Oil cooler problems

[MIKE1997]

Hi guys...My name is Mike(also first time posting anything here) and i need some advise please....

Now I've got a problem with The polo classic 1998 1.6i with 134000 km on the clock(currently), 2nd owner was my grandfather and he bought the car when it was on 87000km(that was back in 2006)...that same year he came down to PE on vacation from Bloem and on the way back the car blew a head gasket...car overheated... and back then it cost him R16k for brand new pistons;rings;head skim;gasket ect....im explaining this because i do not think its a headgasket problem THIS TIME....however I get oil in the water and I replaced the OIL COOLER which is one of the main things that can cause such a dilemma,replaced the radiator and also flushed the system about 4 times...this however solves the problem....FOR 4 Months.....I had to replace the oil Cooler again 3 months ago...flushed it....Bobs your uncle...worked for 3months now i have to do it all again???? Please guys i need help....i check the oilcap everyday as it would be milky if it was a head gasket....the car does not misfire....theres no white smoke....but something is causing the oil cooler to pack up
like i said....i need advise....anything....

Thanks

[panic-mechanic]

Bypass the cooler / remove it and join the waterpipes to each other. If the cooler was faulty the issue will go away. If not then you know it is the head gasket.
Checking the cap is no guarantee that it ain't a head gasket. There are many modes of failure and you can't say for sure by just saying the cap ain't milky.
you can remove the cooler by just using the short oil filter screw in rather than the long one that passes through the cooler.

[MIKE1997]

Thanks for the advise but how can it be a head gasket if the car doesnt mis, its not smoking,There are no performance issues, its not over heating, im just getting oil in the water...i dont like taking shortcuts - So i would prefer not to bypass the oil cooler....what about a heater core leak(not saying it is) but Would that cause a problem?

[MIKE1997]

Thanks for the advise but how can it be a head gasket if the car doesnt mis, its not smoking,There are no performance issues, its not over heating, im just getting oil in the water...i dont like taking shortcuts - So i would prefer not to bypass the oil cooler....what about a heater core leak(not saying it is) but Would that cause a problem?

[Donavan]

Head gasket might be leaking between a water and oil channel, by passing the oil cooler is only a means of fault finding, if its is not the issue then simply just connect the cooler again. Heater core has got nothing do to with oil inside your water.

Either head gasket, cracked block/cylinder walls, cracked head or oil cooler leakage.

[panic-mechanic]

As said, not a shortcut. It's a way to diagnose. Can put it back again.

[MIKE1997]

Will do. Will leave a update asap. I only mentioned the heater core as a chance of pressure failure in the cooling system causing the oil pressure inside the oil cooler to bust through into the water side.

[Garymac]

hi we had a similler problem with my sisters polo classic were it would get oil in the cooling system also replaced the head gasket but 2 mounth latter problem back .
decidede to pull the head again and on close inspection we found that between the oil channel and watter jacket there was corrosion becuase the engine never ran with out antifreez so the gap between the oil channel and watter jacket had corroded so bad that the gap was verry small between the oil and watter channel just can rememeber if it was corosin on the head or block but i thing it was on the block .
Engine ran verry well as yours does just the oil in water problem so yes you can have oil in the water because of problem arround the block and head and have a perfect running engine .

[Garymac]

hi we had a similler problem with my sisters polo classic were it would get oil in the cooling system also replaced the head gasket but 2 mounth latter problem back .
decidede to pull the head again and on close inspection we found that between the oil channel and watter jacket there was corrosion becuase the engine never ran with out antifreez so the gap between the oil channel and watter jacket had corroded so bad that the gap was verry small between the oil and watter channel just can rememeber if it was corosin on the head or block but i thing it was on the block .
Engine ran verry well as yours does just the oil in water problem so yes you can have oil in the water because of problem arround the block and head and have a perfect running engine .

[MIKE1997]

hi we had a similler problem with my sisters polo classic were it would get oil in the cooling system also replaced the head gasket but 2 mounth latter problem back .
decidede to pull the head again and on close inspection we found that between the oil channel and watter jacket there was corrosion becuase the engine never ran with out antifreez so the gap between the oil channel and watter jacket had corroded so bad that the gap was verry small between the oil and watter channel just can rememeber if it was corosin on the head or block but i thing it was on the block .
Engine ran verry well as yours does just the oil in water problem so yes you can have oil in the water because of problem arround the block and head and have a perfect running engine .

Thanks so much for this reply... I will look into it and give an update. This sounds like it could be the cause. Only waiting for payday now. Hopefully the damage wont cost a lot. Will keep updating as things develop.

Did you guys ever sort out the problem?

[MIKE1997]

It's been a while.

apologies for not leaving a update sooner.

long story short.

I bypassed the oil cooler.

never had issues again.

I sold the car 2 years ago though.

My in-laws have a VW polo tsi 2015. they are also experiencing issues with their oil cooler.

Seems like a common thing amongst all VW's

[Fiki]

Hi there, I’ve noticed some leaks around my oil cooler. I just wanted to ask, would it be better to replace the entire oil cooler or just the seals?