Question for you Techs. We have an 2011 CX-9 with 160K miles on it. Purchased it as a Certified Pre-owned eight years ago with only 6K miles on it. It's been a very reliable vehicle. My wife recently took the car in for a LOF. Technician reported that the rear wheel drive is not engaging and only the front wheel drive is working. He said the "Transfer Unit Splines are stripped out and it needs a Rear Differential service". So basically we have a two wheel drive vehicle at this point. Vehicle still drives fine, just not all wheel drive. They quoted my wife $9,800.00 to fix the issue. Car is in great shape, but obviously not worth investing $10K in this repair. Is this a frequent problem with the CX-9 All Wheel Drive vehicles / Transmissions? Thoughts? Thanks for you input! Brian

 

Common problem. By the time the PTO ( Correct term for Mazda's transfercase) fails there is a 90% chance its also eaten the input/output splines from the transmission.

$9800 is what the cars worth, maybe more.

Maybe trade it in. Just don't tell them it's no longer AWD.

 

I also have the same problem with my 2010 AWD CX-9. Are you sure the 90% of the transmission being stripped is accurate? I considered removing the PTO but if the trans is fubar then I guess I'm stuck. On the plus side I've been driving it as a FWD for a few years now and doesn't seem to be a problem. I removed the driveshaft once to see what would happen and noticed a loud moaning noise so I put the driveshaft back on. The only problem seems to be the 4WD light flashes when the front tires spin. I guess my question is if it's almost ineviteble that the transmission splines are fubar as well as the PTO. Thanks

 

Not 90% chance of the transmission being stripped, but 90% chance the input/output shaft splines between the trans & PTO strip/wear out, ground away.

 

Well those are not good great odds! Thanks for the reply