[valleyguy]

Looking over the owners manual there is no listing for frequency of transmission fluid replacement service. Can it be that it needs NO service?

 

[amd20x6]

They claim that it's a "sealed" transmission not requiring service.

Sure, it might be lifetime fluid- where the lifetime of the vehicle is 5 years / 60k mi, whichever comes first.

I plan on changing mine at some interval I haven't yet determined. It can be done and there is a fill hole with a dipstick built into it.

 

[Oldvet]

Need more information

Looking over the owners manual there is no listing for frequency of transmission fluid replacement service. Can it be that it needs NO service?

First of all we need to know what car you have. The older Mazda's auto transmissions required changing every 30k miles. The oils they use now are better , so probably will last longer. The best thing is to call Mazda and ask, that way you will get a straight answer. Thanks

 

[valleyguy]

My Mazda 6 is a new 2016.

 

[eyedocorlando]

Even though this has been discussed before, I'll go ahead and answer. There is a drain bolt on the transmission and it takes about 3.5-5qts of fluid if you drain it. You refill the transmission through the bolted in dipstick tube. Mazda does not formally recommend servicing the fluid, and they explicitly state do not flush the transmission in their service manual. Some people have changed the fluid to little effect .

 

[valleyguy]

Thanks for that info.

Seems odd to me that the 2016 6 manual does not specify ANY transmission service, yet the dealer offers it.

Guess I'm old school, I'll replace fluid at 40k to 50k, as I plan on keeping the car for quite awhile.

 

[Lowered6]

I did a drain and fill at 25K. The factory juice is a green color, but the tranny fluid came out a weird brown color. I'm pretty easy on the car and don't abuse the tranny so I think it's normal. Didn't notice any performance difference, but since it's an easy task I'll probably do it every 25K-30K as I plan to keep my baby for a while.

 

[wheredoesthisgo]

Hi folks, newb mazda owner here. I used to work in a transmission shop. I honestly believe in changing your tranny fluid every 30,000 miles. That being said, I just bought a 2014 mazda 6 with 68,000 miles on it. I asked the dealership i bought it from to do a transmission flush and change the filter. They told me not necessary until 100,000 miles and even then its just inspection. I told them sorry, I want to flush the fluid and change the filter. Local dealership said there is no filter to change. I showed them the part number for a filter and went to a different dealership. 2nd dealership called in the shop foreman to talk with me. I asked him how often he changed his fluid. He said he didnt drive a mazda but did his every 30,000 just like me. He said there is no way to connect the flush machine to the skyactive tranny to do a catalytic converter flush so all they could do was drop the pan install a new filter and run the 4 quarts through which only removes about half the old fluid. I would have to run it for an hour or so and drain and repeat to get more of the converter fluid out. I caught the shop foreman in the break room and slipped him a 20$. When he gave me the car back he said he dug up about 3 more quarts in the shop and ran it through so if i believe him i should be good to go for another 60,000 between what i believe and the factory does. The mazda tranny fluid is blue and expensive. Its a non maintenance item because they last past the warranty but just barely. If you plan on keeping your car and driving the wheels off it like i do mine change the blue stuff and drop the pan, do the filter and do more than the single flush. My opinion fwiw.
Heres the scary part. You could ask for the same thing but your local stealership may stroke you and not bother to drop the pan and put in the filter, but just charge you for it thinking your crazy for asking for it. Maybe asking for the old filter back would help. Reinforcing what i just posted. The fluid is not supposed to be green or brown. Its supposed to be blue. Mine is now.

 

[Germs]

I have a 2015 6 at 60k I'm going to look into this thanks for the info

 

[jcme0557]

If it was my car, I'd change the ATF at 50-60k.

Car makers have been removing stuff like transmission fluid or brake fluid from lists of "scheduled" or "recommended" maintenance for years to show "lower cost of ownership."

Probably works for the first owner on a 2-year lease...but not the second or third owner.

 

[Scooby]

I did change the fluid and the filter at 125,000 km after reading a lot and coming to believe that if anything goes wrong with transmission, i'll be the one who faces the music and Mazda will be chuffed to boost their revenues through that kind of bloody painful transmission replacement. I drained the fluid and put 5 liters of fluid with replacing the filter, which I reckon is important when you've done a lot of mileage without changing the fluid as I have.

 

[neonoggie]

Just to chime in, I replaced the factory fluid in my 2014 MTX at 30k miles and it was pretty dirty at that point. I put in redline MTF 75W-80 and it improved the shifting characteristics of the car noticeably, especially when cold. I replaced the redline MTF at 60k miles and again it looked pretty dirty and beat up, it went in a nice pretty red and came out brown and dirty.

The dealer fed me the same 100k mile bullshitake too, so I just changed it myself. The car takes less than 2 quarts of fluid which costs like 25$, and the service is really easy to do. IMO, do it every 30k and have a transmission that lasts longer.

Also, I realize this is in the auto transmission section, but the MTX also doesn't recommend a change interval and clearly needs it, so the auto probably does too. I bet if you drain and fill the fluid once every 30k you probably don't need to change the filter as often.

 

[tickerguy]

Well, the MTX doesn't always need it. I changed mine at 50k and the oil was in good shape. A bit dark but not bad, no contamination worthy of note. I too went with the Redline and like it, but I could have easily gone to 100k on the MTX oil without a problem.

On the other hand it IS cheap and easy to do, so why wouldn't you on a reasonable interval? 50k miles ought to be fine for that interval though.

If you're having to swap it at 30k mile intervals IMHO you're being pretty rough on that gearbox and might want to rethink that.

 

[neonoggie]

Well, the MTX doesn't always need it. I changed mine at 50k and the oil was in good shape. A bit dark but not bad, no contamination worthy of note. I too went with the Redline and like it, but I could have easily gone to 100k on the MTX oil without a problem.

On the other hand it IS cheap and easy to do, so why wouldn't you on a reasonable interval? 50k miles ought to be fine for that interval though.

If you're having to swap it at 30k mile intervals IMHO you're being pretty rough on that gearbox and might want to rethink that.

Maybe we just have different opinions on what constitutes "good shape". I'm definitely not rough on the gear box. Sure, I drive the car spiritedly, but I dont slam shift or anything like that and I double clutch and revmatch when downshifting more than 1 gear. I'm used to my wife's accord where after 30k miles the ATF is still red and pretty much clear. Maybe you got a better transmission in the lotto, or maybe you would have looked at what drained out of mine and said "looks good to me!"

 

[tickerguy]

Well, I don't know what your oil looked like, but mine looked like.... gear oil.

Gear oil shouldn't get nasty; it doesn't have engine gases to absorb from blow-by and similar, nor is there intentional carry-up into engine cylinders (so the rings have something to lubricate them), some of which winds up coming back *down* after combustion occurs in contact with it (and oxidizes it), so there's little material to wind up in suspension in the oil itself. The sources of contamination are the meshing portions of the gears themselves, the bearings in the transmission and the synchros.

If I got nasty oil out of a MTX I'd probably send it in for a UOA to try to figure out what's in there because if you've got an abnormal wear pattern going on it would be a darn good idea to know about and fix it before it gets expensive (especially if you're in warranty and can go after the manufacturer to make good on it!)

 

[jsouth]

I have always done 99% of my own vehicle maintenance and have rebuilt a couple of automotive engines and one manual transmission (never again!). I see lots of possible things to go wrong in dropping the pan and changing the filter every time you change the ATF. I have put 750,000 miles on Nissan Maximas over the last 20 years, changing the ATF every 30,000 miles in most of them. I never once changed an ATF filter, never once dropped an ATF pan, and never had a leak as a result. I also never had an ATF problem.

In a drain and fill, you don't replace what is in the torque converter and other recesses of the tranny. But you are replacing about half of the fluid and, if done often enough, you're effectively replacing all of it after a couple of cycles.

My 2014 Mazda6 is at 84,000 miles. I have the fluid in my garage to do its first ATF drain and fill and will do that in the next few weeks. After this, I plan to do it about every 30-40k miles depending on how much of a PITA this job is.

 

[dasrider]

So where's the least expensive place to buy the FZ fluid? 4qts on Amazon goes for $70 shipped nowadays - anybody else cheaper?

Also, it doesn't say it specifically in the manual, but should the drain and refill be done with the car level on jackstands? All the other cars I've done this to specify the car needs to be level.

 

[jsouth]

I got my ZF fluid at a dealer. I checked Amazon, and it was a little more. I made a comment at the parts desk about the fluid being gold-plated at that price, and the manager gave me a discount. 4 quarts was about $60 with tax.

 

[dasrider]

So I changed out the automatic transmission fluid in my 2014 Touring over the labor day weekend. I also got 4qts of the oem FZ fluid from the dealer for right at $60 with tax.

Changing the fluid out could not have been easier. Sure, it was a bit of hassle removing the under body tray, but that was the hardest part. The car just hit 100,000 miles so I figured this was as good a time as any. I also changed out the engine oil while I was under the car. Before draining I checked the fluid level on the dipstick with the car level and it read just past full. The car had been driven that day, but I waited about 30 minutes before getting into the transmission fluid change.

I elevated and leveled the car and about 3.1-3.2 quarts drained out. It was pretty dark and the drain plug did not have any excessive metal bits on it. I put in exactly three quarts of the new stuff which was a cyan blue color - totally different than what came out. I drove the car for about 20 minutes on the highway to get it up to operating temperature and then checked the fluid level again. It read right smack in the middle.

To access the dipstick I had to remove the air intake box which required turning the car off. Reading the manual it says to check the dipstick with the car running. How do you access the dipstick without removing the intake box? The car won't run with the airbox removed. I've put about 100 miles on the car since and it's been driving fine so I'm not too worried, but just curious how others check their transmission fluid level?

 

[eyedocorlando]

It's easier than an oil change. You'll need at least 4 quarts on hand. Mine shifted better when I did it at 50k, so I plan to do it regularly. I think it took me 15 minutes.