Author Topic: Replace oil cooler seal. (Read 5810 times)

anarchyx34 · « **on:** January 29, 2007, 12:21:25 pm »

I've got a massive oil leak coming from the seal that goes in between the oil cooler and the oil filter housing. I plan on changing that seal and the gasket that goes in between the engine block and the housing while I'm in there. Anyone have any pointers? From what I can tell, I need to:

Remove oil filter, then the large nut that holds the oil cooler to the housing, unscrew the threaded rod (oil filter union might be another word for it?), move the oil cooler out of the way (keeping the coolant hoses attached), remove the turbo oil pipe and sending unit, undo the 3 hex bolts holding the cooler to the block. Replace gasket and reattach, and reassemble.

Does this sound about right? Does anyone know what size the large nut is and if I can unscrew the union easily? I'm not sure what tool I'd have to use to remove it otherwise. Any other tips?

jtanguay · « **Reply #1 on:** January 29, 2007, 01:14:00 pm »

i'm pretty bad with judging how big the nut for the oil cooler is... :oops: took me about 3 tries to get it right... i believe it is a 28mm. you need to press pretty hard too as its soooo thin :x

its been a while since i changed mine, but i think you will have many problems removing your oil cooler with coolant hoses still attached. the cooler itself will probably bind a bit moving down the shaft... very not fun... but you have to do it! one possibility i can see working, is if you disconnect the coolant hose that goes into the head from the front. you might lose some coolant, but clamp that hose down (not sure if its recommended that you squeeze these types of hoses...but it will ensure no leakage) then it might slide down that way... as that is the only hose i can see giving you grief. the lower one should actually want to be lowered because of its position.

THERE... hope that helps. remember i'm not 100% sure its a 28mm... all i know is that it was big and it gave me much grief. okay i'm checking ETKA for you right now... because it will piss me off :lol:

edit: great... etka doesn't show nut sizes... what a bunch of nuts!

burn_your_money · « **Reply #2 on:** January 29, 2007, 02:41:36 pm »

I think it's like a 23mm. I used a 25mm to remove mine. It's on there just tighter then finger tight, it takes very little force to get it going.
Once you have that nut off you should be able to unscrew the oil filter union which will allow the oil cooler to move more freely. You'll have to take off the coolant hoses unless you don't mind bending them in half. There isn't a lot of room in there and those hex bolts are usually quite full of crap.

I don't know if I'd bother replacing the oil filter mount to block gasket, it seems pretty solid to me and may be more prone to leaking if you mess with it.

anarchyx34 · « **Reply #3 on:** January 29, 2007, 08:29:01 pm »

OK I'm halfway there. Turns out the nut was a 27mm, and wasnt on very tight at all (possible cause for the leak? Who knows.). I now need to take the coolant hoses off because you're right, it's not coming off otherwise. I still plan on changing the block gasket simply because I can envision putting this all back together, and finding out that was the leak all along. This is a bit of a PITA simply because of how hard everything is to get to.

burn_your_money · « **Reply #4 on:** January 30, 2007, 04:19:21 am »

I'm pretty sure it's suppose to be on there that loose.

saurkraut · « **Reply #5 on:** January 30, 2007, 06:36:45 am »

I've don this a couple of times. I keep an extra oil cooler nut in my tool box just for this occasion.

Its a real pain to take the cooler hoses off. So I back off the oil cooler nut, thread on the extra nut and jam them togather. Then i unscrew the pipe so the oil cooler is dangling on the hoses. Remove the old o-ring, clean the o-ring groove. Put a little grease on the new o-ring, and put it all back togather.

The mount-to-block gasket is probably ok. The gasket is glued in there with some sort of OEM gack.

The nut should be more than just finger tight. I typically put a socket on it at every oil change and make sure its snug. Haven't had a problem with this procedure on any of my extened fleet of VWs. (neighbors and relatives included)

Your tightening against a hollow aluminum box, so don't put a breaker bar on there and go for 50 foot lbs as you will crush it.

anarchyx34 · « **Reply #6 on:** January 30, 2007, 08:21:03 am »

Quote from: saurkraut

I've don this a couple of times. I keep an extra oil cooler nut in my tool box just for this occasion.

Its a real pain to take the cooler hoses off. So I back off the oil cooler nut, thread on the extra nut and jam them togather. Then i unscrew the pipe so the oil cooler is dangling on the hoses. Remove the old o-ring, clean the o-ring groove. Put a little grease on the new o-ring, and put it all back togather.

The mount-to-block gasket is probably ok. The gasket is glued in there with some sort of OEM gack.

The nut should be more than just finger tight. I typically put a socket on it at every oil change and make sure its snug. Haven't had a problem with this procedure on any of my extened fleet of VWs. (neighbors and relatives included)

Your tightening against a hollow aluminum box, so don't put a breaker bar on there and go for 50 foot lbs as you will crush it.

Thanks for the advice. I'm probably not going to change the block gasket, as I forgot it at home (the car is at work right now). I also have no way to unscrew the pipe (no extra nut unfortunately), so I'll have to figure something out. I wish manufacturers made the inside of the pipe a hex-pattern so you can use a hex key or something to remove it. How tight is the pipe usually?

Oh and thanks for the warning against overtightening it. Because that's exactly what I was going to do. :shock:

jtanguay · « **Reply #7 on:** January 30, 2007, 08:29:58 am »

yeah... i still wonder if the oil change people over tightened my oil filter and wrecked the oil cooler over time... bastards... some of them reef on it lol.... idiots!

you know i never really thought of taking the extension rod out of there... but still probably would have been a PITA..i was flushing my coolant anyways as the weather was great... if i wasn't, it could have saved me lots of time and a huge headache.

anarchyx34 · « **Reply #8 on:** January 30, 2007, 06:36:48 pm »

Well the stupid thing is fixed. I ended up taking the hoses off the oil cooler which was a &$*@*%@!!@#BBQ111!!!1 PITA, because I wanted to clean up the mating surface, which was really crappy. No leaks so-far. Lets hope it stays that way. The old o-ring was flat and petrifed.

saurkraut · « **Reply #9 on:** January 31, 2007, 01:30:17 pm »

As luck would have it, I'll be changing the oil cooler O-ring on mother-in-law's Eurovan tomarrow evening. No good deed goes unpunished!

saurkraut · « **Reply #10 on:** February 01, 2007, 08:18:59 am »

No Biggie. Over 200K miles on a VW automatic trany. Changed the trany fluid and final drive oil 2 to 3 times already. Preventative maintenance rules...

Replaced the rear wheel cylenders twice and the front roters once. Two timing Belts, 3 coils, one dristribitor, and a couple plastic water spigots.

Its a Westfailia MV. Been to Alaska, Florida, Mexico, through the Rockies and Aplacians a couple times. I think it went to Quebec once as well.

MacGyver · « **Reply #11 on:** February 01, 2007, 08:43:16 pm »

Quote

Be careful touching the MILs engine. It will be your fault when the tranny or brakes go out in a month. :shock:

Andrew

^ speaketh the truth...

BTDT :?

jtanguay · « **Reply #12 on:** February 01, 2007, 09:39:40 pm »

the oil cooler gasket bone is connected to the... tranny bone... the tranny's bone connected to the... broken motor... yep better blame him! :lol: :lol: :lol:

i would just put in some lucas oil tranny oil stabilizer fixer... its real nice and thick for that old worn out tranny... regular tranny oil is too thin to give good reliable protection on a loose tranny.

jtanguay · « **Reply #13 on:** February 01, 2007, 09:42:36 pm »

Quote from: anarchyx34

Well the stupid thing is fixed. I ended up taking the hoses off the oil cooler which was a &$*@*%@!!@#BBQ111!!!1 PITA, because I wanted to clean up the mating surface, which was really crappy. No leaks so-far. Lets hope it stays that way. The old o-ring was flat and petrifed.

i feel for ya dude... i did the same exact things... with a/c lines in place :shock: yep.. i definitely changed those retarded clips!!!!!!!!!!!! my hands were all mangled... but i got it done lol

if i were you... i would have changed the oil cooler as it should be a regular maintenance item... for the peace of mind.

saurkraut · « **Reply #14 on:** February 02, 2007, 06:48:03 am »

Well, the oil cooler o-ring job on my mother-in-law's Eurovan went as planned. Even on a snow covered driveway, 6 degrees F, after sun down. There is something magical about laying under a VW on a clear winter's night with the dim glow of a trouble light.

The double nut thing on the oil cooler tube once again made this a much more "enjoyable" experience. It only takes a few more minutes than changing an oil filter.

If you have one of these beloved oil coolers, the O-ring will fail some day. Plan ahead and get a second oil cooler nut. Taking the coolant lines off is a confirmed pain in the neck.

Oh, by the way. The automatic trany on this Eurovan is fine at 270K miles. I will not put snake oil in it. Both fluides were changed on a regular basis. Even the "permenent" synthetic gear oil in the differential case was changed. Had to syphon out the old stuff as there is no drain plug on these trainies. There is no such thing as permanent gear oil, or permanent automatic transmission fluide. PREVENTATIVE MAINTENCE RULES.