Rear differential destroyed - help please

[Bexhillian]

A fascinating (and a bit frightening) thread. I hope the problem is resolved to your complete satisfaction. The illustration of the four drain & refill points has been printed off and added to my Yeti file, just in case I need to sound as if I know a bit about the Haldex etc sometime in the future. Thank you mikey vrs.

 

My Yeti might be the last car that I own and being of the non-technical type and of a 'senior' vintage, I took out the 5 year warranty from new and will (with a wince, no doubt) pay for supplying main dealer servicing, once my free services are exhausted. Might cut down the wriggle-room if something unexpected does arise.

Edited 5 April, 2018 by Bexhillian
poor spacing

[silver1011]

I know we're past this now, but had this car had a full Skoda service history, then I'd be arguing that whether or not the Haldex / diff oil had been changed is irrelevant.

 

As a customer, we take our Skoda's to Skoda UK's franchised main dealers for them to carry out the necessary service and maintenance in accordance with Skoda's requirements, and often pay a premium for their superior service to boot.

 

If the chosen dealer hasn't changed the oil at the required interval, or recorded on the customers invoice that the work was offered but declined then as far as I'm concerned it would be Skoda's fault.

 

All too often Skoda UK argue that the service regime hasn't been adhered to in one breath, whilst their trusted dealer network across the UK is forgetting or is simply unable to properly identify what work needs carrying out and when.

 

When they detailed the required service requirements in a nice little booklet in the glove box then they'd have an argument that the customer should have read and understood it, but now they've made a concious decision to take the booklet away (in an effort to force us into the dealer network) they've only got themselves to blame.

 

Brake fluid is time related, the cambelt is time and distance related, the Haldex oil is time or distance related dependant on the year of manufacture (is the diff / diff oil even a service item?). How hard would it be to use the same system that counts down to the regular service intervals to signal to the driver via the on-board computer when the other essential service items are required?

 

Skoda can't have their cake and eat it.

 

Anyway, it does sounds as though the independent garage has screwed up here. Proving it is going to be an absolute nightmare. I wish you the very best of luck.

[lawnmowerman]

Need to get an independent engineer involved pronto!

 

Bill 

[Frenchtone]

Ok, so haldex 4 oil every 40k or 3 - 4 years, what about the diff, have tried to find a recommendation for oil change and type , found refs to sae30 grade - anybody got any more info re frequency of change etc or is it for life?

[kenfowler3966]

I understood the Haldex was at 30k, mileage dependent, not time as it is the contamination from the friction plates with use which blocks up the filters etc..

Rear diff is supposedly filled for life, but may need topping up occasionally?

However I think I would change mine at around 80k for peace of mind.

[Rooted]

Any update?

[paulfjr]

Update. My Yeti has finally been fixed. During removal of the back axle they found a second hole in the differential, proving it was an internal failure. Initially Skoda Customer Services said they would not pay any goodwill, as the garage was not sure of the cause of the failure. After lots of discussions, and the second hole, the very good news is they agreed to pay 60% of the cost of repair. The long delay in getting my Yeti back has been the very poor service I received from the Skoda dealer. As they were very very busy, they kept delaying working on my car, and hence it took a month to fix - if they had prioritised my car is would have taken just over a week. So final cost to me about £1600. So happy Skoda UK contributed goodwill; unhappy with the dealer service; unhappy that I had such a major failure in a car 3 years 11 moths old; and now a little worried about the future reliability of my Yeti. Thank you everyone for your comments. Of interest, someone mentioned that my insurance company may pick up the cost of repair if it was an external object that caused the failure. Before the discovery of the second hole, I did contact my insurance company and they said IF it the failure was caused by hitting something on the road, they would probably pick up the cost of repair. In fact, if it had been an external failure, it would have been much cheaper for me. Anyway hired a rental car to drive from Dorset to Derby; dropped off rental car at Derby; collected Yeti; collected my caravan out of storage near Derby, and now happily on holiday in the Peak district for 7 days.

[Rooted]

Good outcome,  but was it not 'an error' at the place that serviced the Haldex that was the reason for the diff failure, ie they drained the wrong oil?

 

I would have thought their insurance would have been paying or is the Haldex Oil change done correctly?

[paulfjr]

No the Haldex oil was correctly changed, with the correct oil as the Skoda dealer fixing the car checked. So reason for failure is unknown.

[silver1011]

So the total bill was £4,000?

 

Skoda paid 60% (£2,400), you paid 40% (£1,600).

 

£4K for a new Haldex sounds exorbitant?

 

 

[Rustynuts]

If the first garage drained the diff and refilled it with Haldex oil, then of course the Haldex would have the correct fluid in it, because it hadn't been changed...

 

Just saying.

[Rustynuts]

11 minutes ago, silver1011 said:

So the total bill was £4,000?

 

Skoda paid 60% (£2,400), you paid 40% (£1,600).

 

£4K for a new Haldex sounds exorbitant?

 

 

Haldex was fine. The rear diff exploded.

[silver1011]

Even so, Haldex or rear diff, that seems very expensive.

 

I had a brand new engine fitted to a 3-series at a BMW main dealer and their excessive labour rates for £6K.

 

Is the rear diff a particularly labour intensive job?

[Rustynuts]

I wouldn't have thought so.

[DGW]

10 hours ago, silver1011 said:

£4K for a new Haldex sounds exorbitant?

 

 

 

Not if the repair was the same as mine when the diff failed, ie complete rear transmission replacement including diff, Haldex and Haldex ECU.

Edited 26 April, 2018 by DGW
Typo.

[Sad555]

Paulfjr It could have been worse and in the scheme of things now £1600 is not looking that bad but and there always a but it IS very disconcerting that a car under 4years and 40,000 miles can have a major failure like this when it has had a FSH using the correct dealer lubricants ,it does appear to be a rare case of this happening  but not unheard of from reading this owners site but again very worrying considering the age and mileage and the fact Skoda appear to be un able to find the cause of the diff exploding,very worrying.best of luck.

Edited 26 April, 2018 by Sad555

[Rooted]

'If.'

If it was Full Main Dealer Service History using the correct dealer lubricants.

 

It went to a Local VAG Specialist out of Manufacturers Warranty and then the failure happened soon after.

 

For once the 'Goodwill Gesture' / Contribution seems to be as good as could be expected. 

[Sad555]

As Skoda put in a £2400 contribution they must have been satisfied that the correct service and lubricants were applied,its a shame that an independent specialist wasn’t able to confirm the reason for failure as Skoda couldn’t find a reason or wouldn’t say?

[Rooted]

The parts do not cost Skoda the RRP.  Then their Insurance / Underwriter pays. ie Skoda / VW.

 

If they are satisfied then they must have had the Report from a specialist or just from a Master Tech at the Dealership doing the work.

As it is the Dealership have been paid at the going rate for doing the work, so no loss to them.

 

Local VAG Independent Garages will often have Ex Main Dealers Technicians working or owning the establishment, use Licensed equipment / software, and are not be unkown to Skoda / Skoda Main Dealerships locally.

Just take care who you use though...

Edited 26 April, 2018 by Offski

[silver1011]

Whatever the cost, £4,000, £2,400, £1,600 etc. it's a hellish amount of money to be stumping up for on such a new car.

 

A bitter pill I'll really struggle to swallow so easily.

[Sad555]

NEW diff and haldex supplied and fitted £4000. if you think that's a lot guess the cost what the cost was of replacing a new COLUMBUS head unit supplied and fitted from skoda uk an hours work at the most,

[kenfowler3966]

Cars are rapidly becoming unrepairable disposable items.

If my wifes Fabia 63 reg needed say a major gearbox repair or even a new egr valve and dpf it may not be economical to do it in a couple of years time when the value will be under £2k.

 

I must admit that whereas before you could assume a car would last over 10 years, and that I could do virtually any repair myself for the cost of the parts and specialist machining, eg a Capri engine rebuild I did nearly 40 years ago(!!), now it would be near impossible for major DIY repairs like that with all the error codes to check etc.

 

So I bought my yeti, paid for a 5 year warranty and expect do over 80K in that time for work and personal use. Anything over that is a bonus, but a rear axle failure like this at 5 years old would probably not be worth doing all at my cost at a main dealer with new parts. Only viable solution is second hand parts from broken cars at that point. If the car achieves 100k that will be a bonus, and looking on here they have large costs at 150k even when reliable and lucky such as dpf end of life which would probabkly write off a 10 year old car now?

 

Makes you wonder how they can build them for the list price when these sub assemblies cost so much to replace; does a dpf really cost £1k+ on the production line?

[Sad555]

It all appears to be about LUCK  ,a modern well built car i would expect most cars to go 150000 with no trouble,cars have achieved high milage for many years BUT where engines  emissions are being strangled it’s not helping so I would like to think that most get away trouble free and a few are very very unlucky

[J.R.]

I know what they did having just done the same idiot thing myself.

 

Drained the diff oil by mistake, as has been said the correct Haldex drain plug is hard to see without you knowing exactly where it is and more importantly what one not to drain!

 

Then if you were lucky they will have removed the pump to clean the gauze losing some Haldex fluid in the process, they then topped up the lost fluid thinking they were refilling it from empty.

 

I can find many excuses for my mistake but bottom line is I am a dickh**ad but not supposedly qualified and experienced, having a 2 post vehicle lift & good lighting plus others around to ask if I were in doubt.

 

I have to swallow the cost of my mistake and swallow my pride but at least there is not someone who paid me to render a proffessional service now having to pay me £4.5K to put right my incompetence.

[J.R.]

3 months later but not a lot of miles due to la confinement and my rear diff is singing like a good un, just waiting for the day that the internals make a bid for freedom through the casing.

 

Have a few complete diffs bookmarked on E-bay, not too expensive but it looks like there are a few others on the forum in the market for one.