Dealer service/ T5 engine oil cooler replacement campaign.

**BrianJ** · 10-07-2008, 04:15 PM

Just rang Austral VW in Brisbane, and mentioned the recall for oil coolers, and the person checked and said it is a 3 day job to which I made a sceptical sound, but then they said that it was only for 2007 models, so as mine is 2006 then it does not need to be done.

Hope this is correct.

Brian J

**gregozedobe** · 10-07-2008, 05:29 PM

Mine was built in 2006 but is classed as a MY2007, I suggest you get it checked against your VIN to be sure.

If it has actually leaked it may well take more than 3 days, but if it hasn't sprung a leak yet I think 3 days is being pretty pessimistic. IIRC mine took 2 days for the first of its 5 visits.

**Tornado T5** · 13-07-2008, 10:04 PM

Originally Posted by BrianJ

Just rang Austral VW in Brisbane, and mentioned the recall for oil coolers, and the person checked and said it is a 3 day job to which I made a sceptical sound, but then they said that it was only for 2007 models, so as mine is 2006 then it does not need to be done.

Hope this is correct.

Brian J

Geez I hope that's wrong ....I will be given a loaner tomorrow however I didn't ask how long it would take and the dealer never gave me a time frame, I guess I'll find out tomorrow morning.

**4wheels** · 14-07-2008, 05:05 PM

Mine goes in to Burwin's tomorrow for 30k service. Rang them today about the oil cooler thing, and they said yes, it needs changing (no arguments or arm-twisting needed) and will take about 4 hours on top of the service, so they can do it in the one day.

Brian R

**BrianJ** · 14-07-2008, 05:55 PM

Originally Posted by 4wheels

Mine goes in to Burwin's tomorrow for 30k service. Rang them today about the oil cooler thing, and they said yes, it needs changing (no arguments or arm-twisting needed) and will take about 4 hours on top of the service, so they can do it in the one day.

Brian R

That's more like it, what is the year and month of manufacture of yours, and maybe it even matters what factory it was made in.

Mine is 5th month of 2006 made at Wolfsburg.

Brian J

**Tornado T5** · 14-07-2008, 08:16 PM

Had mine replaced today, it's a half day job. Organised a loaner, just forgot to ensure it had wing doors...makes for tricky forklift ops...

My van is a June 2007 build. Gotta say a Transporter without factory wooden floor and h/duty rubber mat is quite loud, or it was in this Feb '08 T5 LWB auto courtesy van.

ps. I asked what would happen if a leak had occurred and the service staff said they would replace the cooler and need me back in 3 days to flush out the sytem again so you wouldn't need to off the road for 3 continuous days....I guess this would be true only if all went to plan post repair.

**gregozedobe** · 14-07-2008, 09:17 PM

As I've mentioned before it took 5 visits (and 1,000Km of hard driven highway Kms ) to get all the oil out of the coolant on mine after the oil cooler failed.

And today I got told I need to replace the oil cooler in mine - there was deafening silence on the other end of the phone when I informed the helpful chappie that his dealership had already replaced one in February this year after the first one failed

I think I need to double check that the new one they fitted was the improved version.

At least VWA is now coming to the party to replace these faulty oil coolers BEFORE they fail (as opposed to pretending there wasn't a problem, which is what they were doing previously).

**Tornado T5** · 15-07-2008, 08:47 AM

Originally Posted by gregozedobe

As I've mentioned before it took 5 visits (and 1,000Km of hard driven highway Kms ) to get all the oil out of the coolant on mine after the oil cooler failed.

And today I got told I need to replace the oil cooler in mine - there was deafening silence on the other end of the phone when I informed the helpful chappie that his dealership had already replaced one in February this year after the first one failed

I think I need to double check that the new one they fitted was the improved version.

At least VWA is now coming to the party to replace these faulty oil coolers BEFORE they fail (as opposed to pretending there wasn't a problem, which is what they were doing previously).

I can completely understand your frustration. In my case it was the dealer that notified me as I had never heard of the issue anywhere and only learnt more when searching on this forum. I guess it's simply economics, pre-empt a problem and replace before hand or suffer much larger warranty claims later. A safe bet would be the assumption now that the part is failing more regularly within three years of use meaning it is costing more to NOT do anything until the part fails compared to the cost of a recall. Am I being too cynical?

**gregozedobe** · 15-07-2008, 12:34 PM

Originally Posted by Tornado T5

Am I being too cynical?

I'm not sure that is possible

I took my van in today to have the sliding door mechanism fixed under warranty, and was told I MUST have my oil cooler replaced under the campaign, even though the new, improved part was fitted back in Feb when the first one failed.

So they are removing a perfectly good oil cooler, and replacing it with one that is exactly the same ! This costs money, time and introduces the risk of something going wrong while they are doing it. If I didn't let them do it my warranty will be voided.

UTTER MADNESS!!

If my van wasn't so nice to drive it would be sold off by now.