haldex not working no faults

[smoothe]

The problem im having with my 02 s3 four wheel drive dosen't seem to cut in, no faults shown or lights on dash has been hooked up to vagcom they tell me its ok, any ideas on what it could be?

Cheers
Smoothe

 

[Broken Byzan]

What have you done to test it?

 

[thegoal007]

Additionally what was the incident that made you think this ?

 

[S3BLX]

mine doesn't seem to work either. just been on some snow and front wheels spinning away in 2nd back wheels wern't doing anything car just wasn't moving????????????? Please HELP?????????????????

 

[vrbob]

When i first got my car my Haldex seemed to not work either as when it was wet out it would spin the front wheels if i tried to pull away fast.

I checked it furthur by using a grassy field at work and tried to spin the wheels while a mate watched and the back wheels did not move.

If i remember right there is a fuse that governs the haldex so that would be the first thing to check.

I had to go down the replacement Haldex controller and was lucky to get a second hand one for £40 and had it fitted locally. Since then hardly any wheelspin in the wet plus it was all good in the snow too.

 

[Broken Byzan]

I tested ours by clicking the handbrake one notch to bring the light on the dash, it was wheelspin city. Then dropped the handbrake and tried again and she gripped fine. Sounds like ours works a treat , and the test is an easy one

 

[Westy]

Yeah check the fuse first. This is the fuse the rolling road guys pull if they dont have a 4-wheel drive rolling road. The owners manual should show you what number it is on the fuse board.

 

[S3BLX]

cheers. i shall try the fuse first. any ideas what the fuse will be named? and dont say frank, lol

 

[S3BLX]

i cant see one that stands out to be the right fuse.

 

[S3 Paul]

Nick,
haveyou vag com'd your car?
If there is no power to the haldex im sure the light comes on the dash...
Mine with the esp turned off... grips and wants to hang its **** out in the snow so im sure its working.

 

[S3BLX]

Nick,
haveyou vag com'd your car?
If there is no power to the haldex im sure the light comes on the dash...
Mine with the esp turned off... grips and wants to hang its **** out in the snow so im sure its working.

Mine is crap in the snow. not vag com'd it, where could i get this done?

 

[S3 Paul]

At my house... lol ive got it on both laptops.
i think it checks the haldex unit for faults.
Mine does... let me know mate, I will check for fault codes

 

[S3BLX]

Nice one mate your a star, when will you be in? i'll pm you my mob number. cheers dude.

 

[rraghvani]

I thought mine wasn’t working either, had to read the manual and they mentioned something about driving below 40kph for the system to work. Also, Hadlex needs oil to engage the wet multi-plate clutch system, check ABS sensors too.

 

[j555pre]

I have the same problem too. Definately no 4wd. I've heard it can be the handbrake sensor that is still telling the car it is on when it isn't. I just changed the haldex oil and i think mine has been run dryish!!! I had it vagcomed and the fault read intermitent mechanical failure. So i think mines goosed. I tried the 5amp fuse for the haldex and that is fine aswell. Any thoughts? Also anyone local to burnley or halifax with vag com out there so i can get the hanbrake switch checked?

Cheers

 

[Dennis Moeller]

I thought mine wasn’t working either, had to read the manual and they mentioned something about driving below 40kph for the system to work. Also, Hadlex needs oil to engage the wet multi-plate clutch system, check ABS sensors too.

This is not true...definately works even when driving more than 40km per hour...I have the rear wheels break loose in snow and on wet tarmac (winter wonderland in Norway) in both third and fourth gear when going waaaay past 40 km per hour...

So something else is wrong with your system...

 

[barters3]

not sure if its any help but i had a rumbling noise when i was pulling out of junctions, i changed the haldex oil and it stopped, must have been running with low oil, howeverit didnt stop the 4 wheel drive operation.

 

[S3BLX]

I went to s3 pauls earlier, he hooked my car up to vag com and it came up with intermitant haldex malfunction, caused by clutch switch......correct me if i'm wrong paul, lol. anyways he cleared it and didn't seem to come back. so went for a drive........................I now have 4wd wayhey!!!! Brilliant. Just wait and see if it throw the fault code again, hopefully not. Cheers again paul :thumbsup:

 

[j555pre]

I hope mines as easy to fix!:thumbsup:

 

[j555pre]

That sounds alot like my fault code but mine said mechanical fault?

 

[S3BLX]

mine could have been that, dunno paul would be best to ask. hope you get it sorted.

 

[Pirrex]

The pumps usually break on gen.1 haldex sooner or later, unfortunately quite often sooner.
Vag-com will not give a fault code on this problem, the only way to test it is by measuring the resistance in the pump. Don't know if this is a common problem over there, but up here the Haldex is used way more because of the snow. Unfortunately I've heard lots of ppl having this problem, and it's not a cheap part.

Let's hope anyway that it's something else than this.

 

[Dani_B19]

Bit of a revival but dont think my haldex is working, i dont have vagcom to check it so how do i use the handbrake method, do i just pull it up one click then try and drive or what!

 

[barters3]

Just pull the handbrake up one click, if you should be able to light the front wheels up. I had a leaking haldex pump so if replaced it with a second hand one. Since then my four wheel drive has not been working. I'm going to check the fuse, then vagcom it, then last resort I'm going to change the pump again. I didn't realize that it was common for the pump to fail

 

[Dani_B19]

Seems everything is a common fault on the s3.

 

[barters3]

The pumps usually break on gen.1 haldex sooner or later, unfortunately quite often sooner.
Vag-com will not give a fault code on this problem, the only way to test it is by measuring the resistance in the pump. Don't know if this is a common problem over there, but up here the Haldex is used way more because of the snow. Unfortunately I've heard lots of ppl having this problem, and it's not a cheap part.

Let's hope anyway that it's something else than this.

do you check the resistance by putting a multimeter on the terminals? if so would i use the ohms setting and what reading should i look for?
Hope you can help, im rubish with anything electrical....

 

[Dani_B19]

I need to know how to check it properly, just tried the handbrake way but just drove like normal.
So how else do check it?

 

[Dani_B19]

Im pretty certain about the answer to the question im about to ask but just want to make sure.
Would a knackered/faulty haldex cause me tobe down on power?

 

[merlin2002]

Im pretty certain about the answer to the question im about to ask but just want to make sure.
Would a knackered/faulty haldex cause me tobe down on power?

If its constantly stuck in 4x4 like mine then yes you will be down on power, its just occured to me that if you remove the fuse then we should have only front wheel drive again.

Regards
Rob

 

[Dani_B19]

No mine isnt stuck in 4x4 drive, my 4x4 drive just doesnt work by the looks of it.