Help, doing my own Tranny fluid change.

[CanSpeed 3]

Yes i know its easier to goto a shop and change my tranny fluid. However i can easily do it myself with my own shop smarts and also enjoy doing it. Changed transmission fluid before in civics, but thats an easy job. Pretty much would like to know the run down for mazda 3's

Is there anything special i need to know about changing tranny fluid on these cars?

What spec/kind of fluid is recommended by you guys that have done this. (yes i get a slight knotchy feeling in the cold winter)

I havent checked yet, but just so i know the general area, where is the drain/fill plug on these tranny's?

How much do they take?

I realise my owners manual will tell me most of this. However my cars in the shop getting the rear rust fixed (coverd by mazda ofcourse!) So im bored and wanna hear what you guys have to input!

[dentinger]

auto or manual transmission?

[CanSpeed 3]

Manual, cmon! who drives auto :loco

[Thrizzl3]

Manual, cmon! who drives auto :loco

ummm me...u got beef?

[slam525i]

We drive Mazdas. Quite a few of us have cosmetic mods. We don't got beef. We got rice! :chuckle

[CanSpeed 3]

beef? Why would i care if you drove auto. I didnt say there was anything wrong with it, just implied most modded mazda 3's are manual. Anyways back to my Tranny topic.

[dentinger]

Anyways back to my Tranny topic.
:chuckle

anyways, its just like an oil change.
there are 2 plugs, a drain plug, at the bottom, and a fill plug, at the top/side.
obviously, you pull the drain plug out, and let all of the old fluid out, and then put the plug back in, yada yada yada.

from the fill plug (at the front of the transmission, its a little tricky to get to, a long bendable funnel will be needed).
i used redline MT90, as do alot of other members. i got mine from CTA patrique, one of our sponsors. i think i paid roughly $50 for i think, 4 litres of it.
the trick here, is to fill until the oil is at level with the bottom of the fill plug.
i beleive spec is something like 3.8 litres or something. try searching, its been covered before...
anyways, i filled mine a little over the limit, let the excess spill out from the fill plug, once it leveled off, i put the fill plug back.

over all, its realy easy to do, and it made shifter alot easier and smoother, especially in winter!

[CanSpeed 3]

Great, that was the step by step i was looking for dent. Thanks.

So all in all.. its no different then any other import. Ill try and find some redline at a local store, since im outside of Toronto. Although i may not, so ill contact pat.

[dentinger]

pat lives in bramptom, well, at least he did when i got my stuff a year ago...

im sure it's sold at local stores, someone here would probably know...

[condor888000]

One suggestion, make sure you can undo the fill bolt before draining. Just in case.

[dentinger]

good advice haha

[condor888000]

Yeah, happened to me and my step dad when doing his Miata's transmission fluid. Fill was a 4 point bolt, and we couldn't get the ****er out. Was sitting there for a week before we found the right socket.