Haldex Package for a Generation Two or Three System in OE Supplier

A Haldex job: the older system, which has a serviceable filter that the later ones do not and a different failure pattern.

We are an independent parts supplier. We are not Volkswagen, Audi, Seat or Skoda, and we are not appointed by any of them. Those are their trademarks and what we sell are parts that fit their cars. The useful thing about this group is that four badges share platforms and share parts, so the same component fits a Golf, an A3, a Leon and an Octavia and costs four different amounts at four different counters. We list it once, at one price, and tell you which platform it belongs to.

Specification and fitment

• Fits: Golf Mk5 Mk6 Mk7 Mk8, Passat B6 B7 B8, A3 8P 8V 8Y, A4 B8 B9, Leon 1P 5F KL, Octavia 1Z 5E NX, and the other group cars on the same platforms with four wheel drive, badged 4Motion, quattro, 4Drive or 4x4
• Platform: chosen above, and the Haldex generation matters more than the platform. This part is shared across the group. The Volkswagen, the Audi, the Seat and the Skoda all take it, it is the same component in four different boxes, and the price here is the same whichever badge is on your car. Choose your badge above for your records, not because it changes anything.
• Engine: not engine dependent. This group changes specification mid production and does it on a platform basis rather than a model year basis, so two cars registered the same week can take different parts. Send us the VIN with the order and we check the part against the build data before anything is dispatched. It takes two minutes and it is the difference between a part that fits and a return.
• Production dates: 2003 to 2022 depending on platform and Haldex generation
• Quality: made by the firm that supplies the group, in that firm's own box rather than a dealer box. Same casting, same line, and on a group that shares parts across four brands this is where the saving actually is
• Part number: cross referenced to the group part number for your VIN and confirmed before dispatch. We do not print one number against a listing that covers several supersessions, because on this group the supersessions are the whole point
• The failure this addresses: Haldex four wheel drive is not permanent four wheel drive. It sends drive to the rear when the fronts start to slip, through a clutch pack operated by a pump. The oil and filter want changing every 20,000 miles and almost nobody does it, and when the pump then fails the car quietly becomes front wheel drive. Most owners find out in the first snow of the year, several years after it happened.
• Labour time: one and a half to three hours, and longer where the clutch pack comes out
• Coding: a basic setting or adaptation is required after fitting, which is a five minute job with a proper diagnostic system and is not possible with a generic code reader
• Also needed: the correct Haldex oil, which is a specific fluid and not a gear oil, plus the filter on the generations that have one and new sealing washers
• Torque: the pump and filter housing bolts are torqued low. The Haldex unit is aluminium and it does not forgive an impact driver
• Interval: every 20,000 miles on the oil, and the filter with it on the generations that have one. Almost nobody does this and it is the reason most Haldex pumps fail
• Weight: approximately 7.4 kilograms
• Warranty: two years or 24,000 miles, whichever comes first
• The silent failure: when a Haldex pump fails the car simply becomes front wheel drive. There is often no warning light, the car drives normally in the dry, and the owner finds out on the first icy morning of the year, sometimes years later
• Test it, do not assume: a live data read or a rolling test tells you whether drive is reaching the rear. On a used four wheel drive car this is worth doing before you buy the car, not after
• The right oil: Haldex oil is a specific fluid. A gear oil or an ATF in a Haldex unit will damage the clutch pack, and it happens more than it should
• Generations: the earlier systems have a serviceable filter and the later ones have a pump screen instead. The kit for yours is confirmed from the VIN

What arrives

• the Haldex pump where the package includes one
• the filter or pump screen for your generation
• the correct Haldex oil in the correct quantity
• new sealing washers and the fill plug seal
• the labour and the function test where fitted

Fitting

One and a half to three hours. The unit is aluminium and the bolts are torqued low. Afterwards the four wheel drive function has to be tested rather than assumed, and a live data read is the quickest way to prove drive is actually reaching the rear axle.

Which version to buy

Haldex four wheel drive is not permanent four wheel drive. It sends drive to the rear when the fronts start to slip, through a clutch pack operated by a pump. The oil and filter want changing every 20,000 miles and almost nobody does it, and when the pump then fails the car quietly becomes front wheel drive. Most owners find out in the first snow of the year, several years after it happened. So the decision is really about what state yours is in. If it has had the oil done every 20,000 miles, buy the service. If it has never been done and the car has 90,000 miles on it, the pump has probably already failed and the service alone will not bring the drive back. We will read the live data for nothing and tell you which of those two you are looking at.