sports differential fault

[nath]

just had the warning light come on the dash for
"sports differential fault"

vcds has very kindly given me two codes , but after googling i can find very little ie. no information at all regarding the problem

any help trying to sort this would be appreciated
links posted are off the fault codes generated


https://www.flickr.com/photos/23525255@N07/26472644344/in/dateposted-public/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/23525255@N07/26803692400/in/dateposted-public/

[nath]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/23525255@N07/26803692400/in/dateposted-public/

[Joe2.0E]

This was posted previously in the Brakes, Suspension etc. It may be of some relevance;

#13 Report Post
Old 25th April 2016, 02:03 PM
velour velour is offline
Junior Member

Hi all,

Thanks again for the replies. Quick update:
The droning noise was a wheel bearing, replaced and noise issue is solved. Cost approx £300 at the local indi for reference.

Did not fix the sports diff light though, coincidental. That turned out to be 2 sensors (temp and oil level) and 2 of the clutch / fluid valves controlling the hydraulics in the sports diff. That was sorted out at the dealer - shade over £800 (ouch).

Master tech confirmed that the main cause of the light coming on is electronics / generally sensor problems. From the research I did this seems to be fairly common across sports diff on A4s.

[nath]

thanks joe

im hoping its just a sensor as opposed to anything more sinister

does anyone have access to a parts catalogue and could find me the part number for the oil and temp sensor on the rear differential please

im hoping to order it and swap it out
thanks
nath

[Adrian E]

If you post up the year and spec (engine etc) I'll have a look for part numbers for you +++

[nath]

Thank you

It's a 2010 4.2 Tdi. Cdsb I think is engine code and mxx is gearbox I believe

Not sure if it's 2 separate sensors or one combined
It's the oil pressure and temperature sensor/s
On the sports diff

Thanks
Nath

[nath]

I have very kindly been given

2 parts numbers by Audi Wakefield

They are
0bf598081a. (Brown plug)
0bf598082a. (Black plug)

the original part numbers i have are

8k0 927 221b black plug
8k0 927 222b brown plug

They have also very kindly sent me an e mail with pictures
However I'm on my phone at work at moment and for some reason
Cannot view the pictures

If anyone could please put the pictures of these parts up it would be most appreciated

Thanks
Nath

[Adrian E]

Hiya

Well that was a right bugger to track down in Etka!

Those are revised part numbers, as of December 2013. Cost is £100.49 each at full RRP

There's no pics within Etka for these

I guess it could be 1 faulty sensor, rather than 2, since it appears to be flagging a discrepancy between the values it's presenting. Looking at Elsawin it appears 'sender 2' is the black one (G640)

You should not change both sensors at the same time!

It looks quite involved in terms of access and isn't simply swap it and forget about it.

You also need a 27mm socket

I've attached the Elsawin page for info

[nath]

Many thanks mate
This is most appreciated
I actually have a picture of the sports diff uploaded to Flickr
Problem is I'm at work and it's not set to public yet

I'll do it when I'm at home

I'm gonna order the black one and see what happens
While I'm at it I may as well change the diff atf fluid

I'll try to find out which fluid it likes
Hope it's not the stupid stuff that's according to Audi is more than gold

[nath]

okay for future referance and just in case anyone else has the same happen

here im hoping is the offending item

https://www.flickr.com/photos/23525255@N07/26954962416/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/23525255@N07/26988353445/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/23525255@N07/26919799871/in/dateposted-public/

a 27mm socket is required to change the sensor
and the new sensor does require adaptation (not had a look how you do that yet as never done one but have got vcds )

will top up with frsh atf fluid
if anyone can find what transmission fluid it is please that would be fantastic

got to give thanks to adrian e he has helped massively on this thanks mate

[Joe2.0E]

Pretty certain it is G052145S2 as per the D3. It's available in 1 Litre bottles.
There is sure to be a ZF equivalent but as you'll need so little, it's probably as well to stick with the Audi Dealer product.

[nath]

checked with the dealer yesterday and yes it is this part number
its about 25 quid a litre
luckily i have some motul stuff which is exactly the same grade
and il just to up this time and drain it completely when i know everything is back on song

[Joe2.0E]

When you eventually get to drain the old fluid, you might let us know what condition it was in ? Mine has never been changed and my old D3 had it changed once at about 200K miles. This was only done as a leaking output shaft seal was being replaced. It might be prudent to have it changed at a sensible interval rather than the "sealed for Life" response that most main dealers use.

[nath]

ok got a little further tonight

managed to get the old sensor out (black one ) and replace with a new one

a miniscule drop of oil came out whilst changing over

the old fault codes have now cleared :)
but now i have a new one again relating to the problem

im struggling to find out how exactly how you code these in to the car

[Adrian E]

The elsawin attachment on the previous page gives info on coding at the end, I think?

[nath]

it does mate and i have read it
however the diagnostics it describes are for the factory guided function machines

im trying to use my own vcds lead
but as i have not had to code anything into a vehicle like this before
im a little unsure exactly how to do it

[paulrstaylor]

Worth an email to Ross-Tech who should be able to advise what adaption channel you need, or a post on their official forum?

[nath]

think i have it sorted now guys

it does look as if the fault was the black sensor (i ordered mine from tps for about 90 quid inc vat )

the sensor isnt that difficult to replace but you do require a 27mm DEEP socket
you wont get it out otherwise

the faffing bit was the programming
luckilly i had help from a guy from denmark over on the vcds forums

uwe at ross-tech suggested i went into basic settings and did an adaptation which codes the sensors with standard information
you then have to reset the codes and get rid of any fault codes

the only fault code that should then show is one referrng to the sensor not having been tested

go into the security section and enter the security password
the look for an option to "pressure test"

once this is done everything should be fine

thanks again to all those that helped sort the problem

[IT]

Glad it's sorted, and thanks for sharing +++

[nath]

may not be quite so straight forward gents
warning light is now back on again
about to go scan car again , but weather is doing its usual :tuttut::tuttut::tuttut:

[nath]

a little update
after a few days the warning light came back on im afraid and the original fault code was still there

with this in mind i decided to change the second pressure temp sensor
(brown plug)
got my car up in the air and quickly discovered that unless you have a very very thin walled deep socket , you will not get this sensor off the car

i then had a friend who is a very very good machinist mill my own 27mm deep socket down so as the wall is only 0.5mm thick

took a couple of hours to set up and machine but it was worth it as i have now finally been able to swap the second sensor

after this has been done you need to go into settings and transfer the oil and temp sensor settings from vcds

then unplug vcds for 2 minutes

reconnect and go into security section
input security code and go into output tests

fill lines
bleed lines
pressure test

i can also now confirm the original information from the audi dealer is incorrect

there are two different types of oil in the sports diff

one is for the actual gear diff fluid
the other is hydraulic atf fluid (G060 162 a2)


looking from the back of the car the atf inspection is on the left hand side of the diff
looking from the back of the car the diff oil inspection is on the right hand side of the diff

[nath]

https://www.flickr.com/photos/23525255@N07/27402411895/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/23525255@N07/26831766794/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/23525255@N07/27341950192/in/dateposted-public/

a couple of pictures of the problem