Mook Posted August 5, 2005 Report Share Posted August 5, 2005 VW and Audi have an official internal communication to all of their dealers that any 4WD car with the Haldex system (R32, TT, S3, V6 4mo) must have the Haldex oil changed every 10K miles. If not, this can result in drivetrain failure. I found this out after I had my last service done (where they did change it), but that was a 40K service at 36K miles. It wasn't done at 27K. If you haven't had it done and you're waiting for your first service to come around (20K on the long-life), you might want to consider having it done PDQ - apparently most of the VW garages have not noticed this maintenance update... Should be no more than £50 to get your local VW specialist to do it for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riz Posted August 5, 2005 Report Share Posted August 5, 2005 Mmmm first ive heard of this. My Audi S3`s service manual stated every 20,000 miles. Also the R32 was the same. Riz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gti_Fly Posted August 5, 2005 Report Share Posted August 5, 2005 I had my haldex oil changed at 20k (whereas most VW dealers insisted it didnt need doing until 40k!) 10k service intervals would surely be safer, but it would be totally headache inducing seeing as most R32's are on variable servicing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattcony Posted August 5, 2005 Report Share Posted August 5, 2005 I would do it my self but the tool to remove the drain plug is expensive, looking at a picture of it would it not be possible to just get a spanner and cut the head off and weld it back on at a right angle ? Does anyone know what size the nut head is ? Cheers Matt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mook Posted August 5, 2005 Author Report Share Posted August 5, 2005 [ QUOTE ] Mmmm first ive heard of this. My Audi S3`s service manual stated every 20,000 miles. Also the R32 was the same. Riz [/ QUOTE ] That's the rub. The manual says this, but VW and Audi have issued a dealer update that says do it every 10K miles. I will be having the engine oil and filter changed every 5K miles since the Stage 4 upgrade. It was done every 10K miles before this, because personally I don't think a car should go 20K without it. Good old VAG group... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riz Posted August 5, 2005 Report Share Posted August 5, 2005 [ QUOTE ] [ QUOTE ] Mmmm first ive heard of this. My Audi S3`s service manual stated every 20,000 miles. Also the R32 was the same. Riz [/ QUOTE ] That's the rub. The manual says this, but VW and Audi have issued a dealer update that says do it every 10K miles. I will be having the engine oil and filter changed every 5K miles since the Stage 4 upgrade. It was done every 10K miles before this, because personally I don't think a car should go 20K without it. Good old VAG group... [/ QUOTE ]Is this a UK originated update or has it come directly from Germany! Could be another way of doing customers over and also what about all the previous cars which have been serviced??? if this is a big problem surely this can cause problems for older customers who can claim that it should have been done every 10k miles and not 20k miles?? Sounds very strange indeed. Riz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattcony Posted August 5, 2005 Report Share Posted August 5, 2005 [ QUOTE ] If this is a big problem surely this can cause problems for older customers who can claim that it should have been done every 10k miles and not 20k miles?? Sounds very strange indeed. Riz [/ QUOTE ] Like Woppum maybe ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R32Ash Posted August 5, 2005 Report Share Posted August 5, 2005 [ QUOTE ] I would do it my self but the tool to remove the drain plug is expensive, looking at a picture of it would it not be possible to just get a spanner and cut the head off and weld it back on at a right angle ? Does anyone know what size the nut head is ? Cheers Matt [/ QUOTE ] My friend bought that tool for doing the Haldex filter. He's sold it now unfortunately, but he got it from our local Audi dealer. I'm not actually sure if they are supposed to sell the spanner though, as he had no trouble selling it on and getting his money back! I seem to recall it being about £30, but he did say something about them making a pricing mistake. If you are just doing the oil (filter doesn't need changing every oil change) you don't need special tools AFIK. The fresh oil is 'squirted' back into the drain hole in the bottom of the unit, then you just put the plug back in sharpish! I think it was actually cheaper to buy the filter spanner, filter and oil, than it was to pay the dealer to do the job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattcony Posted August 5, 2005 Report Share Posted August 5, 2005 [ QUOTE ] I think it was actually cheaper to buy the filter spanner, filter and oil, than it was to pay the dealer to do the job. [/ QUOTE ] No shock there then Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
helfinger Posted August 6, 2005 Report Share Posted August 6, 2005 my engine oil has been changed every 3,000 ever since i have had the car, haldex filter and oil was done at 20K done 26K now so will be doing again in 4K if thats the case........ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
larryccf Posted August 8, 2005 Report Share Posted August 8, 2005 MauveGecko any chance your dealer would provide you with a copy of that bulletin? would like to have a scanned copy appreciate if possible Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mook Posted August 8, 2005 Author Report Share Posted August 8, 2005 Just called my local dealer (which is not where I heard about it) and they denied any knowledge of this update. They also commented that they could not pass on internal documents to customers. Nice... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A3Floyd Posted August 8, 2005 Report Share Posted August 8, 2005 Considering that there is a weak point on the Haldex where the steel drain/filler plug fits into the soft alloy haldex casing, i'd be tempted to not get it serviced every 10k miles - you're just increasing the probability of the case cracking! How do i know? it happened to me - dealer denied all knowledge of it of course and said that the crack must have been there all along and only became noticable when they topped up the oil in the Haldex unit. Load of rubbish but i was well and truly shafted cos there was little way of proving either way. Thats Maidstone Audi by the way Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1monty Posted August 10, 2005 Report Share Posted August 10, 2005 Just spoken with the service manager of my local VW dealers who sounded very knowledgeable & straight & he has had no notification of changing oil every 10K. He still says every 20K with filter change @ 40K & has not heard of any premature Haldex failure. Has only ever replaced one unit (not R32). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mook Posted August 10, 2005 Author Report Share Posted August 10, 2005 Sorry Monty, that's the problem. VW have issued the update, but the dealers do not seem to have noticed it. It's your call, but I will be having the oil changed every 10K miles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R32Ash Posted August 10, 2005 Report Share Posted August 10, 2005 [ QUOTE ] It's your call, but I will be having the oil changed every 10K miles. [/ QUOTE ] If I ever get mine up to 10k miles I'll have mine done too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rachel Posted August 11, 2005 Report Share Posted August 11, 2005 The new APR distributor (and Haldex PreX supplier) down here is talking to Haldex tomorrow about some other stuff, and I've asked to see if we can get clarification on this topic from the horses mouth... BTW - the new high-performance Haldex ECU looks like it'll cost me $1100 + labour. Will let you know if/when i get it put in. The CVWC owner has one for his R32 he's hoping to install next week - so I'm going to angle for a drive to see what the difference is like when i have a stock .:R (mine) to compare to an APR firmware/PreX Haldex upgraded .:R. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drillslinger Posted August 11, 2005 Report Share Posted August 11, 2005 That's odd I've kept the Audi service interval (Oil every 30k kms (18+ miles) and filter every 60k kms (37+ miles)) and after over 216k kms (134+ miles) I'm without any problems Any idea just when the service update came out? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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