Hi everybody,

I bought a 2002 Mazda Tribute ES-V6 with 4x4 a few months back. While I don't do any serious offroading with it, I've taken it through a number of washes and used the 4x4 a bit. It's always been fine.

The last time I took it out, I went to a wash that I had already been in, and the 4x4 failed to engage. The light came on, but only the front wheels would spin. This resulted in me almost getting stuck, but finally being able to scoot my way back out of the wash. I checked all of the fuses, and they are all fine. Does anybody know where I should look next? I have read quite a bit about the RBC, but I can't seem to find one online anywhere. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Side note: During the massive wheel-spin that was required to get me out of the wash, my O/D off light started blinking and my truck started to pour a steady stream of transmission fluid out onto the sand. The heat was fine (for the motor anyway), but as soon as I got it out of the sand and let it sit for a while without actually moving it, the O/D off light turned off, and it stopped pissing transmission fluid. Not sure what was going on there. I assume I just overheated the transmission due to the fact that the front end was spinning free for several minutes.