T4 purchased

[Ald]

Hi Folks

On Friday I purchased a 2001 T4 Caravelle with 132000km on the clock. It's auto and 2.5 TD . It was regularily serviced by Volksmuller in Sydney but was in the last year or so in Adelaide. I drove it from Adelaide to Newcastle yesterday and all went well. I got 9l of diesel per 100km and filled up with vortex premium and then BP premium diesel. I have a couple of questions

1) today a light came up on the dash. Oil sensor Workshop! What is this issue?
2) when I turn the steering wheel fully there is a loud noise when the car is standing. What could this be?
3) when the car is up a steep driveway and I use the brakes they are incredibly noisy. Is this normal?

who would be the best mechanic near Newcastle to look at the car?

[jets]

1 The only sensor for oil that I can think of is the oil level sensor. Do you have an owners manual? In the controls & equipment, read page 20. Could be the sensor or wiring fault. If the sensor is faulty the light is supposed to flash.
2 This is a hard test, could be steering pump/unloading valve or slipping/loose belt.
3 It's not normal. Brake pad composition springs to mind. What does the surface of the disc rotors look like?

[Ald]

Ok so in Adelaide prior to purchasing the car a reputable Volkswagen repair workshop did a pre purchase check on the car.

They found no issue with the tranny except what was presumed to be an old uncleared fault code and a recently rebuilt tranny that was giving no trouble.

They found no issue with the steering column

They found no issue with the oil sensor and never mentioned any fault codes related to the sensor

They noticed a leak on the turbocharger but that it was normal,

when I test drove the car after flying into Adelaide Friday morning on the basis of the good pre-check report to buy it, I immediately heard the steering noise and was assured by the dealer that it was related to the indicator Column and was not related to the steering rack which had been replaced twice before. The noise was always there if a full turn was required at slow speed or no speed. Just in case I asked the dealer what we will do if it was indeed the steering column and he said that we just need to communicate and we will work something out but that it just needs some WD40. I also purchased an additional 60 month warranty on the car. That's really the only thing wrong with the car that I picked up and I reasoned that if it's just noisy then no reason to worry.

I drove it all the way to Newcastle on Saterday leaving late Friday night and sleeping in it on the side of the road getting to Newcastle without any problems and no fault codes early Sunday morning and going to sleep.

Sunday I noticed the oil sensor warning

today I looked into the glove box and discovered a warranty for the auto transmission refurbished gearbox and install done at autotrax. I noticed that the warranty required a 1 month or 1000km service and the Tranny was replaced on 25 August 2015. I also called the last owner before me and he was a great guy who said that the oil sensor warning first appeared after the tranny was refurbished. I had already booked the car for a blue slip inspection tomorrow and thought I had better call the autotrax tranny guys asking them if the 1000 km /1 month service can be done in NSW before it expires. A great guy called Chris in their Autotrax head office said to just get a mechanic to check for leaks and check the levels on the tranny put their stamp on the warranty and fax it in and they would honour the warranty despite exceeding the 1000km but not exceeding the 1 month.

So I took the T4 and a Bora that I bought on Friday into Twighlight Automotive to the mechanic owner called Michael who was super helpful, great communicator and just a pleasure to deal with. He looked over both cars for no charge and let me know what he thought, when he could not do something he suggested someone who would and is giving me a quote for repairs to the Bora. Excellent guy and the workshop is professional.

On the T4 the tranny "bathtub" was full of red tranny oil and the tranny was visibly leaking, so no stamp on the warranty, it could be at the data plug, the gasket or the diff seal or the level inspection hole or all of the above. He thought that the steering noise was an internal steering column issue. I called Chris at Autotrax and he spoke with Michael , autotrax say they want a quote and they will cover it. and tomorrow hopefully I get a quote to fix the tranny leak and hopefully autotrax will cover it. In addition Michael noted that the turbo was leaking oil over the hoses so in my opinion it was not small.
I wonder if the 1500km drive over 24 hours was too much for a T4?

So much for wanting to take the kids on holiday this week, this will blow our family budget and steal the kids holiday time with their parents.

Cars, pain in the a I say

i want to call the guys who did the prepurchase and ask what the story is I am disappointed they never picked up the steering noise and leaking tranny, unless it only started leaking after the road trip if that's possible.

Whats thestory with with the leaking turbo? Can it be fixed?

[jets]

I immediately heard the steering noise and was assured by the dealer that it was related to the indicator Column and was not related to the steering rack which had been replaced twice before. The noise was always there if a full turn was required at slow speed or no speed. will work something out but that it just needs some WD40.

I wonder if the 1500km drive over 24 hours was too much for a T4?

Can you give some more details of the steering column noise. Is it a kind of scraping noise? If so both of my T4s have done that from time to time & I would say don't worry about it.
I know the van is new to you & your expectations are that it will perfect but the reality is that it's probably 15 years old & no longer a new van. Remember that you only paid a fraction of the price when it was new. I am not saying to not address the faults that you have found. Work through them one by one & reach a level where you are happy with it. I read once that it takes around 6 months of ownership of a used car to be able to trust it for reliability.
Once you have it sorted, 1500kms is nothing for a T4. I have a daughter living in Alice Springs that is 1500kms away. I have taken both T4s up there without problems although I take 2 days for the trip & don't go over the speed limit.
There is a lot of info about oil leaks on the UK T4 forum. One that is common is the drain tube flange from the turbo back to the crankcase.
Take the time to relax & enjoy your T4.

[Sunny43.5]

Check the plastic shroud around the steering column they can get out of position and cause rubbing noises , my sons one used to do it and it took a couple of refits to get it right . I noticed you bought it from a dealer word of caution they are notorious for stretching the truth to sell a car . This was told to me by a dealer friend of mine Quote "Howard the public put us car dealers second in line behind child molesters on peoples opinions of others "

[jets]

This was told to me by a dealer friend of mine Quote "Howard the public put us car dealers second in line behind child molesters on peoples opinions of others "

Followed closely by the service industry, particularly if they sense you know little about cars. My son has just purchased a s/h 200 series Land cruiser from a Toyota dealer & I went along for support. The salesman was very good, sensible, no BS & true to his word. The service dept. was the exact opposite & talked a lot of nonsense & rude.

[Ald]

Well the car went to Another mechanic today. It turns out that the transmission and engine oil were overfilled. I am not convinced about the tranny state yet even though Perry was happier but let's see what tomorrow brings.

[jets]

On the T4 the tranny "bathtub" was full of red tranny oil

The oil that the transmission rebuilder has used is not VW oil. Genuine is slightly yellow. When the oil is changed only around 3.7 litres out of a total of 5.3 litres drains out. According to the main trans rebuilder in Adelaide, oils in the trans should not be mixed. Try & talk to the rebuilder to confirm what fluid they used.

[jets]

Well the car went to Another mechanic today. It turns out that the transmission and engine oil were overfilled

Is this mechanic familiar with the T4 auto? The level is set/checked when the oil temp is between 35C-45 C. That said, when I bought my first T4 & checked the level it was overfilled, worked perfectly & no leaks. On an American forum, one member reported that his was overfilled by the factory/delivery service from new & still worked fine.