Wish I could help you...

Rich

 

my brothers car has tis problem

i put a fuel filter ( small glass one) on the over flow valve ( the one that dumps exsess back into the res)

you should see the crap that it has collected
( my next step is to add a one way valve to keep the stuff from going back into the system )

 

one thought that i had was that it could just be residue from degrading hoses. However, my 2000 never had that issue. The coolant was always bright pink.

 

That's alot of coolant consumption for 7500 miles, and 7500 miles is too long between oil changes, even on the V-6. (The powertrain warranty calls for 5000 mile OCIs on both engines.) I wonder if the water pump has a bad seal, which is allowing oil from the bearings to mix with the coolant. If the water pump is driven by the timing belt (guaranteed if this is a model year 2003 1.8T engine), water pump failure can severely damage the engine. I would have it checked out, at least by a competent local independent European car expert, before a worst-case scenario occurs.

 

That's alot of coolant consumption for 7500 miles, and 7500 miles is too long between oil changes, even on the V-6. (The powertrain warranty calls for 5000 mile OCIs on both engines.) I wonder if the water pump has a bad seal, which is allowing oil from the bearings to mix with the coolant. If the water pump is driven by the timing belt (guaranteed if this is a model year 2003 1.8T engine), water pump failure can severely damage the engine. I would have it checked out, at least by a competent local independent European car expert, before a worst-case scenario occurs.

actually 7500 miles is fine. I'm using mobil 1 0w-40. Had an oil analysis done on my 2000 with 7500 miles on it and he said the TBN was in great shape and that i should try for 9k next time. Anyways this car was getting 5k oil changes but my dad went a bit long with this one (only i change the oil on it twice a year when i come back from school). I've suspected the waterpump for awhile now (mine went out at 38k, a friend's at 12k, my dad now has 16k) but haven't been quite sure about the actual consumption. Either way, I just went out and looked at it and coolant consumption wasn't as much as I said before. It seems to have dropped about 1.5-2mm from where I had it marked (cold fill to semi-cold measurement). When my waterpump crapped out on me, I was dropping about a full resivoir of coolant every day.

Dave

 

A couple years ago I had "contaminated" brown coolant with some clumping in the reservoir. The dealer service guy and I went around and around about who was rsponsible since the car has only been to VW dealers for servicing. I immediately claimed it was due to them or another dealer since I know that the coolant has to be the special pink stuff from VW. They said it wasn't them since they usually top off with just water (oops). The service tech said it could be due to a crack in the thermostat housing (which they did replace for free alone with a drain and flush). Anyway, their reasoning not mine.

 

bump

 

could it just be the plastic coolant res. tank changing color due to time+heat that is giving the appearance of browning or darker coolant color? Im not sure if you had some of his coolant removed then looked at or if you are looking into the tank. If it was examined by looking into the tank I would get a turkey baster and suck out a bit of the coolant from your dads car into a glass and suck out some from your car and compare. I could be totally misinformed because im too lazy to read everything so please be easy on me, just trying to help

-vin

 

could it just be the plastic coolant res. tank changing color due to time+heat that is giving the appearance of browning or darker coolant color? Im not sure if you had some of his coolant removed then looked at or if you are looking into the tank. If it was examined by looking into the tank I would get a turkey baster and suck out a bit of the coolant from your dads car into a glass and suck out some from your car and compare. I could be totally misinformed because im too lazy to read everything so please be easy on me, just trying to help

-vin

swing and a misssss

 

I second vincheung's feedback. I have a 99 1.8t, and i can see that the
coolant tank/reservoir has turned into a somewhat brownish color..but the
coolant itself remains the standard pink color. It is quite possibly that the platic material used for this tank gets stained easily (due to heat, etc) hence the 'yellowing or browning' effect. As suggested check your coolant liquid just to confirm.

E

 

I second vincheung's feedback. I have a 99 1.8t, and i can see that the
coolant tank/reservoir has turned into a somewhat brownish color..but the
coolant itself remains the standard pink color. It is quite possibly that the platic material used for this tank gets stained easily (due to heat, etc) hence the 'yellowing or browning' effect. As suggested check your coolant liquid just to confirm.

E

Already replied above . . . that is not the problem.

 

actually 7500 miles is fine. I'm using mobil 1 0w-40. Had an oil analysis done on my 2000 with 7500 miles on it and he said the TBN was in great shape and that i should try for 9k next time.

Not to beat a dead horse, but your logic holds up only if your father drives the same amount, style, and trip length as you did when you had your sample checked.

I think your Dad is SOL on every trying to benefit from the "sludge letter" warranty, based on what I've seen on several threads on the 'Tex.

 

Not to beat a dead horse, but your logic holds up only if your father drives the same amount, style, and trip length as you did when you had your sample checked.

I think your Dad is SOL on every trying to benefit from the "sludge letter" warranty, based on what I've seen on several threads on the 'Tex.

Wow apparently somebody is buying into the every 5k oil changes . . . Synthetics are designed to last longer . . . . by using oil testing you can see about how much longer they can last. There are guys using Motul for 10k intervals while running stage II software on AW. Perhaps you should check out some oil boards such as www.bobistheoilguy.com and read up. Either way, I have receipts for every needed oil change. Also this is a V6 with 16k on it . . . no need to worry about sludging.

Dave

 

Wow apparently somebody is buying into the every 5k oil changes . . . Synthetics are designed to last longer . . . . by using oil testing you can see about how much longer they can last. There are guys using Motul for 10k intervals while running stage II software on AW. Perhaps you should check out some oil boards such as www.bobistheoilguy.com and read up. Either way, I have receipts for every needed oil change. Also this is a V6 with 16k on it . . . no need to worry about sludging.

Dave

Its never EVER bad to do a preventive oil change........ESPECIALLY with 1.8Ts

So you might call it "buying into it"....I call it SMART. Better safe then sorry.

I would flush the system out, refill it, and see if it does it again.....if oil is mixing with your coolant that NEVER a good sign.

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Its never EVER bad to do a preventive oil change........ESPECIALLY with 1.8Ts

So you might call it "buying into it"....I call it SMART. Better safe then sorry.

I would flush the system out, refill it, and see if it does it again.....if oil is mixing with your coolant that NEVER a good sign.

as mentioned . . . . this is a V6

 

as mentioned . . . . this is a V6

When I said especially 1.8Ts, wasnt directed at you.

Either way, flush it....and see how fast it gets dirty again.

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btw the audi 1.8t has been running 10k scheduled oil changes since the conception of the B6 . . . . uh ohhhh

 

btw the audi 1.8t has been running 10k scheduled oil changes since the conception of the B6 . . . . uh ohhhh

And to ME anyone that follows that and MB,BMW "scheduled" oil changes.....is out of their minds. But thats just me.....

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Wow apparently somebody is buying into the every 5k oil changes . . . Synthetics are designed to last longer . . . . by using oil testing you can see about how much longer they can last. There are guys using Motul for 10k intervals while running stage II software on AW. Perhaps you should check out some oil boards such as www.bobistheoilguy.com and read up. Either way, I have receipts for every needed oil change. Also this is a V6 with 16k on it . . . no need to worry about sludging.

Dave

Missed the part about this being a V6. I've been reading BITOG threads for a long time, but thanks for the tip. I'd say that there is no universally correct OCI - you really need to look at the driving conditions, style, temperature range, idle times, etc before drawing any hard and fast rules on extending the OCI. Good luck with your extended drains.

Just bear in mind that VWoA and some dealers can truly be mofos for some warranty items if you can't produce evidence of oil changes at 5K intervals. There's any number of threads on Vortex and here reflecting that. Now, you say in one message that your father's oil is in for 7,500 miles yet in the above quote you say "I have receipts for every needed oil change." Which is it?

 

Now, you say in one message that your father's oil is in for 7,500 miles yet in the above quote you say "I have receipts for every needed oil change." Which is it?

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Missed the part about this being a V6. I've been reading BITOG threads for a long time, but thanks for the tip. I'd say that there is no universally correct OCI - you really need to look at the driving conditions, style, temperature range, idle times, etc before drawing any hard and fast rules on extending the OCI. Good luck with your extended drains.

Just bear in mind that VWoA and some dealers can truly be mofos for some warranty items if you can't produce evidence of oil changes at 5K intervals. There's any number of threads on Vortex and here reflecting that. Now, you say in one message that your father's oil is in for 7,500 miles yet in the above quote you say "I have receipts for every needed oil change." Which is it?

well . . . I did the 5k oil change early but i wrote the date down and said 5k oil change . . . did the 10k at 9k and wrote 10k oil change. The dates are all about 6 months apart from each other.

Now stop hijacking my thread over such a moot point.

 

Sorry for the hijack. Good luck with your coolant issue. Have you checked around the water pump weep hole for any coolant residue there? I'll agree with John_E's comment that seems like a lot of coolant loss for the time span involved. Since the reputable dealer is too far away, how 'bout getting the car checked out at a local indy? Might be worth a few bucks just to get it up on a lift and get the belly pan off to have a thorough look-see.

 

I had the same issue with mine. Coolant looked really strange, and they initially accused me of putting in the old "Prestone green" coolant. That would have been fine if anybody but they had touched the car. They flushed it at their cost at around 12,000 miles, refilled it and it's been fine since. It's got 69,000 on it now with no issues, but it's in for bodywork now (deer strike).

Mike

 

Saw this in another thread (http://www.passatworld.com/forums/showthread.php?t=169498) and thought you might be interested:

"Like I said the engine was replaced in May of this year. VWoA told the dealer to replace the engine instead of trying to figure out the problem. I had oil mixing with my coolant (they were stumped as to why the oil kept mixing with the coolant even after they flushed everything out). I service my car regularly at the 5k intervals. But for a brand new car (back in 01) it did have some issues that I thought should not happen to a new car."

 

oil analysis is sent out but I doubt that it'll show much. Going to do a coolant flush this weekend per these directions. http://www.taligentx.com/passat/maintenance/coolantflush/

The lack of specifics in that post doesn't help much because there are several areas where a bad gasket or leaking part could possibly interchange oil and water. However, on the basis that oil and water do not intergrate, I pulled some antifreeze out this weekend with a baster and let it sit on a counter for awhile. Didn't notice any film after an hour. Perhaps it was just all the manufacturing crud getting flushed out.

Dave