2007~2015 Do I have a magic CX-9?

[jonmon22]

Hi all,

I own a 2010 AWD CX-9 w/ 187,000 miles. After reading a lot of these threads on this generation, I am convinced that this car has dodged several of the high mileage bullets that this car usually gets hit with. For context, my in-laws sold this car to my wife and I about 3 months ago for a low low price of $2,200 and my intent was to baby this vehicle as much as possible. No apparent issues besides TPMS sensors bad. See attached list of major repairs. 2 issues that I'm shocked haven't come up:

1.) Water Pump - I'm reading that this usually fails between 100k-150k. As of writing this, no overheating issues and no leaks, no coolant in the oil.
2.) PTU unit - No idea how this hasn't died yet. Looking at the drain and fill plug and service records, it doesn't look like it has been touched or "service"

My Question: Is this a ticking time bomb? What do I need to do to make sure this last another 100k?

For the water pump, I'm 50-50 on whether I should go ahead and change this out or just keep up with the regular coolant changes every 30k it has been getting since the beginning of the car's life.
For the PTU unit, I could do the transfer case lubricant swap as others have suggested here, but I feel like if it hasn't gone yet, then why mess with it?

Thanks in advance!

 

[jal142]

There is no "usual" mileage for the water pump - if you read this forum and the Ford Edge/Flex/etc. forums, there are people that have gone 250,000 miles with no problems while some have had much worse luck and not made it to 60,000. It appears to be a roll of the dice. When it fails, it ususally does so with no symptoms. If you really want peace of mind you could preemptively change it. Otherwise, the only thing you can do is check the level in the coolant overflow tank regularly (like every fill up or even more often) and be prepared to tear the engine apart if you see it dropping.

On the PTU, yours may already be dead and you just don't know it. Sometimes that thing just quietly dies. The car becomes front wheel drive and you don't realize it until you get stuck in the mud or snow and realize the rear wheels aren't doing anything.

 

[DC1]

I have a 2011 cx9 with 250,000 miles. I am the original owner (I had a 2008 CX9 that I loved which had no mechanical issues other than the weak front rotors).
I have the original water pump, but have had other problems. Right before the factory warranty ran out my transfer case was replaced. I have changed front and rear struts/shocks, and front rotors.
Current intermittent problem is the automatic transmission pops out of 6th gear. It happens so rarely that I haven't been able to figure out common denominators of when it will happen. When it does happen I shift into 5th and back to 6th and it works fine.
I doubt that I would rebuild the trans if the problem gets worse. I would probably buy a new car.

 

[Odrapnew]

You could be on a ticking bomb, or you could be good for many miles.

My wife recently sold her 09 CX9 to Carmax for $2000 with 185K miles on it.
PTU started leaking around 120k miles and was replaced.
Coolant, waterpump, brake fluid, rear diff fluid were all original.
Exhaust had a small hole (seemed to be getting bigger).
Engine oil every 5k miles, couple rear wheel bearings, brakes a few times, 1 drain/fill of tranny fluid, tires 2x and I recently changed shocks/struts on it, but nothing major went wrong with it.

My biggest concern was the water pump as, depending on when/how it starts to go out, it could take out the engine.

 

[Bronco Boy]

Coolant, waterpump, brake fluid, rear diff fluid were all original.

My biggest concern was the water pump

By never changing the coolant, you were not doing the water pump any favours.