2012 Mazda5 oil recommendation.

[Mustang_Cougar]

Originally Posted By: GMFan
Use 0w20...why would you even want to RISK losing your engine warranty on your car by giving them an excuse to deny you warranty coverage? Isn't part of the benefit of buying a new vehicle to have a warranty?

Mazda recommends Castrol 0w20 in the manual (their official recommendation) but I use Mobil 1 0w20 in my 2.5L because it is easiest to find. I get 31mpg pretty regularly with my 80% highway, 20% rural driving conditions.

Mobil 1 0w20 can be found in 5qt jugs for $25 at my local Walmart...try to find out what days they stock the oil sections because I've noticed if I try to buy a day or two after they've stocked the shelves the 0w20 jugs are snatched up although they seem to be stocking more of it as the demand for it increases. A simple solution is to just stock up on a few jugs when you have the opportunity.

Oil changes on the 2.5L are easy...filter is mounted vertically right in front of the pan.

I drained the FF at 3,200 miles and I now plan to just use the 7,500 mile recommendation as I will get to that mileage before the 6 months.

Enjoy the new car!


I'm actually just doing this run of MC 5W20 to ~3K miles, after which I'll be going to the Mazda recommended 6mth interval w/0W20 (no way I even get close to the 7.5K mileage recommendation). Unless I have a catastrophic engine failure w/in the next two thousand miles, nobody at Mazda will ever be the wiser that I ran 5W20 (and how often do we read of such failures around here?).

Unfortunately, my local Chinamarts don't stock the 5qt jugs of M1; so I'm stuck paying $6+ for individual qts. Luckily, NAPA ran that M1 sale last month and I was able to stock up a bit. As for the Mazda brand recommendation, I didn't see Castrol in my Mazda5 owner's manual...and the weight recommendations are all over the place (0W20, yet 5W20/30 for Mexico). However, I did notice they advise you to have your oil only changed at a Mazda dealership

. That's not going to happen, and once out of warranty, I'll be using the MC 5W20.

BTW: That oil filter observation cut-out in the engine splash guard is a total tease. Have you had any luck removing your filter through the hole? Or do you remove the entire valance (that's what I did). I'm sort of thinking about using my Dremel to enlarge it just enough to allow the filter and oil to drip cleanly into my drain pans...

M_C

 

[GMFan]

I removed that splash guard the first time...although conceivably you can do the change without removing it. I had to remove the splash guard because I have a tool that easily removes the oil filter (and sometimes the oil filters installed on the line are screwed on by the hulk himself).

I tightened the filter by hand when I did the OCI so next time around I can try and get away without removing those 10 bolts for the splash guard but I haven't attempted to see if my hand will fill through the opening for the filter. If I recall it may be pretty tough to do. Mazda probably has tools that can grab the filter through that opening at the dealerships which is probably why they have that opening...but for us DIYers we may have to remove it every time.

I will also be switching to conventional 5w20 once my warranty is up.

 

[CharBaby]

I use Purolator Classic or PuroOne filter #10241 in my daughters Mazda3 2.0 L. I don't know if the 2.5 L used a canister or cartrage style filter. I do know that the old(er) 2.3 L used a cartrage filter. Anyway!

I also bought a cup style filter remover that you attach(slip over) the filter and remove with a ratchet/extension. This cup/filter remover only fits this Puro filter # so, it keeps me using the Puro #10241 or any off shoot of it such as ProLine #10241(PepBoys). Fortunatly I do like the Puro filters and they have a good reputation.

The plastic splash shield in this Mazda3 has a hole off center but, not directly beneath the filter and is large enough for my hand/wrist to fit in and replace the filter(similar to what you, M_C & GMFan are talking about). I drilled a 3/4" hole in the splash shield **directly** beneath the filter, large enough to slip in an extension while I attach the cup/filter remover over the filter through the "off center hole". This has made things easy!

 

[Eddie]

I would recomend MotorCraft 0w20 oil and a MotorCraft filter. This oil & filter is availiable at WalMart. I like to take the undercover off during oil changes so I can inspect for leaks and check inner CVJ boots etc.

 

[aksh]

HI All--

It is my first mazda5, and I am noticing something I would like to share with you. I was checking the engine oil (cold engine), and the dipstick showed oil at minimum. I checked again, and the oil barely made the bottom of the dipstick wet. It seems to be inconsistent with the readings I would expect. It has 4000 miles on it and this car has not been to the dealership since we bought it.

Just wanted to know if someone else has seen this as well. Also, of lately, after turning off the engine, I hear a humming sound of a motor for 2-3 seconds. Could it be the AC motor?

Please share your thoughts.

thanks,
Akshobya