Tranny flush or drain?
 

Hey guys -

I have an 06 MS6 with 37,000 miles. I have never drained or flushed the trans fluid, so I'm definitely going to do that soon.

I know some manufactures recommend draining instead of flushing, at least for the first change. What do you guys do with your cars? Flush or drain then fill?

Thanks!

Drain.

Fill.

open up the drain and fill bolts and blow really hard on the latter for a flush.

Unless you have some reason to suspect an issue, or you notice an unusual amount of debris in the old fluid, there should be no reason to go through the hassle & expense of a flush at your mileage.

What mileage would you suggest a flush? My MS6 just ticked over 60,000 miles (100,000 km).

nah, no need to flush, just drain all the way

drain, fill with something better than stock... I used Redline MT-90.

You'd feel a noticeable improvement at your current mileage.

http://www.mazdaspeedforums.org/foru...ctures-100877/

How the hell do you flush a manual transmission? Or better yet, why would you. If you drain and fill it, that's a complete fluid change. The reason for flushing an automatic is because you can't drain the full amount that it holds.

so, what would you do if you had reason to believe there was still something in there after draining?

I'm betting you'd save your $60 worth of motorcraft goodness and push some generic 80 or even thinner through first, just to be sure, until it drained clear. Then fill with the expensive unicorn juice, not forgetting to address whatever reason the trans was nasty to begin with...

Just drain and fill with cheap stuff, drive a little while, then drain it out and fill with good fluid. Picks up all the debris the old fluid didn't hold anymore and gets rid of it then your back to driving.:drive:

Yeah, just drain it and refill. If you really, really want to, run half a quart through it to push out any leftover dirty fluid...but that's pretty much a waste. Make sure you have a 23mm box wrench to open the drain plug, and make sure you open the fill plug first.

24mm, cowboy. i replaced redline mt-90 after 30k miles and could tell a difference with shifts afterwards. old fluid was darker too.

There are T-Tech machines out there that can flush a Manual transmission out. These machines aren't widely used due to they pressure the exert on the internals of the transmissions and the liability for the shops that use them.

The few places that have these machines, most of them will require a waiver to be signed so they aren't at fault if they knock something loose inside the transmission that ends up causing it to fail. In all honesty Drain and fill is all you need with these transmissions a flush isn't worth the risk.

I honestly think it's better to be concerned about WHY you would need to flush.

If there is enough physical metal debris that required a flush it seems to me that there is an issue to be corrected and which will in all probability require removal & rebuild/repair. If you find some sort of sludge build-up, then you need to address the combination of chemicals used to result in such a thing and never never ever allow that to happen again.

If you need to flush a trans, the the flush isn't the concern, it's the why you should be concerned with.

I get what you are saying, you're just doing a drain and fill twice. But if you have that kind of crap in there, you are probably going to need an overhaul rather than a "flush". Same as with an automatic; you change the fluid before it is completely shot. You don't do a flush after the fluid is brown or black and it's slipping. It's to late at that point.

117K Miles and Still Original Transmission Fluid
 

I own a 2008 CX-9 with 117K miles which still has original transmission fluid, yup, never replaced. After this realization, I have spoken both with a local mechanic I trust (although admittedly not a Mazda expert), as well as the local Mazda Dealer (who I only partially trust). Although the manual does not specify when the transmission fluid was due to be changed, the Dealer tells me it should have been done (flushed and replaced) at 60K. They serviced the vehicle at 40K and 80K, but since not at ~60K, they did not pick up on the fact the transmisison fluid was never replaced. Ultimatley it's my fault (and my wife, it's her vehicle) for not paying attention to this critical fluid. The fluid is not black, nor burnt, but a little dirty. Dealer says that since over 100K, not to replace it - too risky. That gears might not line up afterwards. Mechanic says if a drain and fill, not a flush, makes sense to replace it now. Asst Service Manager at Dealer says they don't do a drain and fill, only a flush, since it holds 12 quarts, and a drain and fill only replaces ~5 quarts, so 7 quarts would still be original/dirty.

Thoughts on what I should do?

OP go with the ford/motorcraft unicorn jizz fluid. Did wonders on my tranny thing shifts like butter now.

Start by posting in the correct forum... :ugh2:

Your CX-9 doesn't have the same transmission (or even type of transmission) as the MS3 or MS6.

If you follow the advice in here, you're going to have a bad time.

What ^^ said.

This forum is for Mazdaspeeds. The CX-7 shares the same motor as Mazdaspeed, so it is here.

That said, We had Goodyear perform a flush on our CX-7 and it ran great. Rain and fill you only get 1/2. The rest is in the torque convertor.