs, ect....I can afford the $60 every 3 years in ATF fluid. On a related note someone posted a European region's schedule of changing skyactiv ATF fluid.
 
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My 2 cents:

1 session of drain fill ATF fluid (OEM of course) at say 40k miles means introducing more lubricating properties into the system. BITOG analysis (well per a skyactiv owner in another Mazda forum) indicate the Mazda ATZ fluid's lubrication "additives" should last through 60k miles. Aprox throughout the 60k mile warranty.

1 session's max potential is introducing 40% new lubricating properties. A 2nd session 1 week later means oh 70% new lubrication introduced. A 3rd session 1 week later and the fluid drained becomes clearer thereafter meaning mostly fresh new fluid in there.

So although I'm not dropping the pan to remove the filter, my single drain and fill session at every 40-50k miles means the lubricating properties never reach the "spent" threshold. With the amount of money I'm saving DIY oil changes, cabin filters, spark plugs, ect....I can afford the $60 every 3 years in ATF fluid. On a related note someone posted a European region's schedule of changing skyactiv ATF fluid.

But but Mazda; you know the manufacture who knows ALL; says the SKYACTIV TECHNOLOGY automatic transmission has lifetime fluid. So unless (or more like until) you have a problem you don't EVER need to even check it, much less change it... So you must be either foolish, or perhaps wasteful, and certainly irresponsible wasting all that perfectly good fluid because you know Mazda says' it will last a 'lifetime'... (stoned)(naughty)(naughty) Ah you know what, maybe they define 'lifetime' differently then you and I.. (stash)

[/Sarcasm]

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My 2 cents:

1 session of drain fill ATF fluid (OEM of course) at say 40k miles means introducing more lubricating properties into the system. BITOG analysis (well per a skyactiv owner in another Mazda forum) indicate the Mazda ATZ fluid's lubrication "additives" should last through 60k miles. Aprox throughout the 60k mile warranty.

1 session's max potential is introducing 40% new lubricating properties. A 2nd session 1 week later means oh 70% new lubrication introduced. A 3rd session 1 week later and the fluid drained becomes clearer thereafter meaning mostly fresh new fluid in there.

So although I'm not dropping the pan to remove the filter, my single drain and fill session at every 40-50k miles means the lubricating properties never reach the "spent" threshold. With the amount of money I'm saving DIY oil changes, cabin filters, spark plugs, ect....I can afford the $60 every 3 years in ATF fluid. On a related note someone posted a European region's schedule of changing skyactiv ATF fluid.

While I do agree that the factory fill is only effective for 60k Miles, I will state that you’re best off dropping the pan so you can change the filter. Transmission fluid is a common-wear item and requires regularl fluid changes just like engine oil (although not as often)

Stop it with this Mazda lifetime BS. They underfill fluid from the factory and say not to check or change transmission fluid and look what happens. Like clockwork, owners at or pay 60k mikes complaining of failing transmissions, conveniently as soon as your car is out of warranty which therefore means you have to pay lots of money for a transmission replacement at the dealer like a typical naive buyer.

Maintain your transmission and it will not fail I will say however, that If you are dropping the pan to properly change fluid/filter, make sure that the pan is properly sealed with some sort of gasket or you WILL eventually suffer from a leak.
 
While I do agree that the factory fill is only effective for 60k Miles, I will state that you’re best off dropping the pan so you can change the filter. Transmission fluid is a common-wear item and requires regularl fluid changes just like engine oil (although not as often)

Stop it with this Mazda lifetime BS. They underfill fluid from the factory and say not to check or change transmission fluid and look what happens. Like clockwork, owners at or pay 60k mikes complaining of failing transmissions, conveniently as soon as your car is out of warranty which therefore means you have to pay lots of money for a transmission replacement at the dealer like a typical naive buyer.

Maintain your transmission and it will not fail I will say however, that If you are dropping the pan to properly change fluid/filter, make sure that the pan is properly sealed with some sort of gasket or you WILL eventually suffer from a leak.
No evidence here that the failures are fluid related. You also make it sound like 60k is the magical number when most of these failures occur, also not true.
 
Who says they underfill from the factory?
I myself found all new CX-5s I saw at my dealers lot have low engine oil level and low engine coolant level as those are easier to check. These are also been confirmed by other members. Although one could argue that those fluid levels are not necessary to be at Full mark but this practice is against conventional wisdom and different from all othe auto makers. It has also been confirmed by several members who did gear lubricant change on front transfer case and rear differential that while the front is at full mark but the rear is about 40% low from factory! If you follow this ATF Drain/Fill thread, youll see several members who did take time to check ATF level before draining the fluid also found the factory ATF level is low.
 
I myself found all new CX-5’s I saw at my dealer’s lot have low engine oil level and low engine coolant level as those are easier to check. These are also been confirmed by other members. Although one could argue that those fluid levels are not necessary to be at “Full” mark but this practice is against conventional wisdom and different from all othe auto makers. It has also been confirmed by several members who did gear lubricant change on front transfer case and rear differential that while the front is at full mark but the rear is about 40% low from factory! If you follow this ATF Drain/Fill thread, you’ll see several members who did take time to check ATF level before draining the fluid also found the factory ATF level is low.

Maybe it was found that the factory "full" mark isn't a good idea. I had a vehicle once, that the "FULL" mark on the dipstick was a wild suggestion. Vehicle was totally stock. Fill it with the spec'ed oil/filter etc. and it was nowhere near where it should be.

What...if...filling to full mark actually causes overfilling, fluid foaming, and early failure/wear? As to "Oh, we measured what we got out", really? And you know FOR SURE how much was in the tq converter, the expansion/temp coefficient? Yeah?

I am not saying that Mazda is not underfilling them. I am simply saying that JoeBob in his back yard is not a good barometer for this.
 
Maybe it was found that the factory "full" mark isn't a good idea. I had a vehicle once, that the "FULL" mark on the dipstick was a wild suggestion. Vehicle was totally stock. Fill it with the spec'ed oil/filter etc. and it was nowhere near where it should be.

What...if...filling to full mark actually causes overfilling, fluid foaming, and early failure/wear? As to "Oh, we measured what we got out", really? And you know FOR SURE how much was in the tq converter, the expansion/temp coefficient? Yeah?

I am not saying that Mazda is not underfilling them. I am simply saying that JoeBob in his back yard is not a good barometer for this.

Agreed. Full is not the same as "best" or even, "spec"
 
Maybe it was found that the factory "full" mark isn't a good idea. I had a vehicle once, that the "FULL" mark on the dipstick was a wild suggestion. Vehicle was totally stock. Fill it with the spec'ed oil/filter etc. and it was nowhere near where it should be.

What...if...filling to full mark actually causes overfilling, fluid foaming, and early failure/wear? As to "Oh, we measured what we got out", really? And you know FOR SURE how much was in the tq converter, the expansion/temp coefficient? Yeah?

I am not saying that Mazda is not underfilling them. I am simply saying that JoeBob in his back yard is not a good barometer for this.

Agreed. Full is not the same as "best" or even, "spec". Only way to know would be to drain the case completely and compare to the engineering spec. I doubt it comes from the factory incorrect. Possible...but doubtful. A machine doles the fluid out and that kind of thing is metered + recorded in a database. These days they even record the spins and geometry of the robots screwing on nuts. This detail is how they're able to narrow down recalls to very specific VINs.
 
Does oil expand...in that its best to take measurements after it being warmed up?
 
Maybe it was found that the factory "full" mark isn't a good idea. I had a vehicle once, that the "FULL" mark on the dipstick was a wild suggestion. Vehicle was totally stock. Fill it with the spec'ed oil/filter etc. and it was nowhere near where it should be.

What...if...filling to full mark actually causes overfilling, fluid foaming, and early failure/wear? As to "Oh, we measured what we got out", really? And you know FOR SURE how much was in the tq converter, the expansion/temp coefficient? Yeah?

I am not saying that Mazda is not underfilling them. I am simply saying that JoeBob in his back yard is not a good barometer for this.

True dat.
 
The one under-fill situation I can attest to was the rear diff. It took about a 1/3 more IIRC than what was stated for replacement quantity which was to fill it to the bottom of the the fill hole in the FSM.
 
Does oil expand...in that its best to take measurements after it being warmed up?

By oil, do you mean transmission fluid, or do you mean engine oil? The answer is "yes" in both cases. This is why factory transmission fill procedures spec the correct temp and correct shift/transmission condition procedures for checking transmission fluid. It's not something the average even well-equipped mechanic will replicate in the back yard.
 
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