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View Full Version : T5 2.5 130 water coolant loss and oil light.



hocks172
28-01-2008, 09:21 PM
I have a 2004 vw t5 2.5 t30 130, i have had this from new with quite a few niggly problems (turbo hose popping off, alternator failure) yet my new problem baffels my local garage (independant) It is losing coolant ant the rate of around 4 litres per day which obviously set the alarm off on the dash yet now as of today just before this happens the oil light lights up?
Anyone with any info would be very much appreciated.

kenney
28-01-2008, 09:29 PM
Hi Have you checked the oil? there has been problems with the water pump on these engines and the coolant leaks into the engine.

hocks172
28-01-2008, 09:47 PM
Thanks alot have checked the oil its black on the dipstick yet on the cap has a greyish sludge on it?

macleod
28-01-2008, 09:56 PM
sounds like your head gasket has gone!!!:aargh4:

kenney
28-01-2008, 10:21 PM
Hi loosing 4 litres a day is a lot,had it been the head gasket you would see it, either in the colour of the exhaust or the pressure on the coolant hoses.You said the oil was black,but was there too much?

Mike Birt
15-02-2008, 12:05 PM
I have EXACTLY the same problem...

130 TDI T5,

we think it's either the oil cooler (has a water jacket around that VW specialists told is is a coomom failure item - yet core of the cooler is ok so it's not getting into the oil)

or headgasket (not hopefully)

could it really be the waterpump???

is the small amount mayonaise around the filler cap just normal condensation (it's a long neck) and cold at the top, as there is no visual contamination of the engine oil...

I am searching archives and the net to find a resoultion, will come back and keep updating...

hocks172
15-02-2008, 07:40 PM
Hi ya sorry its took so long to get back to you lot but trying to find out whats the problem, After being told by my mechanic thatb it looks like the head gasket and also that its a main dealer only fix due to the specialist tools require for the job i booked it in to Vw, They have just got back to me and it seems that its the water pump? So i'll let you know if that solves the problem when i get it back next week, Bad thing is minimum cost £288 and they have also found that the gear selecter is loose and are investigating the cause.

Mike Birt
15-02-2008, 08:11 PM
They have just got back to me and it seems that its the water pump?

Thanks Bud,

did they say where the water was going.. ie into the oil or out of the engine?

hocks172
17-02-2008, 01:10 PM
They didn't say although i never saw and water dripping from anywhere even though i had taken off the sheild underneth.

Mike Birt
17-02-2008, 06:20 PM
Hmmmm....

We had our oil cooler pressure tested and the oil side is ok... we are getting the water jacket tested tomorrow, after that we are just going to keep pressure testing it until we find a leak. 2 pints of fluid has to go somewhere; lets hope it's not into the cylinder....

hocks172
19-02-2008, 10:12 PM
Got my van back today and all seems well vw have fitted a new water pump and oi seal which is where it was leaking into the engine from total fix costs £308 inc vat (this includes the gear linkage arm which was replaced aswell) with a 30% contribution from vw although i'm phoning them again to demand more.

Mike Birt
26-02-2008, 10:41 PM
Just like to tell everyone we got ur van back today.... water pump.. when they finally got it out is was absolutely ***ged... thanks to hocks and the forum or we would have been searching for ages, and a lot of money would have been spent.

bill was £430 inc courtesy car for a week.

jas135
17-04-2008, 01:18 PM
hi , i have a t5 on an 04 plate . i have been losing a small amount of water every day ( approx half pint or so ) but am doing very little mileage ( around 10-20 miles day ) . I have also have the greyish sludge on the underside of the filler cap but all the hoses are soft and not indicating a head gasket problem ?
My guess is a water pump but at only 45000 miles on the clock i feel that , although ouside of warranty , this should not be happening and VW shoudl be coughing up a little .
Any ideas or suggestions ?

Mike Birt
17-04-2008, 01:50 PM
ours was water pump... exactly as you say above. When the machanic pulled the water pump out it was in pieces, literally destroyed. VW had no idea - only through this forum did I learn!
Since then I have spoken to 5 other t5 owners... all had their water pumps replaced :(

jas135
17-04-2008, 03:48 PM
did you find your van was running fine apart from the fact it was losing water ?

Mike Birt
17-04-2008, 04:03 PM
yes, water light would come on and no main effect other than loosing water, but we were losing a lot! .... into the oil, showed by a sludge buildup in the filler neck.
had thouught it may have been the head gasket... or oil cooler, but the water pump was goosed when removed. Get them to pull it if you can't find external signs of leaking...

ps our van was doing 100 miles a day.

jas135
17-04-2008, 09:35 PM
cheers for that ,
I have the privelege of giving our vw dealership £75 to daignose this fact tomorrow morning ( friday ) . If this is a fairly common fault I feel it is worth an argue over payment for a replacment of waterpump ( a further £240ish) on a vehicle that has only done 45k ? but outside of warranty . Any thoughts anyone ?

MICK ASH
18-04-2008, 09:18 AM
cheers for that ,
I have the privelege of giving our vw dealership £75 to daignose this fact tomorrow morning ( friday ) . If this is a fairly common fault I feel it is worth an argue over payment for a replacment of waterpump ( a further £240ish) on a vehicle that has only done 45k ? but outside of warranty . Any thoughts anyone ?
Water pump failure is very common, almost inevitable. Mine went,as did all of my friends,two of which have since failed again. The Touareg with the same engine has been recalled for this fault by VW, but not the Transporter. Sadly this was to be only a minor inconvenience when compared with some of the subsequent problems. Added to this i used a 'Dealer from hell'- Nottingham Van Centre,who,mercifully have since had their VW Franchise revoked..

jas135
18-04-2008, 09:59 PM
yep , diagnosis - WATER PUMP ! Common problem apparently , i am now on to customer care to assist in coughing up some money towards .
WARNING TO ANYONE ELSE !
When you start to lose water, but cant work out where it is going , dont just keep topping it up you need to sort this out asap as the water is going into the oil hence contaminating the oil which will result in a much bigger problem than a water pump replacement .
Did anyone else who had their water pump replaced get the garage to change oil and filters to ?? as this is quite important .

ps , thanks heaps for advice to everyone ( pint on me if you're ever in newquay)

Onefut
06-05-2008, 11:58 PM
two common faults on these T5's that cause coolant lose
waterpump an oil cooler seal which isa also a recall on uk motors

ive done the waterpump an if you are competant enuf you can do it in 1/2 to a full day

i have posted on a T5 site the full run down on how to do this so if you want to know tell me an ill put the link up:D

gregozedobe
08-05-2008, 12:53 AM
yep , diagnosis - WATER PUMP ! Common problem apparently , i am now on to customer care to assist in coughing up some money towards .

When you are talking to VW you might mention you are aware of the "90D7" upgrade for Touaregs, and ask them (nicely) to explain to you why VW will pay 100% for replacement of faulty water pumps on R5 motors when they are fitted to Touaregs, but refuse to pay for exactly the same fault in exactly the same motor when it happens to be fitted to a Transporter.

This has prodded VW UK to pay 100% of repair costs for some Transporter owners, so it is worth trying, at least.

It is also worth asking if your R5 motor is due for a replacement oil cooler, as it is much better to replace this before it leaks oil into the coolant (I know this from bitter experience :()

jess james
13-05-2008, 09:12 PM
hi,
i had the same problem last december,water loss and light on.
turned out to be small 6mm hole in water pump,bearings got knackered and dumped water into engine,found this out after stripping cylinder head off.
so had to repair head and pump. £ 500 later running ok. vw were no help as to were pump is located,this forum helped out a lot with drawings and step by step instructions. hope this helps.

cheers jess james

Richard1949
16-05-2008, 08:49 PM
It's a water pump leaking allowing water to increase the oil level as the leak is internal so new pump and oil & filter change will resolve the issue

mickmills
10-06-2008, 08:49 PM
had this prob twice on mine
was water pump
had replaced first uder warraty 2nd had 2 pay 4

174
08-07-2008, 10:34 PM
Purchased amazing 174 last thursday, friday the orange oil light came on while hammering up a hill followed the next day by water loss.
Got worse rapidly and my t5 has now been recovered to the main dealer just today.
It's my first time on the forum and i would just like to say thanks to the people that posted.

cbi004
22-07-2008, 03:35 AM
HEADGASKET

if JUST STARTED HAPPENNING STICK IN £10 K- SEAL INTO COOLANT

BEST ON MARKET

MY OLD FRONTERA HAD THIS - MASSIVE GASKET PROBLEM

COOLANT LOSS ETC

OTHERWISE ITS A EXPENSIVE GASKET JOB

IF YOU KEEP RUNNING IT YOUL RUST THE CAM ROD AND THEN EVEN IF YOU CHANGE THE GASKET THE CAM BELT CAM ROD EVERYTHIGN WILL SEIZE UP AFTERWARDS

FIT IT NOW!

bricosil
23-05-2009, 10:50 PM
I have a 2004 vw t5 2.5 t30 130, i have had this from new with quite a few niggly problems (turbo hose popping off, alternator failure) yet my new problem baffels my local garage (independant) It is losing coolant ant the rate of around 4 litres per day which obviously set the alarm off on the dash yet now as of today just before this happens the oil light lights up?
Anyone with any info would be very much appreciated.

Hi, Have had the same problem with 2005 T5. Tried pressure testing which only ended up putting water into he engine. However local VW dealer diagnosed it as water pump. Now replaced and problem cured. Hope this was helpful.

nixamus
27-07-2010, 01:48 AM
Hi, I have a T5 AXE motor with same problem. Replaced the water pump (which was absolutely cactus - bearing & seal failures) went good for about a week, now i have water in the oil again. I'm thinking maybe oil cooler? Are they hard to replace and could that be it? Cheers

N

Gwyn van Boyo
09-08-2010, 09:43 PM
I have a 2004 vw t5 2.5 t30 130, i have had this from new with quite a few niggly problems (turbo hose popping off, alternator failure) yet my new problem baffels my local garage (independant) It is losing coolant ant the rate of around 4 litres per day which obviously set the alarm off on the dash yet now as of today just before this happens the oil light lights up?
Anyone with any info would be very much appreciated.

Hi, I am having this problem with my sons van ! But i am SURE it's not going in the oil ,, Oil is as clean as when it went in 4k miles ago ! & no external leak !!
But will lose 2 Litres in 30miles.
Help. :1zhelp:

Onefut
10-08-2010, 02:40 PM
its a common problem mate an itll be the water pump
theres a how to here http://www.brick-yard.co.uk/forum/how-to-replace-water-pump-updated_topic25489.html
hope it helps
Onefut

Gwyn van Boyo
27-08-2010, 10:08 PM
Hi, I am having this problem with my sons van ! But i am SURE it's not going in the oil ,, Oil is as clean as when it went in 4k miles ago ! & no external leak !!
But will lose 2 Litres in 30miles.
Help. :1zhelp:

Hi, Still can't believe how much water this van as been losing !!! 45 gallon must have gone into this motor ( and no sign at all !!! ) no external leak & no sign in the oil !!!!
Changed the water pump & All is well !!!!!!!:confused::confused::confused::confused::co nfused::confused::confused::confused:
Yes it seems to be Sorted a week as past & no water loss !!
Very very odd ! i still can not believe it .:D:D:D

Onefut
28-08-2010, 12:12 PM
The water pump is gear driven and has a drain out built into the motor so the water drips out into the plastic tray underneath and basically evaporates or drops onto the road while driving
hence the reason you cant see where its losing water

Glad you got it sorted

Suggsie
29-08-2010, 11:49 PM
This has just happened to me too. 55 plate LWB with the 130 engine pootling along at 65 on the A23, and the coolant light came on. About a pint of water was needed to top up and 25 miles later I had to do it again.
It's only done 46k miles and I couldn't believe it was the head gasket.
It will be going in next week.

On a different note, the brake pads were all replaced when the brake warning light came on, but now all is fixed and checked, the light still comes on as soon as the engine starts.
Short circuit?

Suggsie.
xxx

lasstorn
06-09-2010, 07:51 PM
Hi!

I got the same problem with my 2004, 2.5 Transporter. It use 0.5liters of water in 50km....

No trace of water in the oil and no water under the car, not without the plastic shield under the car either.

I was planning to change the water pump before I replace the head gasket.
Do anyone have any tip where I could find å workshop manual to the car?

If the waterpump is worn out, will I see it on the outside of the engine or do I have to change it to see it?

Need Help! ;P

Suggsie
06-09-2010, 10:52 PM
So I took it in to my independent Merc and VW Truck place and they ran it most of the day and checked all over.
No sign of water leaking anywhere, no sign of water in the oil and the level is normal, and the mayonnaise in the filler cap is diagnosed as normal for the short journeys I usually do.
No sign of water in the exhaust either.
K-seal is the temporary answer, until we can be sure, but it does sound like an external leak from the water pump rather than the head gasket.

T5 TDI
06-09-2010, 11:35 PM
To be absolutley sure it isn't the water pump you need to drain the oil out because it doesn't mix. It just sits under the oil in the sump. If there is enough of it you might notice the oil level rise.

Some T5's have a heated EGR valve (you can tell by the coolant pipes going to them). We had a guy on the brickyard forum that had a mysterious bad water leak and it eventually turned out it was this. I don't think it's very common. He drove it round bypassed for a while to prove it. Worth a look anyway.

We have had almost no head gasket failures reported on the brikkie T5 section despite some starship mileages past the quater million mark. I think most that get changed are mis-diagnosed water pump failures.

Suggsie
06-09-2010, 11:54 PM
They drained a little oil from the drain plug, and said it looked clean as the day it was put in. (Actually it was about 3 months ago)
They can have another go in a few weeks time.

I hope it's a little too early for an EGR valve, they sound like bad news.

T5 TDI
07-09-2010, 12:23 AM
I hope it's a little too early for an EGR valve

I wouldn't bank on it this was an '09 under warranty http://www.brick-yard.co.uk/forum/losing-coolant-somewhere_topic55857.html

Sill if yours is an early one like mine it probably doesn't have the electronic and water cooled EGR valve anyway unless it's an auto.

Suggsie
11-09-2010, 11:53 PM
It's a 55 plate.

So far the K-seal seems to be working. No coolant loss for a week.

Gwyn van Boyo
16-09-2010, 10:44 PM
This has just happened to me too. 55 plate LWB with the 130 engine pootling along at 65 on the A23, and the coolant light came on. About a pint of water was needed to top up and 25 miles later I had to do it again.
It's only done 46k miles and I couldn't believe it was the head gasket.
It will be going in next week.

On a different note, the brake pads were all replaced when the brake warning light came on, but now all is fixed and checked, the light still comes on as soon as the engine starts.
Short circuit?

Suggsie.
xxx

Hi Suggsie, We had the problem with the pads light on after changing pads !! Main dealer said it sometime happens when you don't use genuine Pads. ( we checked everything & light still on ):Blush2::Blush2:
Will have to wait till we wear them out Then. :biglaugh:

Gwyn van Boyo
16-09-2010, 10:59 PM
It's a 55 plate.

So far the K-seal seems to be working. No coolant loss for a week.

Yes Nice when it works like that.:beerchug:
Its a worrying time when !! Someone say It's Headgasket, Cracked Head, Cracked Block, Cracked Turbo, Cracked Manifold, Water Pump ( it would not be that would it !!! ) Really can't see that ??
Water pump £60- Exchange (VW main dealer ) & a couple of hours Labour !!
Coolant , Change the oil & filter while you are at it, :beerchug:
A much better motor than them rusty Transits !!!

xtractif
06-10-2010, 07:04 PM
Hi Mike are you the windsurfing Mike Birt that did the Southport 12hr many years ago?

I've got a T5 130 with 60k it has the same problem, what was the problem
water pump, oil cooler or head gasket?

Regards

Mike Cottam

xtractif
06-10-2010, 07:09 PM
Hmmmm....

We had our oil cooler pressure tested and the oil side is ok... we are getting the water jacket tested tomorrow, after that we are just going to keep pressure testing it until we find a leak. 2 pints of fluid has to go somewhere; lets hope it's not into the cylinder....
Hi Mike are you the windsurfing Mike Birt that did the Southport 12hr many years ago?

I've got a T5 130 with 60k it has the same problem, what was the problem
water pump, oil cooler or head gasket?

Regards

Mike Cottam