Audi S8 D2 Oil Cooler Fail

[H24k]

I have an audi S8 D2 40v Facelift and basically the oil and coolant have mixed and the expansion tank is full of mixed oil and anti freeze,

I have a new oil cooler and the important plastic pipe which is usually culprit, I took off the alloy wheel and cover etc to check if theres any oil leaking and I can see some oil on the oil cooler housing but nowhere else so im pretty sure its oil cooler thats failed as theres no water in the engine etc, no over heating problems!!

I took the car to my local mechanic who does alot of my servicing etc but after looking at it he didnt want to touch it, hes an old school mechanic so more used to doing basic cars,

I was wondering if anyone had used K seal or similar product to try to seal the broken pipe or the oil cooler, im not a mechanic so do not have much knowledge about such things and im not even sure if the plastic pipe carries water or oil?

Im in the enfield north london area EN3, if there are any local mechanics around here how much would it cost average to get it replaced?

[mannyo]

Replacing the cooler is pretty major surgery and could take a skilled mechanic a whole day. The process is very involved with a lot of disassembly.

http://www.audipages.com/Tech_Articl...reinstall.html

[H24k]

Hi yes Ive got that link book marked and thats where I saw the instructions and got the idea to check for leaks on the actual oil cooler housing etc,

I have the parts to change over but like you said its quiet a big job and I cant do it myself or I would!! Thats why I was wondering if any products such as K seal or similar could be used in either the anti freeze or an oil additive which does similar,

I would not usually consider using such things but cant justify spending loads of money on a car which is not worth alot and Ive allready got another S8 which is my main car and ive owned for a few years now so need to sort this out as cheaply as possible!

However im aware that anything on these sort of cars is usually expensive as they are soo crammed with gadgets and tech that its soo hard to work on them!

[mannyo]

The problem, as I found out is that they can be cheap to buy, but they still have the running costs of a 50-60K car. The D2 which I am selling had a replacement cooler fitted by Amersham Audi by the previous owner, a new one was fitted and they charged in excess of £3K in 2008.

[Goran]

That is just Audi dealers taking the pi$$
With my previous S8 I went to an independent and he changed it for a bit over £400.
The brand new oil cooler itself was around £230 back then. The rest was labour.
At an independent who knows what they are doing it should be a £500 job including the new part.
As per audi pages, (unlike the dealer) you drop the subframe a bit and manouver the cooler out.
Who knows what the crazy dealers do, probably take out the engine.

[SilverS8]

The hard bit is access to the bolts between the cooler and Exhaust manifold. Its narrow as can be.

Took me about 8-10 hours (with alot of head banging) before it was done

The beers mentioned in the DIY u better start on before the job..

[H24k]

Ive read that its a very time consuming job, and regarding this plastic pipe which allways fails, obviously Audi didnt make in aluminium so that it does fail and costs money to sort out, also the position of the oil cooler is crazy, must be one of the hardest to do on any car!!!

Im trying to find out whether the plastic pipe which usually deteriorates over time carries water or oil? Im assuming its water in which case something like rad weld or k seal might bond to it and solve my problem, ive spent the last couple days draining the old anti freeze coolant gravy out of the system, also took off expansion tank and had to flush it about 30 times to get all the oil out, ended up using washing powder and boiling water and that seemed to do the trick!! lol

[Norretal]

I believe it carries water mate as it's blamed for mysterious coolant losses, which I've been experiencing for some considerable time now. I'm hanging on until it becomes more of an issue (or fails altogether like it seems yours has ) as I'm well aware of how big a job it is, so it's going to be costly.

[Nuisanceneighbour]

Hi Guys, my first post here.
Just had this done on my PF S8 having bought a second hand oil cooler from our forum sponsors. The local Bosch service centre charged a computer-generated 4.3 hours at £45 per hour + vat came to £232 for the labour. No easy task, it took them five days! Not sure if there are any differences on the 40v engine...

[Goran]

My local mechanic charged me for 4 hours, I dont know how many it actually took him. All I remember is it was with him for 1 day, I got it back the next day.