Haldex is TOAST. Culprit? Dealer tech "forgot" to refill.

[The Fed]

Off topic, but isn't it funny that they tell you no smoking in the car (when you rent it) and also have the no smoking signs in the car but they always smell like smoke...like wtf?

Then they spray this obnoxious stuff to try to mask it.

 

[The Fed]

Already corrected my statement. Still a basic haldex with open diffs at either end can only do so much and one of it's primary jobs is straight line grip.

Also, what do you expect me to drink when I'm all out of scotch?

I had to look up something in my owners manual recently, and it stated I can't turn off EDL. So even with the traction control and ESC fully off I can't stop the brakes from slowing a spinning wheel. This makes sense, because the R should have more than enough power to spin the wheels on the passenger side under heavy acceleration. I believe EDL also works when cornering but I'm not sure.

If the R had true mechanical locking differentials it would always smoke both inside tires when taking off from a stop with the wheels turned to make a 90-degree turn. I tried this on a parking lot, and the most I got was a little chirp from it seems a rear wheel. Same thing when turning out of a parking lot on the ramp from a stop, one little chirp.

Back in the 70's I worked on a Civil War era Army base that was built before cars. They still had some narrow streets with tight turns barely big enough for one car. At the time I had a '75 4-speed 'Vette with Posi. 'Vette's Posi's were made so it took 70 or 90 foot pounds (can't remember which) of torque just to turn the rear wheels. In comparison my Trans Am took 40 foot pounds. It was impossible not to spin the inner tire with a manual transmission. Either the engine would stall or you smoked a tire. The head of security observed me one day, pulled me over, and gave me hell. I explained why it did it but he didn't believe me. So I gave him the keys and told him he was welcome to try. Never bothered me again.

 

[Golf R1]

The head of security observed me one day, pulled me over, and gave me hell. I explained why it did it but he didn't believe me. So I gave him the keys and told him he was welcome to try. Never bothered me again.

Your appearance and vehicle choice must've been masking your inner nerd!

 

[KevinC]

Back in the 70's I worked on a Civil War era Army base that was built before cars.

Fort Huachuca by any chance?

Today is the day that both service managers are back, so I expect some sort of resolution and moving forward with getting the damn car fixed, and Dealer A authorizing my rental car beyond today. I'm going to wait a while to see if anyone contacts ME before reaching out to anyone - I've already fully documented the events in an email that both service managers and all SA's involved were copied on last Friday. If I get any sort of resistance, things are gonna get ugly and fast. Stay tuned!

 

[KevinC]

UPDATE: The service manager at Dealer A reached out to me via email fairly early this morning, hat in hand, apologizing and giving me an update on the issue. He'd already spoken with the service manager at Dealer B and they were working together to move this towards an amicable conclusion. Dealer A is going to cover the cost of the repairs, at a discounted cost from Dealer B, and has also extended my rental approval till November 9th. Later in the day I called the service manager at Dealer B to discuss the situation. Seems like a great guy, and they had in fact already ordered parts last week. But the bad news is that the rear diff is toast, which they didn't initially realize, and that part is currently unobtainium, with no availability date currently known. So he's going to put me into a VW loaner as soon as he has one available, which will also be a favor of sorts to Dealer A as it will eliminate the rental car expense once that happens.

So, at least there's no delay due to "further evaluation" of how this could have happened and how could my car possibly have continued for almost 2k miles before breaking down. But this part delay could be lengthy. More updates as the situation unfolds.

 

[ourlee]

OP, Now that that’s settled, if a guy in a bar calls me a penis wrinkle, I should punch him in the face, right?

 

[golfdave]

UPDATE: But the bad news is that the rear diff is toast, which they didn't initially realize, and that part is currently unobtainium, with no availability date currently known. So, at least there's no delay due to "further evaluation" of how this could have happened and how could my car possibly have continued for almost 2k miles before breaking down. But this part delay could be lengthy. More updates as the situation unfolds.

So as I suspected..the monkey inserted a suction pump into the only plug hole in the final drive unit & sucked as much oil out....which left a small amount in the sump & all the gears covered....


That would be enough to stop immediate welding of the gears due to lack of lube...

I recon that I sent you a copy of the VW workshop book & you showed it to the techs at the dealers which FUBAR'd it ..it would be news to them...amazing how many DON'T read the fecking books....

 

[WetMacula]

Sorry Kevin, this sucks. Reminds me I need to find an independent shop for larger jobs. I got my infotainment firmware updated under warranty shortly after I bought the car and it was a terrible experience. Another dealer quoted me $2000 usd to replace the ACC radar and lower trim. All it needed was to be snapped back into the two ball joints and driven for a week. I'd like to get the update for the cold start misfire issue because the car threw a code once and usually sounds like an idling tractor in the morning.

I just changed my engine oil and Haldex oil last week at 19,500 miles (per TIGSEL's guide). Anyone know what the service interval for the final drive box?

 

[DAS_STIG]

I just changed my engine oil and Haldex oil last week at 19,500 miles (per TIGSEL's guide). Anyone know what the service interval for the final drive box?

I think it was stated elsewhere in the thread that the final drive is lifetime of vehicle and does not need servicing unless oil is leaking.

 

[golfdave]

I just changed my engine oil and Haldex oil last week at 19,500 miles (per TIGSEL's guide). Anyone know what the service interval for the final drive box?

Supposedly for life...not mentioned in the maintenance section...

also you have the front bevel box which is between the gearbox & the propshaft..again no mention of oil changes..

& to correct something I said earlier the final drive box does have a drain plug...just its not mentioned in the book as you are only supposed to check the oil level & top it up...

so the OP dealers monkey must have undone the drain plug on the final drive box & drained the oil..

 

[NCM]

So, at least there's no delay due to "further evaluation" of how this could have happened and how could my car possibly have continued for almost 2k miles before breaking down.

That part doesn't require much explanation, I think. I don't know the spec of VW's final drive lube, but that stuff is usually pretty thick. Draining it would still leave a good coating on the parts and captured within the bearing races. Then the Haldex only gets engaged on an intermittent basis in ordinary driving — it's essentially freewheeling the rest of the time. It's not hard to imagine being able to drive a longish distance before failure.

Not, mind you, that I'm any fan of 'lifetime fills' of essential lubricants, unless you don't mind that lifetime ending up a whole lot shorter than it ought to be.

Neil

 

[Ferrari]

I just changed my engine oil and Haldex oil last week at 19,500 miles (per TIGSEL's guide). Anyone know what the service interval for the final drive box?

I changed all the driveline fluids on mine at 20K (transmission, front bevel box, rear diff, Haldex & screen cleaning). All this was done at an independent shop, with me helping, and used OEM fluids. This way I know it was done right.

 

[The Fed]

Your appearance and vehicle choice must've been masking your inner nerd!

I was a mechanic at the time. At that particular time in my career I was working on M1 Abrams and APC equipment. I don't think I looked like a nerd dressed like a grease monkey. I did have one of the coolest cars.

 

[robmarktoo]

foon stoof

 

[KevinC]

Update: I should have the car back tomorrow. New LR axle and rear diff, plus I'm guessing a buttload of ancillary parts and lots of labor time. Dealer A paying for everything including my rental. The invoice should be interesting, will share details once I have her back.