Last fall my front right tone ring broke on my wifes 2006 Tribute (V6).
We drove it around before realizing that the tone ring broke and like the idiot I am with the ABS light on and the AWD light blinked a bunch of times and then would shut off. After doing research and changing the tone ring, the ABS light went out, but the first snow is when the AWD start blinking again after slipping and not engaging the rear diff. to establish AWD. What i'm trying to conclude is that driving around with the bad tone ring, some how screwed up the AWD system. Like maybe it was trying to engage on dry ground. My buddy did some diag tests and proved that is was not the transfer case, solenoid or speed sensors, but thinks it is the clutch attached to the rear diff. If that clutch pack is shot, i'm hoping that's the culprit. That would explain the AWD light blinking since it is suppose to go on when the clutch gets hot. I'm taking it in to Mazda on Monday to get a full diag test. Hopefully they can see something deeper that my buddies computer didn't pick up.

Has anyone had these kind of issues on a Tribute or Escape?