Possible leaking oil cooler

[dan_b]

Advice please: with the bumper and undertray off today it was possible to examine the state of a lot of components under the engine. I was a bit surprised by the amount of oily gack that was utterly covering the oil cooler, and what seemed to be possibly fresh oil on the pipes by the nuts, although they were very tight and there was no actual sign of oil leaking from there...

Do the oil coolers tend to leak, and if so, where from? Are they easy to replace? How much is a new one? Is it worth getting a bigger one fitted? If so, any suggested alternatives?

[220bhp]

Mine did on my s6, it was like a water pistol oil every ware, no warning till the oil light came on, could have been nasty, but fortunatly not.I would change it dan if I where you they take a lot of stick down there and corrode badley.

[s2driveruk]

Ii think they are pretty expensive for an oem one but you should be able to use a mocal or something which will be cheaper and porbably more efficient?

[SteveH]

Dan, the oil cooer went on my S2 and the signs were just like you describe. There wasn't litres of gushing out, but the cooler and it's pipes were totally covered with gunk. A replacement from Sal sorted the problem

[dan_b]

Yeah it was caked in gunk, I was scraping off a good 5mm deep of the stuff from all over the cooler, it's everywhere. It is a little difficult to tell as it's in a place where it's likely to attract cack, but dirt sticks to oil which attracts more dirt, so it's definintely been weeping if nothing else.

Someone once told me it's a part off the original VW Beetle, so why's it so expensive?

Is it easy to change? I guess you need to do a new oil change when you do it as it'll p*ss out everywhere otherwise?

What oe/ upgraded parts are available?

[Crawford_S2]

http://www.s2forum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=7137&highlight=oil+cooler

dude, been through this, the debris that collects in the duct for the cooler rots the bottom, the beetle theory led to nowhere. I got OE from VAG parts and have had no trouble since. As you can see i did have to remanufacture the support bracket as it is made of recycled cardboard!

[dan_b]

Is yours an ABY? The connectors for the oil lines look completely different to mine - the ones on my cooler were both on the same side? £180 you said? That's more than I was expecting.

[BRY]

Mine leaked for a short while and then let go - big time.
Replace it now and save yourself the worry of when / if it's going to go.

[dan_b]

Ok, so the question I would like to know the answer to is this - should I go for a straight OE swap from the good people at VAGParts, or is there a better aftermarket solution?

[BRY]

Do you fancy making new brackets and sourcing new pipes / connectors?
If not go OEM, expensive, but a direct replacement.

[dan_b]

A good point which can be answered with a simple "NO"!
Darn it though. My oil cooler doesn't look anything like Crawford_S2s one though - can someone just confirm that they changed from 3B to ABY?

[Jamo]

A good point which can be answered with a simple "NO"!
Darn it though. My oil cooler doesn't look anything like Crawford_S2s one though - can someone just confirm that they changed from 3B to ABY?

Yep they are different IIRC, Rotorboy has a post up showing the difference.

[Jamo]

http://www.s2forum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=13782

http://www.s2forum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=7137

[dan_b]

Great, cheers.

Jamo, the personal online search assistant...

[Crawford_S2]

Is yours an ABY? The connectors for the oil lines look completely different to mine - the ones on my cooler were both on the same side? £180 you said? That's more than I was expecting.

Mine is ABY looks like they are different but the principle is the same OEM=easy or go custom but you need brackets, pipes, unions. Could be even more money and how cool do you need the oil? have to look at the spec holisticly, if you are running 500hp+ is worth it but S2/RS2 spec don't need a whackin great oil cooler. IMO