It has been entirely too long since I've been active on this site! It's certainly changed since I first joined. But I digress...
For those of you that don't know, Mazda requires the use of FZ tansmission fluid. Not a lot is known about this fluid (from what I gather) other than it being an ultra-low viscosity fluid and that it's blue. According to the manual, our units are filled for life and don't need service. Seeing as how there is a fill hole, drain plug and a dipstick, I certainly plan on changing it out. For nothing more than purely simplistic reasons, I've decided to change the fluid in the trans, transfer case and rear diff at 60k miles. While mine is a little over half way there, my mom's '14 CX-5 is about 10k miles shy.
I decided to explore and see if anyone had started producing FZ fluid yet. Nope, no one really has. I did find one product that's in Europe but the site was crudely translated and I was unable to find purchasing/shipping information. From what I can find, purchasing the Mazda OE fluid is the only option. For giggles I decided to check out Maxlife as that's what I run in the Monte with great results. I'm not really a fan of "one size fits all" when it comes to automotive products, but the specs of Dex-VI and Maxlife are nearly identical which is why I decided to try it out. I've done two fluid changes in the Monte with it and it's been working beautifully. Much to my surprise, Valvoline is recommending Maxlife in FZ applications. I was also surprised to see that since the last time I viewed their PDS, it seems as though they've added quite a few specs that are now recommended.
I remember Valvoline's rebuttal when PQIA questioned them on their label claims, it was fairly straightforward and seemingly genuine. However, I find it a little hard to believe that this product can genuinely be recommended for all of these applications, is it truly that good, or is Valvoline playing a game of chance on possible payouts from failed transmissions? They still don't recommend the product for ATF +4 applications, so clearly there are some boundaries that they're not willing to push. The question still remains though.
For those curious, the newest PDS can be found here.
For those of you that don't know, Mazda requires the use of FZ tansmission fluid. Not a lot is known about this fluid (from what I gather) other than it being an ultra-low viscosity fluid and that it's blue. According to the manual, our units are filled for life and don't need service. Seeing as how there is a fill hole, drain plug and a dipstick, I certainly plan on changing it out. For nothing more than purely simplistic reasons, I've decided to change the fluid in the trans, transfer case and rear diff at 60k miles. While mine is a little over half way there, my mom's '14 CX-5 is about 10k miles shy.
I decided to explore and see if anyone had started producing FZ fluid yet. Nope, no one really has. I did find one product that's in Europe but the site was crudely translated and I was unable to find purchasing/shipping information. From what I can find, purchasing the Mazda OE fluid is the only option. For giggles I decided to check out Maxlife as that's what I run in the Monte with great results. I'm not really a fan of "one size fits all" when it comes to automotive products, but the specs of Dex-VI and Maxlife are nearly identical which is why I decided to try it out. I've done two fluid changes in the Monte with it and it's been working beautifully. Much to my surprise, Valvoline is recommending Maxlife in FZ applications. I was also surprised to see that since the last time I viewed their PDS, it seems as though they've added quite a few specs that are now recommended.
I remember Valvoline's rebuttal when PQIA questioned them on their label claims, it was fairly straightforward and seemingly genuine. However, I find it a little hard to believe that this product can genuinely be recommended for all of these applications, is it truly that good, or is Valvoline playing a game of chance on possible payouts from failed transmissions? They still don't recommend the product for ATF +4 applications, so clearly there are some boundaries that they're not willing to push. The question still remains though.
For those curious, the newest PDS can be found here.