Since the snow has been flying over the past couple of weeks up here in Toronto, my SVX has been having some serious traction problems, wheels spinning with very little effort??? Even with decent snow tires mounted at all 4 corners.

Then the proof was detected when I put one rear wheel into a very small snow bank (only 6 inches deep), which should not have been any problem to pull out of with AWD. However, I could not get out as my front wheel(s) where spinning on ice and the rear wheels where not turning at all. From my understanding once the front wheels break loose, the rear wheels should be transferred a good portion of the drive power. But this did not happen.

I checked into a fuse holder that disengages the rear wheel drive section of the tranny. Not sure how that works, but there was no fuse in that position!

Any idea's on how this could occur? Other then a problem with the tranny/center diff or possibly a broken U-joint (but wouldn't that make alot of noise?).

Thanks,