[Jared123]

I just purchased my first Element. It's a 2004 EX used with relatively low mileage (160k) and excellent service history on the carfax. I bought the vehicle in a relatively snowless area of Colorado. Drove 5 hours back to where I live in snow country only to find out the front wheels spin like crazy up my driveway! The rear wheels do not engage at all.

I took the vehicle to a friendly mechanic at the end of the day on Friday and he said the only thing he could find in his resources was that the rear differential fluid was old, bad or not the Honda Dual Pump Fluid. This is also what I've read on this forum. So since replacing the rear diff fluid is a relatively easy fix, I took the E into greese monkey and saw the tech put the Honda Dual Pump Fluid in. Excited to see if it worked, I found the first patch of snow I could find on a hill and tried to drive up only to have my front wheels spin out again.

After spending many hours on this site and the internet, I'm lost as to what the next step should be. Does any one have any good ideas?

And yes I've verified the vin, even have the original dealer sticker saying this vehicle has 4wd and my E has the back sunroof so this vehicle most definitely is the 4wd version.

Any help will be appreciated.

 

[UtahJohn]

there are easy to diagnose issues. Put the car on stands, put it in drive and let it idle. Put the e-brake on. Rear wheels stopped, front spinning.

Look under the car, is the driveshaft spinning or not? if it is, the rear diff is the problem. If it isn't, the output transfer case is shot. There are also a lot of AWD Elements driving around with no driveshaft. Driveshaft went bad, owners removed it and drove it as FWD car, never tell anyone.

 

[Jared123]

there are easy to diagnose issues. Put the car on stands, put it in drive and let it idle. Put the e-brake on. Rear wheels stopped, front spinning.

Look under the car, is the driveshaft spinning or not? if it is, the rear diff is the problem. If it isn't, the output transfer case is shot. There are also a lot of AWD Elements driving around with no driveshaft. Driveshaft went bad, owners removed it and drove it as FWD car, never tell anyone.

Thanks @UtahJohn
This is very helpful. I shared this info with my mechanic today. Hopefully, he can figure out what the issue is.