Hi All I had my car in at an Independent Specialist today to get the Haldex unit serviced. The car is not driven overly hard and spends most of its time motorway cruising. I don't drive it like miss daisy though. It's done just over 25,000 miles now. I expected the Haldex gauze filter to have some **** on it but wasn't expecting it to be as bad as it was. I am shocked. It was absolutely choked. I am getting it done again in 15,000 miles and will adjust from there depending on how bad it is. I cannot believe that Audi do not clean this item as part of a service and at reduced mileages. This is a serious design and/or maintenance flaw that will mean many could face excessive out of warranty repair bills.
Omg that’s bad, got mine booked in next week 1 year earlier than Audi recommend and specified the filter clean at the same time. Talking to the indie doing it he said most of the guys who go there get theirs changed yearly.
That's a worry.Is this typical? How much does the haled service add to the price of a normal service?
It is indeed worrying. I think Audi take in the region of £140 to change the oil but they do not remove the pump and clean the gauze which was what my gripe was about. I got the correct VAG Haldex oil from Skoda for £36 and the indy specialist took £70 to do the work. It took around 650ml of oil.
Thanks Fatbloke, I guess I need to find an equally reputable specialist in Birmingham/Solihull now. Great advice, appreciated.
I'll be doing mine on its 2nd year service and around 7k miles just out of curiosity I have done 50+ launches and running over 400 bhp driven hard be good to see what it looks like
Mine is the A3 150tdi. Not much power. From what I have read the S3 and especially remapped ones etc seem to be more prone to Haldex issues so worth checking them out.
Hi mate, I recently had my a3 remapped. I have the 2.0tdi Quattro 184, remapped to 220/450. I am now getting a booming noise in 5/6th gear around 50mph. I have had it in to a couple a garages an they have no idea. I reckon it has something to do with the remap and haldex unit. I have wrote my own forum but no one has helped me. Have u ever heard of my problem with the booming noise?
Thanks for posting those photos. It seems ridiculous that Audi do not clean the mesh filter. Just changing the oil is not good enough. It’s like changing the oil in the engine and ignoring the filter. I may look for an independent garage to do mine. I would do it myself but I do not have a safe level area to get the car on axle stands.
Funny I've recently noticed a droning noise coming from the rear, happens when you lift off at about 60. I thought it was the tyres, as they were well down, but having just changed those yesterday the noise is still there. Currently at 25K, time to leave it it for them to have a look, it does sound like it is coming from the rear diff, although hard to say when driving.
Well I've had my rear diff looked at an the guy says it might be the haldex unit itself but he is unsure as he hasn't worked on them before. But been doing research and apparently you get a doughnut shaped bearing behind the haldex and between the rear diff. Meant to take out feedback f4om the diff to the front so you don't get vibrations. Well apparently they seize up. It's going back in next week. So if it helps can update u.
@Fatbloke How much did your Indy charge? I’ve been quoted £115 by a local Indy to change the oil and clean the filter. Can be done while I wait.
You're lucky that it didn't starve the pump and cause failure. Which happened to my mk7R out of warranty. The annoying thing was I had my haldex serviced early at 30k km snd then issues started at 35k km and failure at 40k km. I had car serviced at independent mechanic that I rated highly. But I'm not sure whether they cleaned filter properly or not. I saw photo of it at 40k km and totally blocked. I'd highly recommend yearly or every 2 years haldex service with filter clean, I'd ask shop to take photo before/after to confirm also.
The gen 5 filter is a plastic gauze filter so just clean it. Older units did have filters that should be changed. Obviously replace the gauze filter if it is damaged.
Just to completely back up what the OP said here are some photos of my Haldex at 21,000 miles. I would say I am quite a tame driver really. Car does not get run ragged but not driven like Doris is driving either. Filter is totally clogged and the oil was black like used engine oil. There's no way that that the Audi service intervals are acceptable on this and it is also not acceptable just to change the oil. The filter must be cleaned. Work was done at a local independent (VGS UK) so photos not taken by me.
Blooming heck that’s bad, wonder what Audi’s playing at setting the interval at that length of time, pleased mine was changed even though Audi said it was ok for another year.
I don't know what they're playing at either. Digital service schedule doesn't work, no clear indication of what servicing is required or when. A complete mess. Really unacceptable.
Below some pictures of mine from a few weeks ago. My car is on 37k and haldex oil was changed by Audi 10k ago. Just proves that Audi do not clean the filter, easy enough to do yourself.
Which is exactly why I had an indy do it and specified the filter should be cleaned. Just changing the oil is plain daft. What is the point of clean oil and a blocked filter? The unit will still fail!
All I used was this oil extractor from Screwfix £10. If anyone wants to give it ago themselves, this is the guide I used: https://forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.php?8908177-MK7-Haldex-Fluid-Change-DIY#/topics/8908177
For Archie in particular, yes you are correct it's likely to be the vibration damper, see here; https://www.audi-sport.net/xf/threads/a3-quattro-propshaft-vibration-damper.212779/ Just watch the dealers, they will charge you a fortune one way or the other. The part can be bought from dealers outwith Audi, ECP etc for about £130, used to be a dealer only part at £340 till they stopped recommending changing them and now seem to recommend now the full propshaft be changed at something in the region of £1500. Be careful and don't let them do it to you, I changed my own with very little experience or knowledge, it's a' spannering job' undo the nuts/bolts replace and tighten it all back up, not that complicated, any questions drop me a PM.
Thanks - actually I think it's a 2015 model; delivered Jan/Feb 15 but probably built end 2014, if that makes any difference? Still PFL
Same as my S3, it’s generation 5 don’t worry. Gen 5 comes on A3/S3 from 2013. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Had my filter cleaned recently, the mechanic said that there was lots of silicone-like stuff in there, is that normal?
Yes look at this link, that's the gunk that is around the filter. https://www.vwroc.com/forums/topic/24283-and-the-filthiest-haldex-filter-award-goes-to/?page=6 Did he take any pics?
Thanks, that's reassuring. He only sent me a pic of it all clean unfortunately but he says it wasn't as bad as in those photos!
Just got mine done today. This is the mess after just 15k miles and 3 years. How Audi thinks these will survive the life of the car is insane!
PS the AWD feels a lot more responsive now. Night and day to how much quicker the rear wheels pick up when flooring it out of a junction.
To be fair, Audi do state that Haldex needs to be done after 3 years/40,000 miles so it's not supposed to last the life of the vehicle
Sorry but thats just the oil change they will never ever look at the gauze. So there would be the lifetime of buildup.
