Well, you know what comes next in case I don't get an answer ... ... does anyone have any actual photos of the procedure, what was the oil/filter situation when they have been taken out of from the car, at any mileage (either regular service intervals or extra long ones/irregular ones). I guess in my car, the oil had been changed at most twice (the car previously being serviced by Skoda), but the filter definitely wasn't touched ... I'm preparing my self to do the procedure on my car, the differential seems to be holding on for now, but the Haldex situation is making me vary because of all the recent horror stories with improper genuine maintenance, by the dealerships simply ignoring the filter (as it isn't there, in case it actually is there, which is the case for us who have 4th gen Haldex on our Superbs, and other VAG cars sharing the same AWD system), so I'd like to get that done as soon as possible.

It certainly is a concern when you put your Skoda into a Skoda dealer to have your Haldex unit serviced and they don't include for changing the filter and demounting the pump to clean out the strainer.

I can't help with the procedure but there is some good info on this site...

https://www.haldexrepairs.co.uk/guide-generation-4-haldex-trouble-shooting/

 

https://www.haldexrepairs.co.uk/replace-generation-4-filter-andor-pump/

 

Hope that helps (assuming you haven't seen the links?) and would be interested if you can update the thread in due course.

Cheers

 

Just a tiny bit of theory, why the Haldex (its proper functioning) is crucial for the entire rear differential ... since most of us here have what is known as the 4th Gen Haldex (the latest ones have the 5th Gen - no filter, the pump is slightly redesigned, oil is of course serviceable, and it has an EDL - which I personally don't like to have on a car, whatever the driving style) ... right from the engine start-up, the Haldex oil pressure builds up and is almost immediately ready for engaging the rear differential if required ... what this means is that you have a ~30 bar constant oil pressure (which in case of overload gets drained to the basic oil basin, it circulates, to allow for the constant required pressure) which means you'll have the rear differential ready for work when the car's ECU decides it needs an extra push from behind, and it just opens a valve that actuates the rear diff via the Haldex clutch to start turning (to put it simply) ... what this also means is that the oil is constantly circulating through the filter (much like the engine oil is going through the oil filter, fuel through the fuel filter, DSG oil through the DSG filter etc ... you get the picture) ... I don't know who in their right mind thinks that whatever filterable part is lifetime or not required to be serviced (genuine services), especially if it is under constant usage - even if you had distilled water going through it, it will eventually catch something (metal debris from the inside of the entire Haldex components, with the years they will deteriorate, maybe you'll have a small leak somewhere, whatever, you'll get filter contamination one way or the other, lowering its filtering capacity, and making extra load on the flow of the oil through the system ... the links have been located a long time ago, and they have some information that might be good to know before you actually start doing something on the car (peace of mind at least) ... the procedure itself is simple enough (I successfully completed the DSG oil/filter change), this should a cinch (true, not that accessible, but that's a small obstacle in the entire planned endeavor)

Finally purchased the oil and filter kit today, 70 GBP incl. shipping ... hopefully delivered by the end of next week and then its time to go down under ...

On ‎15‎/‎09‎/‎2018 at 22:01, vborovic said:

Finally purchased the oil and filter kit today, 70 GBP incl. shipping ... hopefully delivered by the end of next week and then its time to go down under ...

Would appreciate an update on how you get on, and some pics of how much gunk was at the filter and pump strainer!  What is your current miles/km ?

Are you using VCDS to drive the pump to pop out the filter cartridge, or just going to try manual removal ?

Where did you purchase your oil and filter from out of interest ?

Thanks (apologies for all questions, just always good to learn from others!)

Dave

1 hour ago, TasMan said:

just always good to learn from others

 

That's why I'm here, someone has to be the donkey ...

 

Regarding the info you've asked in the previous post, my car is currently on 173500 km (roughly 108500 miles). I'll be using VCDS and will see if the filter will pop out when the pump will be engaged (if that won't work, there's always a manual way). I've purchased the Haldex filter kit on allegro.pl (you can think of it as a polish ebay, even though they have ebay.pl).

 

Like all my similar topics, I'll be updating it if I succeed (or if I fail, why I failed) the procedure.

 

Sorry for a bit off topic, but can anyone confirm if rear diff should be serviced - and when - or is it for life?? Tried to Google but nothing :(

No routine servicing required, sealed for life as you say.  Which I think means it’s sealed until it’s dead! Obviously there should be no hint of a leak anywhere.

Probably wouldn’t hurt to change the oil in it at very high mileage though, by which I mean 100k or so.

Haldex requires oil and filter change every 40,000 miles (60k km) or 4 years iirc.

 

Some earlier generations may require 30,000 miles/ 3 years but not sure.

 

Somewhere on Briskoda is a pictorial thread on how someone serviced theirs iirc.

Edited 17 September, 20187 yr by xman

@xman

 

I know the thread you mention 

My Haldex stopped working at around 20k miles - dirty mesh filter - so will be servicing it every 20k - just in case - with every 2nd service - engine oil and oil/fuel/air/cabin filters every 10k.

 

And DSG every 30k - also just in case cheaper than new box

 

@nicknorman

 

Thanks I'm right now at almost 30k and no leaks so 100k sounds nice

4 hours ago, xman said:

Haldex requires oil and filter change every 40,000 miles (60k km) or 4 years iirc.

 

Some earlier generations may require 30,000 miles/ 3 years but not sure.

 

Somewhere on Briskoda is a pictorial thread on how someone serviced theirs iirc.

Haldex is 3 years on my 2016 gen 5 (no mileage specified). DSG is 40,000 miles.

4 hours ago, xman said:

Haldex requires oil and filter change every 40,000 miles (60k km) or 4 years iirc.

 

Some earlier generations may require 30,000 miles/ 3 years but not sure.

 

Somewhere on Briskoda is a pictorial thread on how someone serviced theirs iirc.

 

My TT which I think was Gen 1 was oil every 20K and filter every 40K, not sure if there was a time limit.

So a big confusing mix of VAG guidance. Little surprise there. I would think a mileage limit makes more sense than time. From what I've read, leave it too late and the Haldex will be buggered.

 

8 hours ago, xman said:

So a big confusing mix of VAG guidance. Little surprise there. I would think a mileage limit makes more sense than time. From what I've read, leave it too late and the Haldex will be buggered.

 

 

The fact VAG (certainly Skoda) don't seem to acknowledge the Haldex filter is verging on negligent as I am sure the information is freely available from Haldex themselves as to what service regime the coupling unit requires.  Thankfully it is forums like this where folk who are keen to look after their cars share and discuss the relevant information to get to the bottom of what seems like a very grey area! 

For something like €8 one can have an hour on Erwin and download the full servicing requirements. Although I agree it shouldn’t be that difficult! (what was wrong with the good old service booklet?)

46 minutes ago, nicknorman said:

For something like €8 one can have an hour on Erwin and download the full servicing requirements.

 

Aaaand ... you won't find anything about the Haldex filter replacement in there ... the simple fact is, Haldex as the manufacturer of the rear diff clutch defines a service procedure and interval of the filter (40,000 miles), whereas the VAG Group completely ignores the filter as being serviceable (only the oil change is mentioned) ... talking about the 4th Gen Haldex, don't know how it is defined for the others

Edited 18 September, 20187 yr by vborovic

12 minutes ago, vborovic said:

 

Aaaand ... you won't find anything about the Haldex filter replacement in there ... the simple fact is, Haldex as the manufacturer of the rear diff clutch defines a service procedure and interval of the filter (40,000 miles), whereas the VAG Group completely ignores the filter as being serviceable (only the oil change is mentioned) ... talking about the 4th Gen Haldex, don't know how it is defined for the others

Yes, however I have gen 5 which has no replaceable filter anyway!

2 hours ago, nicknorman said:

Yes, however I have gen 5 which has no replaceable filter anyway!

 

I've clearly written in the opening post that this topic is for the Haldex 4th gen ...

 

On 11/08/2018 at 16:16, vborovic said:

as it isn't there, in case it actually is there, which is the case for us who have 4th gen Haldex on our Superbs, and other VAG cars sharing the same AWD system

 

2 hours ago, vborovic said:

 

I've clearly written in the opening post that this topic is for the Haldex 4th gen ...

 

 

I know. What is your point? You said “You won’t find anything about a Haldex filter in there...”  and I said “yes however ...”  I won’t find anything in there about a Haldex filter because I don’t have one!

Edited 18 September, 20187 yr by nicknorman

Your particular car is irrelevant in this discussion, I was talking about your mention of the Erwin:

 

6 hours ago, nicknorman said:

For something like €8 one can have an hour on Erwin and download the full servicing requirements

 

Regarding the 4th Gen Haldex (which most of us, if not all, here in the Superb Mk II section have), You or anyone else, who is looking for the full servicing requirements for the 4th Gen Haldex equipped cars, won't find any mention of the filter being a serviceable/exchangeable part.

 

There, better now?

Edited 18 September, 20187 yr by vborovic

https://www.haldexrepairs.co.uk/guide-generation-4-haldex-trouble-shooting/

 

Note the sarcastic reference to the "non-existent magic lifetime oil filter"!

1 hour ago, vborovic said:

Your particular car is irrelevant in this discussion, I was talking about your mention of the Erwin:

 

 

Regarding the 4th Gen Haldex (which most of us, if not all, here in the Superb Mk II section have), You or anyone else, who is looking for the full servicing requirements for the 4th Gen Haldex equipped cars, won't find any mention of the filter being a serviceable/exchangeable part.

 

There, better now?

I think we both understand the situation. Whilst I agree that Erwin doesn’t know about the filter, it does give the service interval for Haldex, DSG etc, for any specific vehicle. I mentioned it because there were a few posts earlier mentioning various different service intervals for a Haldex and other stuff. My point was that if in doubt about the service interval for one’s specific version of Haldex, the “bible” is the Erwin schedule, even though it doesn’t know about the filter.

 

Anyway, have you done it yet? There are various videos on YouTube showing how to do it on a Gen 4, eg this one which, despite being for a Volvo, I think is pretty good.

 

 

Edited 18 September, 20187 yr by nicknorman

Checked the parcel tracking out of curiosity, and if no one screws up with the delivery, I'll receive the oil tomorrow. The parcel was shipped form Poland Monday morning ... basically, the package will be delivered faster than if someone would sent me a parcel within the country (3-4 days regularly, but we're much smaller then the UK) ... ... great stuff, but the bad thing is that I'm away for the weekend, so the earliest I'll be able to actually do something on the car won't be before next Monday or Tuesday

On 18/09/2018 at 15:48, nicknorman said:

There are various videos on YouTube showing how to do it on a Gen 4, eg this one which, despite being for a Volvo, I think is pretty good.

Very good video, interesting how there appears to be no use of VCDS to drive the pump etc where elsewhere VCDS is used to drive the pump to push out the filter etc.  Certainly seems a methodical approach with no specialist equipment required.

 

4 minutes ago, vborovic said:

so the earliest I'll be able to actually do something on the car won't be before next Monday or Tuesday

Look forward to your ongoing updates! 

1 minute ago, TasMan said:

Certainly seems a methodical approach with no specialist equipment required.

 

You can do the DSG oil change without any diag equipment as well, the only thing you need to know is how hot the oil is (make it too hot, and you'll have 3rd degree burns on your hands - if it is too cold, your oil level won't be correct during topping up) - in any case, it is much easier to know what the car is thinking and doing through the diag software, especially the fine details, which will never appear on the maxidot (but which could spell disaster in the making), and when you finally get any indication on the instrument panel, it may already be to late ... the Haldex is one prime example of that ... you won't ever figure out the damn thing doesn't work, unless you yourself notice the rear wheels don't get engaged ... and when that happens, you'll probably run into one the very few related error codes, which certainly aren't a pleasant surprise ...