See my post here - http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/411826-scout-off-road-4x4-system-issues/

 

My '65 plate low mileage Scout has a major fault with it's Haldex unit so is actually only a 2WD at present!

 

I would advise any 4x4 Skoda owners who will need to rely on the car in winter to check the system is ok. Had I not ventured off-road at the weekend I doubt I would have discovered this until the snow arrived and it was too late!

 

To check, you need to;

 

• Try and find a hill, covered in grass, gravel or mud. A grass verge at the side of the road on a steep hill is ideal as you can sit one wheel on it (caveat being try not to damage the ground too much with your experiment!!)
• Stop on the hill facing up and Engage off-road mode if you have it
• Then try to pull away fairly briskly

if you get a load of wheel-spin from the front (and perhaps a groan from the rear end as mine did) and very little forward movement of the car then you may have a problem too. The system should sense the wheel-spin instantly and progressively engage the traction control and send drive to the rear wheels, keeping you moving. Obviously if all 4 wheels lose grip you will always struggle but you should at least get an initial shove as the system kicks in.

 

Hope this helps.

Edited 22 September, 20169 yr by CFBScout

Thanks.

 

Have you had a fault confirmed by a dealer yet, and if so what are they saying it is?

 

I get slight slippage from the front wheels on mine when pulling out of a junction where there is some gravel, or occasionally when it's wet, but it seems to be hardly as much as a full wheel rotation's worth before it hooks up and goes.

Yes as per the link to my other post, I've been advised that the Haldex unit is faulty (clutch pump that drives it) so needs to be replaced under warranty

Yes as per the link to my other post, I've been advised that the Haldex unit is faulty (clutch pump that drives it) so needs to be replaced under warranty

 

Whoops, sorry, I hadn't caught up on that. What mileage is your car at? I'm going to test mine properly asap. :yes:

 

Any idea of lead time for parts? I hope it won't be long for you. 

Not done 10k yet

 

Thankfully parts are in stock and will be arriving at the dealer tomorrow for fitting, hoping to get it back late pm as have a long journey on Saturday and miss my DSG equipped car! The dealer loaner is smart enough (16 plate Octavia Estate) but a povvy model 105ps manual and feels very slow and noisy compared to mine!!!

Or, gun it away from a junction in damp conditions. My vRS 4x4 doesn't wheelspin at all so it's working fine whereas I remember it was very easy to spin the front wheels on my FWD mk 2 vRS

Edited 22 September, 20169 yr by evan15281

• Try and find a hill, covered in grass, gravel or mud. A grass verge at the side of the road on a steep hill is ideal as you can sit one wheel on it (caveat being try not to damage the ground too much with your experiment!!)
• Stop on the hill facing up and Engage off-road mode if you have it
• Then try to pull away fairly briskly

 

Haha you've brought back memories of me test-driving my Koleos. My dad had bought a 4wd suzuki vitara froma  backstreet dealer a few months prior and only realised the transfer box? wasn't working when he got stuck down the sloped, grassy lane leading to his allotment.

 

So during the test drive I asked the saleslady if they had checked the semi-auto 4wd was working. They hadn't so I did what you've suggested. I got a lovely spray of mud from front and back while she grimaced at the thought of taking a mud-splattered car back to the forecourt.

 

I miss the lack of thought required when you need to pull out of a junction on cold, damp roads compared the the fwd VRS tdi.

Or, gun it away from a junction in damp conditions. 

 

Yep! that's the way to test it, put your foot down while turning hard in the first rain after a dry spell.

 

It's what I say to folk that say you don't need 4x4. Sure you don't need 4x4 but I find it pretty handy almost every day

 

 

My vRS 4x4 doesn't wheelspin at all so it's working fine whereas I remember it was very easy to spin the front wheels on my FWD mk 2 vRS

 

Mine has been nothing but planted so far in all conditions like that, but being my 7th Haldex machine I would expect nothing less

After a few "WRC style" Launch-control starts on gravel I'm quite convinced my 4x4 is working properly.

 

Now I need more power. And a proper undercoating...

I'm surprised something as significant as a non-working Haldex doesn't flag up an on-dash warning.

 

I can understand it on the older MkII but given all of the information available through the OBC it seems daft not to alert the driver to a potential lack of traction.

I agree, would not have known until the winter arrived!!

 

Got my car back Friday and certainly feels very different, the car generally feels 'heavier to drive' as if the 4x4 is now more active than ever, also getting a drone from the rear diff at motorway speeds. Now wondering if it's in 4WD all the time, slow speed manoeuvres on full lock now feel as though there is some resistance, same feeling as if I had a centre diff-lock engaged on my land rover.

 

Think it needs to go back in as if it's engaged all the time it will fail again due to stress on the components, wonder if that's why it packed up last time?

Edited 26 September, 20169 yr by CFBScout

Cannot contribute to the thread, but just saying that it is things like these that put me off of getting a 4WD car...

...I was quite decided to get one now and almost did (An Opel Insignia, but they all have the same Haldex system) but when I started to read on the issues it potentially has, I quickly gave up that idea.

Cannot contribute to the thread, but just saying that it is things like these that put me off of getting a 4WD car...

...I was quite decided to get one now and almost did (An Opel Insignia, but they all have the same Haldex system) but when I started to read on the issues it potentially has, I quickly gave up that idea.

With that mindset, how can you buy anything at all?

In Norway, well over 50% of the Skodas are 4x4. And there has been no outcry over failing Haldex systems. Nor has there been with Volvo or Ford either.

With that mindset, how can you buy anything at all?

In Norway, well over 50% of the Skodas are 4x4. And there has been no outcry over failing Haldex systems. Nor has there been with Volvo or Ford either.

Not saying they don't work - just saying that when they go wrong, they do cost a lot of money to repair and I heard quite a few stories.

For instance, for the Insignia there was only ONE 4WD available with manual gearbox in whole Finland

Not saying they don't work - just saying that when they go wrong, they do cost a lot of money to repair and I heard quite a few stories.

For instance, for the Insignia there was only ONE 4WD available with manual gearbox in whole Finland

 

very rare for them to go wrong though - and like you when we bought our 4x4 a number of years ago I think I only found at most half a dozen examples available.

Touch wood, mine has been fine so far apart from a dodgy scroll wheel on the steering wheel which was replaced. I'll need to find somewhere slippy to test the 4wd just to be sure, but it feels fine to me so far as I'm on my 3rd octy 4x4 now.

I live on top of a steepish hill and in previous winters (when we have had snow) I have come down it locked up (abs failed), sideways and the last time was backwards (I was facing forwards as I turned onto the top of the hill and it went wrong almost instantly) suffice to say it put the wind up me a bit so I chopped that car in for the 4x4 yeti.

 

So far I've had a 4x4 for 3 years and NEVER had to use the 4 wheel drive in anger, which brings me onto my question..

 

Just out of interest does anyone also swap their tyres over to winters on their 4x4's?

If you'd had winter tyres on your 2WD you wouldn't have been sliding all over the place.

If you'd had winter tyres on your 2WD you wouldn't have been sliding all over the place.

I didn't say Logic was my thing 

I live on top of a steepish hill and in previous winters (when we have had snow) I have come down it locked up (abs failed), sideways and the last time was backwards (I was facing forwards as I turned onto the top of the hill and it went wrong almost instantly) suffice to say it put the wind up me a bit so I chopped that car in for the 4x4 yeti.

 

So far I've had a 4x4 for 3 years and NEVER had to use the 4 wheel drive in anger, which brings me onto my question..

 

Just out of interest does anyone also swap their tyres over to winters on their 4x4's?

 

I haven't historically but have chosen my tyres carefully to get ones that have a directional V tread and to avoid the type that have no cross sipes and only have circumferential groves (most tyres these days...).  I've therefore never had an issue even in deep snow.

 

However, earlier this year I switched to Cross Climates...

I agree, would not have known until the winter arrived!!

 

Got my car back Friday and certainly feels very different, the car generally feels 'heavier to drive' as if the 4x4 is now more active than ever, also getting a drone from the rear diff at motorway speeds. Now wondering if it's in 4WD all the time, slow speed manoeuvres on full lock now feel as though there is some resistance, same feeling as if I had a centre diff-lock engaged on my land rover.

 

Think it needs to go back in as if it's engaged all the time it will fail again due to stress on the components, wonder if that's why it packed up last time?

 

Sounds like similar symptoms to the infamous Freelander 1 Viscous coupling failing - scrubbing on tight turns at slow speed from the rear? Check the rear tyres for feathering around the edges as well, that will be a sign of problems.

I live on top of a steepish hill and in previous winters (when we have had snow) I have come down it locked up (abs failed), sideways and the last time was backwards (I was facing forwards as I turned onto the top of the hill and it went wrong almost instantly) suffice to say it put the wind up me a bit so I chopped that car in for the 4x4 yeti.

 

So far I've had a 4x4 for 3 years and NEVER had to use the 4 wheel drive in anger, which brings me onto my question..

 

Just out of interest does anyone also swap their tyres over to winters on their 4x4's?

 

Absolutely. A 4x4 is only as good as the rubber it is on. I would sooner be in a 2wd on winter tyres than a 4x4 on summers if the weather is bad. Everything has (or should have) 4-wheel braking, 4x4 is no real advantage there, it is all down to tyres.

 

For me everything goes on winters when the clocks change unless it is unusually warm/cold, I don't really think about it these days. I check the brakes and other stuff while I am at it. You don't need to be in -20 or up to your neck in snow to get the benefit

 

Whether you need winter tyres, snow tyres or can get away with the newer generation of 'all season' tyres will depend on where you live and what driving you do. If you have spent money on a 4x4 for bad weather, you may as well give it the rubber to do what it is designed to do when you need it.

Well there is a good chance of black ice on some roads in some of Scotland this weekend.

So time to check tyre pressures, winter wash, anti freeze strength etc. and that is weeks before the Winter Fuels start to get delivered to filling stations.

 

No need to go slip sliding off the black top hopefully if you know the conditions and drive to them.

Those most likely to be in the ditch or hitting kerbs will be in 4x4 or AWD's on inappropriate tyres, or with all the gear and no idea.

Edited 30 September, 20169 yr by Offski

which brings me onto my question..

Just out of interest does anyone also swap their tyres over to winters on their 4x4's?

Time to dust this bad boy off again!

In the video he states the softer compound and grooves are to help get rid of the snow from the tyre, but other people have stated it is exactly the opposite, as it is the snow in the sypes that grips the snow/ice on the road that aids traction.

I swap over from 17 inch alloys to my 16 inch steelies in October and change back around March/April sometimes as late as May. I previously used 17 inch Cold Weathe tyres, but find the narrower and smaller tyres cope much better. The wheel arches don't bung up with compacted snow for one thing!

Time to dust this bad boy off again!

In the video he states the softer compound and grooves are to help get rid of the snow from the tyre, but other people have stated it is exactly the opposite, as it is the snow in the sypes that grips the snow/ice on the road that aids traction.

I swap over from 17 inch alloys to my 16 inch steelies in October and change back around March/April sometimes as late as May. I previously used 17 inch Cold Weathe tyres, but find the narrower and smaller tyres cope much better. The wheel arches don't bung up with compacted snow for one thing!

 

Exactly why WRC cars use skinny tyres on snow/ice, they cut through the snow to give better grip, whereas on tarmac stages they have wide tyres for the same reason. A garage owner near where is used to work changed the rear wheels on his 1 series when it snowed to a pair of space saver wheels. He never went out of town with it, and only lived 5 miles away, so didn't really matter too much, never saw him get stuck once.