[Str8kokayne]

Hey everyone, I'm new here, new to being a mazda owner also. I just bought a 2016 cx3 this past Saturday and have been doing alittle maintenance here and there. I would like to change the transmission filter and fluid. Is there any spec sheets available on this site? Looking for pan and filter bolt torque and any other tips I would need to know.

 

[JefWithOneF]

For a bit now Mazda has upheld lifetime fluid in their transmissions. No need to change it for the life of the vehicle.

 

[SlyCoopers]

Got to chime in since this is a pretty important topic im somewhat passionate about and monitor what other brands do also, but there is no such thing as lifetime fluid and if anything it is under explicitly unique circumstances that would not be reasonable for average car driving conditions. At best its "lifetime for the 6yr warranty ". Subaru fell into a similar situation where they said their " sealed cvts had lifetime fluid" and didnt need to be change during ownership ever and legacy/crosstrek owners (last i checked) had their cvts fail just past the warranty period. Lawsuits and shenanigans ensued and idea was brushed under the rug and dealers started doing cvt fluid changes for subies again.

If anything every 40k should be standard at least for serious owners who plan to keep the car for a semi permanent period. I did my transmission fluid, rear diff and transfer case fluids on the cx3 a few years back when it still had 20-something thousand miles(on a 2016 which is not of miles to begin with but did it with time interval instead) and the fluid looked terrible on diff and transfer case. This is definitely not a lifetime fluid.

Specs and parts i got nothing on sadly since i had a local firestone shop handle the job and it was not unreasonable prepandemic pricing.

 

[SlyCoopers]

Turns out i got a rouge screenshot of some specs.

For automatic transmission
ATF-FZ. Fluid only
Full capacity: 7.8L or 8.2 us quarts
Amount to add if drained from bolt only: 3.3L or 3.5us qt


No info on torque specs but looking around 7-8ft lbs seems to be consensus for older Mazdas but do NOT trust me on this to be accurate without double checking elsewhere lol

 

[JefWithOneF]

I share not to be argumentative (because quite frankly I couldn't possibly care less about being right), but simply to tell the tale:

The 2013 QX56 sitting in my driveway has 185K miles on it. It's seen nine Texas summers and countless trips to New Mexico and Colorado and a few of those times with a trailer attached. It's had the oil changed like clockwork but it's still got the auto trans fluid it rolled off the truck into the dealership with in it. It doesn't even have a transmission dipstick and the transmission works like the day it was new. Per the manual, it was designed to be maintenance free with no specified service interval.

The 2016 Mazda 3 that I bought new and put 130K miles on lived an identical life, minus the trailer towing. Oil changed and trans fluid was the same stuff in it as when I pick it up with four miles on the odometer.

I drive a lot. I'm not saying anyone should neglect their vehicle, but contemporary machines are designed to be considerable more reliable than days past. If you want to change your trans fluid, do it. But there is no specified service interval for it. I've driven everything from a restored '67 mustang to a 600whp 300ZX to the QX and there was even an R8 in there at one time. Been a car guy for 40 years. Sporty turbocharged coupes weren't very plausible after my son was born so my tastes moved to more practical vehicles. These days I like practical, and I really like reliable. I've had two vehicles that I drove over 100K miles in and trusted the manufacturer on service intervals enough to leave the trans fluid alone and it didn't have any negative consequences whatsoever. Maybe my experience is unique, maybe not. But it's my experience nonetheless.

Oh, and Blackstone Labs probably knows me by name because I get almost every vehicle's oil analyzed about every other oil change.

 

[SlyCoopers]

Oh theres no doubt some cars are built much better but presuming that every econobox is built with the same quality as another model especially with modern cost cutting practices isnt the best ideology for the casual non technical person who might view this thread going on and believing its a lifetime fluid. My familys 08 Nissan sentra is one of the controversial high faiure rate cvts which need a fluid change every 20k-ish to "maybe" not fail by 80k, from the same company that made your indestructible infiniti so i always would rather err on the side of caution because you never know know when a fault is found later in future or negligence such as nissans automatic emergency braking sensors for their modern cars 16+ where they blamed users for "wear and tear" and a class action lawsuit later its still garbage fix. Theres also people who ride a 90s nissan to 200k+ and never touch transmission fluid and things still run fine somehow.

 

[Malks]

I had my trans fluid changed on my 2016 CX3 at my Mazda dealer in March. It was in for a brake check before heading out on a road trip to Florida and they advised that it was due for this fluid change because it was nearing 100K. Although this is not one of the regular scheduled maintenance items, the manual and dealer do recommend the trans fluid be changed at 80K km, if driven under certain circumstances. I had been thinking of having it done anyway so said go ahead. Total cost for this fluid change at the dealer was $200 CDN.

BTW, the brakes were fine and just needed to be cleaned and serviced. They must have been done just before I bought the car in March 2019, because I have not touched them since I've owned it. I was impressed they were still good after three years and 45K km of my driving. The '04 Mazda3 Sport I owned could never go more than a year before needing rear pads.