A Few Surprises from US 2018 Mazda CX-5

Anchorman said:
This is what I was talking about when I said you have to lose the old school ways of doing things. These AGM batteries do not require any maintenance other than careful monitoring of the charge state if they are stored off the vehicle otherwise the balance of the electrolyte will be changed. These PDFs are heavy but you can summarise by saying dont mess.
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My 2016.5 CX-5 does not have an AGM battery. Neither did my 2015, nor my 2013, they have all been flooded wet cell batteries. (bang) Perhaps they offer AGM in other markets?
 
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mazdadude said:
My 2016.5 CX-5 does not have an AGM battery. Neither did my 2015, nor my 2013, they have all been flooded wet cell batteries. (bang) Perhaps they offer AGM in other markets?
Click to expand...

You don't have i-stop/i-eloop hence you don't get these batteries
 
Not sure of what battery I have - AGM, flooded wet cell batteries, etc. but I found this little screw like things on the top and opened each of them. Inside there was NO liquid as far as i could see holding a flashlight - just wet. For all the holes - I ended up pouring almost half of a gallon of distilled water, bringing the water up to the hole level maybe an inch lower.
My car start up was very bad but now its starting right up.
 
Xeler8ing said:
Over the 3 years I owned my Mazda 6, never had to top up the battery. Levels were good and I had both i-stop and i-eloop
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I don't believe this... where in oz are you where the climate is mild enough where engine bay temperatures aren't blistering hot?
I already had to top off the levels twice in mine, most of which was at the 1st and 6th cell... the other cells' levels were pretty stable
 
Xeler8ing said:
You don't have i-stop/i-eloop hence you don't get these batteries
Click to expand...

No Mazda ever came with AGM batteries from the factory... the i-stop/i-eloop batteries are EFBs.... enhanced flooded batteries, which are a modified form of wet cell batteries
 
TheMAN said:
I don't believe this... where in oz are you where the climate is mild enough where engine bay temperatures aren't blistering hot?
I already had to top off the levels twice in mine, most of which was at the 1st and 6th cell... the other cells' levels were pretty stable
Click to expand...

Believe what you will.

I am on the east coast where the temperature range can be from 6.5C to 45C (even greater in the outer suburbs).

Most batteries on average here last about 3-5 years regardless of being stock standard or special to take into account i-stop/i-eloop.
 
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TheMAN said:
No Mazda ever came with AGM batteries from the factory... the i-stop/i-eloop batteries are EFBs.... enhanced flooded batteries, which are a modified form of wet cell batteries
Click to expand...

Fair enough. My bad
 
bmninada said:
Not sure of what battery I have - AGM, flooded wet cell batteries, etc. but I found this little screw like things on the top and opened each of them. Inside there was NO liquid as far as i could see holding a flashlight - just wet. For all the holes - I ended up pouring almost half of a gallon of distilled water, bringing the water up to the hole level maybe an inch lower.
My car start up was very bad but now its starting right up.
Click to expand...

that's scary... the full level is supposed to be 10mm below the bottom of the filler well, not to the rim, not to the bottom of the filler well... if you overfilled it (done it on my old 3), the battery acid will overflow out when the battery gets hot in summer and make a huge mess!

but whenever you refill it, make sure you put it on a charger and recharge the battery at a low current rate overnight before driving the car again... I made the mistake of not doing this the first time with my Protege's original battery and killed the battery 3 days later due to acid stratification and cell damage from high current charging from the alternator due to a low state of charge
 
Anchorman said:
This is what I was talking about when I said you have to lose the old school ways of doing things. These AGM batteries do not require any maintenance other than careful monitoring of the charge state if they are stored off the vehicle otherwise the balance of the electrolyte will be changed. These PDFs are heavy but you can summarise by saying dont mess.
Click to expand...

Anchorman, my understanding is that EFB are not the same as AGM batteries. Perhaps I misundersttod what you are saying.

And at least here in Aus, the EFB fitted to Mazdas with iStop are not maintenance free, in that they do need to have their fluid levels checked and adjusted as necessary. It says as much in the first pdf document that you attached to this post.

As far as I know Mazda doesnt fit AGM batteries as standard to any current models here in Aus.

I suspect that those who havent needed to top their EFBs up, dont realise that the dealer is doing the job for them when the vehicle is serviced.
 
Moonlighter said:
And at least here in Aus, the EFB fitted to Mazdas with iStop are not maintenance free, in that they do need to have their fluid levels checked and adjusted as necessary. It says as much in the first pdf document that you attached to this post.
Click to expand...

This

I always check battery levels once a month along with oil levels and other fluid levels.
 
bmninada said:
Not sure of what battery I have - AGM, flooded wet cell batteries, etc. but I found this little screw like things on the top and opened each of them. Inside there was NO liquid as far as i could see holding a flashlight - just wet. For all the holes - I ended up pouring almost half of a gallon of distilled water, bringing the water up to the hole level maybe an inch lower.
My car start up was very bad but now its starting right up.
Click to expand...

That is a scary post! You may well have significantly overfilled that battery.

The correct method for checking and topping up electrolte levels in flooded lead acid batteries hasnt changed for centuries.

The correct level is when the water forms a “cats eye” as it just touches the plastic sleeves that go down towards the plates from the filler hole.

The EFB in my car also has level marks on the side of the case, with a strong light you can see the lines on the side of the battery for electrolyte levels, and can adjust so they are correct.

Either way gets the electrolyte level right.
 
Moonlighter said:
That is a scary post! You may well have significantly overfilled that battery.

The correct method for checking and topping up electrolte levels in flooded lead acid batteries hasnt changed for centuries.

The correct level is when the water forms a “cats eye” as it just touches the plastic sleeves that go down towards the plates from the filler hole.

The EFB in my car also has level marks on the side of the case, with a strong light you can see the lines on the side of the battery for electrolyte levels, and can adjust so they are correct.

Either way gets the electrolyte level right.
Click to expand...

I believe I am good. Cats eye was there in all cases except the last one where the -ve terminal was. My hand shook and the funnel moved causing an over-fill. Will closely watch for next 2 to 3 weeks for bubbles/sediments/etc. If acid is lost - have battery equalizer with me - which I use for another purpose. That thing - 1 oz had brought back to life twice my old dying batteries.
 
Moonlighter said:
That is a scary post! You may well have significantly overfilled that battery.

The correct method for checking and topping up electrolte levels in flooded lead acid batteries hasnt changed for centuries.

The correct level is when the water forms a “cats eye” as it just touches the plastic sleeves that go down towards the plates from the filler hole.

The EFB in my car also has level marks on the side of the case, with a strong light you can see the lines on the side of the battery for electrolyte levels, and can adjust so they are correct.

Either way gets the electrolyte level right.
Click to expand...

not correct for Panasonic and Yuasa batteries... on a brand new, straight from the factory battery, the levels have always been about 10mm below the bottom of the filler well... the electrolyte NEVER should touch the bottom of the filler well!
This has also been verified on well used Panasonic batteries taken out of the car to easily see the level indicators on the side of the case... the levels were at the "full" marks and the levels were all about 10mm below the bottom of the filler well
 
Moonlighter said:
Anchorman, my understanding is that EFB are not the same as AGM batteries. Perhaps I misundersttod what you are saying.

And at least here in Aus, the EFB fitted to Mazdas with iStop are not maintenance free, in that they do need to have their fluid levels checked and adjusted as necessary. It says as much in the first pdf document that you attached to this post.

As far as I know Mazda doesnt fit AGM batteries as standard to any current models here in Aus.

I suspect that those who havent needed to top their EFB’s up, dont realise that the dealer is doing the job for them when the vehicle is serviced.
Click to expand...
The same EFBs are installed on Mazdas shipped around the world... Mazdas which come from the same factories
Thus, they are not maintenance free, no matter the lack of mentioning or any other claims of the contrary...

As a matter of fact, all Japanese made Mazdas come with low maintenance batteries, not maintenance free, EFB or not... in the past, MX-5/Miatas came with a gel cell battery which was truely maintenance free, but that was the only Mazda I'm aware of that's this way

The Mazdas that come out of Mexico (not CX-5s) come with the Johnson Controls made batteries... the same style design that are sold in American stores, such as the Interstate brand... those are labeled as maintenance free
I don't know what comes out of the Thai, Filipino, Chinese, Russian factories... they all would likely use locally sourced batteries
 
yrwei52 said:
Check the maintenance schedule in your Owners Manual ⋯

But wait, battery maintenance is nowhere can be found in entire Owners Manual! So whose fault is that when CX-5 owners are assuming they have a totally maintenance-free battery?

Distilled water is fine for battery refilling. Of course more expensive deionised water is better.
Click to expand...

True! Not mentioned for owner maintenance nor scheduled maintenance. But obviously a wet cell that requires checking. WTF Mazda?
 
shadonoz said:
True! Not mentioned for owner maintenance nor scheduled maintenance. But obviously a wet cell that requires checking. WTF Mazda?
Click to expand...

You are indeed correct. Looks like they don't trust USA owners with topping up fluid levels:

0.png
 
In the USA most if not all cars come with maintenance free batteries. All the cars I’ve owned did. I think the problem is people here won’t check them and might take them to a drive through oil change place that won’t know to do it either.... which will probably result in more failures. What’s the advantage to the EFB if you don’t have ieloop? I got 5 years out of the battery I just replaced on my St. It actually wasn’t testing bad yet but at 5 years I figured replacement was a good idea. Average is about 3-5 years from my experience.
 
Agree. Mine are always maintenance free. Replace every 4 - 5 whether it needs it or not.
 
Food for thought - call up dealerships, do NOT say anything and just ask. I did. 7 Mazda dealerships confirmed to me all Mazda cars are having maint. free batteries. Then I asked - when you guys service a car, say mine: do you review the condition of the battery, check fluids, etc. Answer: yes: via our diagnostic tool but no: we aren't supposed to open the caps and check as it's maintenance free.
 
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