tbearmiata
Member
- :
- Mazda CX-5 Sport AWD
Actually there is a dipstick, however you have to either access it from below the car (by removing the plastic shield underneath), or from the top, under the hood, by removing the air box. Where the dipstick is, acts as the fill hole, and the transmission pan underneath the car has a drain plug like the oil pan.
And at 72k miles when I did 3 drain/fill sessions of my transmission fluid, I do wish I had started doing that closer to 50k miles. The fluid wasn't bad, but it was darker than I wished. Capacity is around 8.2 quarts if I remember correctly. A fluid drain/fill session will get out about 3.5 quarts or more (according to the manual). When I refilled with the same 3.5 quarts, I found that the factory level was low and it wasn't enough. 4 quarts ended up being too much. 3.7 quarts was perfect and right in line on the dipstick.
Yes, I usually drain/fill a couple of times and then do it a drain/fill every 10k miles. Fluid never gets "new" but should always be in acceptable shape. Thanks for the heads up about the underfill. Sometimes I've just measured what comes out and replace that quantity but at least there is a dipstick to check on this car.