I will have to test the theory of going for a ride to see if the transfer case gets warm still. One guy had four transfer cases installed in the first 20,000 miles after the car was purchased new. Many forums say that the burning smell is caused by leaking transfer case fluid, that leaks on the exhaust and causes the smell. It just kills me because I brought the car to the dealer 2 months ago when I first heard the noise that I now suspect to be the point at which the splines stripped and even pointed them to the transfer case. I found another dealership further out that is more transparent than these clowns. In Mazda terms, that is. I welcome any thoughts also.
We were ready to trade it in towards a new pathfinder. Just seemed like only the front wheels were spinning. I have own other Japanese cars and had not problems. Call my local Mazda dealership and check the warranty status? Both vehicles drove fine except when in snow the front wheels spun and no movement from rear wheels. They worked with me on a time that worked with my schedule. The first sign of failure was a heavy burned oil odor.
Had it evaluated at the local garage and they diagnosed leaking fluid from transfer case, which destroyed the bearings and threads around the shaft. Went to local Mazda dealer who diagnosed that both the transfer case and transmission gears were stripped, that the vehicle was now operating in 2 wheel drive and that the abs was not functioning because of these issues. This sound manifested within days after my purchase of the tires. They are in wantagh, they have been pretty good and actually do the services i request and the way it should be done. I called the dealership the day after I bought the car and they said it's not their problem anymore. We assumed there must be some recall on this issue but could not find one.
Then I noticed some out on the driveway. The six-speed gearbox is well sorted, as it snaps off timely shifts without hesitation. We noticed a burning smell but didn't know what it was. Later on I took off from a standstill and the 4wd light flashed and the front wheels spun. There is something odd about all of this. Am I missing something here? I have no warranty so thats out but If I can change the x-fer case vs having the trans done I am good with doing the work on my own since I have access to a shop and lift for free.
Will update when replacement is done. I reached out to Mazda to request some assistance with at least the cost of the parts on the brake power booster. The part alone is pretty expensive and I don't think the labor charge is low either since it seems like the job is realtively complicated. Burning oil smell after the drive. After searching the internet for clues and answers, I found my way to this forum and this post. Mechanic said I will have this problem again at roughly another 80-100,000 miles. The way I read it is that if you take off very quickly from a stand still postion meaning you punch the gas to take off you will damage the trans as well.
I love to keep my cars for at least 10 years. Very concerned that Mazda is putting this on the consumer when it seems very likely to be some design or manufacturing defect. The approximate failure mileage was 137,000. So my transfer case needs to be replaced. I had the issue on my 2007.
The latter obviously costs a whole lot more due to labor. Since you replaced the fluid, it is surprising it still went out. I change the transfer case oil the same time I change the engine oil every 6000K. So far they have confirmed that the transfer case has gone bad and needs to be replaced. Does my car have any recalls or not? Stripped gears on both transmission and transfer case. Dealer could not find a problem despite the fact that I directed them to the transfer case after reading this thread.
The car only has 23k miles on it. If it stays on or flashes very often, this could indicate a problem in the transfer case. The contact mentioned that the vehicle was serviced for the lower control arms one day prior to the failure. I can see Mazda know about this problem and are ignoring it. But they didn't do it, that's the class-action lawsuit waiting to happen! So, back to the dealer.
We'll do our best to help you find top-quality transfer cases at the best prices possible. Does the dealer eat some cost with warranty repairs or are they compensated well for big ticket repairs. Got a free loaner vehicle while I'm waiting. Dealer says they have replaced them before but never on a vehicle with mileage as low as ours. After contacting Mazda they say they extended the warranty to 90,000 miles because of this problem but hasn't notified the owners of the vehicle.
There's just no shining a turd. Possibly due to overheating of fluid that turns to sludge for some reason? Given the symptoms what is the likely hood of the x-fer case being bad vs output shaft splines. Likely the transfer case is also since it is attached to the transmission, but I am not sure. While driving 35 mph, the front wheels seized. Had just had it serviced last week. Just glad to have my baby running well again.