WATCH THIS BEFORE BUYING AN AUDI/VW WITH AWD - AVOID THESE COSTLY REPAIRS

[@OfficerPain]

This is most definitely a case of a bad servicing job or an accident. The differential has probably at some point lost all fluid, there is really no other possibility for such a catastrophic result. The 4th generation Haldex/BorgWarner coupling has separated liquids for the clutch engagement system and the differential itself. Even if the pump had failed or the control unit failed it wouldn't do anything other than loss of 4 wheel drive. The differential uses normal diff oil and doesn't fail by itself at such a low mileage. Either this diff has been running dry because someone drained the diff oil by mistake when servicing the haldex, or the diff housing has hit something when driving causing all the oil to empty. A Tiguan with just 80k kilometers on the odo has virtually zero chance of such a catastrophic failure on it's own.

[@WeekndGarage]

That's why i had to share my story because there were no accidents (Dash cam) or improper service (I supplied the OEM fluid - 850ml) and watched the procedure at my friends shop who has been a VW tech for over a decade). As you can see in the video there was lots of fluid that spilled all over the road after the explosion and even more pooled once the vehicle was waiting for a tow on the road. Even more fluid came out after it was back in the garage waiting for the replacement diff. So it definitely wasn't dry. That's right especially a well maintained Tiguan, this shouldn't not happen. A report has been filed with the department of transportation in Canada. If you look on google, i am not the first this has happened to, there are posts on reddit and forums with the same issue exploding Haldex with tiguans and Audi S3's Golf r's VW Vans and many other models that utilize the Haldex system.

[@OfficerPain]

@@WeekndGarage Are you sure that the fluid that was spilling isn't the just hydraulic fluid from the haldex system? And can you be completely sure that the diff oil has never been drained? I have heard several stories of mechanics or home mechs confusing the haldex and diff drain/fill plugs as there are 4 in total. I even read on a discussion board of someone that did indeed drain the diff oil but only refilled haldex fluid, which is separate and won't lubricate the diff itself, resulting in destruction. That is also why your filter doesn't have any metal particles in it, because the issue is on the diff side and not clutch side. If your friend is a VW tech with experience he should of course know this but even he wouldn't know if the diff has oil or not without physically checking and draining differential chamber, if no one has actually checked the diff oil after you acquired the car it's a possibility that your diff was indeed dry. I'm not trying to be pendatic, but it sounds like you have indeed had a proper haldex service done on the unit and used the correct oem fluid, but the status of the diff oil has never been done, which uses normal gear oil and not haldex hydraulic fluid.

[@MrJaredRich1]

I had bought a 2007 Passat 3.6 4 motion with haldex and even at 215k miles previous owner did jack squat for diff and haldex fluid and filter. And yet it did not fail. I think this is a one off incident that shouldn't be plagued on these vehicles across the board. I changed the fluids and it kept on going

[@WeekndGarage]

While your experience is positive, it doesn’t rule out potential issues in other vehicles. Just because yours didn’t fail doesn’t mean failures aren’t happening elsewhere. As seen in this video, a properly maintained, low-mileage vehicle experienced the issue

[@morisvr6]

Are you extrapolating from one incident to all vehicles? Not to be taken seriously.

[@WeekndGarage]

My experience isn't based on just one incident, but on multiple reports and trends I've seen across forums like Reddit, VW forums, and Audi forums. It’s definitely something to watch, even if it’s not yet a widely recognized issue.