front diff service.
- Thread starter sidy64
- Start date
https://www.seatcupra.net/forums/threads/diff-service.470790/ maybe have a look on this thread.
Every 3 years or probably 30,000 miles period for this work.
Every 3 years or probably 30,000 miles period for this work.
The trouble can be, in some cases, that people are handing their Cupras into basic SEAT dealership workshops, so the workshop will just carry out basic servicing.
I have a Cupra ST 300 which is up for sale just now and I've done all of the due servicing except the Haldex. I've looked into it quite extensively so although I haven;t actually done it I think I can shed a little light. Hopefully someone with practical experience can correct anything I get wrong.
First off, I wouldn't worry too much. Yes, I think it should be done but from what I've found, or not found, these are tough little units. Failures are rare which is pretty good considering that I reckon most of them don't get serviced properly.
Dealers only change the fluid. They do not clean the filter in the pump. This is a fact. Every single person who's related their experience has said this and my local Seat dealer advised the garage I use that that's all that is necessary. Using a non-specialist garage to service the unit is also not a great idea because they haven't a clue. It's not that the job is particularly difficult but they never do it and there are a few things that are easy to miss.
I reckon once out of warranty, or even sooner in some cases, many of these units are getting ignored. And yet they live! Why? Well they actually don't have a very hard life. They don't do anything unless you are experiencing wheel spin/slip so if you're driving like a normal human being the Haldex is basically doing nothing the vast majority of the time. If you track the car or generally drive like a Womble it'll be working much harder but that kind of behavior is hard on everything, not just the Haldex, so you are going to be fixing more things anyway.
So what should you do? To me it's a choice between a VW specialist and doing it yourself. A quick phone conversation should tell if a garage knows the script on these things. However, it's a relatively simple job so if you've done basic servicing, like oil changes, brakes etc, you'll be able to do this and save a bit of money. A kit with everything you need is less than £100 from a few places on line and other than that it's just common tools. Although you will need access to a good OBD tool.
There are several good videos on the tube which will show you how. Just a few things worth noting.
You don't need a ramp. Yes, the car needs to be level but only when refilling the unit which you can do from above with the car on the ground.
If you remove the big air pipe from the back of the air box you can access the fill cap from above pretty well so you can button everything up and refill from there. I reckon a big syringe and a short tube would work well.
You need an OBD tool that can run the pump. If you remove and clean the pump/strainer you'll end up with air in the pump. After you've filled the unit with fluid you'll need to put the bung in loosely and run the pump to clear the trapped air then top up the fluid. If you don't do this you'll end up with the fluid level being low. OBD Eleven can run the pump, presumably for this exact purpose, but a basic OBD scanner won't be able to. If this sounds too much I think just changing the fluid is better than nothing and should be good enough for a car driven normally.
Check the torque values. Both the bungs and the bolts which hold on the pump are very low torque, this is not a pressurized unit, so don't go daft on them.
Over all it looks a fairly simple job if you've got the right tools. I was quoted about £230 from a garage but you might get it cheaper. From what I've seen it's unlikely to break if neglected, unless you hammer the car of course. The most likely outcome is that it stops working and worst case the pump might fail but they're easy to replace so I don't think there is much here to sweat about. Remember that dealers are just replacing the fluid, this is what Seat are instructing them to do, and you don't see Haldex units dying all over the place.
First off, I wouldn't worry too much. Yes, I think it should be done but from what I've found, or not found, these are tough little units. Failures are rare which is pretty good considering that I reckon most of them don't get serviced properly.
Dealers only change the fluid. They do not clean the filter in the pump. This is a fact. Every single person who's related their experience has said this and my local Seat dealer advised the garage I use that that's all that is necessary. Using a non-specialist garage to service the unit is also not a great idea because they haven't a clue. It's not that the job is particularly difficult but they never do it and there are a few things that are easy to miss.
I reckon once out of warranty, or even sooner in some cases, many of these units are getting ignored. And yet they live! Why? Well they actually don't have a very hard life. They don't do anything unless you are experiencing wheel spin/slip so if you're driving like a normal human being the Haldex is basically doing nothing the vast majority of the time. If you track the car or generally drive like a Womble it'll be working much harder but that kind of behavior is hard on everything, not just the Haldex, so you are going to be fixing more things anyway.
So what should you do? To me it's a choice between a VW specialist and doing it yourself. A quick phone conversation should tell if a garage knows the script on these things. However, it's a relatively simple job so if you've done basic servicing, like oil changes, brakes etc, you'll be able to do this and save a bit of money. A kit with everything you need is less than £100 from a few places on line and other than that it's just common tools. Although you will need access to a good OBD tool.
There are several good videos on the tube which will show you how. Just a few things worth noting.
You don't need a ramp. Yes, the car needs to be level but only when refilling the unit which you can do from above with the car on the ground.
If you remove the big air pipe from the back of the air box you can access the fill cap from above pretty well so you can button everything up and refill from there. I reckon a big syringe and a short tube would work well.
You need an OBD tool that can run the pump. If you remove and clean the pump/strainer you'll end up with air in the pump. After you've filled the unit with fluid you'll need to put the bung in loosely and run the pump to clear the trapped air then top up the fluid. If you don't do this you'll end up with the fluid level being low. OBD Eleven can run the pump, presumably for this exact purpose, but a basic OBD scanner won't be able to. If this sounds too much I think just changing the fluid is better than nothing and should be good enough for a car driven normally.
Check the torque values. Both the bungs and the bolts which hold on the pump are very low torque, this is not a pressurized unit, so don't go daft on them.
Over all it looks a fairly simple job if you've got the right tools. I was quoted about £230 from a garage but you might get it cheaper. From what I've seen it's unlikely to break if neglected, unless you hammer the car of course. The most likely outcome is that it stops working and worst case the pump might fail but they're easy to replace so I don't think there is much here to sweat about. Remember that dealers are just replacing the fluid, this is what Seat are instructing them to do, and you don't see Haldex units dying all over the place.
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