It seems that on some engines the oil filter and oil filter housing need removing to gain access to the oil cooler. This then requires fresh oil.

From what I can see the PD170 is a little different so I'm assuming removing the oil filter housing is not nescessary?

http://elsaweb.spaghetticoder.org/doc/C.en-GB.S00.5724.00/33629773/3

What is it with VAG engines and oil coolers, the Audi V8 in mine also has an oil cooler which is prone to failure. My A8 had a new one in 2008, fitted by an Audi main dealer, cost to replace for the previous owner was £3K. The problem with the A8 one is that there is a plastic pipe that perishes and bursts over time.

You can never completely get rid of all the oil, even today despite having a new cooler, pipework, expansion tank etc. oil is still circulating in the coolant. Only a small quantity, but its in there.

Thanks Andy, but thats the oil filter holder.

I think I'm having issues with the oil cooler.

From what I've researched so far, on some engines it is necessary to remove the oil filter holder to access the oil cooler, on others it isn't.

I'm hoping on my PD170 it's the latter. I'll take a proper look under the bonnet in the morning!

When you say a small amount Mannyo, is that more or less than what you can see in my pictures?

I checked and topped up the G12 coolant less than a month ago and all was clean, so the oil you can see has appeared in less than four weeks.

I can only assume that as I continue to use the car it'll only get worse.

Thanks Andy, but thats the oil filter holder.

From what I can see from that diagram, which is for a PD170, the oil cooler can be removed from the bottom of the filter housing, one retaining bolt is all that is holding it in place.

I see it now.

Although that bolt looks pretty long, long enough to reach into the oil filter housing I wonder?

If it does then I'm guessing it'll require an oil change too?

The reason I'm so interested in whether or not I need to drop the oil is because the car is in for service on Wednesday, I'll get them to diagnose the oil cooler, but I'm fairly certain they'll charge the earth to replace it (Skoda main dealer), so I'm hoping I can get a local garage do it, but I don't want to have to swap out the fresh oil and filter after only a few days!

When you say a small amount Mannyo, is that more or less than what you can see in my pictures?

Less, when I remove my cap and look inside, the coolant in the tank is the right colour for G12. The rest of the bottle has what can only be described as oil splatters around where the coolant return hose on my car is situated. I lose no coolant and the oil shows no signs of water either, so I am happy the cooler is still intact. Compared to the first one, this one has been in the car for about 40K miles, the first one lasted over 140,000 miles.

The heat of the oil and water make the plastic go brittle, so it fractures causing cross contamination. For the Audi cooler, its possible to get a repair kit using a metal pipe which fixes it once and for all.

Looks like you will lose the oil in the filter, and not much more.

Thanks guys, a quick search would suggest an oil cooler can be had for around £80, add to that a bottle of flush, a few litres of G12, a top up of oil and a couple of hours labour I'm looking at £350.

Add to that the £220 for the service and this one's gonna hurt!

Rang the dealer this morning, they offered to visually check the oil cooler when its in for service on Wednesday.

I asked for the part price out of interest which came back at £196.78!

I'd then need a flush, fresh coolant and a top up of oil (to replace what is drained out of the oil filter holder), and...

...up to four hours labour (maximum) at £90/hour as flushing the system can be a bit of a bugger. They did say it would depend on how bad the leak was / how much oil had escaped into the cooling system.

They mentioned a 15% discount on the labour rate for cars over four years old and the potential for an offer of goodwill from Skoda UK based on its full (six stamp) main dealer service history.

Rang up a local motor factors for a patterned part which was £75 + VAT (from a company called 'Miler' in Germany?) so might source the part myself and get a local garage to do the hard work for £40/hour instead if the Skoda quote sounds crippling!

Bloody PD170's!

An interesting point raised by a fellow member. Shortly after I had the injectors replaced last year I suffered with diesel fuel mixing with the engine oil.

It took a few thousand miles before the problem was properly diagnosed and fixed.

Is there any chance that the diluted / contaminated oil could have damaged the seals in the oil cooler and resulted in it's early demise?

I was wrong, the two seals in the oil cooler are in contact with the coolant, not the oil, so I can rule out oil contamination as the cause.

The oil coolers are renowned for corroding internally apparantly. As the corrosion gets worse so does the amount of oil that escapes into the coolant.

I've been lucky by catching it early, the coolant is clean, there is just oil/sludge collecting around the edge of the header tank.

The guy at the dealer said that what normally alerts owners is the low coolant warning light, caused by the header tank being completely full of oil.

At this point it's a bigger job as flushing out the oil is a long job as it requires several flushes and a new header tank.

Skoda want £460 so I'm sourcing the part from a local motor factors and getting my friendly independant garage to do it for £40/hour instead of £90!

Hi Guys, I noticed the Mayo stuff prior to a massive oil leak. The massive oil leak into the coolant was discovered when I suddenly brokedown on the motorway. I believe I brokedown due to the injector failing.

Any way my oil cooler is replaced and flushed out, all coolant pipes replaced and all 4 injectors replaced, wiring loom too. My car is now running execellent, like brand new.

The injectors were done by main dealer for free. Had not been for you guys I would have never known that there was a recall.

Cheers

Yep, I'll be getting my leaking oil cooler fixed before it fails completely.