havent had my rx a week yet, its an automatic and the atf is a quart low, ....i dont know what the previous owner used, a friend told me i should get the transmission flushed of all the old fluid and put new in instead of mixing the two....will it hurt to mix the two and whats the best ATF to use on my rx? its a 88 gxl

 

Drain the old stuff and put in some of the good stuff. I will use iether Red Line or Neo when I get around to changing the oil in my Tranny. I don't know if they are for Auto's also though. I think you should swap to a 5 speed tranny and throw that auto away. You will love it.

 

double post...please drive through.

 

Use whatever the manufacturer specifies (its in the manual). High performance ATF (if there is such a thing I think B & M makes some), wont do anything for your performance. Mixing brands, as long as they are the same type, is okay.

Jarrett

*edit* If you are unsure of what the previous owner did, its probably not a bad idea to clean and flush it.

 

Very helpful....

 

haha does Redline make ATF LOL, the haynes Manual says to use ATF Dexron II, though I havn't been able to find it anywhere, I believe that Dexron III is basically the same...

 

it holds 9.1 qts, but when you drain it, it only drains 4 qts from my understanding, and the other is left in other parts , and i have NO idea what kind of atf is it now, can i just drain and mix? or do i need to get it flushed and just put in 9 qts?

 

YOu can assume that the individual that owned it before you used the right ATF. If you have some doubt, you may want to flush it...

The remaining quarts are sitting in your torque converter.

Jarrett

 

thanks..any estimate of the cost to get it flushed?

 

More then I would be willing to pay, I am sure...

Probably somewhere in the vicinity of $30-$60 at your local Grease Monkey, Jiffy Lube, etc...

Is the Auto really worth it? Just playin!....

Jarrett

 

eh, it'll be a one time thing, id rather be safe than sorry, everything runs good right now.....im still havin general probs... now the oil...will it hurt to a diff type of oil with oil thats already in there?

 

As in the engine oil?

 

yes

 

you dont want to mix grades of oil. Put a quart in to get you around (20-50 Castrol is what I use). And change your oil ASAP. Thats something I generally do whenever I buy a used car from someone.

Jarrett

 

Make sure you are checking your ATF hot, in park, with engine running, after moving lever through all positions. It isn't a problem mixing oil/new ATF.
If unknown mileage on ATF, pay up to $120 for a complete tranny service/flush(usually 15-20qts depending on machine used). Make sure filter gets changed(if equipped) and magnets get cleaned first.
Automatics are expensive and fluid is cheap insurance.
After the flush, if the transmission feels good(for at least 5k miles or so), it would benefit to switch to a synthetic ATF. Mobil1/Amsoil/Neo/RoyalPurp/Redline....make excellent ATFs. These high performance fluids make a difference in longevity, temperature, and shift feel.

Since the car is new to you, change EVERY filter and fluid that the car has! Good luck with it.

 

call me a total dumbass, but i truly do not know all the fuels and filters i need to change, a good list would help

 

As stated above:
Auto trans fluid/filter (No, it will not harm anything to add/mix different brands, as long as type is recommended by Mazda) Do not overfill!
Oil & oil filter
Fuel filter
Air filter
Gear oil(Rear)
Check cooling system/overflow tank for condition of water, hoses for cracks, softness etc.
Check belts for cracking, fraying
I would also go with tune up eg plugs, check plug wires.
This way if you take your time and do above, at least your have a baseline to start with.
Hope I didn't forget anything

 

Antifreeze(good ol' green), PS fluid, bleed brake fluid and those mentioned above.

There were a couple of websites that had the factory service manual for downloading. And, the $15 Haynes book is good bathroom reading and should help if doing the basic maintenance yourself.

 

thanks

 

Type F is best for any automatic. It has more surfactants...

 

I just checked my automatic transmission fluid and it is completely brown and smells a little burnt, is that bad? Also, the car feels horrible when I drive over bumpy roads, feels like it's going to shake itself apart. It's a 1991 rx-7 n/a.

 

somebody searches....

 

If that fluid hasn't been flushed in awhile, and is old/brown, *sometimes* you can do more damage by putting in new ATF then putting in new fluid. Either way, that tranny is pretty much on it's way out.

Basically, the new ATF will recondition the transmission seals/clutchs and clean everything out. But since the transmission is used to the old-gunk, this can cause it to slip and *can* cause a non-functioning transmission afterwards. I've seen it happen on Hondas, Nissans and Toyotas as well as domestic cars. It happens to people who neglected their transmission services, usually had some pretty bad slippage after they changed the transmission fluid. This comes from personal experience!!!

If it's really that bad, I would first suggest taking it to a transmission shop and asking what their opinion of it is. If they think that it is safe to go ahead and flush/replace with new fluid, then go for it.

Just wanted to warn you!

David

 

Damn it, thanks Dave. I can't believe this...the suspension is also complete crap. All four suspensions make these creaking noises when I drive also. I wonder if it's worth it to try to save this auto or swap to 5 speed and fix the suspension, or maybe I should just sell this car! It has a **** load of problems. I just dunno what to do.