4WD light flashes when I lose traction (sometimes)

COBRA617

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2008 Mazda CX-9 GT AWD
Hi all,
One quick note....my front tires are questionable. I had issues with the ball joints/tie rods which I believe caused the outside edge of my front tires to wear out. So the tire tread is just fine except for that outer edge. My rears are in good condition.

I was driving our 2008 AWD Grand Touring (131K miles) today in heavy rain. On 2-3 occasions when I hit the gas too hard from a standstill, my front wheels spun, the light TCS kicked on and I also had the 4WD light flash for a short period of time.

Recently it has become quite easy to spin my front wheels in the dry. (This isn't my daily driver and I am a pedal masher....I drive a heavily modified Subaru and I am used to pedal to the floor) I've spun the front wheels a few times in the dry and have not gotten the 4WD light.


Any thoughts? I looked into this issue and of course I ran into situations where this ended up being a faulty transfer case which in many cases trashed the transmission. So I started freaking out and now am thinking of getting rid of the car. But in my case, the 4WD light only came on for a short period and went out when I lost grip from a standstill.
 
this is normal, I have this happen all the time when I go over a speed bump near my house, if I hit the speed bump too quickly,

after the speed bump, the 4WD would flash, also happens when I slide in snow.

I think you are ok.... still I would service the transfer case oil in case you haven't:

https://www.mazdas247.com/forum/showthread.php?123847373-Changing-CX-9-transfer-case-gear-oil-(photos)

Thanks!

I freaked out when I saw all of these transfer case posts. Darn internet.

I'll take the car in this week to swap the transfer case oil. I mistakenly thought that the transfer case and rear diff were the same thing. I had the rear diff oil changed recently so I thought I was good until I started reading into this. Not to the dealer though. I had my car there recently for some warranty work. While on the lift, the dealer asked to replace my rear diff fluid. They asked $175. It was on the lift anyways. My local repair shop charged me $50.
 
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well if you can spin the wheels and the 4wd flashed that is because the rear wheel are not turning, i would check the transfer case. Best time to test it is in the snow but a slippery pavement might do the job too.
 
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well if you can spin the wheels and the 4wd flashed that is because the rear wheel are not turning, i would check the transfer case. best time to test it is in the snow but a sllippery pavement might do the job to.

Now I am back to panicking about the transfer case. How do we test?? I ask because my car is getting worked on tomorrow at my local repair shop. (transfer case oil swap). He will have it on the lift and I can ask him to test it. I recall seeing a blurb from Mazda on how to test this, but of course I just don't recall what had to be done.
 
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