LightningRhod's quest to 200k.....and beyond

[Deezler]

Oh man. Didn't have time to read all your thread here, but great job keeping a GTI pounding away for this many miles of enjoyment.

That bottle of snake oil in your hand is... really something. Stops leaks, stops "noise", stops smoking, increases compression and horsepower, and it's all guaranteed?!?

Good luck with it. I'd be wary myself. There are loads of small internal passageways and tight clearance areas where oil is designed and required to flow. How does the snake oil know whether it is sealing an internal, engineered "leak", and an external one that's less desirable?

Replacing the oil pan gaskets doesn't sound like fun, but can't be all that hard. And new lines to/from the oil cooler. The front/timing cover I would just let leak. At least you didn't list the rear main seal or water pump....

 

[LightningRhod]

Oh man. Didn't have time to read all your thread here, but great job keeping a GTI pounding away for this many miles of enjoyment.

That bottle of snake oil in your hand is... really something. Stops leaks, stops "noise", stops smoking, increases compression and horsepower, and it's all guaranteed?!?

Good luck with it. I'd be wary myself. There are loads of small internal passageways and tight clearance areas where oil is designed and required to flow. How does the snake oil know whether it is sealing an internal, engineered "leak", and an external one that's less desirable?

Replacing the oil pan gaskets doesn't sound like fun, but can't be all that hard. And new lines to/from the oil cooler. The front/timing cover I would just let leak. At least you didn't list the rear main seal or water pump....

Yeah it'll be interesting with this bottle of snake oil, I'll let you all know how it goes .

My rear main seal has actually blown before, it was about 7 years ago. Got that replaced along with the PCV valve at the time. Timing chain cover was also replaced a couple of years ago due to leaks. It worked for a while, but now it's leaking again .

My waterpump has only been replaced once in the car's lifetime suprisingly. The original waterpump lasted 170k+ miles. Apparently I got a unicorn waterpump considering the amount of relatively low mileage failures observed on this site .

 

[Deezler]

Yeah man. I just bought a used '12 GTI with 117k miles and it somehow has no leaks, and the original owner I bought it from couldn't remember any fluid leak-related repairs ever happening. I think mine was a later-month build of the 2012s, maybe that helps. Internet says the 13s and 14s are better for leaks, too. My wife's 2010 CCTA passat was a nightmare, had to sell it after the 3rd water pump.

Thanks for the reminder to be proactive and change my PCV assembly ASAP.

 

[aspro_gti]

Oh man. Didn't have time to read all your thread here, but great job keeping a GTI pounding away for this many miles of enjoyment.

That bottle of snake oil in your hand is... really something. Stops leaks, stops "noise", stops smoking, increases compression and horsepower, and it's all guaranteed?!?

Good luck with it. I'd be wary myself. There are loads of small internal passageways and tight clearance areas where oil is designed and required to flow. How does the snake oil know whether it is sealing an internal, engineered "leak", and an external one that's less desirable?

Replacing the oil pan gaskets doesn't sound like fun, but can't be all that hard. And new lines to/from the oil cooler. The front/timing cover I would just let leak. At least you didn't list the rear main seal or water pump....

Based.
Oil pan seal isn't hard, just need to have your sealant warm so it flows nice and smooth and patient hands. I've rounded/stripped the oil pan bolts before (done the job like 3 times lol) so beware. Valve cover is a step up in difficulty since cleaning the surface requires much more care/patience. The timing cover is the trickiest because of the angled part.