Looking to purchase a CX-9 in the Minneapolis area (about 400 miles from my house)

[cheapinkc]

I'm looking to purchase a CX-9 AWD in the Minneapolis area and I am looking for a suggestion on a dealer to inspect the transfer case before closing the deal and maybe do a fluid change before driving home. The vehicle I'm looking at is beyond Mazda's extended warranty for this issue.

I already appreciate this forum because I wouldn't have known about this area of concern without it.

Thanks in advance

Bryce

 

[jlanger]

IDK I'm not sure of any dealer that would do this for you. I would recommend a local mechanic that has generally been very helpful in doing unique things for me.
Lancer, They are a bit on the spendy side but do very good work.
I've had experience with all 4 of the Mazda dealerships in the area, and while they've all been decent in working normal issues, trying to do things out of their comfort zone is generally not going to happen, just IMHO of course. I've also seen that over the last time I purchased Mazdas ( and 02 and 03 Protege new) the service departments have gotten much tighter on extras. Not offering Loaner cars being a very large change over the past few years.

 

[00protegees]

DON'T START THE ENGINE!! just turn it to ON position
(this is just to trick the car to engage the electronic control coupling without the engine running)
all four wheels have to be lifted and parking brake applied.

let us know so we can try to help you out, need to rule out a transfer case failure first.

download TSB 03-001/12 link -----> 211207

Some 2007-2013 Mazda CX-9 (4WD) vehicles may experience front tire spin and/or 4WD/DSC light flashing with no DTCs stored, when driving uphill or taking off from a stop under hard acceleration.

NOTE: Do not turn on the engine during the procedure to avoid accidents/injuries.

The procedure requires three people.

STEP 1. Verify the customer concern.

a. With one person in the vehicle, raise and support the vehicle so that all four wheels are off the ground.

b. Turn the ignition switch to the ON position (engine off).

c. Apply the parking brake to prevent the rear wheels from rotating.

d. Shift the selector lever to the drive (D) position.

e. Depress the accelerator pedal fully to engage the electronic control coupling.

f. While depressing and holding the accelerator pedal, have two people try rotating both front wheels by hand in the same direction.

g. If both front wheels can be rotated, confirm rear propeller shaft operation. If the rear propeller shaft does not rotate, go to Step 2.
If the shaft does rotate, diagnose further and repair as necessary.

STEP 2. Replace the transfer unit. Refer to workshop manual section 03-16. The new transfer unit is available as P/N AW21-27-500K-9U.

 

[cheapinkc]

Picked up the CX-9 last week, all is good. It was snowing when I hit town so verifying the AWD was pretty easy. Nice clean 08 with 55K miles on it. I have already ordered the items needed to drain and fill the transfer case.

 

[batmancx]

Picked up the CX-9 last week, all is good. It was snowing when I hit town so verifying the AWD was pretty easy. Nice clean 08 with 55K miles on it. I have already ordered the items needed to drain and fill the transfer case.

Congrats !! just only 55,000 miles on a 2008 , wow , nice , bet you got a great deal.

Also good for you that you were "in the know" about the transfer case and you made sure it was working before the purchase.
Yeah, just swap out the old oil and put in fresh oil and you'll be fine.

If you don't mind, can you post some pictures of the old transfer case oil please ?
It'll be interesting to see the oil condition on a 2008 CX-9 with only 55,000 miles,
it's a good data point for members to have to determine which factor is more important for oil degradation (age vs mileage).