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Awd useless. Waste of time. Why did i bother!

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Old Mar 4th, 2016, 09:15   #21
volvoid
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If the drive wheels spin and the others dont then its not going into 4wd.
Its not unheard of for the expensive 4wd gubbins to fail.
Ask in the 4wd section how to check - its all there somewhere
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Old Mar 4th, 2016, 09:17   #22
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Hmm - OK having just read another thread about testing the AWD - and knowing that my front wheels spin A LOT - my heart has just sunk.... I'm now having that horrible moment of fear of unwittingly buying a lemon last year (god I hope not)

Mine is a 2005 with 120k miles, and tbh generally everything else is in really good nick (ok so that doesnt mean a lot) but can anyone point me in the direction of possible issues here? Could this be a very expensive fix (if it's genuinely not working) - If it's not working - other than the obvious traction issues, does it need to be working? (is it likely to cause more damage for not working?)

Bearing in mind it's recently been through an MOT, would that not have flagged a transmission issue? if it wasn't working?

(Help?)
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Old Mar 4th, 2016, 21:12   #23
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Quote:
Originally Posted by essexbloke View Post
Hmm - OK having just read another thread about testing the AWD - and knowing that my front wheels spin A LOT - my heart has just sunk.... I'm now having that horrible moment of fear of unwittingly buying a lemon last year (god I hope not)

Mine is a 2005 with 120k miles, and tbh generally everything else is in really good nick (ok so that doesnt mean a lot) but can anyone point me in the direction of possible issues here? Could this be a very expensive fix (if it's genuinely not working) - If it's not working - other than the obvious traction issues, does it need to be working? (is it likely to cause more damage for not working?)

Bearing in mind it's recently been through an MOT, would that not have flagged a transmission issue? if it wasn't working?

(Help?)
Firstly, I don't think that you can cause any more "damage" to your transmission than has already been made - except if you hear unfamiliar grinding or knocking. The most common reason for loss of AWD is the front wheel collars which allow drive to be sent to the Bevel gear. These collars strip their splines are cheap to buy but expensive on labour to replace. If you can turn the propshaft with all 4 wheels on the ground here's where your iproblem lies 9/10. It could be the bevel gear, but that is rarely silent when it fails. Expensive to buy and replace. After that you are looking at the Haldex, either the DEM ( haldex controller) or the Haldex unit itself. The DEM can be pressure sensor, oil pump or solenoid. All can be tested - search BBA reman or Volvodiagnostic for info on that.



Good luck

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Old Mar 6th, 2016, 09:15   #24
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Before you start to think your 4x4 is bust consider the following. I thought mine wasnt working but then i spent some time understanding the system.

The car drives the front wheels through a diff. This diff allows the car to go round corners and therefore also allows the wheel with least resistance to get the power. This is the typical one wheel spinning of a front wheel drive car.

Now when the car detects spinning it engages the haldex clutch which allows the propshaft to now drive the back wheels. But there is obviously also a diff between the back wheels for the same reason as there is one between the front wheels.

So you might expect that you get one front wheel spinning and one back one spinning? Well no, because when you go round a corner the back wheels take a shorter route than the fronts. This means that there must also be a diff front to back. If the car didnt have this it would have such transmission wind up on the road as to be undrivable.

So with side to side diffs and a back to front diff the car will, when it has little grip spin the power away on one wheel only. Even with the haldex working properly.

The traction control will come on to brake (and therefore increase the resistance ) on the spinning wheel and this should allow the other wheels to move. If you defeat the traction control by using too much right foot then it will just spin.
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Old Mar 6th, 2016, 18:46   #25
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The haldex unit acts as the centre diff on the propshaft,

Had all 4 wheels spinning on my xc90 yesterday trying to tow my car trailer out of my friends yard,

TBF it did really well as it was really boggy and had a car on trailer aswell, altho it has got 4 winter conti's on
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Old Mar 6th, 2016, 22:36   #26
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Obviously very similar resistance on each tyre - ie similiar grip under each wheel which was not much to get all 4 wheels spinning....

I have some traction tracks in the garage of the motorhome as wet grass on campsites can be a real problem with something which is front wheel drive and has a MPTM of nearly 4 tonnes.....
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Old Jun 20th, 2016, 23:17   #27
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Living in Sweden, I concur. Real winter tyres, which are mandatory here December - March, make much more of a difference than AWD. But the combination is very good.

I've got more use of AWD in the summer time, though, when trying to pull a camping trailer on less suitable ground. Like in this picture. I didn't need that kind of help, but managed myself.

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Old Jun 29th, 2016, 22:38   #28
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My Jaguar XJ with winter tyres was much better than my series 2 Land Rover with big chunky mud tyres in the snow. Big blocks of tread made for no grip and four wheel spin, while the jag motored up the drive with the air dam acting as a snow plough.
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Old Jul 4th, 2016, 19:55   #29
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Living in Canada, in my region Winter designated (those who have a snow flake on the side wall) tires are mandatory by law.

In neighbor US, the upper states have similar winter conditions to us, with snow, cold weather, etc but no such law.

Knowing what designated winter tire vs "all season" tires vs AWD or FWD means in real life winter conditions, and by real I mean only sub zero temperatures and more than 1-2cm of snow or ice, I am beyond stunned to see fellow americans driving with "all season" tires on AWD vehicles in winter conditions. Again, I am not talking about temperature breaking records or 2 ft of snow.

All season tires, if it was me, would be an illegal designation. At no moment an all season tire is an anyhow safe choice on more than 2" of snow or on ice. With or without AWD, with or without any number of bodies in the trunk.

When I feel bored, I enjoy opening Youtube and watching "wisconsin pile up" and various other winter highway crashes.
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Old Jul 12th, 2016, 11:37   #30
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horses for courses
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