Why is it that things go wrong when you can't get the parts?

Unlucky day for me today.

Confirmed that my heater matrix looks shot and on investigating the small loss of coolant it also looks like my expansion tank has a small hairline crack along the "ridge" that is seeping coolant when the system is under pressure  :roll: . Also notice what looks like a small amount of oil seeping from the oil filter head where the end blanking plate fastens onto the rest of the filter head.

Ring VW about the seal (part num: 067 115 427 A) only to be told that "those seem to be in short supply at the moment" - can't give you a firm date, probably after new year….

Shortly after that the GSF site seems to have gone AWOL and when I get through on the phone they don't do the seal, but they have ONE expansion tank in stock.

Going to try and temporarily use the hot blade of a screwdriver to "weld" the crack shut and hope to get the spare GSF tank tomorrow.

Seal on filter head is more of a problem, although does explain the slightly increased oil consumption of late.

Anyone know if I can make up a temp gasket using anything easily available from Halfords?

Sods law that I need the car to get me up to Suffolk and back for xmas tomorrow. Tried ringing around for a last minute hire car, but they are rarer than the proverbial rocking horse dodo at this time of year.

Feel like kicking seven shades of you-know-what out of something at the moment. If the Campaign lets me down it could well be on the receiving end…..  :evil:

Any suggestions on the oil leak issue appreciated as I don't want to shed the contents of the sump at speed on the A12….

Cheers,

Chris

Sounds like just what you don't need at this time of year ……

I can't offer much in terms of help but I would have thought as long as you keep an eye on your levels the car shouldn't fail on you …

My oil filter seal leaked for a good year of hard driving without causing serious problems.

ChrisB said

Also notice what looks like a small amount of oil seeping from the oil filter head where the end blanking plate fastens onto the rest of the filter head.

If you're talking about the bit I'm thinking of, there's an O-ring under this plate that is available from VW and costs pennies. I think the one I bought was in stock.

However, 6 months or so on and it's still sitting in the plastic bag!! ops:

As DJ said, keep an eye on your levels and you should be ok. My oil loss is at the rate of approx. 0.5 litres per month MAX. so hopefully shouldn't be a major problem for you. Just have a can of oil in the car!

Good luck and Merry Christmas

Thanks for the info guys. Sounds like the o-ring seal may not be a biggy from what you are saying. I reckon my car is probably using about half a litre of oil every few hundred miles at the moment, and its not smoking so I guess its loss though the filter head leak.

Just need it to get me through xmas and new year - keeping my fingers crossed.

Hi ChrisB
You a PM

Hi Chris,
I had the same problem last year, I renewed the o ring but the oil still leaked from the joint, in the end I took off the oil filter housing smeared oil around the flange and stamped it on gasket paper, then cut out the print with a stanley knife, then smeared with gasket sealer. Took me about 1 hour. You should be able to get the paper from most auto shops tomorrow.

thats what i was going to say: make up a gasket to go round the edges and put some hermite? (gasket sealant) on both sides.

Thanks guys - I think I can just put up with the oil consumption for now and sort it when I get back after xmas, either using the genuine O ring or the home made gasket remedy mentioned above  .

Big thanks to TC especially for offering the loan of his Bora for the trip - extremely generous and certainly appreciated.

I think with a new expansion tank and a 5 litre can of Synta I should have most angles covered with regular checks and an eye on the guages!

Cheers,

Chris

I had a problem with the 'O' ring laeking oil, tightened it and no problem… until a -5 night and all the oil dropped onto the road at 2am!!
RAC had to take me home. The seal was only pence as mentioned earlier but the problems with tinkering with a small leak caused a whole load of problems!! Beware.

Chris

Both my olde US 16v Mk2 and wifey's Auto Mk2 have both had chronic failures of the Oil Pressure Sender Switch perched on top of the filter housing which lets oil pizzitively poss out of the nylon housing in way of the spade terminal.  Pull off the rubber boot and start 'er up and see if you get an eyefull of oil.  If so its a simple fix to replace the sender (?8+ at VAG ?2+ at GSF).  

It should be noted that the occasion of Wifey's Mk2 failure caused me all sorts of greif since the oil leak was quite excessive and had found its way into the converter bellhousing (for rapid distribution around the engine bay since it has lots of apertures) before I noticed the leak…..methinks I was going to have to replace a Crankshaft oil seal. However, remembering what happened to my 16v, I checked the Oil Press sender first…..

Cheers