Looking for opinions on my planned maintenance regimen

Greetings All,

I've been reading exhaustively on this site to determine how best to maintain my CX-5 for the long haul. I recently took a job which has me driving appx. 100 highway miles per day, so the mileage is racking up quickly. As I write this I am approaching 22,000 miles on my 2017 CX-5 Grand Touring which I've had just over two years, and has been mechanically flawless. I am a "weekend warrior" in that I do my own oil changes between 6-7,000 miles using the factory filter and, up until this point, Mobil 1 0W-20 AFE, though I plan on making a switch to Pennzoil Platinum. In terms of driving style...I regularly get it near redline. Some might say I drive it like I stole it but I wouldn't classify it that way. I have trust issues with any dealer or mechanic, so whenever possible I like to do my own work.

Since I will be racking up the miles, I am looking into the future for automatic transmission fluid changes. As stated I've read many threads, and I have devised what I think might be an effective strategy to get the most out of my tranny, and I was hoping to pick your brains.

I don't feel competent to drop the pan, so my thought was I would simply begin doing a "drain and fill" every 30,000 miles. I'm thinking that should keep the fluid in spec and reasonably clean, and I won't risk any of the potential consequences of not properly resealing the pan. I have two clear one gallon bottles so my thought is to drain the fluid and pour it into one of those bottles when cold, then fill the second identical bottle with clean fluid to the exact same level, thereby replacing exactly what I took out.

Additionally, I plan on replacing the brake fluid in the reservoir every two years (suck out and refill) under the theory it will mix with the fluid in the lines and obviate the need to bleed the system. Differential fluid I'm thinking every 75,000 miles or so should be sufficient.

I know opinions will vary widely, and I welcome yours. Thank you in advance

Overall good plan, but you should absolutely measure your ATF level on that first drain/fill service. Mine was underfilled from the factory. So while I drained 3.5 quarts, it took 3.7 on the fill to get it to the proper level at the right temp on the dipstick. Keep in mind those numbers are just for mine. Not everyone drains the same amount, or necessarily has an underfill, but it's worth checking.

IMO:

1. I believe drain-and-fill your ATF at 30,000 miles is too excessive. You can do ATF drain-and-fill once or twice every 50,000 miles.

2. Flush brake fluid once every 2 years is excessive to me too as Mazda doesn't even recommend any brake fluid change. I have a 1998 Honda CR-V with 185K miles and I flushed the brake fluid the first time just 4 months ago with no brake fluid related problem ever. Not saying we don't need to change the brake fluid, but flush it once every 2 years in the US is excessive to me.

I also have to say that you have to flush the brake fluid to get the dirty brake fluid out at the caliper bleeders. Suck out and refill the brake fluid in the reservoir simply doesn't work. The difference to ATF is ATF is circulating around inside of transmission by the pump, and it will mix old and fresh fluid together. But brake fluid won't circulating around within the system, hence you have to bleed the old fluid from calipers.

Try to use Flexible oil change interval too.

ColoradoDriver said:

Overall good plan, but you should absolutely measure your ATF level on that first drain/fill service. Mine was underfilled from the factory. So while I drained 3.5 quarts, it took 3.7 on the fill to get it to the proper level at the right temp on the dipstick. Keep in mind those numbers are just for mine. Not everyone drains the same amount, or necessarily has an underfill, but it's worth checking.

Click to expand...

Yes, I should emphasize this too. Like rear differential gear lubricant, we can't use the volume drained out as the measurement to refill the fresh ATF. Very important!

brake fluid absorbs water from the air (even in the desert)

the added moisture lowers the boiling point, so an attempted emergency stop or mtn. driving can result in you running out of braking and crashing

flush out all old brake fluid every 2-3 years - unless Mazda uses an unusual type of brake fluid (e.g. US military in arctic climates, etc.)

at 15 years old you should also replace all rubber brake hoses with new ones from the dealer

both the above are critical safety issues, as is replacing little used tires 6 years past the date code no matter how much tread is left, and rubber fuel hoses if it has any

it is a good idea to replace "lifetime" fluids eventually, tho it is hard to say when - maybe at 100k or 15 years, or 20 (as you are driving the vehicle past the 'lifetime' Mazda expected and designed for)

I have 2 old vehicles ('73 Porsche 911 & '86 VW Vanagon Westy camper) and keep a spreadsheet of what was done & when along with mileage it -should - be done at; and years it -should- be done at for time sensitive things ind. of mileage (e.g. brake fluid, hoses, tires)

then there are other things like wheel bearing grease, CV joint grease, etc.

ralf11 said:

I have 2 old vehicles ('73 Porsche 911 & '86 VW Vanagon Westy camper) and keep a spreadsheet of what was done & when along with mileage it -should - be done at; and years it -should- be done at for time sensitive things ind. of mileage (e.g. brake fluid, hoses, tires)

then there are other things like wheel bearing grease, CV joint grease, etc.

Click to expand...

Ha I have a 1987 VW Vanagon Syncro which is not operable due to the "rubber" cylinder head gasket leak. I wonder what have you done to this problem which is common?

mine is just 2wd & I don't have that problem

do you know about The Samba?

ralf11 said:

mine is just 2wd & I don't have that problem

do you know about The Samba?

Click to expand...

Yes.