Transmission Fluid Change Interval

992 Views 18 Replies 8 Participants Last post by Sparky915, 1 mo ago

aspiller98

Discussion Starter · 1 mo ago

Bought my wife a CX-50, upgraded her from a 2016 Mazda3.
One thing I noticed about her 3 is that that there was no mention of trans fluid change interval in the maintenance schedule within the manual. Around 55,000 miles the trans began to hesitate to shift from R to D and would "bang" gears when driving normally upon cold-start. I had my mechanic break open the trans and change the fluid. This made the issue a little better, but not much.

Reading on Mazda's website, I find this statement complete BS IMO:
DO I NEED TO REGULARLY CHANGE THE TRANSMISSION FLUID IN MY MAZDA?

All Mazda vehicles equipped with SKYACTIV® TECHNOLOGY have lifetime transmission fluid that only needs to be changed when a major transmission component or the entire transmission needs replacement.

"Lifetime" fluid... I take that as the the fluid lasts the lifetime of the trans... meaning after the warranty period is up the trans will more than likely go and THEN the fluid will be changed. I find it extremely hard to believe that the trans could go 200,000+ miles with the original factory fluid...

What is the recommended interval to actually change the fluid that you all, or other have done? 30,000 or 40,000 miles?

I drive a '21 Accord hybrid and every 30,000 I change the trans fluid according to the owner's manual. Was thinking about following the same schedule on the CX-50.

1 - 19 of 19 Posts

Trickster

· #2 · 1 mo ago

Well this topic has been covered before both here and on the CX30Talk forum.
In essence the owners manual says it doesn’t need to be changed as you mentioned and then others who plan on long term ownership follow their own schedules. Being a new model I think I have only seen one forum member here over 20,000 miles. The 30 on the other hand is in its fourth model year and has numerous high milers. There is no definitive answer for you, just do what your comfortable with for peace of mind.
Enjoy.
👍

Litfuse

· #3 · 1 mo ago

Audi says the same thing about their transmissions and lifetime fill. However, ZF, the manufacture who supplies their transmissions say you should do a drain and fill around 80k miles.

ZeekZirconPPT

· #4 · 1 mo ago

aspiller98 said:
Bought my wife a CX-50, upgraded her from a 2016 Mazda3.
One thing I noticed about her 3 is that that there was no mention of trans fluid change interval in the maintenance schedule within the manual. Around 55,000 miles the trans began to hesitate to shift from R to D and would "bang" gears when driving normally upon cold-start. I had my mechanic break open the trans and change the fluid. This made the issue a little better, but not much.

Reading on Mazda's website, I find this statement complete BS IMO:
DO I NEED TO REGULARLY CHANGE THE TRANSMISSION FLUID IN MY MAZDA?

All Mazda vehicles equipped with SKYACTIV® TECHNOLOGY have lifetime transmission fluid that only needs to be changed when a major transmission component or the entire transmission needs replacement.

"Lifetime" fluid... I take that as the the fluid lasts the lifetime of the trans... meaning after the warranty period is up the trans will more than likely go and THEN the fluid will be changed. I find it extremely hard to believe that the trans could go 200,000+ miles with the original factory fluid...

What is the recommended interval to actually change the fluid that you all, or other have done? 30,000 or 40,000 miles?

I drive a '21 Accord hybrid and every 30,000 I change the trans fluid according to the owner's manual. Was thinking about following the same schedule on the CX-50.

There is no official recommendation for the transmission fluid change. In general as long as the transmission fluid appears clear with no burnt smell or frothing/discoloration...and the transmission has strong shifts...don't bother with it. My CX5 has 157000 miles on it and I have not had any issues. My CX50 has 14500 miles currently.

Trickster

· #5 · 1 mo ago

ZeekZirconPPT said:
There is no official recommendation for the transmission fluid change. In general as long as the transmission fluid appears clear with no burnt smell or frothing/discoloration...and the transmission has strong shifts...don't bother with it. My CX5 has 157000 miles on it and I have not had any issues. My CX50 has 14500 miles currently.

And how does one check the transmission fluid on a CX 50?

ZeekZirconPPT

· #6 · 1 mo ago

Automotive tire Vehicle Motor vehicle Automotive design Car

Trickster said:
And how does one check the transmission fluid on a CX 50?

There is a transmission dipstick that you remove with a 10mm socket. If you are looking underhood you will see it on the body of the transmission roughly between the engine and the air intake box/assembly.

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Reactions: 1

Trickster

· #7 · 1 mo ago

ZeekZirconPPT said:
View attachment 1301

There is a transmission dipstick that you remove with a 10mm socket. If you are looking underhood you will see it on the body of the transmission roughly between the engine and the air intake box/assembly.

Thanks for that, never saw any mention of it in the manual.

ZeekZirconPPT

· #8 · 1 mo ago

Trickster said:
Thanks for that, never saw any mention of it in the manual.

It isn't meant for requiring service, since it is considered 'fill for life'.

Trickster

· #9 · 1 mo ago

ZeekZirconPPT said:
It isn't meant for requiring service, since it is considered 'fill for life'.

Which is debatable by some owners.

Litfuse

· #10 · 1 mo ago

Trickster said:
Which is debatable by some owners.

Heck, it’s debatable by some parts supplier. Like I mentioned earlier, ZF says every 80k miles. Audi says lifetime.

Bwulforst

· #11 · 1 mo ago

aspiller98 said:
Bought my wife a CX-50, upgraded her from a 2016 Mazda3.
One thing I noticed about her 3 is that that there was no mention of trans fluid change interval in the maintenance schedule within the manual. Around 55,000 miles the trans began to hesitate to shift from R to D and would "bang" gears when driving normally upon cold-start. I had my mechanic break open the trans and change the fluid. This made the issue a little better, but not much.

Reading on Mazda's website, I find this statement complete BS IMO:
DO I NEED TO REGULARLY CHANGE THE TRANSMISSION FLUID IN MY MAZDA?

All Mazda vehicles equipped with SKYACTIV® TECHNOLOGY have lifetime transmission fluid that only needs to be changed when a major transmission component or the entire transmission needs replacement.

"Lifetime" fluid... I take that as the the fluid lasts the lifetime of the trans... meaning after the warranty period is up the trans will more than likely go and THEN the fluid will be changed. I find it extremely hard to believe that the trans could go 200,000+ miles with the original factory fluid...

What is the recommended interval to actually change the fluid that you all, or other have done? 30,000 or 40,000 miles?

I drive a '21 Accord hybrid and every 30,000 I change the trans fluid according to the owner's manual. Was thinking about following the same schedule on the CX-50.

Drain and fill every 30k and every 50 or 75 k change the filter I have a2017 3 and have followed that and have never had a single issue. I just hit 18 k in the 50 and converted it over to amsoil atf that's the old atf dark and yellow new is the blue in the other photo

Product Automotive tire Automotive air manifold Motor vehicle Automotive design

Brown Liquid Amber Dishware Fluid

Tire Car Land vehicle Wheel Vehicle

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ZeekZirconPPT

· #12 · 1 mo ago

Color alone can't be used as a metric for degraded or failed fluids. It's insane to not listen (or completely disregard) to over 10 years of Skyactiv transmission history and over 2 million miles of testing before that.

Manufacturers aren't just guessing at intervals...nor are they just simply hoping the cars will last long enough for the customers to get saddled with issues.

Want to service your transmission at 18k unnecessarily? Go right ahead It's your car. Want to not believe in the quality of the fluid? Fine. Want to disagree with the "fill for life" designation of the transmission fluid? Fine.

I'll stick to the manufacturer schedules which has served me well for 25 years with no failures to date.

Bwulforst

· #13 · 1 mo ago

ZeekZirconPPT said:
Color alone can't be used as a metric for degraded or failed fluids. It's insane to not listen (or completely disregard) to over 10 years of Skyactiv transmission history and over 2 million miles of testing before that.

Manufacturers aren't just guessing at intervals...nor are they just simply hoping the cars will last long enough for the customers to get saddled with issues.

Want to service your transmission at 18k unnecessarily? Go right ahead It's your car. Want to not believe in the quality of the fluid? Fine. Want to disagree with the "fill for life" designation of the transmission fluid? Fine.

I'll stick to the manufacturer schedules which has served me well for 25 years with no failures to date.

I can speak on behalf of another manufacturer , most / many of the earopean manufacturers unfortunately have things you can bet will break or fail the second warranty ends ,or by a set time / mileage interval. Mercedes for instance, anti lock brake hydraulic units have an expiration date if they aren't installed by. BMW has their fair share along with audi I'm not basing the need for replacement purely on color once FZ hits operating temp a few times it'll turn yellow much like the bucket photo above looks significantly darker due to yellow fluid in a poorly lit orange bucket. However the reason for the fluid change is due to the 1-2 shift issue many have reported. I had performed an FZ flush and fill about two weeks prior, it worked for about four days to remedy the odd shift however it progressively returned until it was back 100% just as bad as before. By swapping the fluid I figured I would ginea pig my car to see what it does with a different brand of oil so far no issues. Well see how long that lasts for now. But that's all I'm getting at I haven't dropped the pan or touched the filter yet I have two replacements waiting I'm at 18865 now so we'll see what happens on the road to 30k. Worst case all the old fluid is saved so converting back is not a big deal , I've spoken to a few guys that have turbo Hondas that had shifting issues and had said the amsoil had remedied it that's the main reason for pursuing this route at this time. If you reach out to any dealer they have their own reccommendation for when and what to do. Some would say drain fill that's it others will say nothing and others will say drain fill and swap the filter or even a full on flush. The best time frame I've seen is around 50 to 60 k im crazy and had issues so took care of it earlier myself

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Young

· #14 · 1 mo ago

Bwulforst said:
Drain and fill every 30k and every 50 or 75 k change the filter I have a2017 3 and have followed that and have never had a single issue. I just hit 18 k in the 50 and converted it over to amsoil atf that's the old atf dark and yellow new is the blue in the other photo View attachment 1337
View attachment 1336
View attachment 1338

Is the original fluid shitty where Mazda finds cheap?

Trickster

· #15 · 1 mo ago

Young said:
Is the original fluid shitty where Mazda finds cheap?

What?

Young

· #16 · 1 mo ago

Trickster said:
What?

The guy showed the original fliud ias dark. That is a bad sign and we may have shifty original fliud that can pollute our tranny. I hope mazda will replace our entire fliud for free.

Trickster

· #17 · 1 mo ago

Young said:
The guy showed the original fliud ias dark. That is a bad sign and we may have shifty original fliud that can pollute our tranny. I hope mazda will replace our entire fliud for free.

Lol, good luck with that. Just because it’s dark in color does not warrant a fluid change.

Reactions: 1

Blockisle9

· #18 · 1 mo ago

Is there a drain plug?

Sparky915

· #19 · 1 mo ago

What is "lifetime" to Mazda? How do they define that? Those are some of the questions we should be asking. There's no harm in performing this service, and it could save you from headaches later on. No oil or fluid lasts forever, and it's likely that substantial degradation will take place over the course of tens-of-thousands of miles. It can't hurt and it costs a lot less than swapping in a new transmission. If you kept the car for ten to fifteen years, you'd probably only have to do it once, anyways.

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