My Bora's first trip to the doctor

[djorkboy]

there is an entire diff with haldex on ebay.co.uk for 200 pounds, but how much would it cost to get it to Australia?

I actually do have a DHL account at work.....

[popeclement]

I sympathise with your problem - are they suggesting wrong fluid or no fluid change might have caused this?

[djorkboy]

They are suggesting that the official VW "diff fluid lasts the life of the vehicle" policy is what caused the problem.

Anyone with a Bora 4motion or R32, my suggestion is you ignore the servicing schedule on this that says you never need to change it and get your diff fluid replaced at 100,000kms

[Dave75]

How can anything last forever where there are moving parts involved? How can VW get this wrong?

[grtuned]

Seen the pic of the oil. i'm sure the diff takes over a litre of fluid is that all that came out???

[djorkboy]

No that's just the sample they gave me. They didn't mention how much fluid came out, but I will remember to ask them when I take the car back on Monday.

The mechanic told me that the car is marginally drivable and as he trusts my judgement to be able to tell when something is wrong he feels comfortable giving me the car back to me so I picked it up yesterday.

But on the drive home it was clear the noise hasn't lessened much by changing the fluid so I am going to take it straight back on Monday and have him pull the diff out and send it off to the reconditioning place to see how much it will cost. In the meantime both me and the mechanic are looking for good second hand units in case the cost of reconditioning is stratospheric.

[Manaz]

....but, my mechanic says he called Volkswagen to find out what the service interval is for diff fluid in a Bora 4motion and he was told it is a life of unit thing and should never need replacing as a routine servicing thing, so if that really is the case, why did the fluid get changed in mid-2010?

There are two fluids related to the rear diff of a 4Mo:

1. Diff oil itself. As noted, the diff is meant to be a "sealed for life" affair.
2. Haldex fluid. Different kettle of fish - this is used by the Haldex control unit to control the engagement/disengagement of the clutch packs in the rear diff (not to lubicate them). This is a service item (every 60,000km if memory serves), the parts for it (fluid and filter/plug, they both get replaced) are easily obtainable.

The people at Volkswagen your mechanic spoke to should have made this quite clear.

For what it's worth, Haldex AWD systems are also used by other European manufacturers - Volvo, Saab and Opel in Europe to start with, so they're not just specific to VWs.

[Manaz]

there is an entire diff with haldex on ebay.co.uk for 200 pounds, but how much would it cost to get it to Australia?

I actually do have a DHL account at work.....

Be aware that the rear diff from an Audi S3 (8L model) should also fit fine. I know there's been some available locally for a while (European Autotech who you've already mentioned had one for a while), so you may find one locally, but it won't be cheap as they're relatively rare over here. They're a big, heavy unit, so shipping from overseas may not be cheap either - but if you can afford to wait and can have one sent surface, you may do OK that way.

[djorkboy]

There are two fluids related to the rear diff of a 4Mo...

....The people at Volkswagen your mechanic spoke to should have made this quite clear.....

Yeah, VW were quite clear on it. At this point there is no suspicion of anything wrong with the Haldex. From the condition of the fluid that came out of the diff I think it unlikely that it was changed in early 2010, so I'm guessing the diff oil listed in the service record is a Haldex service.

Be aware that the rear diff from an Audi S3 (8L model) should also fit fine. I know there's been some available locally for a while (European Autotech who you've already mentioned had one for a while), so you may find one locally, but it won't be cheap as they're relatively rare over here. They're a big, heavy unit, so shipping from overseas may not be cheap either - but if you can afford to wait and can have one sent surface, you may do OK that way.

I took the car back to the mechanic today, he is going to pull the diff and send it off to the re-conditioners to get a price on the fix. In the meantime both myself and the mechanic will be out looking for replacements in case the re-conditioning costs too much.

At this point, given what I paid for the car, if I can keep the cost of the diff repair under $4000 I will still have a Bora that cost me less than almost any 4motion on the market today. My preference is for a re-conditioned diff, but if the cost is going to run to too much more than $3000, including labour to fit it, I will be looking for a unit from a wreck.

I'm hoping if this is the case I will be able to get a second hand unit (diff internals only, no Haldex, no casing) for under $1500, does this seem like a price that falls within the bounds of reality? Will a unit from a MkIV R32 work? What about an early TT Quattro, that is the same diff too isn't it? Would the diff ratio be the same in all these cars?

I think shipping from overseas looks at first glance like a last resort, but $320 for a complete unit from the UK leaves $1180 for shipping to Australia if my budget is $1500. If I can recruit someone in the UK to strip out the parts I need and keep the leftovers for their trouble (the one I saw on sale in the UK comes with everything including Haldex) that might help to keep shipping costs down. Maybe I could find a kind compatriot on the UKMKIV forum who would be willing to help me out in return for some free parts?

[Manaz]

Will a unit from a MkIV R32 work? What about an early TT Quattro, that is the same diff too isn't it? Would the diff ratio be the same in all these cars?

Yes, yes and yes. All the same.