As far as the last maintenance being done at 12K. Many people are all Gung Ho with their new car and keep records. Then they forget to even keep the receipts after the newness is over.
If it were mine, I would have the tranny shop change out as much tranny fluid as they can, but avoid a flush.
Get a oil change and new filter.
Then I would just monitor the leakage. You may have a minor leak where you only have to add a quart of oil per month. Right now we can’t know how bad a leak it is.
You may be losing a quart every 1000 miles and this would still be ok if you keep an eye on the fluid levels. Just keep extra oil or tranny fluid on board in case.
Thanks Yosemite, I was checking a youtube video from a channel called ChrisFix on transmission fluids and he too suggested to only change the fluids instead of a flush if it was dark. Thanks a lot!
I’d also take this car to a good mechanic and have it inspected.
Have him list the things that must be done now for safety, and things that are critical to keeping this car running.
Then a list of things that are not critical, but should be taken care of sometime in the future.
Then you can avoid a giant bill all at once, by spreading out the cost up getting this car up to date.
If you were to bring the vehicle to my shop, I would suggest to replace all the transmission fluid using a flush machine or don’t replace any of it.
This is because if you just do a pan drop, only about 30% of the fluid is removed from the transmission. The 70% of the old contaminated fluid with sludge/varnish remains in the torque converter, valve body, and cooler lines/cooler.
So when you add the new transmission fluid, the detergents in the new fluid can cause the sludge/varnish in the transmission to break loose. And when that happens, the transmission dies.
So have the pan dropped to check for any metal debris. And if there is none that’s a good sign.
Install a new filter and install the pan.
Connect the flush machine, and run the engine until all the transmission fluid is replaced.
Then if the transmission fails somewhere down the road, at least you can say you did everything possible to save the transmission.
Dark fluid usually means the transmission is on the way out. Changing the fluid may squeeze some extra life out of it.
I also agree that the mechanic is walking on thin ice and fearful of getting blamed for the transmission dying if he does do a transmission service.
Things should not be that way but unfortunately, the world and a certain percentage of the people in it can get a bit strange when it comes to their cars.
While I’m not saying you would do this, many mechanics have proceeded with a trans service on a shaky transmission and then gotten the blame a few weeks later when the trans dies. In some cases they even get sued…
I agree with everyone here that feels that the tranny shop may just be “covering their butt” on this one.
This is a good reason for people to find a good mechanic and stay with them. Even for the little jobs like oil changes.
I’ve always felt that if you spend the extra $10 having your mechanic change your oil…he gets to know you better, not just for the big jobs.
Then when you come into his shop with a problem like this, he will know you a little better and may feel that you are a trustworthy
enough client…and not feel like he needs to cover his butt.
It works the same with other repairs. He may tell you that x,y & z needs to be done, and knowing that you are a good client, he may
say that you can hold off on repair x and do that at a later time when you save more money.
If you go to the quick lube place…everything that they find wrong…has to be done now, or the engine will fall out on the way down the road.
I do almost all my own repairs, but if I didn’t IU’d have a good mechanic to go to and a good tranny shop for my tranny needs.
I would have the car serviced and inspected at a local Mazda dealership and request a repair estimate of all current problems plus a printout of all maintenance and repairs performed within the Mazda dealership network.
That would be a depressing document since it would immediately relegate the car to the scrap heap. However, I agree; you could then sort out what was important and make a decision. I think we all agree that this car is not a candidate for a very major repair.
My friend with the Mazda 626 did just that when the transmission packed it in. The dealer would not fix it although they gave him a price of $4200. Very few shops will do a repair that exceeds the market value of the car because they fear the guy may just not pick it up afterwards. Mechanic’s lien means nothing in this case.
I once visited a good body shop for a quote on painting my 1988 Caprice. the guy declined since their paint jobs for this size car cost $5000 or so, and the car was worth only $3500. market value.
I agree that this car needs a further look into and that SOMETHING should be done for the transmission. It might not be a bad idea to change the fluid again like 3000 miles later if it holds together for that long after a service. Maybe agree to sign a form agreeing to not hold the shop responsible for transmission problems following the repair. Yes, the new fluid with fresh detergent will break loose and varnish that is inside that unit so make sure they change the filter too.
Change the engine oil and see how it does. Sometimes leaks go away once fresh oil with additives intact soften the seals and remove dirt that may be causing them to leak. You may get a temporary increase in the leak or it may become a gusher and stay that way. My old F250 did this once I changed the oil. It was dripping oil from the oil filter lines before I changed it. It was streaming out not long after I changed it. New lines solved this. Again, anything is possible if the car is as neglected as you say it is! Open the oil fill cap and look inside if you can. Sometimes they have baffles so you cannot see. If it looks like tar, you might have problems.
I have a solution as for a car where the cost of the repair or paint job exceeds the market value. Require the customer to pay for part of all of the service upfront. This way they cannot change their mind and just walk away from the car without paying. I do this with my work (computer/electronic) repairs quite frequently. I used to have equipment abandoned quite often. It was usually lower end stuff such as Wal-Mart/Black Friday type “bargains” that needed a major repair with a cost close to or exceeding the purchase price. I don’t worry about this as much if the part is pretty universal and can be easily removed and used in another unit. If the part is specific to only a few models (Think Sony or Apple!) or is very time consuming, then I at least get the cost of the part upfront.
I used to do free estimates when I started out and that was a disaster. People would have you fix stuff and then have no way to pay for it. I now charge $35 upfront no matter what the device is and that has reduced my problematic customer load by over 90%. I am now considering raising this on certain devices such as video game consoles. People with these seem be very problematic and the last two jobs have resulted in me having to file police reports. My GF thinks I should get out of these altogether but I think raising the price is a better bet. I am sure much the same applies with cars and that certain customers who drive certain types of cars might be worse.
I think it is bad business to walk away from a repair where there is good money to be made. Yes, you might need to protect yourself by having the customer sign a form and/or requiring some payment upfront. The only repairs I refuse are ones where people want me to do a quick and dirty patch-up band-aid type job for cheap. I used to do this and tell them that this might last two days or two years but that was a mistake. They forgot all about this when they called you a week later and that the repair you did was no longer working. One customer walked in and was complaining about the past place they took it to doing a crappy repair job. I know of the place and they are famous for quick and dirty jobs done cheap for people. They wanted me to do a “temporary fix” because they didn’t want to spend a lot of money. I told them that they brought it to me and complained about the “temporary fix” that the previous place did because it didn’t work very well. I told them I wouldn’t do this and if they wanted it done, to return to the previous place they had just complained about. They ended up having me do the work and were very happy with the fix once they saw how it worked when fixed correctly.
Did anybody else notice the number of scrapes on that belly pan? Dang. That thing was a frequent visitor to a steep curb at the house or similar…
If it was mine, I would fix the leak whatever it is. It’s leaking onto the exhaust which is never good.
When I’ve bought poorly maintained transmissions like that, I put a drain plug in the pan. Then I can drain and fill repeatedly over the course of a month to get the full fluid change. It’s far simpler for the DIYer than numerous pan drops. If you take it in, the pros have a machine to do the full fluid exchange as described.
I bought a truck once that was really bad trans fluid condition. All predictions were it was essentially dead and on borrowed time. I did as above and changed the fluid maybe three times in fairly quick succession. Takes minutes if you have a drain plug. Then again about 3 months later. Then maybe every 50k after that. That truck lasted me 7 years before I gave it to a friend and he had it maybe 4 more before selling it…
I can’t help being on the fence about high mileage transmission fluid changes & really wish I wasn’t . The transmission went out on a family members Ford Ranger . He purchased one from a salvage yard & installed it . It worked fine until he dropped the pan & installed a new filter & refilled it with new fluid . It immediately went south .
Rinse & repeat , he took it back & the salvage yard gave him another one . It also worked fine until he replaced the filter & refilled with new fluid & it also immediately went south .
There is a man in my area that has a shop at his home & all he does is rebuilds transmissions . He’s been doing it for years & has a very good reputation . He will tell you real quick that if you have a high mileage transmission that hasn’t been serviced regularly & it’s working properly to leave it alone .
I have personally disassembled an automatic transmission & the valve body . There was quite a bit of crud stuck in all the nooks & crannies & a several moving parts in the valve body & I can easily believe if that crud was cut loose it could easily cause problems .
People say fluid wears out & new fluid has the detergents & additives that’s needed . People also say to do a pan drop & filter change & refill with new fluid & even do this a few times . Isn’t it likely that new fluid will cut loose that crud ?
Why do so many people say to not do a flush ? It seems to me if that crud was flushed out of the transmission it would be better than leaving it circulating around in there . From personal experience & all the threads I’ve read , this is one subject that leaves me scratching my head .
Agree OP should start with a list of “non compliance” items so to speak. Then sift through and find the cost-effective ones and do them.
I once had to evaluate an oil refinery that had sat for 20 years without operating. The prospective purchaser was owner of a flock of 7-11 type gas stations and convenience stores. The refinery had only operated for about 3 years since it was built, but time causes considerable deterioration. My team cam up with about $22 million to un-mothball and start it up while replacing all those things that had deteriorated.
The prospective owner was not pleased but I went through all the items with him. He decided not to go ahead with the purchase. You have to be mature enough to face facts, but a 3/4 worn car can still give a few years of good service.
In the case of the Mazda, I would do 3 transmission fluid & filter changes, fresh oil change, and make sure brakes and steering were safe enough to drive with. The wife might have a few years of fun driving this car.
Three fluid and filter changes will cost more than replacing the transmission. Look at the picture, the valve body cover, “the pan” is on the front of the transmission. The filter is not accessible.
If the car doesn’t meet the OP’s standards, " trashed", I wouldn’t obsess over the color of the transmission fluid. If the other problems are planned to be repaired, drain and refill once. If the color is important perform a fluid exchange.
Can you please explain how “Three fluid and filter changes will cost more than replacing the transmission” . . . ?!
With the valve body cover on the front of the transmission it would be necessary to split the case to replace the filter. How many hours of labor would be required to reseal the case?
Why are so many using 1990’s maintenance requirements on a 2007 vehicle? Repeated transmission services should not be necessary on a 2007 vehicle.