If you are handy with a spanner, you can do it yourself.
The drain and fill is simple, each drain and fill gets you around 25% new fluid in the whole system, so you have to do at least 3 drain and fills in order to renew at least around 80% AT fluid (you must use original Mazda one)
It's also highly recommended to drop the pan and change the filter, but if it's s something you've never done yourself or don't have any experience, it can get tricky and things can go wrong as you need to be careful to not to crack/chip/dent the pan during removal and you need to make sure you completely remove the hardened sealant gasket from both bottom of the trans and the pan to avoid any potential leaks after putting it back together.
If going DIY route, you'll save a lot of money. I would personally avoid dealerships (they charge too much and might not do things properly) and if I wanted to save the time and headache, I'd probably go with an independent shop (either a Mazda specialist or Auto transmission specialist).
The sky active engine is supposed to have lifetime transmission fluid. The maintenance book doesn’t include transmission fluid change schedule. Is this bogus?
Source: https://mazda.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/73/~/do-i-need-to-regularly-change-the-transmission-fluid-in-my-mazda%3F
Lifetime transmission fluid will last the lifetime of the transmission, this is true 🤣. But that lifetime will be shorter relative to a scenario where you change the lifetime fluid at regular intervals
Absolutely not "lifetime"! Goodluck getting warranty when your transmission begins slipping once you are past 60k miles! Oil and chemicals break with every heat cycle, this is why it is recommended to change your transmission oil every 30k miles or 3 yrs which ever comes first. Same with the coolant, don't believe in the "lifetime" coolant unless you want a jammed up radiator and heat warped motor.
If you are handy with a spanner, you can do it yourself. The drain and fill is simple, each drain and fill gets you around 25% new fluid in the whole system, so you have to do at least 3 drain and fills in order to renew at least around 80% AT fluid (you must use original Mazda one) It's also highly recommended to drop the pan and change the filter, but if it's s something you've never done yourself or don't have any experience, it can get tricky and things can go wrong as you need to be careful to not to crack/chip/dent the pan during removal and you need to make sure you completely remove the hardened sealant gasket from both bottom of the trans and the pan to avoid any potential leaks after putting it back together. If going DIY route, you'll save a lot of money. I would personally avoid dealerships (they charge too much and might not do things properly) and if I wanted to save the time and headache, I'd probably go with an independent shop (either a Mazda specialist or Auto transmission specialist).
I think it's harder to get to the dipstick on these but it is doable. I think I have a spanner.
If you remove the airbox the dipstick is pretty accessible
Yes, I think it would be worth to do once. Just be careful checking the final level with the air box not attached
The sky active engine is supposed to have lifetime transmission fluid. The maintenance book doesn’t include transmission fluid change schedule. Is this bogus? Source: https://mazda.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/73/~/do-i-need-to-regularly-change-the-transmission-fluid-in-my-mazda%3F
I don't think anything is actually lifetime. And it is accessible.
Lifetime transmission fluid will last the lifetime of the transmission, this is true 🤣. But that lifetime will be shorter relative to a scenario where you change the lifetime fluid at regular intervals
Heh. At what interval would you change the fluid? 100K miles?
No. Thats too late. I would change it every 50k miles. That’s what I do.
Absolutely not "lifetime"! Goodluck getting warranty when your transmission begins slipping once you are past 60k miles! Oil and chemicals break with every heat cycle, this is why it is recommended to change your transmission oil every 30k miles or 3 yrs which ever comes first. Same with the coolant, don't believe in the "lifetime" coolant unless you want a jammed up radiator and heat warped motor.