CX5 2.5L AWD Transmission concerns...Will it last?

[Unobtanium]

I hate automatic transmissions. No, I'm not a snob that "can out drive them" with a stick. I just never had one make it much past 100K miles. I drive about 20-25K miles a year, so that means I have another 3-4 years life in my Mazda CX5, by that standard...but is the CX5's transmission better? Is it known for being durable? Or are these units a bit of a glass jaw on the vehicle?

Also, what is the recommended fluid change schedule? I waited 100K miles to change a transmission's fluid once. Had the dealer do it, too. Two weeks later trans was toast (worked fine before). I don't believe in waiting that long...shocks the junk loose and causes all sorts of issues hitting old fluid with new fluid like that, per an old school mechanic I know, who I ignored at my own peril with my Infiniti...

 

[GAXIBM]

Makes a big difference what kind of miles. If it is interstate and almost never shifts transmission could go 200,000 easily. If it is downtown stop and go and you drive hard, it may not make 100,000...

 

[gazelle]

I just never had one make it much past 100K miles.

What kind of cars did you have?
I'm pretty sure that transmission life expectancy solely depends on transmission quality/manufacturer.
I would be surprised if any of your failed transmissions were ZF. Have no clue about Mazda ones though.

 

[Unobtanium]

What kind of cars did you have?
I'm pretty sure that transmission life expectancy solely depends on transmission quality/manufacturer.
I would be surprised if any of your failed transmissions were ZF. Have no clue about Mazda ones though.

1988 mustang gt (ok...not fair)
1995 trans am (slipped if I drove it hard. Previously grenade before I bought it as well)
2001 Infiniti g20. Died a whimpering death slipping and not shifting at 110k
Jeep Grand Cherokee 2010 w hemi transmission out at 76k miles for leaking. Never fixed.
Old cop car...ook...I know...

Those are th3 cars I've had with automatics. They all sucked. Totally. Except the trans am. Driving it in cooler weather it was fine. So...iI'm leery of this transmission. I love it so far. Amazing slushbox...but I hope it lasts!

 

[craigo]

This AT is too new to glean real long term reliability. Judging from other posts around here, there were some early build issues with a few that were relatively simple to fix. Other issues called for complete replacement, which will be expensive for a car outside of drivetrain warranty. How this compares with other modern transmissions, I have no idea. Everyone's updating them to 6 to 9 speeds or CVT - I don't think there's designs sold now that are more than a handful of years old.

 

[cybercruiser]

1988 mustang gt (ok...not fair)
Jeep Grand Cherokee 2010 w hemi transmission out at 76k miles for leaking. Never fixed.

Jeep is basically a Dodge/Chrysler product, which is very "normal" for the tranny to give out at 70K miles, so, you're right in there...

I had to have my 94 Dodge Grand Caravan tranny rebuild at 74K.

 

[Unobtanium]

What kind of cars did you have?
I'm pretty sure that transmission life expectancy solely depends on transmission quality/manufacturer.
I would be surprised if any of your failed transmissions were ZF. Have no clue about Mazda ones though.

Anyway, I am getting 2 stories from the dealer. One is that they can't change my fluid, and one is that they can via flushing through the lines. What's the skinny?


PS. ZF makes junk. I wouldn't have bought my Mazda if it had that trash in it. I got away from Chrysler partially BECAUSE of the ZF transmissions and how bad they suck. If they made a solid transmission, I might have considered one of the new Grand Cherokees, but they don't and I didn't.

http://blog.caranddriver.com/holy-s...ases-third-software-update-for-jeep-cherokee/

It's not just Jeep, either, they are causing Acura headaches, too. What made you think ZF was worth a plug nickel? Did they used to be? I know back in 2005 when I worked at Ford, they were in some of our vehicles, too, regrettably.

 

[piotrek91]

Anyway, I am getting 2 stories from the dealer. One is that they can't change my fluid, and one is that they can via flushing through the lines. What's the skinny?

this is the skinny from this TSB: https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B25LTCZZu_VuRUpxUDItcXJhNGc/edit

SKYACTIV-DRIVE FW6A-EL AT with “ATF-FZ” is "filled for life" (no change intervals for ATF required) and
flushing is not recommended as part of service maintenance.

Adjusting the fluid level perfectly can be a slightly tricky operation and I would not trust the average dealership technician to do it correctly.
They have a hard enough time filling an engine with oil.

I had a Mazda protege 5 before my CX-5.. it was also filled for life, and I never replaced any fluid or did any sort of maintenance on the transmission.
I drove the car exclusively using the Manual shift mode and when the car was totaled in an accident (not my fault) at 10 years/160,000 miles the transmission was working 100% fine.

 

[Unobtanium]

this is the skinny from this TSB: https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B25LTCZZu_VuRUpxUDItcXJhNGc/edit


Adjusting the fluid level perfectly can be a slightly tricky operation and I would not trust the average dealership technician to do it correctly.
They have a hard enough time filling an engine with oil.

I had a Mazda protege 5 before my CX-5.. it was also filled for life, and I never replaced any fluid or did any sort of maintenance on the transmission.
I drove the car exclusively using the Manual shift mode and when the car was totaled in an accident (not my fault) at 10 years/160,000 miles the transmission was working 100% fine.

Great info!!! Thanks!

 

[Kedis82ZE8]

When I do a drain and fill of AT fluid I put vehicle on ramps in my garage overnight. I leave the fluid right down there near where the drain pan is so in theory they should be very close in temp. I have a drain container with marks for each 1/8th quart. IMO: I can get comfortably close to putting back in what I took out.

 

[yrwei52]

PS. ZF makes junk...
It's not just Jeep, either, they are causing Acura headaches, too. What made you think ZF was worth a plug nickel? Did they used to be? I know back in 2005 when I worked at Ford, they were in some of our vehicles, too, regrettably.

ZF is a German engineering company making many automatic and manual transmissions for almost all European cars. It's generally considered the top notch transmission brand as BMW, Mercedes, Audi, Porsche, etc. all use ZF transmissions. I was surprised Jeep, Acura, and Ford use ZF's as usually they cost more. But I was shocked to find out that our 2000 BMW 528i uses GM's 5-speed manu-matic as I fully expected BMW would always use a ZF!

this is the skinny from this TSB: https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B25LTCZZu_VuRUpxUDItcXJhNGc/edit
Adjusting the fluid level perfectly can be a slightly tricky operation and I would not trust the average dealership technician to do it correctly.
They have a hard enough time filling an engine with oil.

I totally agree that many dealers are incompetent to do even the basic oil change correctly. I guess we can do ATF drain-and-fill by ourselves with the help of many write-ups here. I may do it around 50~70K miles along with rear differential oil.

I wish Mazda can learn form Honda who simply just lists the ATF replacement (drain-and-fill) into the maintenance schedule. The so-called life-time fluid is definitely a joke. It's very funny that VW's expensive "life-time" ATF has a shelf-life of 2 years stamped on the bottle!

 

[123373]

Got 275,000 on my y2k maxima that was still working perfectly when I got rid of it never changing the trans fluid. Years ago when I first started driving you were lucky to get 80,000 out of a transmission.

 

[Rxheaven1]

Here is the experience that my wife and I had. I have a 2015 CX5 GT AWD. It has 14,300 miles on it and the transmission just died. The dealer had no idea what was going on as there were no faults thrown through the OBD and no dash warning lights. It would clunk and go into limp mode. They claimed it was the aftermarket wheels that I had installed and the tire size. Bull....the size is .2 inch difference between the oem 19' wheels. After they filled out their report and sent it to Mazda, they replaced the tranny. One of the comments that the tech had put on the paperwork (my wife asked for ALL paperwork related to this which included notes and the report to Mazda) it said the ATF was "burnt". Even after replacing the trans, they still blame the wheels. Everyone I spoke to said it would be EXTREMELY unlikely that aftermarket wheels would cause a tranny to burn. Since my wife drives through stop and go traffic everyday, it is possible that the ATF cooler isn't able to take the abuse. I am thinking of adding an aftermarket ATF cooler to help the fluid since it is "lifetime fill". After the first 5k on this tranny, I am going to have my dealership check the condition of the fluid.

 

[Unobtanium]

Here is the experience that my wife and I had. I have a 2015 CX5 GT AWD. It has 14,300 miles on it and the transmission just died. The dealer had no idea what was going on as there were no faults thrown through the OBD and no dash warning lights. It would clunk and go into limp mode. They claimed it was the aftermarket wheels that I had installed and the tire size. Bull....the size is .2 inch difference between the oem 19' wheels. After they filled out their report and sent it to Mazda, they replaced the tranny. One of the comments that the tech had put on the paperwork (my wife asked for ALL paperwork related to this which included notes and the report to Mazda) it said the ATF was "burnt". Even after replacing the trans, they still blame the wheels. Everyone I spoke to said it would be EXTREMELY unlikely that aftermarket wheels would cause a tranny to burn. Since my wife drives through stop and go traffic everyday, it is possible that the ATF cooler isn't able to take the abuse. I am thinking of adding an aftermarket ATF cooler to help the fluid since it is "lifetime fill". After the first 5k on this tranny, I am going to have my dealership check the condition of the fluid.

Yeah, BS on the rims/wheels. That's absurd.

I honestly think your situation is a "1-off". I mean, it's not common and 14K miles is an absurdly low failure point. I would wonder if maybe a contaminant during manufacture got into the transmission and stopped up a valve or something of the nature.