[volkswagens-for-life]

I was wondering though ... wouldn’t oil temp module show that it’s a little hotter than normal in VCDS?

No way. And even if it did I would find that to be inconclusive to anything

 

[itmike78]

So the latest from my local dealership. Since the part is under warranty they said they should be able to do the repair free of charge. However they said they need me to agree to pay labor if they do all the work to get in there and it's not the correct part number. "Sometimes Audi and VW part numbers aren't the same". 😂...well from everything I've seen they use the same part. I mean it's the same engine. Haha. Kind of strange that they'd try to throw in that little caveat that doesn't even make sense.

Anyway, while they're in there I'm going to ask them to pressure test and probably replace other parts known to fail from other threads, especially if they're not expensive parts.

 

[SaVAGeSoot]

So the pressure test is done prior to any repairs in order to identify the failed component. This will not end well.

 

[itmike78]

So the pressure test is done prior to any repairs in order to identify the failed component. This will not end well.

Well I would think they would have done that then when I took it to them and paid the $150 diagnostic fee and said to me "it's definitely your oil cooler". If they didn't I will ask them to.

 

[SaVAGeSoot]

I'm not following you.
What are you on the hook for potentially?
You said you have receipts or proof of earlier fixing or whatever. So how is there still a mistery as to the correct parts being used or whatever? Don't those documents tell you what exact parts were used? What am I not understanding here?

 

[itmike78]

I'm not following you.
What are you on the hook for potentially?
You said you have receipts or proof of earlier fixing or whatever. So how is there still a mistery as to the correct parts being used or whatever? Don't those documents tell you what exact parts were used? What am I not understanding here?

Since the dealership (not VW/Audi) I bought the car from had replaced the oil cooler and purchased it from an Audi dealership, my local VW dealership said I have to agree to potentially pay for labor if the part turns out to not be the right one. Just a bunch of lip service I think...I mean of course it's the right part. And yes it's says on the invoice.

 

[itmike78]

059-121-737-AM is the part that seems to fail most often for people if you're losing coolant. Are you sure it's oil around the oil cooler and not coolant? Stick a long rod in there and dip it in the fluid to see the color. If it is oil then sounds like thr gaskets failed. You could be losing coolant to the oil channels. You wouldn't see dirty coolant in that case but they can do a fluid analysis of the oil to see if coolant is getting in there.

So the dealership got back to me this morning. They are saying it was a workmanship issue because the dealer where I purchased the car used RTV sealant of some sort between the oil cooler and the oil cooler plate along with the gasket, which in turn caused the seal to fail and oil to leak between seals. They gave me a quite hefty quote of $3100 to buy all new parts and fix everything. It's kind of funny though since they originally quoted me $2270 to replace the oil cooler after their initial diagnosis.

Also this new quote snuck something else in....it INCLUDES the part noted above 059-121-737-AM. So obviously it wasn't just my oil cooler that was leaking. So I asked, "would that part and some of the labor be covered under the emissions warranty" to which they replied "Unfortunately not".

Here are some pictures of the "workmanship" issues they found with the last oil cooler install. Also a picture of the parts they would be including with the repair. The oil cooler was just purchased on 7/1/22. So I said why purchase a new oil cooler if it didn't actually fail and it was a "workmanship" issue? He said well the part still did end up failing due to the workmanship during installation - it can't just be flushed out and reused. Also the gasket comes with the oil cooler so there's no separation of the two.

Oh and they are also offering to clean the intake for an extra $160. Pics of that too below. Not sure if it's needed.

 

[SaVAGeSoot]

So what are your options now?

 

[itmike78]

So what are your options now?

Either pay (which I've gotten them down to $2400 or $2600 if I want the intake manifold cleaned out.

The thing is the previous dealer said they did not use RTV sealant...just the gaskets. They got all of the parts from their local VW/Audi dealer. So I'm not sure whether I should just pay up or fight the fact that they're saying it was a workmanship issue with the previous oil cooler repair/install.

The fact that they're sneaking in this coolant bypass valve and saying that was leaking as well has me thinking they're trying to pull a fast one and not go through warranty. They also told me that coolant bypass valve was not covered under the emissions warranty which from what I've read completely disagree with. Could that leaking bypass valve have caused issues thus leading to the failure of the oil cooler gaskets?

 

[volkswagens-for-life]

The last dealer was Volkswagen too?

 

[itmike78]

The last dealer was Volkswagen too?

No, but they purchased all of the parts from Volkswagen. My local dealership actually even said after seeing those original invoices that if it turned out to be a part failure everything would be covered. Now the more I look at those pictures the more I think they're trying to pull a fast one on me. I really don't see any RTV sealant...just oil and engine grime.

 

[itmike78]

The last dealer was Volkswagen too?

I just talked to the dealer where I got the car who repaired it previously. They said "we absolutely do NOT use rtv or sealant on or around any gasket material"

 

[volkswagens-for-life]

Tough one. You took a highly specialized car to a dealership that's likely never even seen a Touareg. I can completely understand why a dealership doesn't want to have to fix another non-brand dealerships work.

 

[itmike78]

Tough one. You took a highly specialized car to a dealership that's likely never even seen a Touareg. I can completely understand why a dealership doesn't want to have to fix another non-brand dealerships work.

I didn't take it there. I purchased the car from them and it's a repair they had done prior to selling it to me. But I will at least give them credit for going to their local VW/Audi dealership to find out what parts, gaskets, etc they needed and purchased directly from them. They could have purchased some non VW parts from Amazon.

 

[SaVAGeSoot]

Credit is not deserved when you are left with a recent butcher repair that will now cost you and additional $3k.... but maybe my perspective is different or something....

 

[itmike78]

Credit is not deserved when you are left with a recent butcher repair that will now cost you and additional $3k.... but maybe my perspective is different or something....

Yeah I agree... If you don't know what you are doing take it to someone who does. They basically wasted their time and $$ and now my time and $$$. Then after the dealership said they found workmanship issues they pleased their case and denied denied. Once I went to the dealership to see with my own eyes and then sent them the pictures all of a sudden they have nothing more to say. Oh well...hopefully now everything will be good and at least if not I can bring it right back to VW. I was also able to get them down on price from $3100 to $2300.
The guy working on mine is their shop foreman and also owns a Touareg TDI.

 

[SaVAGeSoot]

Hopefully it's all good and he's not just another expert.... maybe you'll have a "go to" as a result when you need more servicing\fixing.

 

[itmike78]

Oh...so here's the theory on what the previous mechanic did when they "repaired" the oil cooler before I purchased the car from them.

They purchased all of the parts from their local VW/Audi dealership. When the parts came in we believe he disassembled the oil cooler from the base plate. (apparently they come as one piece when you purchase) They believe he did this so that it would be easier to get the bypass valve in/out. Then he put the oil cooler in over the existing plate rather than using the new one. He may or may not have put in new gaskets. He also over tightened the cooler to the base. When he put the valve back on they don't think he used a new gasket there either. For some reason he had everything he needed for success parts wise but was lacking in other areas to complete the job.

 

[volkswagens-for-life]

Oh...so here's the theory on what the previous mechanic did when they "repaired" the oil cooler before I purchased the car from them.

They purchased all of the parts from their local VW/Audi dealership. When the parts came in we believe he disassembled the oil cooler from the base plate. (apparently they come as one piece when you purchase) They believe he did this so that it would be easier to get the bypass valve in/out. Then he put the oil cooler in over the existing plate rather than using the new one. He may or may not have put in new gaskets. He also over tightened the cooler to the base. When he put the valve back on they don't think he used a new gasket there either. For some reason he had everything he needed for success parts wise but was lacking in other areas to complete the job.

That's why you take $70k euro cars to a euro shop. Sorry my man.

 

[btsummers1]

Hey everyone,

So I recently purchased a 2015 Touareg TDI and have noticed that it's losing coolant. Every few days I'm having to add coolant but not a whole lot. It gets just below the minimum line and so I add more. I've added 3-4 times now since purchasing 3 weeks ago. The temp while driving never gets above 200-205 even during long trips so no overheating issues yet.

Where could this slow leak be coming from? EGR? Oil cooler? Water pump (I would assume I'd lose more if it was the water pump). Also would these issues be covered by the extended emissions fix warranty? Just wondering whether I should bring it to a VW dealer or to a good locally known VW mechanic.

Is there something I could look for myself? Are any of these issues easy enough fixes or just best to take it to a dealer?
View attachment 252336

We had a similar issue with our 2014 TDI. It turned out the be the EGR for us. Not a cheap fix.