Coolant leak

dvbull

New member
Joined
Sep 9, 2020
Location
Livingston, TN
TDI
2012 Passat TDI SEL
Thank you for the tip. It's scary cheap - probably a China counterfeit, but hey, any port in a storm. At least it's an available part. Thanks again.
 

dvbull

New member
Joined
Sep 9, 2020
Location
Livingston, TN
TDI
2012 Passat TDI SEL
You guys were dead on right regarding my failed filter housing. The bottom lip on the water port was missing. I don't think I would have found the root cause without your help. The car has 223K miles on it. I will post a pic once I figure out how to do so.

I would like to add my own tip - spend a few bucks and use a new T-40 torqx bit to remove the 4 mounting screws. It may save you hours of extra work, My T-40 was somewhat worn and it stripped the heads on two of the screws. After trying several other approaches to remove the screws, I finally drilled out the screw heads using an angle drill and a 5/32" bit.

The Amazon part for $35 was an exact match to the OEM part as far as physical appearance and fit. BTW, RockAuto now has the part back in stock in limited quantities.

Thank again to all for your invaluable help and tips.
 

dvbull

New member
Joined
Sep 9, 2020
Location
Livingston, TN
TDI
2012 Passat TDI SEL
Ah... your tip is better than my tip. I wasn't familiar with triple square. Since your post, I've done some research and now have a good excuse to buy more tools. Thanks!
 

MarshMarlowe

Active member
Joined
Jan 20, 2021
Location
South Carolina
TDI
2014 Passat TDI SE
I realize this thread is getting older, but I think I may have a leaking oil cooler / oil filter housing as well on my 2014 NMS. But mine looks to be just leaking oil at this point, but I'm not totally sure. What's giving me pause is the low miles (44k miles) and the oil seems to be covering the oil filter cap as well. Would an oil leak at the block gaskets of the oil cooler assembly migrate all the way up to the oil filter cap? I'll post some pictures if I can - any thoughts?

Also - has anyone had luck with the aftermarket assemblies? I see Urotuning has this part for about $125

Thanks!



 
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x1800MODMY360x

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 27, 2021
Location
AZ, USA
TDI
2013 Passat TDI SEL
I would get some good old Brake cleaner and spray clean off the oil residue and drive around a little bit to see if its leaking from the filter or cooler.
 

flyboybob

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 11, 2003
Location
sumwhere, oregon
TDI
'12 passat tdi se dsg, ‘15 passat tdi sel premium
Marsh,

i agree with modmy360.…clean it up and run it for awhile to see where it’s leaking from. could be seeping at the oil filter o-ring.

actually, looks to me as if the tech doing the filter changes wasn’t very careful, made a mess (which is easy to do changing the oil filter on these cars—don’t ask me how I know) and then never cleaned it up.

have you determined how much it is leaking? is it less than a pint in 10K miles? if it’s that little then i would probably would probably watch and fill it rather than remove and replace it. but that’s just me.

bob.
 

MarshMarlowe

Active member
Joined
Jan 20, 2021
Location
South Carolina
TDI
2014 Passat TDI SE
Thanks Bob

The last oil change was done by my local VW dealer almost a year ago. I was about 300 miles out from the next oil change when I noticed oil spots on my driveway, and then found the oil cooler assembly all wet with oil. So I don't think it was a tech spill that caused this mess. I checked the oil, and it's now below the safe level indicator line on the dipstick. With that, I can't really say how much oil I've lost and how long this has been going on, but I don't like oil stains on my driveway so I do want to stop the leak, even if it's minor

I am a bit concerned about the possibility of coolant mixing with the oil, but I haven't noted any signs of that yet, but I have stopped driving the car since I noticed the leak. I'm driving a Tahoe now, and it really makes me miss the Passat
 
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flyboybob

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 11, 2003
Location
sumwhere, oregon
TDI
'12 passat tdi se dsg, ‘15 passat tdi sel premium
Marsh,

i agree…..if my car was marking my driveway from an issue like this i probly wouldn’t put up with it either.

if it were my car AND it needed an oil change AND i was using the dealer for that service then i would ask the service advisor how much they wanted to DIAGNOSE the problem while it’s in for the oil change.

i can’t imagine they’d charge more than US$150 to check it out. would be worth asking the question. and if the verdict came back that the oil filter housing did need to be replaced, you don’t need to let the dealer do that work (a job which i expect would cost north of US$1200 if done by a dealer).

just sayin….my time is worth something…so at times i’ve let the dealer service folks suss things out for me….then do the expensive part of the job myself to save where it counts most.

bob.
 

MarshMarlowe

Active member
Joined
Jan 20, 2021
Location
South Carolina
TDI
2014 Passat TDI SE
I have an upcoming appointment for the heater core since cold air is now blowing out the passenger side vents with the heat on, so I may ask them to diagnose the oil cooler leak as well. Thanks for the suggestions
 

crdouger

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 16, 2010
Location
Michigan
TDI
99.5 & 06 jetta TDI's
Hi Guys, I commented on this thread a long time ago when I needed to replace the oil filter housing on my 2013. It's about two years later and it's happening again! I've got drops of oil all over the place and everything below the oil filter is coated in oil. Unfortunately I'm going to have to do this again. It wasn't fun the first time. I don't want to put a cheap replacement part in and risk having to do it again. Suggestions on affordable QUALITY replacements? Also, I don't remember all the steps to do the replacement. Is there a good writeup or video somewhere? I'll probably document it on my youtube channel so it's available for others when I'm done.
 

MarshMarlowe

Active member
Joined
Jan 20, 2021
Location
South Carolina
TDI
2014 Passat TDI SE
Hi Guys, I commented on this thread a long time ago when I needed to replace the oil filter housing on my 2013. It's about two years later and it's happening again! I've got drops of oil all over the place and everything below the oil filter is coated in oil. Unfortunately I'm going to have to do this again. It wasn't fun the first time. I don't want to put a cheap replacement part in and risk having to do it again. Suggestions on affordable QUALITY replacements? Also, I don't remember all the steps to do the replacement. Is there a good writeup or video somewhere? I'll probably document it on my youtube channel so it's available for others when I'm done.
When you replaced it the first time, did you use an aftermarket assembly?
 

crdouger

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 16, 2010
Location
Michigan
TDI
99.5 & 06 jetta TDI's
When you replaced it the first time, did you use an aftermarket assembly?
I'm sure I used something that I could find online affordably. I probably prioritized price over quality. I see ECS tuning has a replacement part for $500. That's a chunk of change, but I'll pay it if its worth it.
 

MarshMarlowe

Active member
Joined
Jan 20, 2021
Location
South Carolina
TDI
2014 Passat TDI SE
I'm sure I used something that I could find online affordably. I probably prioritized price over quality. I see ECS tuning has a replacement part for $500. That's a chunk of change, but I'll pay it if its worth it.
I've found the OEM assembly cheaper at a few online outlets
Example:

I also found a decent how-to video for the oil cooler assembly R&R:
 

d2freeman

Veteran Member
Joined
Aug 8, 2013
Location
NC
TDI
2013 Passat TDI SE
It is just a cheap plastic part (held on by 4 small fasteners) that is torqued each time the oil filter is changed, I bought the OEM when I did mine ($375) and the $50 version I got off of Amazon looks to be identical. I suspect it will fail again hence why I have a spare.
 

crdouger

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 16, 2010
Location
Michigan
TDI
99.5 & 06 jetta TDI's
Yeah, the cheap ones look a lot like the OEM ones. I'm just not sure if they are exactly the same quality or not. I just don't want it to fail a third time.
 

MarshMarlowe

Active member
Joined
Jan 20, 2021
Location
South Carolina
TDI
2014 Passat TDI SE
I have never changed the oil myself on my Passat, but I probably will from now on. That way I can blame myself for causing this assembly to fail. I wonder - would it be a good idea to use some kind of backup filter wrench on the housing to minimize the torsion flexing when torquing the oil filter cap?
 

crdouger

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 16, 2010
Location
Michigan
TDI
99.5 & 06 jetta TDI's
Good question. I didn't think about the fact that the assembly could be breaking from wrenching on the filter housing. When I originally took mine off, it just seemed like it mysteriously crumbled. I assumed it was bad materials or heat failure or something.
 

oilhammer

Certified Volkswagen Nut & Vendor
Joined
Dec 11, 2001
Location
outside St Louis, MO
TDI
There are just too many to list....
Most of these I have replaced have cracked on the inner part that holds the coolant seal in place, causing a sudden and massive coolant leak.

Plastic oil/coolant housings are a source of income for us, they all leak eventually. In some cases, the aftermarket steps in and makes a suitable aluminum replacement to fix it forever. Like the VAG early EA888 water pump housings and more recently the ChryCo Pentastar oil filter/cooler housing. What sucks is, the CKRA's filter/cooler housing appears (at least for this market) to JUST fit THAT engine. Given the tiny number of these out there, I wouldn't hold my breath that anyone will tool up to make an aluminum replacement.

Maybe if a bunch of owners started to campaign Dorman or Hengst or someone.... The VAG 2.5L gassers can do this, too, but the CKRA's "surface-of-the-sun" oil and coolant temps seem to tax these poor plastic bits beyond what they could ever hope to handle. Add in the fact that they get torqued on every time the oil filter is serviced (even if they do NOT get overtorqued, they still flex when you go to remove them).

Stupid design.
 

oilhammer

Certified Volkswagen Nut & Vendor
Joined
Dec 11, 2001
Location
outside St Louis, MO
TDI
There are just too many to list....
That, plus the aggressive EGR, and the general high operating temps for emissions reasons. The CKRA in particular normally gets pretty hot.
 

crdouger

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 16, 2010
Location
Michigan
TDI
99.5 & 06 jetta TDI's
I've found the OEM assembly cheaper at a few online outlets
Example:

I also found a decent how-to video for the oil cooler assembly R&R:
Thanks for the link to this part. Does anybody know if the aluminum part needs to be replaced each time or can somebody just buy the plastic filter housing and re-attach the previous aluminum part? I see just the plastic housing for sale for much less. Thoughts?
 

mak474

Active member
Joined
Jan 7, 2022
Location
St. Louis, MO, USA
TDI
2013 Passat TDI SE
Most of these I have replaced have cracked on the inner part that holds the coolant seal in place, causing a sudden and massive coolant leak.

Plastic oil/coolant housings are a source of income for us, they all leak eventually. In some cases, the aftermarket steps in and makes a suitable aluminum replacement to fix it forever. Like the VAG early EA888 water pump housings and more recently the ChryCo Pentastar oil filter/cooler housing. What sucks is, the CKRA's filter/cooler housing appears (at least for this market) to JUST fit THAT engine. Given the tiny number of these out there, I wouldn't hold my breath that anyone will tool up to make an aluminum replacement.

Maybe if a bunch of owners started to campaign Dorman or Hengst or someone.... The VAG 2.5L gassers can do this, too, but the CKRA's "surface-of-the-sun" oil and coolant temps seem to tax these poor plastic bits beyond what they could ever hope to handle. Add in the fact that they get torqued on every time the oil filter is serviced (even if they do NOT get overtorqued, they still flex when you go to remove them).

Stupid design.
Mine is seeping oil or maybe its frame oil from the previous owner. Either way this same part failed on my MKV Jetta 2.5 and I hated buying the plastic OEM one from partsgeek. If the part isn't super complex I could dimension one up and model it in CAD to have a machine shop cut some out. Maybe its an opportunity for a group buy? I still have some contacts from my manufacturing engineering days. :)
 

LMM_HP

Member
Joined
Aug 26, 2019
Location
Central Wisco
TDI
2012 2.0L SEL Passat
Well gents, I believe my 2012 w/128k miles has been suffering from the seals going bad. Last year on a really cold start (-20F), I noticed a small puddle of oil under the car, did my R&D and came across the threads mentioning these seals failing in really cold weather. Only happened once, but I kept an eye on it and it didnt happen again until this season. Last week it was -10F and this morning it was -15. Assuming the seals just shrink up and dont seal well in cold and once the engine/oil warm up, the seals expand.....? Time to replace and I'm going to just replace the whole assembly.

Not to highjack the coolant leak subject here, which i'm not leaking, but it all leads to the same culprit... That being said I came across the cooler/housing assembly for $289.90 linked below. Looking at the part diagram, this includes everything from housing to cooler to gaskets & seals. Only thing missing is the 4 bolts that mount the housing to the block... I am hesitant to get the RockAuto version which is $99 and change..

Any advice when switching the assembly? I do have access to a hoist so im hoping this will make it easier.

https://www.wholesalevwparts.com/p/...e-Oil-Filter-Housing/64116276/03L115389H.html
 

LMM_HP

Member
Joined
Aug 26, 2019
Location
Central Wisco
TDI
2012 2.0L SEL Passat
Started disassembling my Passat on Wednesday but didnt have a whole lot of time. Got most of the hoses disconnected I believe. For those who have completed this on the 2012 Passat, did the entire intercooler have to be removed or just loosened? The triple squares are buried in there at a weird angle... Is it easiest to remove oil cooler and then the filter housing or is it completely doable to remove them as one? Hoping to get back to it Sunday, thanks again for any tips!!
 

DivineChaos

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jul 27, 2019
Location
Minnesota
TDI
mk6 jetta sportwagen tdi
Started disassembling my Passat on Wednesday but didnt have a whole lot of time. Got most of the hoses disconnected I believe. For those who have completed this on the 2012 Passat, did the entire intercooler have to be removed or just loosened? The triple squares are buried in there at a weird angle... Is it easiest to remove oil cooler and then the filter housing or is it completely doable to remove them as one? Hoping to get back to it Sunday, thanks again for any tips!!
It doesn't take that long to put it into service mode. But you need a/c tools. They make stubby and ball head tripplesquare. It's a total pita. I have to do the thermostat on my cjaa this spring. I'll wait till I open the cooling system for the cp3 upgrade.
 

DivineChaos

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jul 27, 2019
Location
Minnesota
TDI
mk6 jetta sportwagen tdi
 
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