Disappointed in off road performance

[Sargan]

I bought my Kodiaq as I need to tow my boat.

low tide, so drove off the of concrete slipway and rear wheels in water front wheels on gravel. (Only to 2/3 depth of tyre, not even wheel in gravel)

Launched boat … went to drive off with only trailer attached ….. had selected 4WD mode …. Front wheels just spinning no grip.

The strange thing was rear wheels did not try to drive car at any time.

 

It’s simply as if it was in 2WD 

I even selected snow mode - no difference.

 

Had another boater pull me onto concrete with his Fiat Panda !
 

Anybody else had poor 4WD performance.?

I don’t expect Landrover mud plugging capability, but this was very poor.
 

I’m assuming if it was not working alarms would display.

[Ootohere]

Best have the Haldex checked to see if working if no drive went to the rear wheels.

 

So what tyres were fitted that you hoped would be getting grip / traction?

Edited 16 September, 2021 by e-Roottoot

[Sargan]

The standard tyres that come with the car ... Pirelli Scorpion Verde   235 50 R19

As supplied with the car so therefore deemed fit for purpose by Skoda.

 

That isn't the concern though, if all 4 wheel were driving and it couldn't get out then I'd consider the tyres.

 

 

Fair enough if car was 12" down in mud all sucking against the wheels - the concern is no drive at all to rear wheels.

Edited 16 September, 2021 by Sargan

[Kenny R]

Interested in how you selected 4wd mode.

I suspect you mean off-road mode. 
How long have you had the car, has the Haldex oil been changed and the pump filter cleaned if due.

[Ootohere]

@SarganIt does not drive all 4 wheels as it has no locking diffs or centre diff, you have a part time all wheel drive that as you have found might end up driving 1 or 2 wheels or no wheels, the spinning fronts should have lead to some drive going to another 2 or 3. 

[Sargan]

I'll answ Qs raised by  KennyR  and e-Roottoot

 

Servicing :

I have had the car since new ... it has had every service by the main dealer who supplied it - so if oil changes or filters were required then they should have been done, when you service with main dealer you expect them to follow manufacturers schedules.

 

 

4WD mode

I appreciate this is a 2WD car, It is Intelligent AWD, so it runs as normal in 2WD, but when you select off road mode, it provides electronically controlled drive to all 4 wheels ....  this was what didn't happen, no drive at all to rear wheels.

If front wheel were having no traction the system should be at least supplying power to rear wheels (OK they may slip as well) 

[Kenny R]

You don’t have to engage off-road mode for the drive to go to 4 wheels, it does this automatically in normal everyday driving. I would check that the Haldex services have been done as here in the UK it is an addition to normal services and even then Skoda dealers in the UK just change the oil and do not remove the pump and clean the filter unless you specifically ask them, and the garage you deal with has a clue.

One thing to note if you haven’t driven a Haldex equipped car before if the front wheels do slip you need to keep the power on to allow drive to transfer to the rear, assuming your Haldex IS working.

 

Edited 16 September, 2021 by Kenny R

[Sargan]

My last 3 cars have had same drive system, never had an issue driving them.

I had kept drive on, all it was doing was spinning fronts and creating a rut.

 

I'll book it in to be checked.

[Ootohere]

Expecting the people at the service desk to tell you what is 'Recommended by the manufacturer' other than oil & Filter changes to the engine and the pollen filter is an issue.

 

Even if they told you the Haldex was due at 3 years or 30,000 miles or even sooner and how much that is does not mean they do it correctly and clean the pump / filter.

Same with Brake Fluid change, they need to tell you. 

 

They might tell you at 2 years the A/C is due a service.   Even Service Plans might not include the Haldex @ 3 years or the DSG at 40,000 miles.

 

 

 

 

Edited 16 September, 2021 by e-Roottoot

[Kenny R]

Even having the Haldex oil changed and pump filter cleaned at the correct intervals is sadly no guarantee that all is ok. My Kodiaqs  Haldex pump failed shortly after being serviced at my local dealer. Coincidence ? or not, at least it was replaced under the extended warranty.

[Doombar]

Strikes me the car must have seen front and rear wheel rotations speeds as completely different for a prolonged period - ie an error condition. Curious - did it throw up any warnings when the fronts were spinning and the rears did nothing? If not it seems weird it can detect traction control issues in normal driving - but doesn’t alert when the AWD isn’t delivering…

[Sargan]

No, there were no alarms, notifications, beeps etc.

Interesting point that should traction control alarms be happening, or does that only become active above a certain speed.

2 hours ago, Kenny R said:

Even having the Haldex oil changed and pump filter cleaned at the correct intervals is sadly no guarantee that all is ok. My Kodiaqs  Haldex pump failed shortly after being serviced at my local dealer. Coincidence ? or not, at least it was replaced under the extended warranty.

How did you know it had failed, were there error codes ?

[Kenny R]

14 minutes ago, Sargan said:

No, there were no alarms, notifications, beeps etc.

Interesting point that should traction control alarms be happening, or does that only become active above a certain speed.

How did you know it had failed, were there error codes ?

Apart from a strange noise when manoeuvring at slow speed with a lot of steering lock on, which I thought might be a rear diff problem, there was no warnings of any kind.

Booked into dealer to investigate and it took them best part of a week to come back and say Haldex pump was faulty and had been replaced and all now ok. 
As far as I know with previous Yeti and current Kodiaq the Haldex does not initiate any fault lamps when faulty, you just find out as you did that the rear wheels are not providing any drive.

[Doombar]

In your situation Sargan, surely the logic from the traction control should also notice that if the car has a haldex pump that should be actively directing drive to the rear, and the wheels aren’t moving at all - there’s a pretty serious fault condition occurring. Maybe the car will have a hidden fault code stored and there’s just no dash display for it. Or maybe the logic for the fault condition above doesn’t exist period. Will be interested to know what you uncover as they investigate.

[Sargan]

I’ll report back when they have investigated.

[Teir]

Not necessarily helpful to the OP, but just to add to this thread - here is a page listing some potential Haldex error codes:

 

https://www.haldexrepairs.co.uk/generation-5-haldex-fault-finding-repair-guide/

[Sargan]

OK ... Skoda dealer advise Haldex Service is NOT part of normal service schedule, and they recommend it is serviced every 3 years.

So it has never been touched.

I asked why wasn't mine done, they said it was not asked for, ..... how would I know to ask for it?

 

Booked in for Haldex service in a weeks time.

[olderman1]

Your dealer customer service leaves something to be desired  then. When I booked my third service, my dealer advised that the Haldex should be done at the same time, although it was agreed to defer it to year 4 due due lack of miles on the clock (Covid).

During ownership of the car, it occurred to me that we buy cars with functions that we may never use e.g. 4WD, and for the uninitiated 4WD can kick in and the driver would never be aware that it had, so how do we know it's working ok ?

To that end, I asked my dealer at the first service to check that it was functioning properly. They did and it was.

Edited 17 September, 2021 by olderman1

[Sargan]

They did say there was note on their system that it was deferred ... but had not told me about that.

I have only done 30,000 miles in 3 years

Edited 17 September, 2021 by Sargan

[olderman1]

 I would have thought that 30,000 was a mileage at which servicing the Haldex was prudent. Mine had only done 9,000 !

It'll be interesting to hear if your system is functioning correctly.

[skomaz]

I would suggest you check with them what they will do as part of the Haldex 'service'.  If it is just an oil change, as per the Skoda recommendation, then I'd go elsewhere, or take it to a VAG, or even a Volvo Specialist who knows what they are doing.  It really needs the pump removing, the filter cleaning and the oil changing as well as, possibly, a pump relearn. (see the link from Teir above).

 

We had an Octavia 4x4 for 14 years, made sure all of the above was carried out regularly and never had a Haldex problem but, as you and others have found out, they can fail for lack of being looked after properly.

Edited 17 September, 2021 by skomaz

[PaulCanning]

Certainly when I just had mine serviced they said the haldex needed doing and the brake fluid and I did have them done. Mind you, when I picked it up there was an engine management light that turned out to be a secondary coolant pump which needed replacing. Coincidence? Or could this "coolant" pump be the haldex pump. I didn't feel like it had been a great experience thats for sure. 

[Kenny R]

When I had my Haldex oil change and pump filter cleaned at its 3rd service (14500 miles) the pump filter was apparently similar to this..

Edited 17 September, 2021 by Kenny R

[Sargan]

Car went in today for resolution. (Full Haldex service)

Dealer advises Haldex was very dirty, and so was the oil.

They have cleaned it fully, and replaced the oil and now advise all working OK.

 

 

 

 

[Ootohere]

@Sargan how many miles had your car done?     Be aware of the rear diff.   Many do not have the oil changed in the diff for a long time. 100,000 miles maybe.   With a Launch vehicle that is getting reversed into water you need to think about this.  People do it with Land Rovers which do not have extended axle breathers and other 4x4,s and can be surprised how a diff is in a short period of time.    Preventative servicing and maintenance can save on big bills. 

Edited 5 October, 2021 by e-Roottoot