This is a tale of getting the Haldex (AWD) pump changed in our 2013 Volvo V60. Not my usual sustainability stuff, and I know it’s not exactly fitting that a “climate and sustainability researcher” like myself (sometimes) drives and does so with a vehicle the burns (!) dinosaur juice. Long post.
Our car is now a bit over 10 years old, and has almost 190 000 Km on it. I’ve spent literally months of my life sitting in there. And hey, its not so bad as we like our “blackie” (guess the colour!) a lot. But like many of it’s generation AWD cars (and, following as well as previous, Volvos, Fords, Landies, VWs, …) it is fitted with a part that after some time, fails due to age, wear or flaws. This part is the Haldex pump.
This pump moves transmission fluid around to activate a hydraulic clutch that can bring up to 50% of vehicle power to the rear wheels when the traction control system detects slip on the front wheels that are used ordinarily. Saves fuel vs an always on 4WD system, and helps traction in wet or wintry conditions especially starting on slopes. Nice for Finland and actually, nice for the dangerously-slippery-when-wet Croatian asphalt (another topic for the future).
Or it would be if it worked.
In their wisdom, the Haldex bit of Borg Warner, created a product that needed no servicing: the 5th generation Haldex pump. And so, Volvo, like other companies fitting the same part, didn’t specify any service interval. But but don’t all mechanical devices in hot and high stress applications need periodic maintenance? Well yes. they do. But not if someone believes hard enough that they don’t!
Digression: also the pump is unlikely to fail on the first owner… who pays the profit margin!
And so we have a part that, because it isn’t critical, is not on the service program followed by the dealers and is thus left out. And thus, over time and use, the transmission oil becomes dirty as the pump and clutch pack wear. This dirt builds up in the Haldex housing, clogging up the pump “filter” (an unchangeable part BTW: not sustainable!), increasing pump wear, and eventually jamming the valve that controls clutch operations.
And so it fails. But it does so slowly and intermittently. It does so by reporting fault codes that refer to electrical issues and not mechanical ones. We first had AWD issues about 5 years ago, but they went away not to return for a year. And then again, and away for months. Keskusautohalli, the main dealer in the Turku area, diagnosed it as a dirty connector. It worked, again, for a little while. Eventually, it was a 50-50 chance it would occur on each startup.
Then came time to do the long drive down to Croatia, where we decided to use the somewhat cheaper servicing here to see if it could be diagnosed and addressed properly. And yay! Finally, someone who could explain that actually what it needed was to be cleaned out and have new transmission oil filled. I’m told it often solves the issue, but it can reoccur. Fair enough.
This was done in September last year at Moto-Ris d.o.o., a official Volvo dealer we’d been recommended by a friend. Alongside a lot of other bits and pieces. Four number bill, but compared to Finnish quotes for the same, good value. (Remember; it’s a relatively modernish Volvo, service is ALWAYS expensive!)
Or one must think that it was good value.
And this is where we must begin talking about service experiences and quality.
September all was well, Good experience, solved the problem and got some nice photos of the inside of the system too. Nice and clean. Sorted.
Then comes November, and time to get some southern EU winter tires fitted. We get a quote after a bit of back and forth, which was odd, but could be put down to language issues causing a misunderstanding. We get the stuff done. and when comes time to pay the sum is not what I was quoted and agreed to. I challenge, and pay per the quote. Not nice, but can happen. Minor issue. Must be a small misunderstanding again.
And now winter and also… AWD is broken again. More regularly than before. And much more noticeable; it seems the differential is locked also, and turning is harder and noisier. I get to googling and find this. Now, I’m somewhat mechanically inclined: an amateur, but I’ve done some servicing on the family “summer car” a Volvo 740 Turbo wagon we’ve had since before I was born. To me this is a “hang on a minute” moment. I have narrowed down the problem, independently, and I’ve started to learn!
And now time for the regular service we do every spring. And also time to share what I’ve learned and get the Haldex fixed. I share the link with Moto-Ris too. It may be that we could get away with changing just a valve!
I get a quote for the regular service and tire swap with alignment at Moto-Ris. For the AWD we need to discuss. Fine. And the other week I’m there collecting blackie from it’s normal service and chatting at the service desk after paying in the normal fashion. An older gentleman who seems to be in charge tells me we need to clean the AWD system. When I say that that was done here in September, he tells me no. When I point out that I have photos, he says, maybe, and still tells me it wasn’t cleaned. The things in the link I sent also elicit a maybe, in a way that means NO. Right. Anyway I knew from last time that it might need to be done again, so we provisionally agree that I return on the 6th of June.
Meanwhile I have a talk at home. And we decide that it would be better actually just to change the pump. Get it fixed in a nice and unambiguous way. I’m not happy to have my memory (or invoices, or photos) questioned. But we have a customer relationship, and I’ll give them the chance to sort this.
And I get the quote and see it’s alright, and say yes, see you on the sixth for this. And by return mail I am told to pay for the service before the part is ordered or work is done! What!? Sure the quote is three figures, but it’s less than a quarter of what I paid in September, and only a couple hundred more than what I paid just a week and a bit ago. Are you telling me you don’t trust me to pay? And I’ve given you no problems before?
So I reply (paraphrasing): fine I’ve paid, but I will also attend the service from start to finish and see the new part box being opened for the first time. In simple terms, my message was: If you don’t trust me, why should I trust you?
And after a wait the reply: “Dear Sir, understood. At your risk, of course. The pump is here, see you tomorrow.” This can be read a couple of ways. 1) The way I charitably assume was intended: “yes you can come, but we can’t take responsibility if you injure yourself”. or 2) “we don’t like you and we’re not going to look after you as a customer nor address your concerns about trust”.
And that’s the kicker. This is a question of trustworthiness. Just a few lines in an email can be enough to seriously shake a customer relationship. I recognize that some might feel that I’m being a snowflake. Too quick to take offense. Too ready to expect the worst. Hold your horses, we’re not there yet.
Around comes Tuesday morning, and I’ve arrived at the Moto-Ris dealership in Novi Zagreb. In I walk. I’m greeted by the office manager hurriedly shuffling papers and clicking on the computer. And then in comes the older gentleman I’d seen the last time. He’s agitated. He tells me that he’s not happy. He doesn’t want people to come into his workshop and disturb. “I don’t come and look at your work” (I wouldn’t mind, but I do recognize that others may). And then, 3 times the following exchange:
OG: “These rare parts; customers ask for them and then don’t come and have them fitted. they don’t pay. so you must pay upfront.”
Me: “Have I given you any reason not to trust that I will pay? I paid XXXX in September, I paid XXX last week, no problems”.
OG: repeats above.
When I ask, can’t you return the uninstalled parts to the importer, the answer is no. and I’m taken to the parts store to see some boxes because I had asked about the seal on the part if that was the reason returns don’t work. Yes, I can see Volvo parts boxes don’t have a seal (because the part inside is in a sealed bag!). I did get a cup of coffee from the machine in the back room.
I’m told there’s even a prop shaft for a 340 and a set of US-spec headlamps for a 240. Why not put those on eBay I ask. 240’s are cool, those parts are valuable now as originals. Maybe. I’ll ask the younger ones.
Let’s get into the workshop now. A lift is now free, and the mechanic who will do the work is here.
The workshop has four large lifts and a fifth smaller one. We have the second lift on the left.
I’ve put on clothes that are dark and I’ve worn a couple of times already: I’m prepared to go to a workshop. I’ve even brought ear protection, and the safest shoes I have with me in Zagreb. Anti slip, but only a reinforced toe – no metal there. And you know what? I look out of place. Of the 7 people coming in and out of the shop, I’m the only one with ear protection. All others are in various forms of soft shoe. No one is wearing gloves while working with oils and solvents. All surfaces are dirty. The floor is tile and of course not anti slip. Oil residue in places. Piles of oily cardboard and rubbish jammed in the corners.
I’ve seen workshops like this. My uncle has one where he potters about in and makes his odd mechanical creations (he turned a crashed Corolla into a tractor once!). But not a professional garage. Let alone a dealership.
Right, what of it if it’s a little bit grubby? Didn’t the work get done?
Yeah… but at risk of reducing blackies re-sale value I really hope where it was done won’t be an issue down the line.
Lift’s up. Let’s go and stand under the car and look at the Haldex. This is a reverent moment. Men beholding the mechanical marvel that needs attending. Perhaps touching it, in the light of a flashlight.
Haldex identified, the mechanic brings over the waste oil cart. That’s alright. Looks like a waste oil cart: a drum on wheels with a pipe and funnel. And then he drags over a rickety looking wooden table that has sheet steel nailed to the top. The surface is dimpled and somewhat concave. He begins unscrewing the bolts holding the pump. Once loosened, oil begins to drip. The bolts go onto the table. Followed by the pump dripping oil and residues.
Pump’s out. Now time to pull out the reservoir. My mechanic then disappears for a time. I see him on the other side of the hall rummaging for something.
Who needs a brush when I can rub it with a finger eh? Nothing better than fingernails to pick off silicone goop.
Parts out. And… mechanic’s disappeared again. Oh he’s over there, working on that other car now? Where’s he gone again? Oh, smokies. Well. It’s now about 9 am. A long break though. I wait longer. OG swings by in the distance, asks/states “everything ok!” to which I reply to his retreating back, “so far”. I intend to have a chat later when I go by the front desk. Maybe a safety talk? GVL was run by guys with exposure to mining safety; I’ve had some of that thinking drummed into me too.
Ah here’s my mechanic again. Tips out the solvents in the reservoir cover into the waste oil drum, and a bit of sand paper is found to rub off the silicone on the housing. A bit more break cleaner spray. And… off to work on the fuel tank of an older S40 near the small lift.
Out comes the fuel pump dripping gas. The whole workshop fills with the aroma of petrol vapor. And there’s our two guys looking into the tank over there in the back seat. In a semi closed space.
Bloody wonder neither fainted. Probably used to the fumes… That’s not safe!
Good the main door is left open. There’s another door too, but that’s closed, so no cross ventilation. Also, good there was a random spotter (me) further away to intervene if someone started feeling poorly.
Another example of risk that should be controlled away.
Let’s get back to the Haldex swap. Eventually. The mechanic comes over to rub the reservoir cover with a lint rag picked up off the “table” and he takes it over to the other side of the hall. Where after some audible negotiation, I can hear an air gun/hose being used, to dry the part I figure. More negotiation.
I walk over to get a look at what’s going on. And find that the mechanic is applying some sort of black paste-like sealant to the part. at least this looks a mite more professional than the bathroom sealant used last time. Only a mite though: this really should be a new seal (the original is still in-situ, now under goop). Wonder if that will dissolve into the oil and re-block the haldex? I do hope it was automotive grade.
Back we go to fit the cover. Same bolts as before off the table. But… where did I leave my [redacted] 10mm tool? Search ensues, and eventually one that is small enough to be used in the difficult area is found. What strikes me, is that compared to a similar dealer workshop in Finland, there are fewer tools visible in an organized way. Yet again, this reminds me not of a professional garage, but of someones side gig. And please, before I need to hear about the economics of this, that or the other (I do have a degree in it after all) an organised workshop is not a money issue, but a management one.
Other guy brings over the new pump in it’s box. And it is a new pump; sealed in a plastic bag. Nice and clean…. until he plonks it down on the table of wondrous residues. Win.
Well at least we’re getting somewhere now. The mechanic brings over a small canister of transmission oil. The new Haldex pump goes in. To make the seals work and to lubricate the pump for fitting my mechanic sticks his finger into the transmission oil and then proceeds to oil the part. I get it, fingers are wonderful tools, but he really should have had gloves on. Transmission oil isn’t olive oil after all.
Pump fitted, it’s time to fill the system with oil. I know from YouTube (I did my homework) that a large syringe and tube is needed to fill the oil. Also a 5 cent coin. That comes from the coin box next to the automatic coffee machine. But the syringe: where in the [redacted] is the [redacted] thing? I do like Croatian “French”; it’s more melodic than the Finnish.
My mechanic is rummaging in stained cardboard boxes, first this side of the workshop and then on the other. With muttered commentary. Eventually the thing is tracked down. I’m sure you can guess as to the state of that thing. It’s coated inside and out in black and brown residue combined with that classic “industrial waste yellowish-green” of mixed oils. This won’t do. And so it must be cleaned. With brake cleaner spray and then “dried” with the air hose. It’s somewhat less grimy when brought back. Good enough one hopes.
The 5 cent coin is used to open the oil port on the reservoir cover. The syringe is then used to add oil into the system until it drips. This is the how-to-know-how-much-is-enough by design – thanks BW, amazing resource use there. Go sustainability!
Close port. And car comes down, but not all the way. I know you’re supposed to run it a bit and then add more oil. Why not all the way down?
Because another guy comes over and climbs in. That’s why. And up goes the car again. Not Safe! Mechanic asks the other guy to start the car. Doubly Not Safe! Mechanic goes under car. Asks other guy to run it through all the gears. With his head a foot from the spinning wheels, and only inches from the prop shaft. Trebly Not Safe!
Car off. Port open. More oil in. Car on, and same again. NOT SAFE!
Remember the car is supported on four tiny points. As it is run through the gears it rocks and vibrates. If it falls, we have for sure one late mechanic, and probably another serious injury. This is not safe practice. This should be done on a rolling road or similar. Cutting corners to save time (which was wasted anyway due to management failure) creates unnecessary risks.
And that is my point. Management failure. Workshops, like homes and offices tend towards disorder unless effort is applied to maintain order. This leads to better quality (and improved efficiency) through two mechanisms: error reduction (fewer lost tools, fewer dirty parts, fewer cut corners) and improved safety (fewer accidents, lower staff turnover, less sick time).
Anyway. The work has been done. And error codes cancelled and AWD works (for now). I go in and pick up the papers and sign off for the service. I can’t say it wasn’t done. But I’m not impressed by how. OG is nowhere to be seen, otherwise I’d have taken him on a safety tour of his own workshop. To what effect? No idea.
I used to think dealer service was the gold standard – I’ve unlearned that. However that is the promise! Next time, we’ll go somewhere else in Zagreb. Main dealer probably.