Oil cooler seals replacement

[PGM jetta]

An extension will affect torque. Maybe not much at all with a 5" extension and only 25Nm but an extension will affect torque by allowing flex, more noticeably with higher torque

 

[CRD4me]

Yes of course. You can even see the torsion effect when torquing passenger side drive shaft flange using a 30 inch extension through the wheel well. It is very hard to account for in such case. Part of the energy is absorb into deformation of the extension through torsion. That's why the higher the torque is, the stronger the material needs to be in order to transfer the energy to the fastening the device.

 

[CRD4me]

Guys,
I'll spare you with the wording I used this morning when I saw a stain of oil on my driveway, beneath the car, coming from my oil cooler.
What's next...
Previous owner had install a 120v heater element in serie on one of the hose (cut) going to the oil cooler. I suspect weight of heater element and tension on the hose are responsible for the seal not to sit properly. I know this sounds like a very weak reflexion, but I'm out of ideas

 

[CRD4me]

Guys,
I'm still fighting with this.
Can anybody tell me what am I doing wrong ? Is it normal that the O-Ring is not matching the geometry of the cooler ? Something is weird here. Do I realy have to use the tabs on the cooler. When not using them things lines up quiet well :\
Best regards.

 

[UhOh]

That ain't right!

I'm thinking that things are symmetrical, but perhaps it's not so, and if that is the case I'd think that flopping the seal over (and or perhaps side-to-side) might allow it to set more correctly.

 

[CRD4me]

What I noticed is that if I don't use the little ear on the oil cooler, the seal fits the geometry. I'm questioning if I should be using using those ears :s
What are they meant for actually?

 

[UhOh]

I think that they're primarily to hold the seal in place during assembly. I don't think that anything is going to move after it's installed, or really move while tightening it down. Might help to keep it from twisting (though, clearly, they're doing the opposite for you!).

 

[CRD4me]

Right...
Tried two setups.
1. Seal fitted with the little tabs/ears on oil cooler.
2. Seal fitted without the help of the little tabs/ears.

In my case, with option 1 it didn't take 2 minutes after startup that I could see oil creaping out from the side of the flange.

Option 2. So far no leak, but it was chalenging to put in place. I had to hold the cooler from spining while tightening. So far after roughly 50-75km no leak. Weather is warm. Hopefully I'll get no bad surprise when it gets colder...ughh :\

What a crapy design no ? I keep poping the hood everytime I start the car to see if it leaks. This is clearly a place for easy failure, followed by expensive repairs

Aren't you guys scared that this fails while driving on the highway? I know I am :s

 

[UhOh]

Great news!

I suspect that the cooler or the seals are a bit off spec. I ran into an AC drier that was almost impossible to install because I think it was off spec: I ended up grinding part of the plastic radiator support in order to allow the lower line to attach. Really sucks when this happens. I'd like to think that only buying directly from VAG is the way to reduce such things, but just not sure.

Life is nothing but one big buffet of risk. Lots of far scarier things to worry about You're good to go.

 

[CRD4me]

Still no leaks guys!
1000km later

 

[Schoust]

My kids battling this same seal leak. This is why I insist on getting my parts early and getting them from VAG only. The slightest differances can be an issue... You save a few pennies but now have a supper fund!

 

[csstevej]

Yep.....mine just failed today too.
Can't complain to much....its been 16 years and 372,xxx miles later.

 

[CRD4me]

My lesson learned here, for some reason the oil cooler that I installed is a little off spec compared to the vw dealer one...not sure why. I was insistent in using the little hears to hold on the seal on the oil cooler, but everytime I used them I encountered a leak. It freaked me out...I'm always checking now.

Seals, though, can be bought in any good part supplier.

In my case I had to offset the ears from the tabs on oil cooler....and I'm not touching that bugger anymore!!

 

[Solamia]

Darn, I almost made it as long as you. Mine failed today, 365,000 miles.

 

[UhOh]

Wife's car's oil cooler started leaking again after about 60k miles since I'd last replaced the seals. Decided I wouldn't take the risk of trying to get seals to work again so I ordered a new cooler and seals (from IDParts). I found that the same distortions were at play here so I installed without using the ears. Ran for a while and didn't see any signs of leaks. I suppose time will tell...

 

[CRD4me]

Wife's car's oil cooler started leaking again after about 60k miles since I'd last replaced the seals. Decided I wouldn't take the risk of trying to get seals to work again so I ordered a new cooler and seals (from IDParts). I found that the same distortions were at play here so I installed without using the ears. Ran for a while and didn't see any signs of leaks. I suppose time will tell...

Rest assure my freind, I think you should be fine.

I’ve been through so much with this cooler seal thing. Thank god I’ve sorted out!

In my case I had to replace the oil filter assembly...seems like previous maintenance wad done by an ape with tools. On the flange I was seeing marking and scuffing. So I changed tge assembly.
Even after that I had a leak at the cooler seal ...again! The seal ring with ears is a strange desing. I decided to try it without the ears. So I finaly got a no leak! More then a year later and still no leak
Each time I used the ears I was experiencing a leak and even one time the ears got teared out. Maybe its the oil cooler that is not from a VW dealer itself, I dont know, but in my case it worked well for me without using the ears.

 

[UhOh]

I'm thinking that vendors should look to address this issue. Cooler and seals I pulled off didn't have an issue with alignment: not sure why it leaked, perhaps loosened up? Anyway, aftermarket seals AND aftermarket coolers might be the issue. Ears are only(?) to help keep the seal from moving during install; if one holds the cooler so that it doesn't move when tightening down then it'll likely be fine.

It's not a real tough job, but because it's so messy it's something that one wants to only have to do once.

 

[CRD4me]

It's not a real tough job, but because it's so messy it's something that one wants to only have to do once.

...but it kinda suck loosing precious oil everytime we have to open it up. I calculated almost half a quart each time. For those attempting this (replacing seal and cooler at the same time) I’d recommend to try with the ear first. Monitor for leaks. If leaking, install seal without using the ears.

 

[UhOh]

My installs took place when I had an oil change scheduled. Of course, if your install goes bad (likely only shortly after you do it) then, yes, dumping a bunch of good oil sucks.

If the seal isn't uniformly round with the ears engaged then I'd suggest not even trying to test to see if one gets leaks, just go straight to installing w/o engaging the ears; BUT, you have to make sure the cooler doesn't move around when you tighten it down.

Messy is when you change the cooler, as you have to futz around with reattaching the coolant hoses (clamps!). Oil on everything makes it like wrestling with a greased pig!

 

[Gothmolly]

Bumping thread. Can this be done in a driveway without a lift?

 

[CRD4me]

On ramps, yes.
Flat on the floor, no.

 

[Gothmolly]

Thanks CRD. One more question before I crawl out there in the (oily) snow:

I see there's a bolt at the bottom of the cooler that presumably(?) connects to something in the oil filter. What holds this whole apparatus to the engine itself? Looking at pictures of new/replacement coolers, I see 2 coolant hose fittings, and that's it. How do you mount it to the block?

 

[CRD4me]

Ok... just so we are clear, that what you’re looking for is changing both O-rings at the oil COOLER.. correct ?
If this is the case, then you dont need to worry about the engine block. The bottom plastic cap is what presses both o-rings. Please respect torque specs this is key! Apes with tools looses at this!

Changing the gasket that lays between the oil FILTER Assy. is another game.

 

[Gothmolly]

Hi CRD - yes. A combination of looking at the car in the light and the pics in the thread and I'm clear on what needs to be replaced.

Unfortunately this also means that the thing has to come out of the car, and the coolant needs to be replaced, and it's cold out, and the car has 230000 miles, and the clamps are original, and hoses are rotten with oil, which means one will fail catastrophically when I try and undo the clamps, which means ... it's better to just keep adding oil to replace the drip.

Ironically this all started after one of the gaskets, along with the vacuum pump gasket, were replaced due to leaks - and both are now leaking worse than they were before replacement.

 

[jmodge]

Hi CRD - yes. A combination of looking at the car in the light and the pics in the thread and I'm clear on what needs to be replaced.

Unfortunately this also means that the thing has to come out of the car, and the coolant needs to be replaced, and it's cold out, and the car has 230000 miles, and the clamps are original, and hoses are rotten with oil, which means one will fail catastrophically when I try and undo the clamps, which means ... it's better to just keep adding oil to replace the drip

The cooler seals can be replaced without unhooking the coolant hoses. I sealed mine by adding orange silicone, gray would work also. Took care to apply it so it would squeeze outward not inward. I am guilty of being an ape with tools, as I had some oil in the coolant, most likely from over torquing . So I had to do it twice. Also, my original lower cap didn’t have a groove for the oring, replacement did