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

[Umai Naa!!]

A warranty repair and a campaign are two very different things.

The oil cooler was never a campaign, but there was a technical bulletin on it. Some terminology confusion there.

The fan relay re-wiring campaign is a pretty recent one that came out about 12 months ago. It affects just about all T5s sold here (but not the current T5GP).

[Sunny43.5]

I] have checked my van which has the same sympton but nothing unusual no increase in oil level [its down ] note to self add some on weekend after all the van has 189000 kays so some oil consumption is expected each month . So there is no oil sludge in water container so the assumption would be a faulty sender as a restart clears the warning light and sound .

[BrianJ]

From what I have read, it appears to me to be the AUTO gearbox oil cooler that sits in the bottom of the radiator that splits, so there would be no mixing of water into the engine oil, that occurs when the water pump leaks into the sump. Also, because the oil flow from the gearbox is higher pressure than the radiator water, the oil goes into the water jacket, not the other way around.

Brian

[Umai Naa!!]

It's usually the engine oil cooler, which is attached to the front side of the block.

[BrianJ]

It's usually the engine oil cooler, which is attached to the front side of the block.

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

Brian

[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 .