Head gasket "leaking"? Need help deciding my next steps

[stuinew]

Hi,

Mk7 GTI, 112k miles, bought at 85K miles, one previous owner, all service done at the dealership, sold to the same dealership where he bought it.
Since I got it I replaced the oil pan three time (only paid for one).

Last week, went in for an oil change as the car told me to check oil level (less than 4k miles since the last oil change and the last oil pan change).

They changed the oil and told me oil pan needs replacement. They replaced it on warranty as it was less than one year and less than 4k miles since they replaced it.

But after they replaced it, now they found coolant in the oil (3 days after they changed the oil). When they changed the 4k oil they did not tell me anything about the coolant in oil.
They are saying head gasket is leaking and quoted 4000 USD to replace it.

I am not sure I want to do this because:
1. What if something else comes after?
2. I did a Combustion leak test and I think the liquid stayed blue? I am attaching a short video plus a picture of start of test and after 3 minutes.

I thought of the following options:
1. Pay for the repair - Perhaps not at the dealership as 4k is a lot. Plus, what if they find something else?
2. Do it myself (I am not good with this).
3. Buy other car. Some people suggested to replace the engine but I would not replace it with a used one, only with a new one and at this point I am ready to give up owning an GTI for a while until I can get a new one - unfortunately they don't make the MK7 or MK7.5 new .

I looked and the coolant does not look pink, it looks kind of brown and slimy at the surface.

Some people suggested it might be the oil cooler.
Please let me know what test can I run to make sure the head gasket is fine.
Please let me know if there is a test to make sure the oil cooler is bad?

Looking at the pictures I think I see a really small change in colour between the start of test and after test?
Pictures, in the order: Beginning of test, 3 minutes in the test, coolant colour.

 

[Daks]

Hi,

Mk7 GTI, 112k miles, bought at 85K miles, one previous owner, all service done at the dealership, sold to the same dealership where he bought it.
Since I got it I replaced the oil pan three time (only paid for one).

Last week, went in for an oil change as the car told me to check oil level (less than 4k miles since the last oil change and the last oil pan change).

They changed the oil and told me oil pan needs replacement. They replaced it on warranty as it was less than one year and less than 4k miles since they replaced it.

But after they replaced it, now they found coolant in the oil (3 days after they changed the oil). When they changed the 4k oil they did not tell me anything about the coolant in oil.
They are saying head gasket is leaking and quoted 4000 USD to replace it.

I am not sure I want to do this because:
1. What if something else comes after?
2. I did a Combustion leak test and I think the liquid stayed blue? I am attaching a short video plus a picture of start of test and after 3 minutes.

I thought of the following options:
1. Pay for the repair - Perhaps not at the dealership as 4k is a lot. Plus, what if they find something else?
2. Do it myself (I am not good with this).
3. Buy other car. Some people suggested to replace the engine but I would not replace it with a used one, only with a new one and at this point I am ready to give up owning an GTI for a while until I can get a new one - unfortunately they don't make the MK7 or MK7.5 new .

I looked and the coolant does not look pink, it looks kind of brown and slimy at the surface.

Some people suggested it might be the oil cooler.
Please let me know what test can I run to make sure the head gasket is fine.
Please let me know if there is a test to make sure the oil cooler is bad?

Looking at the pictures I think I see a really small change in colour between the start of test and after test?
Pictures, in the order: Beginning of test, 3 minutes in the test, coolant colour.

View attachment 303112
View attachment 303110
View attachment 303111

Someone dealt with this exact problem within the last 6 months. Look to do a search and see how they solved it.

 

[Diggs24]

First off, why is the oil pan constantly needing to be replaced?

Blown HG and that shit would be yellow yellow.

You need a new oil cooler + gaskets and a complete flush of the cooling system.

 

[Diggs24]

https://www.golfmk7.com/forums/index.php?threads/coolant-oil-mixed-and-bubbling.427452/

 

[Daks]

That's the one

 

[stuinew]

First off, why is the oil pan constantly needing to be replaced?

Blown HG and that shit would be yellow yellow.

You need a new oil cooler + gaskets and a complete flush of the cooling system.

About the oil pan:
First time they said - level 3 oil leak, it is from the oil pan.
They replaced it (paid be extended warranty I bought). After 5k miles, I still had an oil leak.
Second time, they said the oil pan was warped - they investigated more and replaced camshaft sensors and their seals, upper timing cover, pcv valve (based on some regioanl VW tech who told them some of these can cause vacuum and warp the oil pan).

Now, 4k after that oil pan change, they again said the oil pan is leaking - I asked why and they said faulty oil pan.
The original dealer sold to a bigger one so all the techs are new.

And now they also told me about this head gasket leak.

But, as I ran that test and do not see yellow I am not trusting them with checking tire pressure. And I will send some sort of complaint to VW about this after I ask them how did they diagnose the head gasket issue.

 

[Diggs24]

Get a new shop.

 

[stuinew]

https://www.golfmk7.com/forums/index.php?threads/coolant-oil-mixed-and-bubbling.427452/

Thank you, I think there are multiple people there, reading more.
For one of them it seems their head gasket test turned yellow, reading to understand the others.
Anyway looks more than I am ready to go through in my garage, I think I need to find a different shop and get the right thing replaced.
I am going to look at the oil cooler area and some other areas mentioned in that thread to see if I can see something strange. Although, the oil cooler could be perfectly sealing to the exterior but mix things inside like a bartender with a shaker? .

 

[avenali312]

Get a new shop.

This sounds like when the dealer tried to get me to pay $4,000 to basically replace all of the gaskets and reseal the cam cradle recently. I paid the diagnostic fee and took it to my regular indie mechanic who said they're barely weeping. If there is any sign of leaking, I feel like the dealer has to tell you it's bad and will want to replace it, because there will be customers that don't know and will just pay it.

 

[stuinew]

This sounds like when the dealer tried to get me to pay $4,000 to basically replace all of the gaskets and reseal the cam cradle recently. I paid the diagnostic fee and took it to my regular indie mechanic who said they're barely weeping. If there is any sign of leaking, I feel like the dealer has to tell you it's bad and will want to replace it, because there will be customers that don't know and will just pay it.

My thing is, I want the car to work correctly. But as I am not a mechanic I don't know what is bad and what is ok.
But in this case I am wondering how did they diagnose the head gasket leak, or perhaps they just said: oil and coolant mix, head gasket.
And then I replace it and next time they say: oil and coolant still mix, something else...
That is what I hate, I would open a repair shop where I would say: if things are not fixed, we don't charge you for the parts we changed.
I think that is the only way it should be. In the end, I am going to an expert to replace only what is broken, not to just throw things at me.
I understand that sometimes you can't properly diagnose the source, but don't just say "head gasket" and then I can run a 40 dollar test which for now seems to show the gasket is not the issue?
I might be wrong/running the test wrong (although it is hard to mess that up)...

Right now I am at the ranting stage.

 

[avenali312]

My thing is, I want the car to work correctly. But as I am not a mechanic I don't know what is bad and what is ok.
But in this case I am wondering how did they diagnose the head gasket leak, or perhaps they just said: oil and coolant mix, head gasket.
And then I replace it and next time they say: oil and coolant still mix, something else...

I just don't trust dealerships anymore. I have found an indie shop that I love and fully trust. If he says it's bad, I let him fix it. If the dealer says something, I want them to show me and explain in detail "why?"

 

[stuinew]

Ok, if anyone knows a good mechanic in the Seattle area please let me know. I am ready to drive 100 miles for this if needed.
I like how the car works and I still dream of sometimes tracking it but right now I am at the point where I am thinking of letting it go and buying a new Nissan Versa (although I hate sedans, I love minivans/wagons/hatches - in this order ).

 

[Diggs24]

You had me until Versa. I threw up in my mouth a little.

 

[Daks]

Yeah, jesus christ, no one help this guy anymore.

 

[avenali312]

Ok, if anyone knows a good mechanic in the Seattle area please let me know. I am ready to drive 100 miles for this if needed.

The local VW enthusiast Facebook groups are actually good for this sort of thing. A lot of our local mechanics actually hang out in ours. Removed the Versa nonsense from the quote because... well, because.