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Transmission (automatic) fluid and filter change, 2.3L, 5 speed

40K views 8 replies 6 participants last post by  aardvarksystems 
#1 ·
Can anyone help with a how-to on changing the automatic transmission fluid and filter on a Mazda 3, 2.3L, 5 speed?

I found a how-to for the 2.0L manual trans, but couldn't seem to find one for the 2.3L, auto.

The local transmission repair shop wants $600!!

Thanks in advance for any suggestions!
 
#2 ·
If you only drain the auto fluid from the buttom, you only get rid of around 50% of the fluid and another 50% of the old fluid are still trapped in your torque converter and various pumps and such, that's why autoshop charge you money to use specialized machine to "flush" out all the fluid.

You can also do it yourself, here is a link which I think should help:

http://auto.howstuffworks.com/under-the-hood/vehicle-maintenance/change-transmission-fluid.htm

But like the article mentioned, this will only result in a "partial" fluid change ;)
 
#7 ·
I did mine using the walkthrough about a year ago and tried to get as much of the old fluid out as possible. I'd estimate that I probably got out half or only a little more, I checked the fluid color after changing and it was not quite as dark but still much darker than new fluid. I plan to do it again sometime soon.

The tranny sure didn't like the "pumping out" process desribed in the walkthrough though, when you shift through the gears. I remember it making buzzing noises (probably the pump for the fluid) and other strange noises too, it was somewhat scary and didn't get hardly much more fluid out. Anyone else that did this method, please chime in.
 
#8 ·
I followed HouRman's method (the one I linked to above) and was able to get perfectly red fluid in the end. You have to pump/drain out and refill the pan a total of 3 times to replace all of the fluid. I didn't bother shifting through the gears while pumping the old fluid out as it only takes a few seconds to pump 3 quarts out. I've done the process twice so far and it's worked fine for me.
 
#9 ·
[quote author=DrWebster link=topic=182891.msg3911632#msg3911632 date=1295482927]
I followed HouRman's method (the one I linked to above) and was able to get perfectly red fluid in the end. You have to pump/drain out and refill the pan a total of 3 times to replace all of the fluid. I didn't bother shifting through the gears while pumping the old fluid out as it only takes a few seconds to pump 3 quarts out. I've done the process twice so far and it's worked fine for me.
[/quote]

Did you drop the pan when you did this? i have another 8 qt of tranny fluid in the garage so when it warms up a bit more I'll be doing this again. I think I only did 2 cycles of pumping the fluid out and shifted thru the gears. This time I need to follow that walthrough to a T and just let it pump 3 qts fluid out at a time while just in Drive.
 
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