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Hatchbacks Mazda3 Mazda3 Maintenance & Repair
4532 messages, Last post on Nov 16, 2009 at 2:06 PM
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Owner's manual sais nothing about transmission fluid change. Should it still be changed?
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Replying to: raysmith4 (Jan 22, 2009 12:27 pm)
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Replying to: mazdazoom (Jan 22, 2009 12:38 pm) Hmmm, I'm thinking that I have a problem with the above statement. 1) While a transmission pan drop, filter change and a top off with fluid may well be a good idea every 30,000, it does NOT seem to be recommended by the Mazda engineers that designed and built our cars. 2) As a general statement, the flushing of automatic transmissions is a VERY BAD idea and has been known to kill many-many transmissions shortly after such a "service" has been performed. As far as I know, there isn't a single manufacturer from anywhere in the world that recommends flushing the automatic transmissions that they put in their cars. While I've been wrong before and could certainly be in this case, I rather doubt it. Want to prove me wrong? Cool, I'm always willing to learn; please provide links and citations that support your recommendations. Best regards, Shipo |
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Replying to: shipo (Jan 22, 2009 2:46 pm) |
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Replying to: raysmith4 (Jan 22, 2009 12:27 pm) I think suggesting that the trans fluid still needs to be changed every 30K mi, is similar to suggesting that if synthetic motor oil is used, you still need to change it every 3000 or 5000 miles or whatever you would do with conventional. I don't know if the new transmission fluids are truly "lifetime" but changing every 30K is likley overkill. My plan is to maybe look into this issue and see if some sort of new consensus on synthetic trasmission fluid changes has developed when we get to about maybe 75,000 miles. Since we do not put a lot of miels on, by that time our cars will likely be at least 10 years old. |
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Last night I had my first real issue with my Mazda3. Ive got 110,850 miles on it. As I was driving down the street, the car acted as if it had lost power then recovered and repeat. THe RPM's were going from practically 0 to 4. My dad first thought that there was moisture in the gas tank. We drove it to Auto Zone so they could use their machine to give me a code as the check engine light flashed a few times. The code that was given was PO303 Cylinder misfire detected in #3. So, I bought some spark plugs and my bro installed then took for a test drive. He said when he was getting on the highway it jerked a little bit, but not to the degree as before and then rode like nothing was ever wrong with it. However, the check engine light came on and stayed on. I took it for a spin - same thing - acted like nothing was wrong. When I Got home he disconnected the battery to see if the check engine light would come back on after it was reset. It didnt. I drove it a bit today without any issue, but that was very scary! I know nothing about cars and I called the dealership. They told me that if its driving fine now, to wait it out to see what happens because it was going to cost $115 to put it on their machine plus 2.5 hrs of labor. Has anyone had this happen to them? Any suggestions?
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Replying to: Bobzda3 (Dec 04, 2008 8:23 am) |
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Replying to: KansasGirl30 (Jan 23, 2009 11:21 am) |
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Replying to: shipo (Jan 22, 2009 2:46 pm) Granted you could run a car for a long while and never change it and it will run, will it run top notch? I seriously doubt it. I also agree that a 30K change is a bit overkill, 60K should be just fine. However I tend to overkill many things I do on my cars, then again my cars last 250K miles plus. To each his own I suppose, if you never want to change your tranny fluid then good luck. All fluid breaks down after continued heat, friction, and pressure. Never changing it... I for one think that is the bad idea.
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Replying to: mazdazoom (Jan 26, 2009 6:18 am) Granted that a number of dealerships use the transmission flush scam to increase their profits, however, in the grand scheme of things, dealerships that screw their customers in this manner are still no where near a majority much less "most dealerships and shops". "Granted you could run a car for a long while and never change it and it will run, will it run top notch? I seriously doubt it." Do you have any scientific data to back that up or are you just guessing? "If you inspect your fluid every 60K miles (or watch the old fluid flush out versus what is goingin) it will not look the same, the old fluid is dirty, used, and broken down." Back in the days of conventional oil based transmission fluid this was true; however, the color of modern synthetic oil based transmission fluid is a very poor indicator of the fluid's fitness to continue serving the needs of your transmission. "I also agree that a 30K change is a bit overkill, 60K should be just fine. However I tend to overkill many things I do on my cars, then again my cars last 250K miles plus. To each his own I suppose, if you never want to change your tranny fluid then good luck. All fluid breaks down after continued heat, friction, and pressure. Never changing it... I for one think that is the bad idea." Believe it or not, like it or not, synthetic transmission fluid has been shown time and time again to be very much up to the task of lasting the life of the vehicle (in applications where a "lifetime fill" has been installed at the factory). At this point we only have one vehicle with an automatic transmission, and yes, it came from the factory with a "lifetime fill" of tranny fluid. It had been my intention to run that vehicle until it dropped without ever changing the fluid or the filter, however, at about the 112,000 mile mark, the pan gasket started slowly weeping out fluid, forcing me to do a pan drop (and filter change while I was at it), and a top-off of fluid. Just for kicks and giggles, I sent off a sample of the factory ATF to Blackstone labs for a UOA, and guess what; the report came back showing that the ATF was still well within the spec range for new fluid. Best regards, Shipo
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