Deutschdan

I'm seeing a little oil in my coolant. My mechanic said he will check it out for free. He says that it could be a head gasket leak or transmission cooler line leak.

Anyone run into this before?

SquallLine79

But, the (insert favorite derogatory comment here) technicians at the dealership I took it to insisted that it was the Head Gasket. After 2 new head gaskets in 3 months (the second replacement was free because it was suddenly under the new gasket's warranty), they FINALLY tracked the problem down to the oil cooler, something I told them on at least 3 occasions during the 35 days they had my car (and I had no loaner).

Have your tech check the oil cooler, if such a beast exists on this car, because it's likely the culprit.

A Head gasket, by the way, would cause coolant to be in the oil, The oil cooler causes oil in the coolant.

Sorry to get off-track there, but my blood sitll boils when I think about it...

-John

Deutschdan

Thanks for the info. I almost bought a '95 Passat with the VR6 engine. What a great engine, huh?

I didn't see any moisture in the oil at all, so I'm with you. It's probably the transmission fluid cooler - yes this car has one.

Doesn't it make you mad when people think they know so much, they're so well trained that they don't need to listen to
you. I have had so-so experience with VW and Audi dealers. This is a little off-topic, but my VW dealer would not trouble shoot a suspension noise after they replaced my clutch. Took it to another dealer and found out that they never tightened a bolt and it had back out 3/4 of an inch.

Seattle Scott

He said oil cooler, you have on of those too. Dye in engine oil may show the leak path, area.

BrooksD

what year / model car do you have? I just had a transmission cooler leak in my '92 100CS. I didn't notice it until it was quite advanced, but it necessitated a new radiator. Are you seeing changes in the fluid levels of the ATF or Oil?

Brooks

SquallLine79

a number of times. Oil itself will not corrode your radiator or any other parts of it (after all, it is oil), but it can clump up and cause blockages in the Radiator and other vital parts of the cooling system.

On my Passat, the problem lasted so long (6 months+ of leaking/mixing) that plenty of oil was able to muck up the radiator, and once the problem was fixed, the radiator went about 2 months later. There was enough blockage that the pressure built up and eventually caused a leak. So, with that in mind, make sure that they give a good flushing or three to the coolant system once this is resolved. One way or another, you have oil running through there, and oil and coolant won't mix. Luckily you seem to have caught it in time.

Keep us informed, 'cuz I'm curious!

-John

ARK

More likely the oil cooler, (the oil filter screws onto it.)