Possible Haldex Failure 2003 XC70

timtam · Post by **timtam** » 20 Mar 2025, 09:11

Hi all,
Long time lurker, first time poster.

After some Troubling symptoms ( auto gearbox not shifting, speedo staying a 0) and a lot of messages, mostly to do with ABS/ brakes, and after reading, clearing, and re-reading codes to see if there was a clear culprit, I ended up getting the car towed to my local independent volvo garage ( DS Motors Glasgow) .

Just had a call to say they think its the Haldex, as there's grinding noises coming from it ( or the differential?!) and that the upon checking the Haldex oil, it ran very grey.

To my suprise, they don't sound too convinced that it will worth trying to save the car!! Supposedly swapping in new parts could run well above £2k and swaping in entire second hand units would still be costly, and said they had experiece doing that and it ending badly after only a few months.

Anyone experienced anything similar to this?

The car is at 135k miles and has a good servicing history, including the Haldex being rebuilt by the previous owner, I believe maybe around 100k. Although I'm chasing up the previous owner to see what "inpired" rebuilding it rahter than just servicing it.

Post by **jonesg** » 20 Mar 2025, 10:12

Its usually the angle gearbox that grinds the coupler sleeve.
Unplug the haldex to stop the pump (or pull the fuse near the rear hatch),see if the noise goes away.
Or drop the prop shaft to uncouple the rear end physically.
Or remove the independent drive shafts at the rear wheels and unplug the haldex, then it become FWD only.

I'm not sure how any of that affects the trans shifting unless its dragging heavily, how does it it coast in neutral?

With the haldex oil being grey, it might have seized and the clutch plates ground themselves up into the fluid.
I think dropping the prop shaft will get around it. It will remove the physical drag from the trans output at least.

This all depends on the differential oil being clear of metal chips.
See what others think, gather more information, then decide, either way I don't think its scrapped,
I run with my haldex disconnected.

timtam · Post by **timtam** » 20 Mar 2025, 15:21

Sounds like a really useful list of actions to try, thanks!

Im pretty uneducated on the whole haldex system. Does simply removing the fuse completely dissable the system without interfering with the rest of the car?

Sadly I didn't give it a go coasting in neutral, and I didnt actually get to do much driving with it in its complete error state ( my immediate surroundings are quite busy/ urban). It didn't seem too dragged down, but the most blatant sympton regarding the shifting was the shift indicator (P-R-N-D) would only show "D" on the dash and the light beside "D" on the shifter stayed light no matter what position the shifter was in.

If it's a useful part of the story for others, the codes that came back right after clearing them all were:
CCM-0021 CEM-1A5F CEM-1A64 ECM-5000 ECM-940A ECM-A02B ECM-A500 CEM-1A61

I'll give the garage another phone and compare notes to see what's worth trying.

thanks again

Post by **jonesg** » 20 Mar 2025, 17:16

CEM-1A64 is no communication with the haldex,
mine has that because I pulled the fuse to disable the AWD, it doesn't affect anything else.

CEM-1A61 might be coming from the haldex problem.

CEM-1A5F, bad communication with ABS, this can cause the trans problem too, it can be as simple as a bad ABS wheel sensor.
Bad ABS sensor signal can put the trans into safety or limp mode.

CCM-0021
Climate control, thermister, I believe, see this,
viewtopic.php?t=103239

ECM-5000
viewtopic.php?t=89652

ECM 940A could be part of the trans limp mode, it might go away when other problem/s are fixed.

ECM A500, could also be a consequence of limp mode.

All the above could be caused by one bad wheel sensor, hard to believe but it can happen.
Theres a video. It demonstrates the importance of proper diagnosis vs firing the parts canon and guessing.

Post by **scot850** » 20 Mar 2025, 20:12

The Haldex should be serviced but no one does. There is a pump and a filter in there that should be serviced. Vida should be able to read if the pump is operating and if it is running hot. If it is running hot it needs to be replaced. If the repair shop drained the fluid and it was really grey then it is likely the clutches are failed internally, and if not failing draining and refilling may not fix the issue.

jonesg has covered all the other likely issues. I have heard of the diff failing, but the easiest thing is to pull the drive shaft and see what happens. If the ABS is bad (like a sensor or broken reluctor ring on an axle) then the car can't read the wheel speed which will cause issues with the transmission.

Good luck!

Neil.

timtam · Post by **timtam** » 21 Mar 2025, 04:23

Thanks again for the advice. I definitely feel a bit less hopeless with the car now!

Comments on the ABS definitely stand out to me as I did get an amber light and two messsages regarding ABS and "anit-skid" a few days before any of the other message and symptoms.

I guess the best first step forward might be getting the wheel sensor sorted. (And maybe the ABS module?)

It definitely seems unlikely that this would effect the haldex from my basic understanding, but as mentioned above, you never know!

Post by **vtl** » 21 Mar 2025, 07:28

Mechanically these Haldex'es are very sturdy, they easily outlive the rest of the car. I've heard maybe about a couple of Haldex'es with clutches FUBAR.

Pull the connector out of DEM (Haldex computer), clear the codes and see if problems go away.

My DEM had a contact pad on a very small (sub 1 mm) resistor rotted completely, it brought down the BCM (brakes computer), which knocked out the rest of the car. 4th gear, no torque converter lockup, no boost, no engine power. The water intrusion was through rubber seal around the connector that was compromised by road grime. Fixed with donor resistor from parts motherboard, cleaned everything, resealed, added an IPD DEM cover to keep exhaust heat and water splashes away.

My codes were:

: Screenshot at 2025-03-21 09-16-03.png (205.79 KiB) Viewed 3276 times

I.e. high speed CAN bus crapped out. The repair:

timtam · Post by **timtam** » 21 Mar 2025, 11:18

Thats super useful, thanks.
Definitely gives me yet more hope!

Did you experience any grinding noises from around the haldex when you had this issue? I don't know how bad it is ( never noticed it whilst driving) but the garage gave the impression that it was definitely a substanial grinding noise!

Thanks again

Post by **vtl** » 21 Mar 2025, 11:25

No, mine didn't have any grinding noises. And I would advise you to hear said noises yourself before coming to any conclusion.

I see Haldex units as low as $3xx on ebay. Replacing it is 4 easily accessible bolts once the propeller shaft is dropped.

leapdragon · Post by **leapdragon** » 28 Mar 2025, 00:27

If it does come down to a $2k repair, I'd probably just spend a fourth of that and have them pull off the prop shaft and rear CV axles entirely and run as a FWD car. I'm told you can even do that if the angle gear goes bad (just pull the angle gear as well, since the CV axles pass through it, apparently adding a hose clamp[?] to hold the collar in place) though I haven't done this myself.

When I was having prop shaft trouble a while back I ran my '07 as FWD for a while and it definitely had advantages, i.e. smoother and quieter w/o the prop shaft in place, plus a bit more torque and just felt more light-footed overall. Other people say they don't like XCs as FWD but I actually thought it was fine.