ALERT: Transmission Malfunction - Hopefully an Isolated Incident

[Alacoyote]

Last Saturday while my wife was driving the vehicle, it suddenly made a sound and the transmission malfunctioned. Although the car was in drive, when she pressed the accelerator it revved as if in neutral. She coasted to the side of the road, turned the vehicle off and restarted it. The transmission seemed to work normally again but the CEL (check engine light) remained on. After a lengthy wait for a tow truck (poor marks to Mazda's emergency roadside service for this part), we took the vehicle to our favorite local Mazda dealer. They ran it through diagnostics but couldn't determine the problem. Monday morning, they called MazdaUSA and everyone went into high alert (much like what was described in another thread in this forum). A Field Service Rep came, corporate was involved, etc. At first they thought that the transmission might need to be replaced (ugh, as there obviously aren't any sitting in local inventory at this point) but after three days of testing and evaluation, ultimately concluded that most likely the problem was some metal shaving or other debris had gotten into the transmission solenoid valve during manufacturing. They removed and cleaned the valve, performed a flush of the system and replaced the transmission filter, and that cleared up the issue (as best as they can tell).

Kudos to MazdaUSA for jumping into the situation and assisting with the resolution, as they obviously were concerned about a potentially bigger problem with a new model vehicle. But if you have a similar experience, mention our situation to your service folks and hopefully it will help get yours corrected quicker.

 

[CX-SV]

Good info, thanks for the full report.

 

[ManMachine]

More reason to have some break-in period transmission fluid change?

What are the transmission fluid change intervals anyway? Hopefully it's not lifelong fluid.

Anyway, the owner's manual did not have anything about the transmission fluid. This seems a bit odd.

 

[nizzy1115]

It is life long trans fluid

 

[ManMachine]

Well, I guess owners better plan transmission replacement if they intend to keep the car. There's no drain hole for the Skyactiv transmissions?

 

[CX-SV]

I'm not planning on tranny replacement, but I understand OP's experience with manufacturing defect. Awaiting follow up report.

 

[ManMachine]

Hi CX-SV: do you have any information for the transmission maintenance? Looking under the car, can you see drain plugs for the transmission? Has Mazda released any info on the transmission fluid specs?

 

[CX-SV]

Hi CX-SV: do you have any information for the transmission maintenance? Looking under the car, can you see drain plugs for the transmission? Has Mazda released any info on the transmission fluid specs?

I have not researched it yet in the manuals provided? Usually the best place to look first.

btw, I researched my other cars a long time ago: Mercedes (one change at 39K miles, none for rest of life) and Lexus (lifetime fill, no drain plug).

 

[erhayes]

My dealer stated to check the fluid at X intervals and change if needed. The manual does not state that the ATF is a forever never change fluid. I looked for the dipstick for the AT and there is none so the fluid check must be done underneath. The statement that Owners better plan on a transmission replacement if they intend to keep the car is a foolish statement IMO.

 

[ManMachine]

I searched through the owner's manual and there's no information whatsoever about the transmission fluid, or even ways to check it. It would be nice if Mazda is so confident about the durability of their new Skyactiv transmissions, I guess we shall see.

As a owner of Honda and BMW cars, I've heard too many things about transmission issues. Even for a manufacturer like Honda, transmissions woes are there - especially for automatic transmissions mated to the V6s. The autos mated to the 4 cylinders seem more reliable and have clear schedule of every 30K. For BMWs, the issues are obviously worse for the supposedly lifetime-fluid for automatic transmissions, and I've read many reports of failure - thus experts recommend a 60K service.

For manual transmissions, there's always a requirement for a simple drain and fill. This information is not shown in the owner's manual either.

It seems odd if one can't even check the fluid level - what if there's a leak?

 

[hollis]

Typically for transmission fluid there are two bolts underneath the transmission pan. One is to drain and the other is to fill. Once the the fill starts to over spill over, your done filling it.
I've changed transmission fluids in many vehicles and this has always being true, but not 100% sure with skyactive.

 

[cx5broke]

I just joined this forum to see if anyone else was having the same problem as me and came across your post. My daughter was driving my CX5 and when she accelerated, the car wouldn't go. She pulled over, had it towed to Mazda dealer and much the same as your experience, they went into High Alert and are now replacing my transmission! Has this happened to others and is there a problem in the new technology.......I bought this in March when it first came into production, days after it came out and am thinking this may be a future problem with the CX5.

 

[CX-SV]

^ Welcome and interesting first post. Hopefully the dealer will give useful info upon completion so you can report here.

 

[cx5broke]

I will definately keep you updated.

 

[Alacoyote]

I just joined this forum to see if anyone else was having the same problem as me and came across your post. My daughter was driving my CX5 and when she accelerated, the car wouldn't go. She pulled over, had it towed to Mazda dealer and much the same as your experience, they went into High Alert and are now replacing my transmission! Has this happened to others and is there a problem in the new technology.......I bought this in March when it first came into production, days after it came out and am thinking this may be a future problem with the CX5.

cx5broke - I can report that since I began this thread, we've put another 3,000 miles on our CX-5 without further incident (knock wood). Aside from yours, there has been one other poster on this forum who had their transmission replaced, just a few hundred miles after getting the car. Hard to tell if that's the sign of a chronic problem, given the thousands of CX-5s that have now been sold but not knowing what's happening with the silent masses out there. At least MazdaUSA has reacted promptly on all three occasions reported in this forum.

Go Steelers!!

Alacoyote

 

[CX-SV]

Some of us have several thousands of miles of hard driving on CX-5 w/o tranny problem. Of course longer term use will give best perspective on reliability.

Looking forward to CXbroke 's follow up report.

 

[cx5broke]

The transmission arrived and I will update in 3 or 4 days. The dealership has been great but mazda customer service came across like I should be grateful that its being repaired at no charge to me!
Go Steelers AND Pirates!

 

[cx5broke]

My Mazda dealer called tonight and said the new transmission was done so I picked it up. Not impressed with Mazda at this point, no one from the 'customer assistance' at corporate ever called me, I spoke to them but it was because I called them. They sent me gift cards, but wouldn't extend my warranty at all. I will update here if necessary. Thanks for all your help here.

 

[EricF]

My Mazda dealer called tonight and said the new transmission was done so I picked it up. Not impressed with Mazda at this point, no one from the 'customer assistance' at corporate ever called me, I spoke to them but it was because I called them. They sent me gift cards, but wouldn't extend my warranty at all. I will update here if necessary. Thanks for all your help here.

Why would you expect a call? They fixed it right?

 

[erhayes]

I'd be happy that they didn't mess with it and just put a new AT in and gave me some gift cards to boot. I don't think I'd expect a call from the factory.