My Bora's first trip to the doctor

[djorkboy]

I believe the last 5 years servicing of my Bora has been done by European Auto Tech at Mona Vale and from what I hear these guys are VW experts and very well regarded so I am reasonably confident they wouldn't make such a stupid mistake as putting the wrong fluid in.

....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? Was there something wrong that they were trying to remedy by changing the fluid? Or was it the Haldex fluid that got changed in mid-2010 and not the diff fluid?

[Bora Sport]

I had a problem with my 2001 4Mo diff around 60,000 k's ago. It was ok when cold but then after say a 100 k drive at highway speeds it would make a god awful noise when turning. I took it to VW dealer and other people and eventually after changing the Haldex oil and filter to no benefit I got the diff oil changed and it fixed my problem. I was told at the time the same as you that the diff oil doesn't need to be changed but obviously it does. My mechanic mate told me it was fairly common with Commodores. The diffs clunk and bang. Change the oil and all is good.

Mine Bora has over 200,000k's on it now so yours is still low mileage lol.

[djorkboy]

So they took the diff oil out and there is a considerable amount of metal in it. So it is diff recondition or replace time.

Anyone have a spare Bora rear diff lying around?

[djorkboy]

This is what came out of my diff

[Coralon]

eeeeewww!!

Hope it doesnt cost too much, drive train parts for these things can be pricey.

[Jmac]

Eww, that looks yuk mate, some case hardening in there for sure. i had a whole Haldex and diff sitting in the UK from a 4Mo Golf. They do come up now and again. Im trying to set up a DHL acct so will be able to import heaps of thjis stuff soon. The unit i had sat around so long it went white with corrosion, what a shame.
Jmac

[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.....

[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.