Coolant Problem Multivan T5 2005 - faulty sensor?? Water pump failure??

[Transporter]

I may have misunderstood the source of the oil from what I read, but the oil pressure would still be the highest.

Brian

Except when you switch the engine off, then the cooling system pressure stays and the oil pressure is gone very fast.

[minniemousey]

Sooooooooo. Back from the mechanics today. Diagnosis - "probably" the head gasket needs replacement. No leaks in the cooler found. Pressure tested, cleaned and replaced cooler line that had previously been overtightened which is odd.

Mechanic did say that it was rare for the head gasket to go. Is this the general consensus on this forum???

[BrianJ]

I would ring a dealer and ask for them to check if your chassis number is within the range of those that have the suspect cooler. I think my view would be that if it was one of the known faulty ones then I would just get it changed first then see if there is still a leak, because the head work would be horrendously expensive and it is not even know 100% that it is the trouble. I suppose they pressure checked the core to the same or more pressure than engine oil pressure, because if it has such a small leak with oil pressure then it is possible that the leak was not detected. I would proceed cautiously.

Brian

[minniemousey]

Brian J, rang the dealer and as far as they are aware, the harness for the cooling fan was the only known recall on my vehicle.

Yes, they did pressure test the oil cooler and nothing came of it, hence the diagnosis of "probably" the head gasket. The black sludge has returned over the last week, after coming back from the mechanic clean. No warning lights coming on....yet.

Just read Sunny's post on his transmission failure - he had the same warning lights coming on and going off again after a restart.

How to proceed???! Apart from driving it into a wall?! Or the obvious of replacing the head gasket?

[Sunny43.5]

Just to clarify the warning light was in my work T5 2.0 petrol the T5 with trannie failure is our family van 2.5 diesel auto .

[BrianJ]

Did a quick search of the VW T4 Forum - VW T5 Forum engine forum and found many threads on failed oil coolers.
Here is a couple that have the same symptoms as yours:
Oily in the expansion tank - VW T4 Forum - VW T5 Forum
2006 T5 130 Auto oil on top of coolant - VW T4 Forum - VW T5 Forum

It doesn't prove this is what's wrong with yours, but you may find these very interesting.

Brian

[minniemousey]

Did a quick search of the VW T4 Forum - VW T5 Forum engine forum and found many threads on failed oil coolers.
Here is a couple that have the same symptoms as yours:
Oily in the expansion tank - VW T4 Forum - VW T5 Forum
2006 T5 130 Auto oil on top of coolant - VW T4 Forum - VW T5 Forum

It doesn't prove this is what's wrong with yours, but you may find these very interesting.

Brian

Cheers for that BrianJ. The bottom one could have been written by me! No overheating with mine either so praps not the head gasket after all!

[BrianJ]

Cheers for that BrianJ. The bottom one could have been written by me! No overheating with mine either so praps not the head gasket after all!

I think it is worth trying a fix which is more simple, more likely and cheaper in case by chance it fixes it, rather than performing the equivalent of open heart surgery. If all else fails then you still have the head removal as a final resort. Good luck.

Brian