Transfer Case - 4WD Issues

125K
this is the 3rd (second replacement)
this one has lasted the longest probably due to servicing it.

Good to know. Hopefully it lasts with servicing the fluids, as that will be my course going forward with my '14... Would be a nice way to prevent a future failure, even if it is slightly inconvenient.... much cheaper than a new one! Maybe Mazda techs should b*tch to corporate and change the company's culture on "lifetime fluids" in the drive-line. Everyone in-the-know know's it's B.S., but it would certainly help their image if when you searched for "CX-9 Issues" an expensive trans./transfer case issue isn't the first thing that comes up.
 
I am getting the same issues with my CX-9. Burning oil smell after the drive. Loud clanking noises that come in and go. This morning the noise was really bad and the car shook and jerked while slowing down. at one point it seems that the wheel was locked. Had left it to the dealer for inspection last week but he returned it with no trouble found. This morning it was so bad that had to get it towed to the dealer. After few hours he called and said that the Transfer case (PTO) went bad and needs to be replaced. According to him it was a very common problem with CX-9. I am at 45 K + and it is a 2012 CX-9. Even then the dealer thinks that it will be no cost to me and the TC will be replaced as it is covered through the power train warranty.

I again got a call that they will need to keep the car (initially he said he had a spare TC). So will see. There are a lot of complaints online about the TC. Not sure why Mazda is not recalling this part. Seems according to the dealer Mazda has redesigned this part.
 
My 2010 CX-9 (70Kmi) had the exact issue. Loud metal-on-metal noise at low speed on a turn causing the vehicle to shudder. Dealer could not find a problem despite the fact that I directed them to the transfer case after reading this thread. Fast forward 3 months - while driving in snow, I noticed the 4wd and traction lights coming on and very little traction. I verified that only the front wheels were spinning. So, back to the dealer. This time they determined that the TC was bad and would be covered by Mazda's extended warranty on that part. However, the splines on the transmission were sheared and that is not covered. They said I need a new transmission - $4800. Yikes.
It seems to me that if the TC locked up and sheared the transmission splines, then Mazda should cover the TC AND a new transmision - right? Am I missing something here?
I like my CX-9, but now am seriously contemplating parting ways with it for a more dependable brand
 
......the splines on the transmission were sheared and that is not covered. They said I need a new transmission - $4800. Yikes.
It seems to me that if the TC locked up and sheared the transmission splines, then Mazda should cover the TC AND a new transmision - right? Am I missing something here? I like my CX-9, but now am seriously contemplating parting ways with it for a more dependable brand

YIKES !! $4800 ? I agree with you 100% that Mazda should cover the transmission since it was damaged by the stupid transfer case design.

Do you have Geico insurance ? I have mechanical breakdown insurance and they covered a transmission replacement for my old car.

for those who are not aware, see this link:
http://www.mazdas247.com/forum/showthread.php?123852535-Sorry-guys-another-awd-question&highlight=drive+shaft
transfer case failure may take out the transmission splines and they don't just sell replacement splines, you have to replace the whole transmission, how f'd up is that ???

This is why I would never recommend buying a used CX-9, most owners just cut their losses and sell so they don't have to deal with it and leave it to the new buyer to deal with it. And the new buyer won't even know about it until the first snowfall and the front wheels are spinning.

As long as the transfer case oil is maintained regularly since new, there should be no issues. But that doesn't show up on carfax reports. Only if one knows the original owner and knows for a fact that they serviced the transfer case regularly since new should you consider buying a used CX-9.
 
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My 2010 CX-9 (70Kmi) had the exact issue. Loud metal-on-metal noise at low speed on a turn causing the vehicle to shudder. Dealer could not find a problem despite the fact that I directed them to the transfer case after reading this thread. Fast forward 3 months - while driving in snow, I noticed the 4wd and traction lights coming on and very little traction. I verified that only the front wheels were spinning. So, back to the dealer. This time they determined that the TC was bad and would be covered by Mazda's extended warranty on that part. However, the splines on the transmission were sheared and that is not covered. They said I need a new transmission - $4800. Yikes.
It seems to me that if the TC locked up and sheared the transmission splines, then Mazda should cover the TC AND a new transmision - right? Am I missing something here?
I like my CX-9, but now am seriously contemplating parting ways with it for a more dependable brand
Might as well update my situation. Thought I had it down, getting the oil change and everything every year in the transfer case. Well now the TC is fine, but the output shaft is completely worn out on the tranny. What a fiasco. So in the spring off to the dump she goes.
 
I am kind of confused? if you changed the transfer case oil every year how did this happen? did you take it to the dealer for this transfer case service or did you do this yourself. I can tell you that one dealer in garden city that was supposed to do a trans flush on my 9 just put 3 quarts into the machine and then recycled the rest of the trans fluid that was in the car. When i confronted him, he told me he ran the machine twice and used 16 quarts. I was watching him through the glass that they had on the side of the building and i saw exactly what he did. He never put 16 quarts into the machine or run it twice. On my next visit they covered all of the windows on the side of the building with newspaper. That was the last time i went to that dealer. I found another dealership further out that is more transparent than these clowns. They are in wantagh, they have been pretty good and actually do the services i request and the way it should be done. So don't always trust the dealer especially when it comes to that transfer case.
 
I am kind of confused? if you changed the transfer case oil every year how did this happen? did you take it to the dealer for this transfer case service or did you do this yourself. I can tell you that one dealer in garden city that was supposed to do a trans flush on my 9 just put 3 quarts into the machine and then recycled the rest of the trans fluid that was in the car. When i confronted him, he told me he ran the machine twice and used 16 quarts. I was watching him through the glass that they had on the side of the building and i saw exactly what he did. He never put 16 quarts into the machine or run it twice. On my next visit they covered all of the windows on the side of the building with newspaper. That was the last time i went to that dealer. I found another dealership further out that is more transparent than these clowns. They are in wantagh, they have been pretty good and actually do the services i request and the way it should be done. So don't always trust the dealer especially when it comes to that transfer case.
I apologize, I'm assuming everyone knows the whole story. I've replaced the TC twice. It has never seized or anything. Just made the aweful noises everyone that has gone through this knows. Basically, the splines on the output shaft wore out. For the last 3 years or so I've been getting the TC serviced so that is a little more to the fact. For the record, 141K on the clock and the splines are gone. Never seized, always caught before catastrophic failure of the TC.
tick, tick, tick
 
I apologize, I'm assuming everyone knows the whole story. I've replaced the TC twice. It has never seized or anything. Just made the awful noises everyone that has gone through this knows. Basically, the splines on the output shaft wore out. For the last 3 years or so I've been getting the TC serviced so that is a little more to the fact. For the record, 141K on the clock and the splines are gone. Never seized, always caught before catastrophic failure of the TC.
tick, tick, tick

ah, now it makes a little more sense, I'm very surprised, this is the first time I've heard of 3 transfer case changes in one vehicle ,
especially since you've been servicing the TC religiously after the 3rd TC change.

so in all 3 transfer case changes, the transmission splines was not changed or examined even after the first failure ? if they were damaged, putting in a new transfer case will not help, the damaged transmission splines will also wear out the new TC gears until failure (which I think happened since you said you changed 3 times), when you're talking about input/output gears outside the transfer case - servicing the internal TC oil won't help no matter how many times you change the oil.

It seems to me the TC must be serviced from the very beginning starting before 30K or less when the car is new, the whole point is to prevent and not have a failure at all. Once you have a failure, all bets are off, god knows what happens to the transmission splines.

could it be that the first transfer case seizure damaged the spline slightly and it wasn't caught until the 2nd transfer case failure where the splines completely came off

and the 3rd transfer case which has lasted the longest so far has not turning been at all and the car was FWD this whole time ? and all the transfer case servicing was not necessary ? the technician was basically changing brand new oil every time since the TC hasn't been turning.
In other words, the oil was not stressed at all because the transmission splines was gone and just spinning freely w/o any connection to the transfer case.

maybe remove the TC fill plug and suck out some 75W140 oil and see what color it is ? if it's yellow then transfer case has not been turning.


the more feedback we get from real world owners, the data tells me that if a AWD CX-9 transfer case is not serviced within 30K or less in the first/second year of ownership, premature TC failure will occur and once TC fails you're hear a grinding/whining noise which will eventually go away and the AWD becomes a FWD and some owners may not even know it. knowing this, I would never buy a used AWD CX-9 without running the Mazda TSB transfer case test posted in POST #64 above , it would suck if it has a broken transfer case and buyer is really buying a FWD at marked up AWD price.
 
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With the third TC/second replacement it was working great. Trust me, I tested it.
after about 2 years, we noticed it starting acting up again. The dealer I must give props to, they did an awesome job on the service and everything. They even put on the notes last time that they flushed out the TC a couple times because the oil was so bad. There's just no shining a turd. Basically at this point I have a nice TC that is not being powered.
and again it never totally seized. Always worked again after TC replacement.
im not authoritatively saying your splines will wear out, but mine did... Gradually.
 
With the third TC/second replacement it was working great. Trust me, I tested it.
after about 2 years, we noticed it starting acting up again. The dealer I must give props to, they did an awesome job on the service and everything. They even put on the notes last time that they flushed out the TC a couple times because the oil was so bad. There's just no shining a turd. Basically at this point I have a nice TC that is not being powered.
and again it never totally seized. Always worked again after TC replacement.
im not authoritatively saying your splines will wear out, but mine did... Gradually.

thanks for info 2007CX9, appreciate it, at least you were still able to squeeze 9 years and 141k out of it, I guess at this point no value to keep throwing good money at the problem. Just keep driving until the wheels comes off then get a new car, this was my dad's philosophy and I abide by it too, if the splines do eventually wear out so be it, it'll just be a FWD I guess. In the meantime, I'll just cross my fingers and keep changing the transfer case oil like Avidien and hope I can get to 88K like him without one failure.
 
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Is it reasonable to say that the transfer case seizure caused my transmissions splines to strip? Or will Mazda tell me that my transmission caused the transfer case to fail?
I'd really like to press Mazda to cover the cost of my transmission since they are aware of the TC failures, but am not sure how. Has anyone had any luck getting Mazda to cover this? My dealer is talking with the Mazda rep about it, but I am not optimistic. It just kills me because I brought the car to the dealer 2 months ago when I first heard the noise ( that I now suspect to be the point at which the splines stripped) and even pointed them to the transfer case. I was aware of the extended warranty that Mazda put on the TC. But they claim not to have found anything wrong with the TC. And now the transmission splines are shot. Ugh
 
Is it reasonable to say that the transfer case seizure caused my transmissions splines to strip? Or will Mazda tell me that my transmission caused the transfer case to fail?

not only is this reasonable, IT'S A FACT,

one easy way to prove it is to have the dealer completely remove the transfer case (they're have to do this anyway to replace it)
then go for a drive (w/o any transfer case attached) with the service manager in the passenger seat to prove there is nothing wrong with the transmission.

The CX-9 will still run without a transfer case, it'll just be a FWD but this will prove your transmission is fine and the transfer case is the culprit.

also, if they are willing, ask them to disassemble the transfer case and I guarantee this is what they will see in the video below. case closed.


Gears damaged due to lack of proper maintenance, that's Mazda's idea of lifetime oil, what a freakin' joke.
 
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thanks for info 2007CX9, appreciate it, at least you were still able to squeeze 9 years and 141k out of it, I guess at this point no value to keep throwing good money at the problem. Just keep driving until the wheels comes off then get a new car, this was my dad's philosophy and I abide by it too, if the splines do eventually wear out so be it, it'll just be a FWD I guess. In the meantime, I'll just cross my fingers and keep changing the transfer case oil like Avidien and hope I can get to 88K like him without one failure.

yep, just hit 90K on original transfer case, I first changed my transfer case oil @38,000 miles, since then I've been changing the transfer case regularly since I brought the car new, still drives as good as day one. (I change the transfer case oil the same time I change the engine oil every 6000K).

100% positive CX-9 transfer case failure is due to low oil capacity and lack of drain plug for regular maintenance. Every other car manufacturers have a drain plug for regular oil changes, CX-9 should be no different, this is a remnant from the Ford partnership and a stupid Ford crappy design.

C'mon it's just 1/2 a quart of regular 75W140 GL-5 rated oil ! how is that suppose to be lifetime rated ! the transfer case gears in the CX-9 is turning ALL THE TIME regardless if the AWD is engaged or not. I can see the rear differential being lifetime oil, that only spins when slippage is detected.

Just change the oil and you guys will be fine (one caveat is for CX-9 owners who bought high mileage pre-owned CX-9's, now that's a completely different situation, who knows what the previous owners did and did not do to the transfer case)

Also, I flush my transmission per schedule and maintain all the drive train fluids. Also, I make sure to rotate my tires regularly for even tire wear, AWD are very sensitive to uneven tire wear. Not sure if it matters or not, but I've never towed anything before.
 
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Quick question, some say that you can just forget about it and leave it 2wd but if the splines between the transmission and the TC are chewed up, wouldn't that make it 1wd since it won't power up the passenger side wheel either? Unless i am not seeing it the right way?
 
Quick question, some say that you can just forget about it and leave it 2wd but if the splines between the transmission and the TC are chewed up, wouldn't that make it 1wd since it won't power up the passenger side wheel either? Unless i am not seeing it the right way?

If the spines shear it'll operate as a front 2WD. This was confirmed by a forum member who test drove two (yes two) used CX9 AWD right off the dealer's lot that were really FWD with broken transfer cases. Both vehicles drove fine except when in snow the front wheels spun and no movement from rear wheels.

Also, another forum member actually bought a used AWD CX-9 and didn't even know the transfer case was broken until the first snowfall and the front wheels spun with no rear wheel movement.

Check out the video link below, it's a great explanation how crossover AWD works, crossover AWD are not like true 4WD systems. Like forum member Drogos said it's like an engineer's band-aid to make a AWD out of a base FWD, check the video out: the front differential is exactly the same for both FWD and AWD except the AWD has a little spline extension add-on that connects to the PTU that drives the rear shaft. If that spline extension shears off, the rear wheels don't get power anymore and the car basically becomes a regular FWD.

It's really a lazy and cheap easy way for car manufacturers to make an AWD out of what is essentially a FWD car. They're just tapping power from the transmission via the PTU (Power Takeoff Unit) and directing it to the rear where the "real controls and brains" are (there's a rear clutch pack unit that is controlled by the car's computer when slippage is detected) but those "brains" are useless if either the transfer case gears or transmission splines are sheared and there's no power coming from the front.

Crossovers aren't meant for off-roading like true 4WD jeeps, they're really just grocery-getters meant for snow when fitted with good quality all season tires or winter tires.

The real problem is that on the CX9, BOTH the PTU and rear propeller shaft is TURNING ALL THE TIME when driving the car even when there is no snow. The oil is breaking down from all that unnecessary wear and tear. The oil eventually turns to sludge around the 30k to 40k mark, it'll still run on the sludge but you can bet transfer case oil leaking around 60k mark and then full blown seizure+failure most definitely and guaranteed around 90k mark.

This is not just speculation, it's been proven time and time again from pictures posted by members who did the oil swap, the oil coming out @30K is a blackish gray thick sludge. New OEM transfer case color is a translucent yellow amber color similar to the rear differential oil.

And to add more insult, there's only half a quart of oil in the transfer case. And get this, some dealers of used AWD CX9's may not even know it's broken and it's really a FWD until it snows and their customers complain of spinning front wheels.

Based on info from this forum once the transfer case is decoupled the car drives like a FWD. The decoupling location is random, if gears sheared inside transfer case then just need to replace transfer case $650 + labor, if decoupling point at transmission spines, looking at $3000 transmission + $650 transfer case + labor.

In Russia, the problem is so well known they offer services to fix the transmission spines for $250 instead of replacing the whole $3000 transmission.

Just change the transfer case oil to prevent seizing and you have no worries. It's really not a big deal, it's like changing the engine oil.

 
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^ Agreed, I've been following Avidien's process with Royal Purple every 6000 miles also, and no problems whatsoever, hit 48,000 miles this week.
 
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^ Agreed, I've been following Avidien's process with Royal Purple every 6000 miles also, and no problems whatsoever, hit 48,000 miles this week.

astriuminc, I just got a brand new replacement transfer case after my original one failed so I want to make sure this one doesn't fail, do I need to add Ford XL-3 or Liqui Moly ?
 
astriuminc, I just got a brand new replacement transfer case after my original one failed so I want to make sure this one doesn't fail, do I need to add Ford XL-3 or Liqui Moly ?

Nope, do not add anything, just straight Royal Purple 75W140, the last thing you want is anything else in there that will act like glue and gum up any crevices or oil channels or the breather valve vent tube. See this tear down video of the PTU below, the Ford Edge uses the same exact CX-9 PTU, look at all those nooks and crannies gummed up at the corners, that's where any additional additives will end up and get stuck forever, since there's no way the pump will be able to suck up those hard to reach sections,

Fill for Life ?? yea right , maybe in Mazda's dream world where lifetime only means 90K miles then it's our problem .....

 
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let's not demonize high millage cx 9s. I haven't driven enough cx9s to call it statistics by any means BUT out of 6 I have driven, 2 had 100% dead TCs, 1st one I drove, I was unaware of issue so haven't tested. In any case worse case scenario 50% of the cars I have driven had issues .....too small of a number to draw any conclusions....other than, there are cx9s out there that indeed work just fine. Either these had TCs serviced (doubt it) or more likely are basicaly odd balls that by simple accumulation of variables managed to survive with TCs that still work just fine. Maybe tolerances are slightly bigger in a failed TC design, maybe these have different type of fluid, maybe they have burned oil caked up on seals preventing it from actually leaking, maybe cars where driven in different fashion or colder climate and TCs weren't so stressed, maybe, maybe, maybe ......one way or another my car is knock on the wood...totally fine. It takes some gravel or snow to test it out .....unless stock duelers have less than 50% thread ...than u will spin them anywhere, anytime at any gas input. Drive it, test it, buy it if fine and change fluid in TC asap. Done
 

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