Manual Transmission Oil Change/Flush?!

[J_wow86]

OK, so i tried searching for this before posting anything and only saw posts on automatic transmission. I went into get an oil change today at Mr.Lube and they advised me that I need a transmission oil flush. I have an 07 ms3 2.3, and im at 88,000kms. Is it absolutely necessary to do it?

thanks mah ninjas!

[Hyperion]

Could probably wait until 100,000km

[stevenma188]

Define "absolutely necessary".

The guy isn't lying that it a tranny fluid is usually recommended every 80k. It's your car so you can do w/e you want. However, there is a reason people recommend regular maintenance.......

[Hyperion]

Define "absolutely necessary".

The guy isn't lying that it a tranny fluid is usually recommended every 80k. It's your car so you can do w/e you want. However, there is a reason people recommend regular maintenance.......

Is it 80k? I thought it was 100, which is why i recommended that.

[stevenma188]

I just looked it up: Auto transmission is 100k or 5 years. Nothing specified for manuals.

I always went by 80k for stock fluid, 100k for synthetic (MT90 etc).

[J_wow86]

i called mazda today and they said every 60,000kms? But they say it all depends, sometimes you may need to change it sometimes you don't, depends how the oil is, when mr.lube showed me my trans oil it looked dark, i been beating on my car though ever since i got my new tune. And my engine oil was soooo dark and was so low, like 1/3 of what it should be, so my engine must be burning alot of oil. Time to ease off on the gas pedal I guess.

[peterm15]

Im confused

How did they show you?

You say you only saw posts on auto tranny which leads me to believe that you have a manual. Im not quite sure how they show you with a manual tranny.

[Flagrum_3]

I just looked it up: Auto transmission is 100k or 5 years. Nothing specified for manuals.

I always went by 80k for stock fluid, 100k for synthetic (MT90 etc).

What manual are you reading from? According to the '05 manual; The automatic-transmission or standard-transmission change intervals are not even mentioned in shedule 2, (which is the schedule we should be following). Outside North America, auto-trans intervals are still not mentioned, but manual-trannies yes, and at 100k intervals.

The peeps at Mister Lube, unless they pulled the drain plug, would have no way of knowing the tranny oil is bad.

For peace of mind, the OP should just change out the tranny oil and preferably to synthetic. It's a smart preventative maintenance thing to do.


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[kickz]

for automatic transmission i always recommend once a year right after winter. Winter driving takes a beating on the automatic transmission especially if your spinning your tires trying to get out a heavy snow

[lcianf01]

Im confused

How did they show you?

You say you only saw posts on auto tranny which leads me to believe that you have a manual. Im not quite sure how they show you with a manual tranny.

Haha ya i was thinking the same thing. There is not a dip stick for the manual cars. At least on my 2005 there isen't.

[sudz]

I have never changed the tranny fluid in my 5Spd 2.0 litre, and I have 190K on it.

From what I hear, its a sealed unit, No chance of contamination, nor does it "burn"

that being said, If and when my clutch finally gives up, I'll be doing it then.

I have no grinding, hard shifts, any issues whatsoever with my transmission.

That being said, the interwebz is widely split on this... But if its not in your owners manual, I personally think that says something for it being a sealed unit requiring no maintenance.

[Flagrum_3]

for automatic transmission i always recommend once a year right after winter. Winter driving takes a beating on the automatic transmission especially if your spinning your tires trying to get out a heavy snow

Seems like a costly adventure and truly unnecessary...

Why not just switch to a synthetic blend, then you'd only have to do it once every 3 to 4 years and have much better protection during the duration.

-Talking auto tranny here.


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[Flagrum_3]

Your absolutely right Sudz, the Manual transmission is a sealed unit. Therefore with "normal" driving, the oil rarely needs changing, if at all. There are alot of people on the internet that have no clue and speak from thier rear-orifices. But that being said, there is also the idea out there, and by some automotive experts, about the issue of contaminates and filings that can or may occur from the initial build and from the initial 'break-in period'. I prefer to side with caution and adhere to the second notion. I changed out my manual tranny oil very early and to synthetic and 100k later, again using a top-notch synthetic. At this point I feel comfortable any contaminates are gone, 'mostly', and I need not worry about the oil ever again. I'm coming around the 200k mark soon and so far no issues with my transmission, shifts smooth too.

_3

[J_wow86]

now that i think about it im not really sure how they got a sample of it, they had a sample on a piece of paper and showed me, i was confused too when they showed me i was on the phone talking to a friend and they came up to me and i was caught off guard, and isen't the transmission oil supposed to be red?

[Flagrum_3]

Automatic transmission fluid is supposed to be red, not manual trans oil though, which is basically the same colour as motor oil, give or take.

Sounds like they might have tried to take you for a ride.

_3

[mikey32235]

words of fack_dude: "stealerships"

[peterm15]

words of fack_dude: "stealerships"

Actually it was Mr. Lube

[Wes08M3]

As part of the services provided at Mr. Lube, the 'lower technician' is required to remove the manual transmission check plug to observe the level and fluid condition. If the guy is doing his job properly, he'll have actually checked your fluid for you. I worked at Mr. Lube when I was 16, this is how I know...

Also, the manual trans is certainly a sealed unit but the fluid will still thin out over time as a result of shear. Eventually, the fluids ability to provide a film of protection will be degraded. Pitting is generally the most common form of wear on gear teeth and transmission fluid helps prevent this. Worn transmission fluid could lead to worn gears, how long it will take depends on too many variables to give a general answer.

[TheMAN]

the gear oil might not necessarily shear down, but it will have lots of suspended particles (metal shavings) after many miles.... this stuff is thick as pancake syrup, so it won't really settle out! This stuff will eat up the bearings and gears
there's a reason why there are service intervals for gear oil

don't listen to any of this "sealed unit" nonsense! Standard practise is every 48k-50k km for any auto trans using conventional fluid... if you use synthetic you can do twice or thrice times that... for manuals, you can go longer between changes (100k per mazda), but you still need to change it!

[Harbour Rat]

Yep, there is a drain plug on the bottom and a fill plug on the front of the transmission. If they required some weird proprietarty tool or were one-way heads I'd say the transmission was sealed, or at least that Mazda only wanted their technicians working on it. But the plugs are regular hex plugs so anyone with basic hand tools can check or change the fluid.

Mazda does spec a very common type of transmission fluid in the owner's manual too, which is a tacit acknowledgement they expect it to be checked and changed or topped up at some time.

Anyhoo, at 80,000+ km it won't hurt to have the fluid changed. It is a maintenance procedure, not a repair so you shouldn't notice any huge difference. If synthetic fluid is used then shifting will probably feel a bit smoother, especially on cold days but that is probably the biggest change you should notice.