B*&LL*&S - Black Engine Coolent

[Jason wallace]

I've been having coolant warning light come on the last couple of days. Level looks fine and seems to go off once the engine warmed and with an extra top up of coolant.

Had it again this am level looked good but this time i actually looked into the coolant res and spotted the coolant actually appears to be a a black sludge or at least it has a sludge on the top.

Have just called VW dealer who said don't drive it so AA coming out to confirm and transport it to dealer if needed.

Now how the hell am i picking the kids up today!!!

 

[blondebier]

That doesn't sound good. I hope they arrange a swift courtesy car for you.

How old is your van?

 

[Jason wallace]

Van is less that 2 years.......sadly neither of the dealers seem to have a courtesy car available till into dec.

 

[blondebier]

That's annoying. I'm pretty sure if you are recovered by VW assist and are taken to the dealers then VW should sort you out a replacement.

When I was towed to VW (albeit it was a Golf) after a breakdown, I received a call next day from VW and they delivered a courtesy car to me at work.

I couldn't fault the service.

According to the recovery guy this only applies to breakdowns and when your vehicle is towed to the dealer. (Apparently it's another story if you drive it there yourself)

 

[blondebier]

PS. the courtesy car didn't come from the dealer, it was arranged by VW customer services. (Probably worth a call when you've been recovered)

 

[Jason wallace]

Thanks.....

AA guy's has been and confirmed either oil cooler leaking oil into coolant (most likely) or a slim chance its a gasket issue (not so likely). Waiting for a low loader to take a the van, and a call from car hire place to sort out replacement vehicle.

PS. the courtesy car didn't come from the dealer, it was arranged by VW customer services. (Probably worth a call when you've been recovered)

 

[SimonK]

VW Assist should sort you out a hire vehicle through someone like Enterprise.

I've had it twice on our Skoda at home. Had a car delivered from the local Enterprise agent within an hour of recovery.

 

[Jason wallace]

Now i actually know the cover....i'm quite impressed. The aa guy made all the arrangements and enterprise picked me up to take me to their office.

Hoping to get an update from the garage tomorrow and see how long it will take to fix.

Quite sad seeing Moz being taken away on the back of a flatbed.

VW Assist should sort you out a hire vehicle through someone like Enterprise.

I've had it twice on our Skoda at home. Had a car delivered from the local Enterprise agent within an hour of recovery.

 

[Borris]

Our forum friend SimonB had the same problem. Might be worth a PM.

 

[SimonB]

Now i actually know the cover....i'm quite impressed. The aa guy made all the arrangements and enterprise picked me up to take me to their office.

Hoping to get an update from the garage tomorrow and see how long it will take to fix.

Quite sad seeing Moz being taken away on the back of a flatbed.

Borris is quite correct. Ours had the same fault over New Year 2017/8 about 3 months after we bought it. I found oil sitting on the water in the header tank. VW Assist came out very quickly and checked the issue and then contacted other VW Assist mechanics via a WhatsApp group. It was a small gasket between an oil pipe where it goes into the oil cooler. They took it in mid-morning and it was ready to collect the following day. https://vwcaliforniaclub.com/threads/coolant-problems.24337/#post-280700 post #9.
It was a known issue with a few T6 vehicles. The oil is at a higher pressure than the water so it flows into the water rather than the other way. The gasket was replaced, the system flushed through a few times. I had to take it back after a number of miles and it was flushed through again. No problems at all after that. I think I found mine very soon after it started as the layer of oil hadn't mixed with the coolant and was not very thick. If you are taken into the garage by VW Assist my understanding is that it is given priority and fixed quickly.
Good luck, Simon

 

[WelshGas]

That’s why it is useful to renew your VW Assistance, £155/2 yrs, when the initial 3 yrs Membership is up.

 

[Bellcrew]

That’s why it is useful to renew your VW Assistance, £155/2 yrs, when the initial 3 yrs Membership is up.

Paid £165 a few weeks ago, received a card to show the attending mechanic, never had such a thing during the previous three years. Still an absolute bargain and sits happily with the extended warranty taken out when the van was new.

 

[blondebier]

Any news on your van Jason? I hope they get you back on the road quickly.

 

[Jason wallace]

Spoke to dealer this am.....confirmed diagnosis has been done and confirmed exactly what we new already i.e. the issue is oil in the coolant. Now need to run tests to identify the cause but would not say when these test will be done.

Explained i was due to head to Europe a week Sunday but again would not give me any clue on time frames.

 

[Jason wallace]

Update from me...

Took some pestering but finally picked the van back up today after 9 days at the dealer.

Oil cooler replaced and a vast number of flushes of the coolant system as this was quite a mess apparently. I need to pop it back next week for a final flush or 2 but fingers crossed all is sorted.

 

[SimonB]

Sorry to hear it was such a major job. I didn't have any warning lights come on when mine happened, I just found it when checking before a long journey which I do from habit.
After it was fixed they told me to drive it for 400-500 miles and then bring it back in for a final flush through as the journey should push water through all the smaller cooling channels that a flush through in the garage might not disturb.
After my next drive to Snowdonia and back I took it in and waited for a couple of hours whilst they did it. They said they had changed the coolant expansion tank as it was not as transparent as it was before to all this.

I haven't had any issues since then and that was about 8,000 miles ago.

Good luck
Simon

 

[sheenaontheroad]

This has been a really useful thread, as i recently bought a T6 18reg Cali. The coolant light warning went on and i contacted VW Assist straight away. The guy was brilliant and diagnosed the problem straight away. It was towed to a VW approved garage- not so brilliant. After a week the van is being dealt with under warranty. I'm interested to know if the follow-up flushes were done under warranty as well? My confidence in them doing a proper job first time is not high.Should i/can i get a second opinion from a different approved workshop?

 

[Borris]

If the work is being done under warranty then VW have effectively admitted that the problem was down to them. In other words, a faulty part, process or both that has led to the failure. That being the case, then any future flushes would be carried out as a continuation of that same job. Therefore, it stands to reason that any costs should be borne by VW and not you the customer. If they do try to get you to pay then stand your ground and if necessary contact VW Customer Services. I can assure you that if the work is being carried out under an extended VW factory warranty, then that warranty has exactly the same cover as the initial three year manufacturers warranty. "I was that soldier".

 

[SimonB]

Our Cali was a few months old when ours had this fault. It was towed into Heritage Bristol by VW Assist late morning and it was ready for collection by lunchtime the following day. The dealership asked the mechanic to come out and explain what he had done and it was replace washer on the oil cooler pipe. Flush through, I think he did this several times, but as you'll see from my original posting, I caught mine very early and I don't think it had spread very far. He also changed the expansion tank as the original was a bit stained by the oil.
I have not had any problems with it since.
If your Cali is coming up for the end of the Warranty period, it is worth looking at the All-In policy that VW offer which extends the original 3 year warranty for an extra 2 years.