Head gasket went pop again! Oil cooler?

[Layerz]

OK the saga continues I got the car back and could tell something was up and then on the 3rd day of use at just about 200 miles it went pop again.
Need another head gasket done!

The garage have had a look and said it was prolly the oil cooler gone that made the headd gasket go.

I need some advise here, on firstly does this sound right to you guys as I have never heard of oil cooler failure. And thus linkage to the head gasket.

But also I put the car in to get the head sorted as was the suspected problem and it did need doing. But is this the garages fault for missing the oil cooler and the head going pop again?

Just need a leg to stand on as I don't want to pay for the head beinig done twice.

 

[Siena]

The only link between the oil cooler and head gasket, is both would allow oil and water to mix.

A leaking oil cooler would NOT cause head gasket failure, UNLESS it was corroded and holed externally, causing a loss of coolant, followed by overheating. But, they tend to leak INTERNALLY.

Oil cooler failure is not that uncommon.

Find out what head gasket was used, was the head checked for trueness, and was it skimmed? Were new head bolts used?

Finally, what model of car do you have? I'm stabbing in the dark here, you've probably mentioned what car you have in the past, but I couldn't remember what everyone drives...

...A bit more info would be great.

 

[andybnwc]

I had the same diagnostics on a golf tdi turned out it was the oil cooler but the head gasket was infact fine just some garage who jumped to conclusions oil in water = headgasket blown . The oil in the coolant system may have stressed the head gasket hope it all works out

 

[Layerz]

I have a moddified afn tdi engine. Remapped and .215 nozzles.

I see what you are saying siena.

Hopefully there will be no reskimming, they did use new stetch bolts and the garage untill now has always been spot on.
What happened was the oil all ran into the expansion tank and I was getting dark smoke.

Not sure on parts used for part no's and make.

 

[jcb]

head gaskets don't just go, something causes them to go.
whoever did the last one didn't find the cause before rectifying the symptom.

oil coolers often go, especially in older cars

until someone does a full wet and dry compression test then you won't know.
personally I would be wary of anyone who say "the oil cooler made the gasket go".....

 

[John@ECM-TECH]

The cooler going causes the oil and water to mix, it can look like the head gasket is leaking into the oil line.

 

[Layerz]

where would you guys stand if he tries to charge me again on the head gasket?

 

[Siena]

To be honest, I don't think you can hold the garage liable.

They can only reasonably check the direct cause of gasket failure, i.e if the thermostat was stuck shut, the fan wasn't switching on when it should, the header tank / radiator / hoses had leaks, all of which would cause overheating, leading to head gasket failure.

They're unlikely to check the internal condition of the oil cooler (unless it's removed and pressure tested), same way as they're unlikely to check the general health of the rest of the engine. That would be a major inspection, and would considerably add to the final bill.

The only way I feel you could challenge them, would be if you could prove they used sub-standard parts, i.e a non-OE headgasket, or re-used the original headbolts. These things happen, it's just unfortunate the headgasket failed so soon after it was replaced.

 

[Layerz]

Yea, I think the guy might let me off some charges but I will see.

He has this time sent the oil cooler off for pressure testing.

I just hope to get the car back soon in tip top condition as the 1.9 d megane is driving me nuts.

This has really helped me add to my determination to learn everything about these engines, now to lay my hand on idiot proof literature about diesel engines and how they work in their entirety.

 

[John@ECM-TECH]

did you not notice it overheating?

 

[Shifty]

Was it the oil cooler or oil pump? u coulda fried the head if it lost oil pressure?

 

[Siena]

Was it the oil cooler or oil pump? u coulda fried the head if it lost oil pressure?

Oil cooler.

 

[mwarrey]

Makes you wonder if it was the oil cooler leaking all along. Did you ask if there was any sign that the gasket had failed ?.

I would change the oil cooler anyway, they are about £60ish I think, worth it for peace of mind.

 

[Rev-head]

Head gasket going again after leaving the garage 3days i would leave the bill in there hands as they must of looked to see what caused the head gasket to go in the first place ..Its not your fault it went again its theres for not checking the fault that was there previously

 

[Layerz]

Confirmed today it was the oil cooler that went! damned thing.

At least the engine is ok thou.

 

[Broken Byzan]

So the head is fine, but the cooler is US ? Does that mean that they didnt rip it apart again then?

 

[lemieux@curbside]

sorry i come along so late .. i found this google-ing for rs4 headgasket thickness (compared to s4-s) ..anyway
i have/had the problem with coolant in oil in my 01 Hbox B5 S4 .. it is nothing but porosity or small crack in the block !! i had my engine apart thinking it was the head gaskets ..but nope it was not .
i was at AUTOSPEED in NJ when we found the porosity in someone's block that had the problem , die in coolant was used , presurized the system then oil pan dropped as the black light pointed to our origin , the a boroscope was used up where the coolant was coming from (dripping down the oil return gallery from head to block ) 1/2 way down the block - NOT near the hadgasket there were coolant bubbles coming up like sweat on the wall of the block and dripping down into the oil.
i'm still runing my block like that for a few years now as stg3 ASP (near 500HP) and i used BAR's LEAK into the coolant to almost stop the leak .. it worked so far , now i'm building another block to replace mine (all new pistons, rods - bored to 2.8 L - 82.5mm bores...)
search audiworld for my posts on this topic .
don't waste $ trying to fix this before you properly dignose the problem !!!!

 

[Oranoco]

Sounds like what happened to my first A4. Garage diagnosed fault as being headgasket so the ehad came off. 2 days later the mayonaise was back. It was the oil cooler all along. They are seperate and can not cause each other to fail.

Sounds to me like they midiagnosed the problem and are now wriggling.