Transmission Service - drain and fill or filter too?

[TheMAN]

valvoline maxlife is a full synthetic ATF (not advertised)
one of the best cheap ATFs money can buy

[Marta]

ya, screw it Im gonna change it anyways so atleast I know I have some good product in her
thanks all ya'alllzzzz

[Jackal]

ya, screw it Im gonna change it anyways so atleast I know I have some good product in her
thanks all ya'alllzzzz

Must have been payday. Best decision!

[silverstarmazda]

btw draining and filling will only remove half of the fluids... u need to disconect it from the cooling block and run it for a bit to get the old crap out

[aznives3]

btw draining and filling will only remove half of the fluids... u need to disconect it from the cooling block and run it for a bit to get the old crap out

this. i did a full flush of the fluids at 120K (it was pretty dark, but didn't really smell all that burnt). took 9L i believe, and only about 30 min of my time and some help from my dad. I followed the DIY on one of the other mazda3 forums to pull the cooler line and drain through there, worked perfect!

[Pyro]

btw draining and filling will only remove half of the fluids... u need to disconect it from the cooling block and run it for a bit to get the old crap out

my understanding is that drain/fill is better then a full flush? well what I mean is that a full flush is not necessary unless switching to synthetic. Please correct me if I'm wrong as I'm looking to get both a coolant drain/fill and transmission fluid drain/fill done soon

[silverstarmazda]

my understanding is that drain/fill is better then a full flush? well what I mean is that a full flush is not necessary unless switching to synthetic. Please correct me if I'm wrong as I'm looking to get both a coolant drain/fill and transmission fluid drain/fill done soon

well flushing will get the most old fluid out because your using a machine to flush the old fluid out with the new fluid. if your not having problems i wouldnt recommend a flush. switching to a synthetic should be alright as long as its compatible with the old fluid. this is how i did my "flush"

-drain old trans fluid
-refill with new fluid
-disconect cooling block
-run a hose from cooling block to a drain pan
- start the car and run through all the gears while your foot is on the brakes so the car doesnt move (this will cause the old transmission fluid in the torque converter out while drawing the new fluid into it.)
-run the car untill you see about 3 quarts comming out of the car. then shut it off
-refill the transmission
-run the car again like before until you see another 1-2 quarts come out, or the fluid is bright red.
turn off the car and reconnect everything.
-refill the transmission and let the car run for 5 minutes.
-if all the fluids are leveled, take it out for a drive. check the fluids again.

note: check the transmission dip stick while the car is running. heres a how to:
http://www.mazda3forums.com/index.php?topic=66369.0

i used more fluid than necessary because i wanted to make sure i got most of the old fluid out and i also added a cooler.

[TheMAN]

flushing is only truely necessary if you decided to switch to synthetic, that way everything will be synthetic afterwards and you get the full benefits synthetic has to offer
the petrol canada and valvoline maxlife ATFs are cheap and good synthetics money can buy, otherwise you're going to be spending money on the redline ATF D4 or amsoil ATF

[silverstarmazda]

flushing is only truely necessary if you decided to switch to synthetic, that way everything will be synthetic afterwards and you get the full benefits synthetic has to offer
the petrol canada and valvoline maxlife ATFs are cheap and good synthetics money can buy, otherwise you're going to be spending money on the redline ATF D4 or amsoil ATF

i had 2 options when i bought trans fluid from walmart. the valvoline maxlife atf OR the castrol import atf. both are usable in our auto's requiring MV. i chose to go with the castrol because i heard the maxlife doesnt do too well in he cold. not sure why but im assuming its the oil viscosity. and since the climate is starting to get cool, and i installed a cooler i wanted to make sure i could use it all year around. both received good reviews everywhere, thats why it took me about a 3 days worth of reading reviews to make up my mind @_@ sudden jerking in a cold engine seem to be smoothed out, its still there but its definitely smoothed out. acceleration has gotten better and is more consistent. overall im happy im done with my transmission

[TheMAN]

the castrol is a conventional fluid IIRC... maxlife works fine in the cold... if it's an issue, add some lubegard

[silverstarmazda]

the castrol is a conventional fluid IIRC... maxlife works fine in the cold... if it's an issue, add some lubegard

yea i understand its conventional. but then again...its tranny fluid, that stuff lasts quiet a bit. im not too keep on the whole additive thing...

[TheMAN]

lubegard works fine... it's tried and true... the name sounds like snake oil, but it's not!!!
read BITOG as I always said, and you'll see that it works!

I put that stuff in my van and also a mazda5, with maxlife in both of them.... works great!

[canscot05]

Just did my change to synthetic, Petro Canada DuraDrive MV, $80 for 12 litres. Dropped transmission pan, and magnet was sludgey, has done 90k, don't know if first change or not, have installed Magnafine filter to help clean up the fluid going forward, does seem smoother shifting afterwards.

[rajin929]

man i'm afraid to drop the pan....with all the bolts rusted to crap, knowing my luck I'd snap a bolt or two.

I've just been drain and filling every 6 months with the Valvoline Max Life stuff. Probably overkill on the time between changes, but I guess it doesn't hurt to keep throwing fresh fluid in it.

[canscot05]

I just view it like any other fluid/oil change, cheap insurance. I did the full flush as I didn't know the history on the transmission, when I bought the car it had a big bundle of receipts for work done, every oil change, replace tires, tire rotation, etc, but I couldn't find anything for transmission, except for dealership suggesting the work at 48,000km. So I decided to start with clean fluid, and once I dropped the pan and saw the magnet I was glad I did, at least now I can start my service intervals from this point. I would rather drain and fill on a regular basis than wait until the fluid looks or smells bad, as some damage is done by that point. With the Duradrive at less than $7 a litre, the cost won't be too great going forward.

[TheMAN]

man i'm afraid to drop the pan....with all the bolts rusted to crap, knowing my luck I'd snap a bolt or two.

I've just been drain and filling every 6 months with the Valvoline Max Life stuff. Probably overkill on the time between changes, but I guess it doesn't hurt to keep throwing fresh fluid in it.

no need to drop the pan with your frequent draining
and it's absolutely not necessary because maxlife is synthetic! you'll probably be fine for 100000km on this fluid.... just keep an eye on it!