Oil filter housing flange bolts TTY?

I am in the middle of replacing the upper and lower seals on the oil cooler to stop a leak. I also bought the flange gasket (housing to engine block) and figured I'd go ahead and change it too while I'm at it. However, I looked at the Bentley manual last night just before pulling it off and was surprised to see that it says to replace those bolts. Although I don't have a problem buying new bolts, I don't have the time because my daughter is taking the car back home.
Have any of you replaced that gasket without replacing the bolts and were there any issues? I don't think that this gasket is leaking so I don't absolutely have to change it now. If it's risky to reuse the original bolts, then I'll just leave it for another time.

VW recommends many fasteners be replaced. They use a lot of stretch or torque to yield style fasteners. The jury is out. Many are a must do, head bolts, motor mount any with higher torque numbers. You can measure the threads to see if they are no longer true, but that's tricky.
Personally I'd leave that thing alone, I've not read of it leaking. Of course if you observe a leak......

Normally anything vw suggests as a one time use, I replace. These ones I didn’t .

I’ve got 2000 km in the engine and no signs of leaks.


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My concern is not tight enough I get leaks. Too tight on a used TTY bolt and I get a broken bolt in the head. Not worth the risk. I'm leaving it.

What are the oil filter flange bolts supposed to get torqued to?

fatmobile said:

What are the oil filter flange bolts supposed to get torqued to?

Click to expand...

From Bentley:
Tighten to 15 Nm (11 ft-lb) + 1/4 turn (90°) further.
Always replace.
First, insert top left bolt and then lower right.
Tighten all bolts evenly and in a crosswise pattern.

Thanks.
Yep, that 1/4 turn pretty much say TTY.

any time a bolt has to be turned past a torque spec, its a 1 time bolt and a recipe for a snapped off head if you reuse it. i mean its 11ftlb your either going to strip the threads to shear it off if you reuse that or mess it up.

If the gasket isn't leaking then I might leave that gasket for the next time the car is available and I have the bolts.

Question -do all four have to be replaced or the just the top left. Manual is kind of vague and only points to one bolt, but mentions three.

I've reused all of them without any issues.

I would not re-use them.
Just my 2 cents. (US)

Like I said, the jury is still out.
But that housing rarely leaks.