[gigimarie]

My Touareg has been THE BEST, most reliable vehicle I have ever owned. I have been the sole owner of this TDI and I have personally put 170K on. I have meticulously cared for this car and it is in pristine shape.
This past summer I was made aware that the oil pan gasket was leaking small amounts of oil. The advice from the certified mechanic was not to fix it because it was such a minor leak and that it would not impede on the performance or integrity of my TDI. The quote to fix it was around 15K. The other advice was just to change the oil every 5K miles vs. 10K. The leak is minor and between oil changes I have only had to put .5 of a quart of oil in it to replace what was lost over 5K miles.

Now a new leak has surfaced. A few weeks ago my coolant sensor would go off randomly but the gage did not indicate over heating. I took it in to my VW mechanic and the issue was that the oil cooler is leaking slowly and has "filled the valley of the engine up with oil coolant" (his exact explaination). The advice this time was not to fix that either (quoted $2880.00 to repair) due to the high mileage of my TDI (170K) The advice this time was to "run her into the ground and keep changing the oil every 5K". BUT, where is the ground 5K miles, 20K miles??? How long can I drive it with these 2 leaks left unrepaired?
My TDI runs perfect otherwise. I am torn on what to do given the advice from my mechanic. SO, my question is are these leaks minor enough that I can still drive it safely and reliably if I go on longer rides or am I driving a ticking time bomb and should offload my beloved TDI while it still has some value left? This TDI has been so incredible and I was hopeful that I would get at least 250K-300K miles out if it with the way I have cared for it. I've never missed a scheduled mantenance, and swiftly taking care of the minor repairs it has needed. I live in in Wisconsin where the weather shifts and road conditions do take a heavy toll on cars.

Thank you for helping. I am not mechanically inclined and have soley relied on the advice of my trusted certified VW master mechanic.

 

[SaVAGeSoot]

You need a new mechanic. No Master Mechanic would give you that type of advice, or claim that fixing an oil pan gasket leak would run you $15k.

 

[jeffnhiscars]

Id 100% agree w SavageSoot...except I'd never live it down

to answer the actual question, as long as you maintain the fluid levels leaks should have zero impact on life expectancy. Having said that, I don't personally tolerate leaks and yes, $15k to fix a pan gasket is beyond absurd.

Yes find a good Indy.

 

[SaVAGeSoot]

Id 100% agree w SavageSoot...

.... said no one ever.....

 

[jeffnhiscars]

.... said no one ever.....

can't have you pouting so yes, I agree with you

for the PO I'll just add that based on your ownership history and expectation I'd bite the bullet and get the repairs done. The oil cooler is a bit of a deep dive but I can't imagine it's more than several hours so the estimate may be a bit on the high side (But not obscenely so).

As for the pan, even if it's an engine out job that requires splitting the engine and trans (which I doubt) and requires 30-40 hours, we are still only talking USD5k-ish. To get another 170k from it it's not unreasonable and if you don't have the budget consider getting a CarCare card. Same bank that issues Lowes credit cards, they are accepted by scads of garages and major items typically get 12 mo interest free. I buy tires on mine cause I'm just a fan of free money.

 

[SaVAGeSoot]

It's not an engine out job.... you need to jack up the engine off the mounts (so obviously unbolt mounts and a few other things that get in the way, like steering u joint, intake pipes, etc), unbolt and lower half the subframe.... only at the front edge.... this gives you sufficient access.
Probably not something to tackle on your back in your driveway, but can't see it dragging out into a 15+ hr job in a shop with lifts, engine jacks, power tools, (actual master mechanics) etc.

 

[Dannyboy485]

I've not really noticed very many oil pan leaks on touaregs , I did notice a butt ton of oil drain plug leaks which is solved with a new drain plug and washer. A few crank seals here and there which I don't have resources to do at home so gotta turn down those jobs.

Coolant and oil in the vee I just fixed mine about 4 months ago when i bought mine. Common on CNRBs. Just down to the heat in the vee and thermal cycles especially if it's city driven alot

Master mechanics love finding short cuts because they can get the job done quicker than the book time and still charge close to it. It really depends on the mechanic if he is honest or not.

 

[ValveCoverGasket]

It's not an engine out job.... you need to jack up the engine off the mounts (so obviously unbolt mounts and a few other things that get in the way, like steering u joint, intake pipes, etc), unbolt and lower half the subframe.... only at the front edge.... this gives you sufficient access.

looks like it depends on which pan - theres a lower and upper section. the upper looks more like a crank girdle, but, its another glued-on seam.

lower looks like its a "slightly drop the subframe and wiggle it out" job, upper is engine out.

im surprised they left enough room to not require lowering the subframe completely even for the lower pan. impressive.


either way, i think OP needs a better mechanic.
i appreciate his approach of "dont waste your money and run it" but it seems like some more detail on the repairs might be useful. his 15hr estimate for the upper/full oil pan reseal might be realistic if he was assuming engine out...

 

[SaVAGeSoot]

The leak is minor and between oil changes I have only had to put .5 of a quart of oil in it to replace what was lost over 5K miles

i appreciate his approach of "dont waste your money and run it

I top off more than that between my OCIs without having a leak.... so if it actually is leaky, I'd also ignore that.

"filled the valley of the engine up with oil coolant" (his exact explaination).

I don't know what oil coolant is, but if that coolant is also getting into the oil now, the OP needs to address this and NOT ignore it.

 

[TommiT]

Don't touch it.

Change the oil every year or 10K, whichever comes first, and top up with half a litre as required between oil changes.

Treat the leaks as rust prevention!

 

[Interroban]

I was quoted 1700 for the oil cooler. IMO it is worth doing. The pool of coolant smells bad as it burns off and can get worse quickly. I had a rear main seal repair where they dropped the engine and transmission, that was quoted at 3500. Both were covered under warranty in my case.

 

[Dannyboy485]

I was quoted 1700 for the oil cooler. IMO it is worth doing. The pool of coolant smells bad as it burns off and can get worse quickly. I had a rear main seal repair where they dropped the engine and transmission, that was quoted at 3500. Both were covered under warranty in my case.

9 times out of 10 it's the gaskets between the plates and oil cooler that leak. They shrink with the thermal cycles and leak. It's definitely not a quick job but with tools you can do it yourself.
The oil cooler itself is actually pretty robust.

 

[volkswagens-for-life]

OP needs to go to an actual Euro shop or dealer. This guy has no clue what he's looking at. Look 170k "run it into the ground"? This isn't an American car that's seen it's end by 170k..

 

[gigimarie]

Don't touch it.

Change the oil every year or 10K, whichever comes first, and top up with half a litre as required between oil changes.

Treat the leaks as rust prevention!

Thank you for the reasurrance. Will it be able to take long trips the way it is?

 

[SaVAGeSoot]

 

[muadib97]

I would highly recommend taking care of the oil cooler leak soon. The coolant can leak into the oil sump pretty easily either through the oil ports under the cooler itself, or through the crankcase breather.

As stated before, a minor oil pan leak is not a big deal, but is messy.

 

[Dannyboy485]

I also agree, don't go anywhere without fixing your cooler issue first. It will leave you stranded if you don't or cause engine damage.

 

[Tiliqua]

I haven't actually noticed anyone suggest that a FREE check of the bolts is worth the cost, just in case any have slackened off. Seeing as this is not my money I'd say that the owner needs to work out how much can be spent realistically. I'd agree that the cooler issue is the first stop for a repair and should be factored in sooner rather than later. Can you go on a trip, theoretically yes but who knows if further damage may be caused at some time.

The sump gasket, for fluid integrity, cleanliness and emissions type concerns, it can be done. To keep the car running safely if you can live with the leaks, don't need to bother.

I'd say that anyone who remembers the cars of the 50's and 60's, they leaked more oil on a good day that you are loosing now. The difference, people actually checked their oil levels daily if not weekly. In fact they checked just about all fluids because everything leaked.

 

[Dannyboy485]

To get to the bolts you need to remove alot of items so it isn't worth the time or effort just to check bolts. Tightening down bolts won't fix flattened seals. The extra torque on bolts will cause the cooler to flex futher from the bolt clamping points, making the leak worse.
Two gaskets and a couple Orings and EGR pipe gasket( I reused mine because it was going to be deleted anyway) should run you under $100, I've seen some vendors selling for around $50. I would never waste that much time to check bolts for the sake of $50 worth of gaskets considering how critical they are.

 

[Tiliqua]

Each to their own. I don't recall extra torque being a part of the solution, just checking that they are to specified torque. I did agree that the cooler did require attention for all the reasons. As the OP said, he is not mechanically inclined so labour is a much bigger component of the repair costs than the $50 for gaskets.
Addressing leaks is a sign of a good engineer and for myself, I'd do that as a matter of course. My contributions for what they are worth tries to recognize that not all have skills and tools or for that matter, bottomless pockets so it was a bit of prioritizing as to what was more important.