Scheiße

"Herr Quattro - Has a 4-Motion" (spydermonkeywrench) 06/07/2015 at 18:52 • Filed to: Maintence

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Well my father and I finally crawled under the Passat to figure out what was causing the puddle of coolant we kept finding underneath the car in the morning.

[ See Profile Picture to justify filter ]

We found other things. And I think I’m starting to understand why people call VWs unreliable. Up till this point nothing horribly extreme has happened, just things you’d expect over time. Failed fuel pump (after pumping it to full), failed CV Boot, failed secondary air pump, stuff like that.

However, here’s what we found just popping the hood, and taking the engine cover off:

For those not well versed in VW parts and have no idea what the hell your looking at, it’s a hose that is either (A) leaking coolant or (B) is having coolant being dripping on it. The scariest part is the location, which is behind the engine block. especially if (B) holds true, as we can’t see what’s directly above it. Which means it would be hard to fix, and *might* require lifting the engine. Which we neither have the expertise or the tools to do so.

After jacking it up, and taking the skid plate off, we noticed that the inner-sidewall of the passenger side tire is nearly down to the chords, and the inner tread is practically gone. Not that it’s that bad, the driver side isn’t nearly as bad (which is sorta strange), there also winter tires that my dad has just been wearing down. We just didn’t realize how close they were.

( Yes I know the picture is over-exposed, but you couldn’t see it otherwise... And because I’m shit at taking photos, AND I’m using a iPhone )

However, that’s far from the worse of the woes.

On top of the coolant leaking, we found dried anti-freeze, to which surprises me because I had no idea it was even leaking anti-freeze, (then again, now that I think of it, I think he smelled it a month or two ago. I say he because I have a terrible sense of smell). Not the point, the point is “Hey! It’s also leaking Anti-Freeze!”

On top of that, the back half of the transmission is wet. With what? Hopefully coolant. I think it is, but I’ve never seen transmission fluid before, and all it did is make it darker, but either way here’s a picture:

(Again over-exposed, but I’m not going outside to take another picture)

However, it’s the next bit that absolutly terrifies me. Here is a picture of the oil case:

This is the oil pan. If you look next to the VW Audi symbol, is a stress/hairline fracture. And it’s not the only one. There’s another one more towards the left/down from that fracture. I have no idea how long it’s been there.

What really scares me is this is my-to-be first car, I wanted to put adjustable coilovers, and chip it, then take it to college and keep maintaining it. Eventually drop a W-12 into it because at 16 money, as well as the difficulty of fabricating a whole new fabricated AWD system and possible custom transmission along with firewall modifications doesn’t really deter me from wishing.

Anyway, my big question is, at this stage, if I fix/replace the oil pan, will it cost the same as if the oil pan had failed?

UPDATE:

(1) I’m an idiot, and * apperently * coolant and Anti-freeze are the same thing. I’m embarrassed

(2) apparently the coolant/anti-freeze leak is caused by a broken flange. It’ll take a day to fix, but till then, it’s not a fast leak, and we just refilled it.

(3) we took off the winter tires/rims and put the old rims (with all seasons) on. The wear patterns still exsist on those, so something with the alignment is definitely off.

(4) the fluid on the transmission is probably coolant

(5) after rubbing my finger over the crack, I think it feels like a ridge and it might (Fingers crossed) be a casting thing.

whoarder is tellurium > Herr Quattro - Has a 4-Motion 06/07/2015 at 19:10

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Coolant leak might be cylinder head coolant flange. That thing and the thermostat J plug are common leak items on the 1.8T.

Tire wear is probably due to worn lower control arm bushings... or old tires and it might be in need of an alignment.

I’d just keep an eye on the lower oil pan. If it starts weeping then you’ll know. lol.

505Turbeaux > Herr Quattro - Has a 4-Motion 06/07/2015 at 19:18

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also check the heater core connections here. If it is in the back it could be what whoarder said but I have seen the connections on the core leak too

I am failing to understand the difference between coolant and antifreeze though, can you explain? I think on those it should be pink G12 or Pentosin as a factory fill. I wouldn’t mix anything with that either. Wouldn’t be as bad as mixing Land Rover OAT and green stuff, but I wouldn’t take any chances

desertdog5051 > Herr Quattro - Has a 4-Motion 06/07/2015 at 19:30

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I would not touch the oil pan. If it is not leaking, just watch it. Obviously the cracks do not extend through it. I have seen many things that look like cracks on cast aluminum parts and they were not.

whoarder is tellurium > 505Turbeaux 06/07/2015 at 19:38

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G12 and G12+ are suggested.

Herr Quattro - Has a 4-Motion > 505Turbeaux 06/07/2015 at 20:14

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Oh no I’m an idiot and I thought they were different things. I had it pointed out to me that it was anti-freeze, and we had been referring to it as coolant the whole time. And it looked totally different then the dried coolant on the pipe.

But thanks for letting me know about the heater core!

JDIGGS > Herr Quattro - Has a 4-Motion 06/07/2015 at 20:17

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yeah any car is unreliable when you treat it like that. If you don’t even know your tires are in that condition, and given it seems no other maintenance I’m starting to think the owner may be the problem.

Herr Quattro - Has a 4-Motion > whoarder is tellurium 06/07/2015 at 20:22

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Oh ok thanks so much.

According to VWVortex it sounds like it’s the flange, but it might be J plug. (I don’t even know what that is).

And it probably is the bushings, we put the old rims we have on it, and we can tell which tires were on each side. And the rear tires have similar (but more mild) wear.

At this point the oil pan is the scariest thing, because at that point itd cost more to repair then the cars worth.

And being sentimental towards it (its been apart of my life since I was 5), makes it all the worse.

Herr Quattro - Has a 4-Motion > JDIGGS 06/07/2015 at 20:38

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Well, it’s been a slow leak, and to be honest, my dads getting a new car and I’m getting this so it doesn’t matter much to him. That and I’ve been wayyyy more concerned with this then him in the first place (it’s been leaking coolant since at least March, we’ve just been refilling it every 2 weeks or so, and it’s been fine).

its been 11 years, 80,000-90,000 something miles. The cars old. We’ve been lucky that the most expensive service so far (before this) was just getting the water pump & kombi valve fixed for about 2k. Especially if everything I hear on here about VWs Reliability is true.

Also, the tire wear was only on the inside track of the tire, and incidentally, I don’t think many people exactly get down on their hands and knees to look at that type of stuff. Even then I doubt they’d see anything unless they had a flashlight. And he’s been wearing the winter tires down since he bought the new rims last fall, with the tires on them and just figured he’d run them down and get all-seasons.

whoarder is tellurium > Herr Quattro - Has a 4-Motion 06/07/2015 at 20:41

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Really, truly, the lower oil pan is a non-issue. I recall mine looking very similar. desertdog5051 is right on the money. Its likely the aluminum casting finish.

Also, that wet area on the end of the transmission could simply be just a bad output shaft (driveshaft) flange seal.

In regards to the J plug question...

The J plug is really just a J shaped plug (with a seal on it) that fills in an opening next to the thermostat location on the side of the engine block. Its on the front of the engine (in an area below the alternator) on the driver side.

Its also in an entirely different area compared to where your current leak is now.

Herr Quattro - Has a 4-Motion > whoarder is tellurium 06/07/2015 at 21:11

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Oh ok, the leak is definitely on the back of the engine so it’s probably the coolant flange.

I don’t know about the transmission, I want to believe it’s just coolant, but it’s not white like the surrounding dried coolant.

I * really * don’t want it to be the transmission flange.

whoarder is tellurium > Herr Quattro - Has a 4-Motion 06/07/2015 at 21:13

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Not the worst thing that could happen!

JDIGGS > Herr Quattro - Has a 4-Motion 06/08/2015 at 12:47

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I don’t think the vw’s are as unreliable as they are expensive to fix. I have a 99 pass still kicking around but it has really high mileage. FP and ALT crapped on it but thats it. Audi has has about 67k on it, no problems except I did need to have the cam or valve covers changed and new gaskets and bolts (there is some scam where this can cost a bazillion dollars unless you call a non dealer shop). With the audi it was all covered because of the extended warranty I got. This warranty was awesome as it allowed my warranty work to be done at a local certified performance shop. Also the power window on one side was fixed under warranty. Forgot to add both cars purchased new.

I personally can’t even compare many cars like a civic, accord or camry. They are so shitty and dead to drive I frankly would rather have an old italian box that takes valve adjustments every month.

So if you buy a vw audi or any expensive car to fix buy a longer warranty. This does not mean you should get a piece of shit car instead.

Make sure you buy something fun, save the cars!