# Haldex Pump



## bhoy78 (Oct 30, 2014)

Hi all

I changed my haldex pump, filter and oil yesterday. I followed Matt from Auto Fault Finders instructions which can be found here:

viewtopic.php?f=43&t=1496866

All went well apart from re filling the haldex unit. The issue was not physically re filling the unit it was the fact I was unprepared and didn't have a fill tool arranged. In fairness I hadn't actually planned to do the job so quickly, I was just making use of the good weather and the fact that Matt had sent me the parts next day delivery.

I tried filling the unit with a bladder syringe which would have worked if I had the right diameter of plastic tube but it would be a sloooow messy process. I tried a variety of local tool shops for a suitable hand pump or transfer tool, no one had anything in stock.

In the end I went to Halfords and bought the following:

http://www.halfords.com/workshop-tools/ ... -can-500cc

http://www.halfords.com/workshop-tools/ ... asher-tube

Yep an oil can, how retro 

Anyway all I did was cut a small piece of tubing around 3 inches and put it on the end of the oil can and job done. Filled the haldex unit very quickly and holds a decent amount of fluid unlike a 60ml bladder syringe.

Why did I change my pump?

I bought my car around 4/5 weeks ago. Its a 62 plate TTS (in white, the best of all colours, yeah this bits for you Mr Skate) it had low miles when bought at 26k and its currently done just under 28k.

Prior to buying the car ReTTro fit kindly scanned the car for me with vcds, no fault codes. I travelled down to Leicester went an extended test drive and I scanned it with vcds, again no fault codes.

On the test drive I noticed a slight traction control flicker when putting the foot down. This was just momentarily around the 5k rev range.

I questioned the seller about it and he told me he believed it was due to the tyres and the map, he had put new tyres on at 24k miles and they were Michelin sport 3's. He believed his previous tyres had been better for grip and his belief was the traction control flicker was less frequent once the tyres were heated up.

Having no vcds fault codes and having never owned a mapped car before this seemed like a feasible explanation to me. The flicker only appeared when you were really booting it, I could drive pretty damn fast without it happening but when foot was sunk to the floor it occurred.

The car is a TTS with a stage 1 map and sits at 314 bhp and 460nm. I was perfectly happy with the car but having had TC light flicker/haldex issues in my last TTS it was eating away at me.

After taking the car away for a week and putting about 1000 miles on the clock I found an intermittent fault on vcds:

00448 - Haldex Clutch Pump (V181) 
011 - Open Circuit
Freeze Frame:
Fault Status: 01101011
Fault Priority: 3
Fault Frequency: 1
Reset counter: 168
Mileage: 44453 km
Time Indication: 0
Date: 2017.05.23
Time: 11:36:18

This worried me, I tried to convince myself that maybe it had just recorded a fault as I had been booting its bum and the wheels had slipped. I though I would ask Danny (he also has a white TT Mr Skate so I knew he would know his stuff ) who confirmed his mapped TTS doesn't really have any traction control light flicker at all.

So I called Matt at Auto Fault Finder, he kindly spent quite a bit of time on the phone to me running through the various vcds tests on the haldex clutch. (I like TT's, I can tell you the spec, special editions, book prices etc but first to admit I don't have much/any mechanical knowledge)

It worked out the voltage in the output tests was incorrect and as per the guide a couple of taps on the pump gave me back 4wd. This would only be a temporary fix so I decided to order up the new parts and just get the job done.

Now ReTTro fit can confirm this but the car I bought was clean, describing it as anything less than showroom/garage queen would be an understatement. I only mention this as I want to emphasis the state of the pump is not due to the way the car had been treated previously.

It has full audi history, the last service was at 24.5k miles, the haldex oil was changed and the new tyres were put on. As Matt has said in his guide Audi DO NOT change the haldex filter when its in for a haldex oil change.

When I dropped the haldex fluid I could see it was clean, Audi had changed it 3000 miles ago but the whole point of this thread (I go on a bit, I know  ) was that I couldn't believe the state of my old pump:










Look at the mess/sludge on the strainer! I was shocked, this is a car that had a haldex change 3k miles ago and that had been done as just turned the 4 years old rather than on miles.

I believe you could likely clean your pump periodically to prolong its life but I think its clear that audi are just sucking/pumping the haldex oil out rather than doing the job properly.

Anyway the haldex is a weak point on the TT, my last one had corrosion on the circuit board at 5 years old 60k miles, I was wary of taking the unit off so actually drove from Glasgow to Congleton to have it repaired by Auto Fault Finder. I would have no qualms removing the unit now or if the guide had been available back then, its easy to take off just a couple of bolts and some really tight electrical connections.

The previous time I thought it was tyres that was causing my issues as well. With the ecu fault the TC light flash happened when booting it at the 5k rev range. My tyres on that car were kumho ecsta so not a premium tyres but after the board was repaired no traction control light at all, despite the tyres.

I guess what I am trying to say is if you get traction control light flicker and the ground isn't damp/wet uneven then you likely have a haldex fault. I think most tyres are good enough that they don't cause the loss of grip (I am talking about decent tyres with a decent amount of tread left).

Anyway big thanks to Matt for the parts and for talking me through the vcds tests which is a really easy way to check your 4wd function. Happy to say I have zero traction control light flash at all and that includes doing launches and putting the car through its paces, for experimental purposes of course  8)


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## Roller Skate (May 18, 2015)

bhoy78 said:


> Hi all
> 
> I changed my haldex pump, filter and oil yesterday. I followed Matt from Auto Fault Finders instructions which can be found here:
> 
> ...


Excellent work Sir.


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## bhoy78 (Oct 30, 2014)

Thank you kind Sir


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## Danny1 (Sep 2, 2010)

Glad its sorted mate! Got to keep the best colour cars performing as good as they look


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## Roller Skate (May 18, 2015)

Danny1 said:


> Glad its sorted mate! Got to keep the best colour cars performing as good as they look


Picture of a white TT in the snow.


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## Danny1 (Sep 2, 2010)

Roller Skate said:


> Danny1 said:
> 
> 
> > Glad its sorted mate! Got to keep the best colour cars performing as good as they look
> ...


 :lol:


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## bhoy78 (Oct 30, 2014)

Danny1 said:


> Glad its sorted mate! Got to keep the best colour cars performing as good as they look


Thanks for your advice mate 8)



Roller Skate said:


> Picture of a white TT in the snow.


Hahaha brilliant!


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## brittan (May 18, 2007)

Nicely done Sir. 

I've said before that it would be a good idea to remove the pump and check/clean the screen at oil and filter change time - which, going by your example, should be well in advance of the Audi schedule.

Your work proves how vulnerable the Haldex unit is to clogging of the pump screen and filter even at fairly low mileage.

Not much we can do about pump failure due to worn brushes though.


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## Gaz78 (Mar 15, 2017)

I was at congleton this week letting Matt at Auto fault finder work his magic on my haldex unit. I had an intermittent pump fault. So he changed the pump, filter, oil and rebonded the circuit board on the haldex......no more traction lights flickering now!

Matt certainly knows his stuff and is a genuine decent guy 8)

Gaz


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## Danny1 (Sep 2, 2010)

brittan said:


> Nicely done Sir.
> 
> I've said before that it would be a good idea to remove the pump and check/clean the screen at oil and filter change time - which, going by your example, should be well in advance of the Audi schedule.
> 
> ...


Is this not down to the filter though? Filter gets clogged with gunk then pump is over worked and burns/wears out?


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## brittan (May 18, 2007)

Danny1 said:


> brittan said:
> 
> 
> > Nicely done Sir.
> ...


I was simply endorsing cleaning the pump screen as part of a proper maintenance regime for the Haldex unit. 
Pump failure is commonly due to worn brushes and full servicing (oil/filter/screen clean) could prolong pump life as without filter and screen clogging, the pump should run cooler and that may extend the life of the brushes. 
It's still poor that the brushes should wear relatively quickly and be non-replaceable without a new pump to go with them.


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## bhoy78 (Oct 30, 2014)

brittan said:


> Nicely done Sir.
> 
> I've said before that it would be a good idea to remove the pump and check/clean the screen at oil and filter change time - which, going by your example, should be well in advance of the Audi schedule.
> 
> ...


Thanks, yes I agree and will be cleaning the pump screen at future oil and filter changes. What's your thoughts on the Gen 5 haldex? Matt said as he expects me to get a mk3 at one point that I should be wary of the gen 5 haldex. He expects owners to have major bills around the 5 year mark as its a diff rebuild job  Said similar issues have been seen with the gen 5 on other cars, so not good on audi's part :x

So far 2 for 2 haldex issues on my mk2's, my 15 year old mk1 has never had any haldex issues at all.



Gaz78 said:


> Matt certainly knows his stuff and is a genuine decent guy 8) Gaz


Agreed he's a top bloke, glad your all sorted and bet you feel a major difference.


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## brittan (May 18, 2007)

bhoy78 said:


> What's your thoughts on the Gen 5 haldex? Matt said as he expects me to get a mk3 at one point that I should be wary of the gen 5 haldex. He expects owners to have major bills around the 5 year mark as its a diff rebuild job  Said similar issues have been seen with the gen 5 on other cars, so not good on audi's part :x


Hopefully it's a bit soon to expect any issues from my Gen 5 Haldex just yet!
I've had a look at the unit, identified the fill and drain plugs and noted that there's no filter housing like the Gen 4 unit. From the parts diagram I'm not even sure if the pump has a screen like the Gen 4. There's no accumulator like the Gen 4 and the controller simply looks 'weedy' compared to the Gen 4 but looks can be deceiving given the controller problems on the Gen 4. As far as I can understand the Gen 4 pump is a variable speed and runs continuously rather than the intermittent operation of the Gen 4 pump. Maybe the reduced number of start loads across the brushes will extend their life? 
Interesting that Matt says that it's a diff rebuild job: on the parts diagram it looks like the Haldex unit simply bolts into the front of the diff/haldex casing but obviously there's some reason. Perhaps Matt should be persuaded to do a write up on the Gen 5


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## bhoy78 (Oct 30, 2014)

Certainly not wishing any haldex issues on the mk3 cars. I think the car he mentioned that had haldex issues and an expensive fix was the insignia.


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