Essex specialists - oil cooler content :)

[murph7355]

Fixed the outdoor tap near my garage only to have my satisfaction curtailed by noticing a small (10p piece splat) bit of oil under the front passenger side of the RS4. Balls.

It looks like it's coming from the passenger side hose of the oil cooler. Very minor leak (and gloopy oil at that point) but want it sorted.

So

1) Are there any specialist spanner guys in Essex you guys would recommend?

2) I've browsed around on replacement bits and couldn't really see a consensus. But OEM, Forge or OEM/JHM?

All a bit of a pisser as it'll need tyres soon too.

[J_B]

I just recently used Witham Vehicle Solutions on recommendation. They're a relatively new company; most of the guys left the local Audi dealer to set it up. The chief tech (Gibbo) is RS trained, and very familiar with the range. I was really, really pleased with the service and was well looked after.

They have Audi diagnostic kit as well, and supplied me some OEM parts much cheaper than a dealer.

Hope this helps.

[Nige_RS4]

Becoming a common issue on the B7 by all accounts - you can either go OEM or upgrade ... http://www.unit20.org/component/virtuem ... cooler-kit

My local specialist has replaced a couple of these and if you're careful you can get away with just replacing the pipes (rather than the whole oil cooler). The pipes are usually corroded onto the cooler.

[murph7355]

I just recently used Witham Vehicle Solutions on recommendation. They're a relatively new company; most of the guys left the local Audi dealer to set it up. The chief tech (Gibbo) is RS trained, and very familiar with the range. I was really, really pleased with the service and was well looked after.

They have Audi diagnostic kit as well, and supplied me some OEM parts much cheaper than a dealer.

Hope this helps.

Witham's very convenient. Thanks.

Am popping it down there tomorrow morning to confirm fears, then I'll decide what to do.

Am tempted by the Forge kit. Looks well made.

Alternative hoses with ali' ends would be the other option I guess.

The car's a keeper until something seriously expensive happens, so the priority is a long term solution.

[flying_tomatoes]

is the whole cooler leaking or just the lines? If its just the lines I've heard some great reviews of the JHM replacement lines. I will most likely go that rout when mine start to leak (I'm sure they will eventually)

http://jhmotorsports.com/shop/catalog/j ... 56_310_313

Forge also makes a full replacement kit with a Setrab cooler which looks quite nice (as mentioned above)

http://www.forgemotorsport.com/content. ... ct=FMOCRS4

[R1RS4]

After reading some posts months back about the oil cooler pipes I decided to check out mine, I found they were corroding away nicely, so I looked into getting some replacements and decided on the JHM route, so before I ordered them I checked out there website to see if they had something that I could also make use off (save on the shipping)and came across the Hawk fast road pads (front only)which are low on dust fallout also quite in operation.

They arrived about 2 weeks back

Firstly; upon opening the box I found the brake pads with elastic bands around the pads
In two stacks tethered by the sensor leads clattering around in the box, no shrink wrap, bubble wrap or manufacturers packing box, so I thought must be customs? No I have since found out that's how they were shipped

Secondly; the Two oil pipes were removed from the box, both pipes were filled with the loose poly fill packing ie no end plugs, upon closer inspection the pipe fittings where they have been inserted into the hose were badly burred, ( during the assembly process, the chemical black finish had been dinked all over where the pipes had been rattling around with the fittings.

I sent an email to JHM with photo's and a guy who works in sales/ customer service basically said he could not see a problem, .... Well there you are

To top this got a letter from TNT requesting the £153 for import duty

The point about shipping a couple of items was due to the basic 2 prices to ship to the UK, first option is expensive and the second is silly

Anyway I will fit the pipes once I have, dressed them, painted and cleaned them out .... Happy days

[TonyHayers]

Personally I'd go for the forge on if the costs aren't much different . The original one is clearly flawed

[TonyHayers]

After reading some posts months back about the oil cooler pipes I decided to check out mine, I found they were corroding away nicely, so I looked into getting some replacements and decided on the JHM route, so before I ordered them I checked out there website to see if they had something that I could also make use off (save on the shipping)and came across the Hawk fast road pads (front only)which are low on dust fallout also quite in operation.

They arrived about 2 weeks back

Firstly; upon opening the box I found the brake pads with elastic bands around the pads
In two stacks tethered by the sensor leads clattering around in the box, no shrink wrap, bubble wrap or manufacturers packing box, so I thought must be customs? No I have since found out that's how they were shipped

Secondly; the Two oil pipes were removed from the box, both pipes were filled with the loose poly fill packing ie no end plugs, upon closer inspection the pipe fittings where they have been inserted into the hose were badly burred, ( during the assembly process, the chemical black finish had been dinked all over where the pipes had been rattling around with the fittings.

I sent an email to JHM with photo's and a guy who works in sales/ customer service basically said he could not see a problem, .... Well there you are

To top this got a letter from TNT requesting the £153 for import duty

The point about shipping a couple of items was due to the basic 2 prices to ship to the UK, first option is expensive and the second is silly

Anyway I will fit the pipes once I have, dressed them, painted and cleaned them out .... Happy days

If they're no good and JHM won't refund you could you just do a chargeback on your credit card?

[R1RS4]

If they're no good and JHM won't refund you could you just do a chargeback on your credit card?

They will be ok once I have cleaned them up, sending them back would be endless grief, one problems with buying from the states I suppose, did not like their sh***y attitude

Just wanted to warn others before jumping in.

Thank god I did not order the down pipes!

[murph7355]

Bottled it in the end and went OEM.

When it was going to cost 1k anyway, even with the Forge kit, the difference in parts cost wasn't sufficient IMO to warrant taking a less proven approach 9OEM Parts are under 1k, not over as is noted elsewhere).

OK, the Audi gear is proven to need replacing after 6 or 7 years But it works with no issues up until that point, and if there are issues in the first two years I'll be visiting Audi about it. With the Forge gear that prospect is somewhat less clear.

JHM pipes are a nice idea. But the cooler connectors were buggered. Faffing about getting them fixed would have added more cost and hassle. I was also less than impressed with the experience of one poster here.

So I took the easy route.

If I still have the car in 6yrs' time and it needs doing again, will look again at the options and see how people are doing with them.

Witham Vehicle Solutions seem good. Nice customer service, clean car all working as expected.

Thanks for the input guys.

[adsgreen]

The only way the connections can corrode is in the presence of water/moisture. Salt water is even worse.
No water = no electricity = no corrosion.

you can protect the threads with a suitable jointing compound (plenty out there that are oil resistant - some Loctite products for example) to keep the metals apart.
Then for belt and braces you could always use tape such as Denso or Kraken (my choice).

It's not so much the products that are faulty but they appear to be poorly assembled.

[R1RS4]

The only way the connections can corrode is in the presence of water/moisture. Salt water is even worse.
No water = no electricity = no corrosion.

you can protect the threads with a suitable jointing compound (plenty out there that are oil resistant - some Loctite products for example) to keep the metals apart.
Then for belt and braces you could always use tape such as Denso or Kraken (my choice).

It's not so much the products that are faulty but they appear to be poorly assembled.

+1

[sar]

After reading some posts months back about the oil cooler pipes I decided to check out mine, I found they were corroding away nicely, so I looked into getting some replacements and decided on the JHM route, so before I ordered them I checked out there website to see if they had something that I could also make use off (save on the shipping)and came across the Hawk fast road pads (front only)which are low on dust fallout also quite in operation.

They arrived about 2 weeks back

Firstly; upon opening the box I found the brake pads with elastic bands around the pads
In two stacks tethered by the sensor leads clattering around in the box, no shrink wrap, bubble wrap or manufacturers packing box, so I thought must be customs? No I have since found out that's how they were shipped

Secondly; the Two oil pipes were removed from the box, both pipes were filled with the loose poly fill packing ie no end plugs, upon closer inspection the pipe fittings where they have been inserted into the hose were badly burred, ( during the assembly process, the chemical black finish had been dinked all over where the pipes had been rattling around with the fittings.

I sent an email to JHM with photo's and a guy who works in sales/ customer service basically said he could not see a problem, .... Well there you are

To top this got a letter from TNT requesting the £153 for import duty

The point about shipping a couple of items was due to the basic 2 prices to ship to the UK, first option is expensive and the second is silly

Anyway I will fit the pipes once I have, dressed them, painted and cleaned them out .... Happy days

i think you have just been unlucky mate, all the stuff i have ordered has always been decently packed, a few other people on here have ordered the oil cooler lines and never mentioned any issues.
as for the duty i always add 25% to the price of anything i import from the states, saves getting a shock later.

[R1RS4]

i think you have just been unlucky mate, all the stuff i have ordered has always been decently packed, a few other people on here have ordered the oil cooler lines and never mentioned any issues.
as for the duty i always add 25% to the price of anything i import from the states, saves getting a shock later.[/quote]


You may be right mate, just unlucky

In principle because of the response I received I would not use again, too many issues in one delivery

I was ok with in import duty, that's the set up

[murph7355]

The only way the connections can corrode is in the presence of water/moisture. Salt water is even worse.
No water = no electricity = no corrosion.

you can protect the threads with a suitable jointing compound (plenty out there that are oil resistant - some Loctite products for example) to keep the metals apart.
Then for belt and braces you could always use tape such as Denso or Kraken (my choice).

It's not so much the products that are faulty but they appear to be poorly assembled.

I'm not convinced that preventing this is that straightforward. Ensuring *all* of the mating surfaces remain free of contact/moisture would be nigh on impossible. And I wonder if tape is wise/effective on joints subject to a lot of vibration and movement?

If it were that easy then why wouldn't doing this be par for the course? Additional materials is next to no cost, and additional effort not much.

That said, why didn't Audi just use parts not susceptible to this in the first place in much the same way that Forge have

Who knows. It'll be interesting to see if someone who does fit an OEM set up using the methods you note gets any longer life out of their oil cooler. And will also be interesting to see how the JHM pipes and Forge kit does.

Bimetallic corrosion is something I've experienced on a few cars - Caterhams suffer quite badly and mine needed reskinning after 12yrs or so. A big contributor for me is that I have used my cars all year round...and getting every last bit of road salt out of every nook and cranny is not possible (IMO).