Thanks for the suggestion on the Haldex system. I knew I had Haldex but did not know anything about what service it requires. I don't believe the previous owner did anything done to it, but I do know that he replaced the rear drive shaft because it was "unbalanced and vibrating". Maybe they did something at that time.
If anyone can suggest steps to diagnose and service the Haldex, I would be grateful.
The other question you asked was whether there was anything wrong with the 5-speed automatic transmission. It was a bit "thunky" going into gear from neutral, but seemed to shift OK. After a few thousand km, though, I started to notice a high-pitched mechanical whining when going down hills. It was heard better outside the car, not inside. Figured it was something in the transmission. Took it to A-1 Transmission in Calgary for a flush, where they found seriously burnt transmission fluid with metal chips in it. So I had them take it totally apart. That was when they found that both half-shaft bearings in the transfer case were seriously worn, and the main output bearing from the transfer case (last bearing before the angle gear and rear shaft) was seriously damaged and burned. They replaced all these bearings WITHOUT taking the transmission apart. Reassembled, ran, tested. Ran like a charm and shifted even more smoothly. Drive-line lash solved! It's done 15,000 km since then without a hiccup.
I would be interested to hear if anyone else has had bearing failures like that, and whatever could be the cause of it.
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