Hi, all. First post... Sorry if it's in the wrong forum section! But I need help from you illustrious Mazda pros, and FAST! Pretty please? With sugar?

Here's the story. Decided we'd do the oil change today for my gf's 2005 Mazda 3 (2.0L). Bought it with a little over 77k miles. Hit 86k today. So since we hit the 7500 mile mark since we bought the car, we figured it was oil change time.

Went to autozone. The pleasant cashier hooked us up with an oil deal for 5 qts plus a filter for a good price. Yay! (Turns out she gave us 5W-30 when we really needed 5W-20 as per the User Manual... we'll come back to this...).

Got under the car... Thought process:
1) Holy LAWD this splash guard is a terrible B!&C# to get off! All the hardware was rusted up and siezed and a few bolts and sections of plastic met their untimely death.
2) Hmmmmm none of these bolts resemble a drain plug... Oh wait, this over here looks like it must be the oil pan... It's kind of set off to the side... but... ah what the hell it's gotta be the drain plug!
3) Yup that fluid draining out is prettyyyyyyyyy dang dark. It MUST be oil. Yup, definately NOT ATF. Couldn't POSSIBLY be...
4) Ok, the interwebs said that 5W-30 was ok even though the manual says 5-W20. Ok let's do this! Removed old filter and prefilled and installed new filter. Poured remainder of 4.25 qts into the engine. Oh you happy little engine, you're just drinking this stuff up! Enjoy my little friend!

Ok enough screwing around... You are probably tired of reading about my idiocy by now. So at this point the car has 8.5 qts of oil in it and about as much trans fluid as will hang around in the tranny when you... um... indiscriminately pull the drain plug and let it bleed out. Drove the car around the block. Oil is reading VERY HIGH on the dipstick. Assumed that if I drive it around the block, it'll work its way around the engine and settle down to the sweet spot. But... trans is slipping. Assumed it was because trans fluid got up somewhere silly while on the ramps during the oil change and it too will settle down...

Girlfriend now wants chips. Let's drive to the supermarket and hopefully everything will just be better! 1.5 mile drive to supermarket. Trans is slipping, and reverse was particularly unhappy. Go to make the last turn into the supermarket parking lot. EPIC WHITE SMOKE FROM THE EXHAUST. Oh lawd...

Hit up the interwebs on phone in the supermarket parking lot. Googled "White smoke after oil overfill" (or similar). Yes, overfilling is very very very bad. White smoke is a symptom. Ok need to drain oil. Got a ride home from strangers so we could pick up our other car. Got jack, jackstand oil pan, etc. Return to supermarket parking lot in other car.

DRAINED REMAINING TRANS FLUID THINKING IT WAS EXCESS OIL. Noticed less than a quart came out. Realized something is very wrong... Checked dipstick. Still high. WTF? Drove around parking lot. Trans won't go into reverse to park in a level ground parking spot. Barely makes it into first to park in a less ideal spot. Shut the car off. Smell slight burning smell. Heart sinks. Skin turns white as a ghost. Realize I MUST have drained the trans fluid... OH LAWDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

Took other car back to autozone. Get 5qts of 5W-20 and 8 qts of ATF. Return to supermarket parking lot. Drain 9 qts from motor. Remove and replace filter with ANOTHER new filter (prefilled it). Trying not to puke/poop/weep at my predicament. Refill engine with 3.5 qts. Check the dipstick. Measurement is the sweet spot.

Filled trans with 3 qts of ATF. Poured slowly but funnel is gurgling the fluid down. DIDN'T start the car. Drove OTHER car home. Starting writing this...

Ok gang. How do I proceed from here? I was planning to return to the car tomorrow. Start the motor, let it run for 2 minutes, shut it off and check all fluid levels. ATF will undoubtedly be low. I'll continue feeding it ATF until the level is at the low mark (while engine is warmed up). I'll fill w/ oil as seems necessary. Then I'll try and drive it home.

Concerns:
1) Original ATF was so dark that I couldn't distinguish it from oil. THIS STRIKES ME AS BAD. I'm guessing it was never changed at 60k miles as recommended by service schedule...
2) The engine has A LOT of oil in it for a while. Will that stuff ever get burned off/drip down to a safe location so as not to damage seals and etc. in the motor?
3) While the AT may have required a PROPER flush job before this debable, the tragedy I imparted upon it was probably NOT an ideal substitute. Could the 1.5 miles or so of driving with a near fluid-emptied valve-body/gearset created enough metal shavings to clog up the old ATF filter and damage the trans (with new fluid) in the near future? Or might the fluid pump or gearset already be super damaged since I smelled a SLIGHT burning smell for a moment there?

Gang, I'm in a heap of trouble here it seems. Can any of you geniuses help a fool out?

Thanks for reading and for any and all help! I hope this serves as a cautionary tale for others in the future.

Best,
Folly

 

If you think you've gotten the oil levels for the engine and transmission back to their proper levels, fire it up and drive it. If you've done damage then you'll know, if you haven't, then you should be good to go.

 

Update: Filled with 3 qts of ATF yesterday (probably not nearly enough). Level checked out as ok. Started the car. Motor sounded fine. Trans was making a funny repetitive clicking/popping noise as we moved the gear selector through D, N, R and P. Decided not to drive it and had it flatbedded to a shop a mile down the road. They're going to inspect the system today. Hoping for a good outcome. I'll post back with the results. Thanks for the reply.