Factory Hitch

[Lindyrect]

Hope all had a Great 4th (usa). Mine was great except for bottoming out my 9 and taking a large divet out of a lawn. Seams everything but my trailer hitch cleared.

Good news: I pulled the intact pie plate sized chunk of grass out and replaced it with a good stomp.

Bad news: An electrical module about 5 inches long by 1 inch tall snapped off from under the factory hitch. Why the hell would Mazda manufacture a bolt-on electronic module to hang lower than the hitch itself?

I looked at the two wires connecting it and they seem intact, as well as the coupler connection. I was able to use epoxy and re-mount it where it was, with the little arrow up on the sticker attached. My thoughts are that this has something to do with sensing a trailer connection or some sort.

Bet I am the only dumb A** that has done this so far. (hand)

 

[CX9 SportOwner]

Vehicle details and photos.

 

[Lindyrect]

Sorry for the picture, but it was late out when I took it. I snapped off the TD17 ER module. I have the 07' GT w/ factory installed hitch. The white sticks are what I used to hold it in place while the epoxy cured. Haven't bothered to take them out.

 

[CX9 SportOwner]

I don't know what that is. Does anything plug into it, or is it just there?

Maybe ceric can help. He has the shop books.

 

[Lindyrect]

If you look toward the left side there are a couple of wires protruding. One white and one black. These lead to a connector harness that seems to be tied in with the trailer wiring input.

 

[CX9 SportOwner]

I asked ceric to come have a look. I'm also curious what that is and why it's placed there, since I wasn't aware of it even with the towing packaged CX9s.

 

[ceric]

Sorry.
It took me a while to search since I was looking for the wrong things.
I thought it is part of hitch wiring stuff. No.
That thing is the RKE (remote keyless entry, i.e. SmartKey) exterior sensor.
It is interesting that mine (w/o Tow package) is located slightly different from yours.

The sensor is meant to detect the presence of a fob near hatch so that it allows your access from hatch. There are many sensors like that in CX9 if you have the RKE system.
- 1 in each front door (X2)
- 1 near gear shifter
- 1 inside glove compartment
- 1 near air vents for 2nd row passengers
- 1 at floor behind 3rd row seat.
- 1 inside bumper near spare tire. (*** this one ***)
Working together, they provide inputs to ECU so that it can detect where the fob is and make decisions.

Hope that yours is not damaged. Try to use the fob at the hatch to see if it still detects the fob properly.
The torque for the bolts is listed as 78-112 in-lb ~ 6-9 ft-lb.

Let me know if you need more from WorkShop pages.

 

[CX9 SportOwner]

I never would have guessed that. What an odd place to place that. Seems more logical to put it IN the liftgate.

 

[ceric]

I agree.
The same SKS sensor of my Prius is located inside the hatch.
I don't think the thin metal hinders the signal significant enough.
I had no problem with my Prius SKS. I don't see the need to
put it inside/near the bumper.

 

[SeCX-9]

Sorry.
It took me a while to search since I was looking for the wrong things.
I thought it is part of hitch wiring stuff. No.
That thing is the RKE (remote keyless entry, i.e. SmartKey) exterior sensor.
It is interesting that mine (w/o Tow package) is located slightly different from yours.

The sensor is meant to detect the presence of a fob near hatch so that it allows your access from hatch. There are many sensors like that in CX9 if you have the RKE system.
- 1 in each front door (X2)
- 1 near gear shifter
- 1 inside glove compartment
- 1 near air vents for 2nd row passengers
- 1 at floor behind 3rd row seat.
- 1 inside bumper near spare tire. (*** this one ***)
Working together, they provide inputs to ECU so that it can detect where the fob is and make decisions.

Hope that yours is not damaged. Try to use the fob at the hatch to see if it still detects the fob properly.
The torque for the bolts is listed as 78-112 in-lb ~ 6-9 ft-lb.

Let me know if you need more from WorkShop pages.

Dude, you are the BEST source of info on our CX-9 toys.

Wish I could buy you a drink!

We all appreciate you and your workshop manual!

Cheers!

 

[Lindyrect]

Sweet, thanx for the clarification. I have tried to keyless entry from the tailgate and it worx fine. Normally I would have worried about torque specs on the bolts, but epoxied it back as it had snapped off at the bolt tabs.

Slightly different note. I have noticed when two FOBs are at one sensor, usually the rear hatch as that is where my wife and I congregate to put the groceries in, the hatch does not open on the first try always. I think the keyless entry system is confused by having two FOBs transmitting at the same frequency on the same sensor. Has anyone noticed this as well?

 

[ceric]

Glad to be of help, guys.
I rarely use my second FOB since my wife doesn't drive CX9.
It makes sense that the ECU has to figure out which one is recognize since there are two in "visual" range. The authentication could take 2X longer. Not a surprise from electronic perspective.

On a side note, if you, on-purposely want to shield one FOB being been seen by the sensors, you may put it in a mylar (foil) bag. People has done that to hide a FOB somewhere under the chasis. People who surf don't like to carry their keys with them, for example.