[Stewie]

I'm thinking of servicing my 2014 but I absolutely hate having to drop the pan to just change the filter.

It seems to have a paper "oil strainer" aka rock catcher and I'm not sure whether to bother changing.

Also RTV silicone having to cure for 24 hours and to replace all 16 bolts which Mazda manual says to replace them due to being a one time use item.

What's everyone's opinion on this?

 

[MeteorGray]

Well, no one has responded, so I doubt that many people have changed the tranny filter (yet). I'm near 30000 miles and am thinking of draining and changing the pan fluid soon and just leave the filter alone. I might consider the filter at 60000 miles. Mazda seems to say it and the fluid are OK for the car's lifetime anyway :-/

It does sound crazy to replace all 16 bolts on the pan. I wonder why. I know some applications on some vehicles have one-time-use on such things as head bolts because they are torqued to such a state that the stretch ruins them for such a future critical use. But transmission pan bolts? Come on :-/

And about the RTV silicone gasket-maker. I always buy a regular gasket if I can find one. I doubt there are any available for the Mazda3's tranny pan, so it's make-your-own and wait-for-the-cure, I guess.

 

[zero_gravity]

I wouldn't replace the bolts, but I can say from experience that it wouldn't be a bad idea to have a set of helicoils handy. The bolts should be an easy to find off the shelf size. I wouldn't expect anything to go wrong with a newer car, but I like to be prepared.

Rtv is pretty standard now. I don't think any of the manufacturers have used a solid gasket in many years. I've done this job several times and followed the directions on the rtv. I did not need to wait 24 hours.

If you're really set on a gasket I suppose you could get the material and cut your own, but I wouldn't recommend it.

Generally I tend to flush the transmission and change filter around 120k kms.

 

[M3Nitro]

I agree with most everything except the use of helicoils. As with most all application these days and specifically in that area of part the use of Time Certs is always a better repair choice.

++ TIME-SERT Official Threaded inserts for stripped threads, blown out sparkplugs,

 

[Matt22]

I am not looking forward to doing mine in 15000 miles. so if you wanted to go ahead and make up a How to as well and let us know if it was worth your aggravation it would be appreciated.

 

[M3Nitro]

I am not looking forward to doing mine in 15000 miles. so if you wanted to go ahead and make up a How to as well and let us know if it was worth your aggravation it would be appreciated.

I will be changing my trans pan sometime this year not sure when. It is a project to make my own modified stock pan. I ordered 2 OEM pans and will do something like this that I did for my other car. It is 2 stock pans weld together and a few other appropriate mods to make it work rather nicely.

Trans Pan - Mazda (FZ01-21-51XA)
Sale Price: $33.93

ATX 41TE/A604