i own a 2006 mazda 3 5-door. the owners manual says absolutely nothing about when to change the auto trans fluid. i now have 48000 miles on the car. i never tow anything and only drive on the interstate. does anyone have any advice as to when i should service the auto trans?
Many many many transmission experts recommend having the transmission serviced every 30K miles. This means dropping the pan and changing the filter each time, though specific set ups vary and some cars don’t have a droppable pan or servicable filter.
You are right to wonder as manufacturer’s recommendations are often way off if you want a good, long lasting transmission.
Now would be a good time to change it out. 30~50k is what most say should be the interval.
One more point: don’t get a power flush of your transmission unless you are sure that Mazda says it’s OK. You my be better off with the drain and fill. Honda states to avoid power flushes fro my 2005 Accord, for instance. This information may be in your owner’s manual even though they don’t say when to change it.
EVERY 25-30k miles regardless of what the owners manual says.
transman
You may have someone advice you not to change the fluid. They may go on to tell a story about transmissions failing shortly after having their fluid changed. They are correct that many transmission fail shortly after having the fluid changed (or worse flushed) but consider this, most of those stories goes back to the driver who starts having a problem with their transmission, and then changes it/
Of course that change can’t fix the damage done by not changing it before the damage was done.