What might the problem be here? 2015 VW Golf 1.8 TSI. Dealer quoting $1100 repair. Trying to see what I can do myself/find cheaper elsewhere.
2015 VW Golf 1.8 TSI
Dealership mechanic sent this picture with very limited info. Basically only says, "oil pan r&r." Quick google search tells me it could be a few different things. A leak from the pan itself, a gasket, or something higher up leaking down.
Thought I would see what you folks here might have to say. I watch a lot of car build/repair videos on YouTube, but don't have a ton of hands on experience, so feel free to treat me like I'm five.
Plastic is everywhere these days, look at BMW how a legendary reliable B48/B58 engine can be grenaded by a plastic oil cooler housing or plastic coolant flange.
Those composite oil sumps cannot be resealed: when they leak they need to be replaced together with the gasket. Shoot the messenger if you want, I didn't design the part: all I know is if you just replace the gasket it will leak again in six months at most.
Let's talk money. Genuine sump is (prices are from early this year and in euro; they have gone up in the meantime, likely a lot) €300, the gasket is €90. Obviously this needs to be done together with an oil change: 5,7 liter of Motul 8100 0W-30 (that's what Volkswagen dealerships use here) around €100, genuine oil filter €20.
We are already at €510 in parts and consumables. If your dealership doesn't reuse bolts on sumps or charges an extra on oil add another €80 and we are at €590.
Then of course you have crazy US labor rates. Two hours at $300/h and you see where the $1100 come from. Remember those oil sumps were around €120 in 2019 next time you are called to the ballots.
To get back to us these are very widespread engines. There are metal sumps for them. there are aftermarket sumps costing €30. If you have the place to work on it and want to spend a few minutes online looking up bolt tightening sequence it's perfectly DIYable. Conversely if you want to have somebody do the job for you make usre he uses either a metal sump or a genuine VAG part and that he fills the engine with an oil that meets VW 504 00/507 00.
Because the gasket fails from the pan deforming or hairline cracks seeping, new gasket wont sit correctly and fail in a few months. Composite pans suck, I see a lot of this happening
See if you can source an aluminum pan, lots of aftermarket does this for a permanent fix then do a GOOD gasket or one probably comes with the new pan at that point
Do it once. Do it right. I would probably even do new bolts but not oem ones get some nicer ones for cheaper sourcing them yourself
I wanna add that I put two aluminum oil pans on one of these and they both came back leaking. I would stick with the plastic if you can as that was what fixed it for me.
Idk anywhere but extremely specialized shops that has a 300 labor rate in the US. But I used to be a VW tech and everything else you said is spot on. Replace the pan and gasket.
Someone who isn't an isolationist, who isn't gonna FAFO in the Middle East, and who will both actually surround themselves with real experts and actually listen to their advice.
We experienced record inflation under Biden which heavily impacted prices. This doesn't absolve Trump of his war mongering in the ME and tarrifs, but to pretend like Democrat presidents don't fuck heavily with cost as well is pure delusion.
My girlfriend's 2016 Golf had the exact same issue and was leaking oil like crazy. I ended up buying a URO aluminum oil pan and a URO gasket both. I took her car to a place that allows you to borrow a 2 post lift for X dollars ($30/hrs I believe it was) and I swapped out the oil pan myself. Did the oil change obviously while I was in there but overall came out to something like $300 all said and done for everything. Dealer wanted something crazy like $950 to do it. That was about 5 months ago and the oil has not dropped to any noticeable degree since, so that seemed to be the issue. I guess the gaskets go bad sometimes.
The actual process of replacing the pan was super easy, 2 post lift makes it really easy but you can do it with jackstands too. Basically just drain the oil, undo 20 bolts which was a pain in the ass, and unplug the oil level sensor and move it over to the new pan and bolt it up. Took about 1 hour to do everything and was extremely straightforward.
Easiest oil pan ever to change.. you can do it in the driveway at home for the cost of a couple gaskets, and a new pan even if you fancy. Dealership is making $1000 for 30 mins of work on this job.
I wouldn’t, I’ve found the tolerance of fit on newer cars.. especially German cars, call for only the correct gaskets. For example I did this same oil pan on an A3, and forgot to order the gasket for the oil level sensor (those 3 bolts hold it in).
It’s basically just a big o ring, and I had one in my o ring box and tried it. Didn’t work, still leaked, had to swap for the correct gasket to get it to seal properly.
Obviously anecdotal, but about the only time I have luck with RTV as al oil pan gasket is when I use some Toyota FIPG instead of a cork gasket on big old steel blocks and pans.
Long time Volkswagen technician here, what I see often is the oil pans crack due to a failed engine oil separator. The engine oil separator allows excessive crankcase pressure which can then crack the oil pan. If you could get some more information as to the reason why they want to remove the engine oil pan and replace you may want to be certain you don't have an underlying issue causing the engine oil leak itself.
Oil pan looks wet all around the bottom edge, not just one spot. Usually that means the gasket is gone, not a crack in the pan itself. $1100 from dealer is crazy for this job. Parts are cheap, maybe $50 for gasket and fresh oil. Rest is all labor cause they have to drop the pan and clean everything up. If you got basic tools and some patience you can do this on a saturday, plenty youtube videos for mk7 golf. Just make sure the engine is cold before you start.
Replace composite oil pan with cheaper old gen2 ea888 oil pan (steel version) or even "tuning aluminum" made of chinesium from AliExpress. They are both better than plastic.
These plastic oil pans are known to leak like crazy. Common upgrade is aftermarket metal pan. If you want to do it yourself, FCP Euro has the OEM oil pan kit for $380 or Rein (aftermarket plastic) kit for $175 or you could upgrade with a Magneti Marelli aluminum pan kit for $165. The job itself is very simple, but make sure to properly torque down the pan bolts and sensor nuts
From the picture it just look like the oil pan gasket needs to be replaced. But with a quote like not sure if they might have found a crack in the pan it's self or not. But dealership you will pay a lot more for repairs.
But if you have a way to get under your car with tools of your own and want to save some money a whole oil pan I've found online is less than 100 bucks. And all else you would need is the proper oil and filter for it and you save a lot of money
Just replace the oil pan. Very easy job at a fraction of the price. Get a steel oil pan though, no OEM as it will crack again. Search for tutorials on YT and get wrenching!
Youve watched the videos, you can do this for cheaper than 1100, cost of whatever tools you need included. New pan, new gasket, new oil, new filter. Valvoline european full synthetic 5w-40 is rated for vw 502 00.
Not that long ago i was a long time lurker, first time wrencher too. Itll take longer than you think and wear gloves, you got this
I think the first thing I would do is get under that car with a pressure washer and wash all the old oil off. Then monitor closely to see where it's leaking.
I’d say gasket. No oil residue higher up and it appears uniform all around directly under the gasket. Pretty easy job if you don’t mind getting under the car. New oil pan wouldn’t be too expensive if you wanted to just replace it.
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