Coolant leak from oil filter housing help please....

Decided to get the Golf out if the garage this afternoon as it's been put away since the start of October.  Started first time and left running to get up to temperature.  Now, just before I put it away for the winter I noticed a very small coolant leak, only noticed when parked in drive after a run, just a few drops which seemed to be dripping from under the oil filter.  Whilst it's been standing in garage, nothing has come out.

So, decided to have a look and see where it's coming from and traced it to a joint at the front of the oil filter housing, just close to where the pipes feed in from the external air cooler.  I have found a picture on line of the part which is clearer than the photos I took that you can see above.

The coolant is coming from the joint that you can see on the right hand side, I have tried tightening the 10mm bolts but not made any difference.  My question is, can this joint be dismantled with the oil cooler in situ, and is there a gasket part I need to be looking for - if so what's the part called, or will I need a tube of instant gasket?

i have seen on-line a product called Oyltite, which is like a stick which you rub into a joint and it is supposed to seal, or JB Weld, would that work with a small coating around the outside. - Or is there anything else you could suggest without me dismantling things and possibly causing more issues?

to be honest I was also surprised that there was coolant in there, I know the later Mk1s and MK2s had an oil cooler that was cooled by water but didn't know that the early cars had water circulating around this part.





 

Not got an air cooled oil cooler on my car but I can't see why there should be coolant in there and even how it's getting in there, is there a water pipe going to it?
Are you sure you don't have a small coolant leak from a pipe above this part?

Just had a look at partsbase and there is a O ring but it seems to seals the oil?
Part number 45?
http://www.partsbase.org/vw/golf-go-eu-1981-13-oil-pump-oil-filter-oil-dipstick/

New O ring.
http://www.classic-vw.co.uk/mk1-golf-gti-oil-filter-housing-seal-front-mount-cooler-067115427a-5171-p.asp
 

 Don't have one of those at the moment but pretty sure theres no coolant in there.

That is what I can't understand why there should be any coolant.

I can see it coming out of the joint.

It's definitely like water not oil, but wierdly it seems very green, whilst my coolant was changed last year for the Red stuff, now I know despite a flushing there would be a bit of old green in there but in the expansion tank it's just a dirty red colour.  But also my coolant reservoir had dropped  about an inch towards the end of last year, only noticed it at a show in August.

There seems a little bit of pressure as well, as although the water coming out of the joint is only very small, it does seem to bubble out albeit very very slightly.

Also not sure if it's linked but again in summer the oil temperature reading on the MFA started going silly every now and then, reading nearly double then eventually dropping straight back to normal.


UPDATE - just found my Haynes manual and looking at the picture of the unit, there doesn't look like any water is in there!  I am sure it's not dribbling down from anywhere else but will have to check, there are some wires which pass just over the joint, so could be running down those from somewhere else.

Have you done the taste test on the "coolant drip" from the oil cooler?
You only need to taste a little anti-freeze as it's not pleasant or any good for you! Have a drink of water to swill your mouth out afterwards.

This way you can tell if it's coolant or maybe condensation?

there isnt water in there to leak is there?? oil and air?

Thanks guys, I will try and have another look at the weekend I hate a puzzle!

Right, couldn't wait just been into the garage and whilst I didn't start it up I did find some of the liquid where it's been running off the filiter housing and down the oil filter.  I put a paper towel on it and it us indeed quite green.

However, it tasted okay!  So I then pulled out the dipstick and dropped some of the oil onto the filter housing and it looked identical to the leaking fluid.  So, for some reason my oil is quite green!  It was only changed about 200 miles ago and I did put some addictive in to help reduce the effects of wear.

So now I know it's oil I just need to find out why is leaking and fix it. Hoping it's not over pressurising , that's the issue I had 2 yrs ago when recommissioning it when the pressure relief and/or oil pump let go and burst my oil cooler, that's when oil filter housing, oil cooler and oil pump were replaced.

There is a gasket on the front, it unbolted with a few 10mm bolts

Thank you, guess I will have to make a gasket can't imagine it's an available part.

Is it not the 90 pence gasket you need which I posted a link to a few posts ago?
Did you use an engine flush before changing your oil because if you did that might be why you now have a leak?

Yes it will be Mark  thank you, I had forgotten that you had posted this as I was thinking at the time it was a water issue, not an oil one.

I'll get one ordered, hopefully that will cure it for a cheap fix! . Help much appreciated.

theres an oring behind that end plate, its part number is 067115427A. long since NLA from VW but classic parts are making them again:
https://www.vwheritage.com/vw_act_vwclassicParts.search.htm?classicSearchText=067115427A

I can't find it on heritage
http://www.classic-vw.co.uk/mk1-golf-gti-oil-filter-housing-seal-front-mount-cooler-067115427a-5171-p.asp

Got one from Classic VW, as Per Volkswarren link it arrived today, will try and get it replaced in next couple of weeks to see if it does the trick.

with my link just click it and scroll down a bit, I've linked you direct to the classic parts search

But it would have been ordered direct from classic parts in germany, so would have taken a while and cost you more than from classic-vw.co.uk, so you're better off going to them

Took the end plate off today, the four  bolts came undone easy enough but then I was a bit foxed as I couldn't see a round seal, just a hard egg shaped one the same shape as the plate that came away with it when I pulled it off.

After a good dig around and no round seal, realised that it was in fact the egg shaped one I needed to replace and the new round one stretched easily into the resess in the filter housing and everything bolted back together.

Ran engine in garage for ten mins to get up to temperature and all seems fine.

thanks all for your help.

Another good job done