eugene89us
Veteran Member
I went ahead and broke down for original for $350. In the name of science. Will have to take an extra shift at work, but hey, if that helps the world.
Aluminum Oil Filter Housing
- Thread starter d2freeman
- Start date
watatrp
Veteran Member
Looking forward to your analysis. Mine should be delivered on Friday. Who has a good source for the gaskets?
eugene89us
Veteran Member
So, I have not had much chance to measure, though most of my measurements are within 0.1 of a millimeter. Here are some pics. There is one thing that bothers me enough to return this. The fact that oil cooler itself that bolts into 4 holes - those holes are not drilled all the way through. Chinesium oil cooler comes with slightly shorter bolts. Even if you choose to use shorter Chinese bolts, the bolts threaded all the way down without an oil cooler will be higher than the oil cooler thickness. So as you torque them down, are you torquing the gasket down or are you simply bottoming out the threads? What if you need to tighten more? Once threaded, it is generally flush, but you can tell by the rung that bolts leave on oil cooler that some don't have as much contact as others. What a silly thing, why not make the threads drilled all the way through, that way you know the oil cooler is attached to the housing with proper torque. That backordered FCP version for double price gets that right, the holes are drilled completely through and threaded. See next message for what I mean:
Second photo from the other side:
Second photo from the other side:
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eugene89us
Veteran Member
Just in case I am not clear enough. Bolt is fully bottomed. Yes, I realize gasket will take some thickness, but if I need it compressed equally and not all hopes are equally deep and some may not be deep enough, how do you know the compression seal is good. How hard would it have been for them simply to drill and tap all the way through like the original? Eliminates bottoming out issue. Hence the price, $69 vs $350. And lastly, the inside channels where gasket seals against are not smooth, they have aluminum roughness like asphalt. Will the gasket create enough seal to close off all the roughness? Aluminum engine has shiny smooth mating surface. This is not.
eugene89us
Veteran Member
So with that said, another small detail - that spring tensioned valve. Trying to blow through OEM, the valve does not have retrograde leak. Blowing into Chinese one, you have some air leaking. It is not possible to swap them around as you'd have to bend those ears up to remove, I doubt it can be re-bent back without breaking.
My plan is as follows. First oil cooler lasted 100k miles and 8 years. I have an OEM spare and car is now tuned, so it should not cook coolant as bad. Original oil cooler was fully plugged on coolant side, who is to say that was not somehow cause for failure? If tuned car does not increase longevity, then in 6 years, I will replace with the new one I have. Which should take car all the way to 300k. By car's 24th birthday... Well, will that thing make 24 years before something else fails? Doubt it. I am sending this Chinese piece back to Amazon. I may try Vaico version from FCP if that comes back, after all, at least they got the things drilled through and the interior elements/openings are more similar to carbon copy of original. Who knows, maybe quality will be better. I hope I am wrong, if anyone installs, please let us know. Those may be theoretical details that don't result in practical issues.
My plan is as follows. First oil cooler lasted 100k miles and 8 years. I have an OEM spare and car is now tuned, so it should not cook coolant as bad. Original oil cooler was fully plugged on coolant side, who is to say that was not somehow cause for failure? If tuned car does not increase longevity, then in 6 years, I will replace with the new one I have. Which should take car all the way to 300k. By car's 24th birthday... Well, will that thing make 24 years before something else fails? Doubt it. I am sending this Chinese piece back to Amazon. I may try Vaico version from FCP if that comes back, after all, at least they got the things drilled through and the interior elements/openings are more similar to carbon copy of original. Who knows, maybe quality will be better. I hope I am wrong, if anyone installs, please let us know. Those may be theoretical details that don't result in practical issues.
watatrp
Veteran Member
@eugene89us So it seems that the deficiencies are enough for you to reject this? I see your concerns and respect your opinion. Too bad we don't have background for one that is actually installed and in use. I wonder what the quality of the the threads are? Would using slightly shorter bolts help?
eugene89us
Veteran Member
@watatrp I think I may be too tough on it. It is not a bad construction, by no means. Maybe I got a bit of a dud, because the other 3 holes with Chinese shorter bolts are a perfect fit. My goal was to use OEM VW bolts, but they are a tiny bit too long. Just one of the holes is a little underdrilled. What I think I need to do is to see whether maybe there is some debris within the shallower hole, because that would explain why the bold does not thread as far. When you torque those 4 bolts, it is a pretty flush assembly, I just wonder if these small details will be enough to cause small leaks or not. I measured all openings and all holes, they are within 0.1mm, and even OEM filer housing has variations within 0.1-0.01 mm in some places, such as thickness of the body on all 4 sides, etc. I definitely recommend changing gasket to OEM, because you can feel the difference. Austrian gasket is soft and smooth, Chinese one is hard and dry. All I would borrow is the actual filter housing, change out the oil cooler to original, I would even change the plastic oil cap to original. Hence the reason I ordered entire $350 assembly, since 2 gaskets and oil cooler come down to same price. You may as well have a spare oil cooler if for some reason Chinesium fails
eugene89us
Veteran Member
Funny enough, the OEM bolts go in with a little friction (and still thread by hand) while Chinese bolts are threading smoothly. There may be some variances in threads, but original Chinese shorter bolts thread nicely. Check torque on all of them if you decide to keep Chinese oil cooler, since some bolts were tough to unscrew, while others were barely tight. I used ratcheting PB Swiss screwdriver, a prized possession. LOL. Don't tell wife, as the joke goes, please nominate a trustee for your tools so that your wives do not sell them for what you told them they cost.
Tom in PT
Veteran Member
- Joined
- Jun 7, 2017
- Location
- Twilight Zone, WA State
- TDI
- 2005 Passat sedan - SOLD; 2013 Passat DSG; both purchased new
What about adding a lock washer for the one bolt that does not fully seat?
VW_Diesel_All_Day
Member
Seems like wider availability is happening:
Upgraded Metal Oil Filter Housing Assembly w/ Oil Cooler & Oil Filter (CKRA)
Oil cooler with oil filter housing complete with new oil filter for the 2012-2014 Passat with the CKRA engine code. Includes gaskets....
www.idparts.com
VW Aluminum Oil Filter Housing - Vaico 03L115389H
VW Aluminum Oil Filter Housing - Vaico 03L115389H
www.fcpeuro.com
NSTDI
Veteran Member
I highly recommend Hylomar Blue gasket sealant on both sides of any gasket. It seals like an RTV but never hardens and gaskets can be removed without being scraped off in chunks. I frequently reuse gaskets installed using Hylomar Blue. It is sensor safe and can be used around fuel-say carb gaskets.
It’s great for holding gaskets in place while installing parts and won’t create issues if you make a mess, just wipes off with a rag.
Works great with o ring style gaskets, holds them in the grooves while you install your parts, no worries about the gasket not being seated.
It was developed for the aircraft engine industry. I’ve seen it supplied with new gaskets in my Evinrude, mercury, and Yamaha outboards (with their own brand on the package) and Chrysler have it with a part number as well.
Its consistency is like tooth paste out of the tube, it stiffens up a bit after application but never hardens. Available on eBay, Amazon, Grainger, and numerous other places if you search online.
Would work well on the rough surface of the Chinese part after a bit of smoothing with sandpaper.
It’s great for holding gaskets in place while installing parts and won’t create issues if you make a mess, just wipes off with a rag.
Works great with o ring style gaskets, holds them in the grooves while you install your parts, no worries about the gasket not being seated.
It was developed for the aircraft engine industry. I’ve seen it supplied with new gaskets in my Evinrude, mercury, and Yamaha outboards (with their own brand on the package) and Chrysler have it with a part number as well.
Its consistency is like tooth paste out of the tube, it stiffens up a bit after application but never hardens. Available on eBay, Amazon, Grainger, and numerous other places if you search online.
Would work well on the rough surface of the Chinese part after a bit of smoothing with sandpaper.
VW_Diesel_All_Day
Member
Update, I forgot to mention I ordered 2x of these off Amazon... "farleyo" I returned both. The quality wasn't there. maybe these are the factory seconds, I'll gladly pay double for the Vaico one from FCPEuro with their warranty.. once those are back in stock.
freewayross
Well-known member
Thanks for the update, has any one tried the Febi Bilistein branded ones? Do they hold up?
VW Oil Filter Housing - Febi Bilstein 03L115389H
VW Oil Filter Housing - Febi Bilstein 03L115389H
www.fcpeuro.com
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Zambee500
Veteran Member
I know this does not answer your question directly, but one of the reviewers on FCP Euro indicated the Febi plastic section seemed similar/identical to OE. Barring any intervening leaks on mine, I think i will wait for them to get the metal Vaico part back in stock.
Also available in a spray bomb. The stuff was created by Rolls Royce for turbine engines, but being a very good product it got popular everywhere quickly.
Yours
Vern
Twitchytoes
Well-known member
Looks like I should've kept my mouth shut and not said I haven't had a cooler failure yet.... Pretty sure that's what just happened this morning. Do we have any level of consensus on whether the Farleyo part is worth the gamble? I'm 100% okay with getting gaskets separately but the FCPEuro and IDParts ones are backordered for way too long...
watatrp
Veteran Member
I've not read of anyone installing the Farleyo replacement yet. I've got one but my original hasn't failed yet (knock on wood). You might be the first. Document for us if you decide to get one and install it.
Twitchytoes
Well-known member
Anyone got a link for gaskets? From what I’ve heard, it’s kind of hit or miss on quality overall…. There’s someone on Reddit who claims to have installed one and it’s fine.
NSTDI
Veteran Member
Rockauto list a Uro housing and Elring gaskets.