Transfer Case replaced at 3.5K miles

[cx9gtguy]

This past weekend I noticed a few drops of oil on the driveway where I parked. Checked all fluid levels - seemed to be fine. Took the car to the dealer today (it was basically due for the first oil change as well). Turned out it had a leak from the transfer case. This is only after 6 month of driving, and only 3.5K miles. Not a good start.

Dealer has replaced transfer case under warranty. I asked the manager if this is a common problem - and the answer was not really. Judging from postings on this thread does not seem to be a common problem. Hopefully, this was just a glitch, but will have to keep an eye on this from now on.

 

[ceric]

Seal was probably poorly installed.
Bad workmanship, if you ask me.
More issues of transfercase on 2007 model. Later ones are normal.

 

[cx9gtguy]

Could they just replace the seal, or this can't be done by the dealer? Or maybe they just went with the most expensive option - since this is covered by the warranty.

I wonder if the leak was "caused" (or became more pronounced) by towing a small U-haul trailer about a week ago - first time with my CX9.

 

[ceric]

Don't worry about the cost for Mazda.
They replace the entire unit, service it (replacing the seals in your case), and then put the refurbished unit
up for next guy who needs one (warranty work). Don't assume you always get a brand new unit when
any warranty work is done. This is so especially for big items such as transfercase and transmission.

 

[badself]

I got rid of my 2008 this January, but in the 51,000 miles I owned it, the transfer case was replaced twice, the second time along with the entire transmission. The transfer case was new each time, but the transmission was rebuilt. At the time they replaced the transmission, all that was available was rebuilt (I tried to see if it could be sourced new and it wasn't available at any cost through Mazda parts). The rebuilt transmission was noticably worse in shift quality than the original, but it ran so that was all they cared about. My drivetrain issues were one reason I really didn't consider the CX-5 when it was time to replace the CX-9, and in following the CX-5 thread, I'm starting to see several posts describing erratic/hard downshifts. I guess time will tell.

 

[ceric]

Yes. I agree. As much as I admire the SkyActiv technology, I won't be the first one to try them.
Give Mazda a couple years to flush out the bugs.

 

[SRTopDog]

Our CX-9 2010 AWD grenaded the transfer case at 7,000 miles from new....dealer replaced supposedly with new, my cost would have been around $1,200 as they showed me.....good for me it was under warranty.....they said they had never seen that on any CX-9s....at least that is what they told me (wink). That is one of the reasons we just traded our 2010 for a 2012 with a 6 yr/100k mile zero deductible Mazda top level warranty....

Ran like a Japanese watch right before and as soon as we got it back...but when it went it was definitely exactly like throwing a wrench into a gearbox....bad, really bad.

 

[2007cx9]

Yeah, I really hope they ditch that design and go with something different. I'd like them to switch the rear and front around as is in rear wheel drive. (headbang)

That'll never happen, but it is a design flaw for sure in my book. We had ours changed at about 36K if I remember right. It didn't grenade tho like yours.