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The GTI Failure Everyone Thinks is a Blown Head Gasket

Cameron Alford

48,865 views

Coolant in your oil doesn't always mean a blown head gasket. On these 2.0T VW and Audi engines, the oil cooler seal is one of the most common failures there is. Good news is you can fix it at home. We caught it early on the GTI, tore it down, found exactly what went, and did the water pump while we were in there. Everything we used is linked below.

🛠️ EVERYTHING WE USED

Oil Cooler:
https://bit.ly/mk75-oil-cooler

Water Pump + Thermostat Kit:
https://bit.ly/mk75-water-pump

Water Pump Belt:
https://bit.ly/mk75-water-pump-belt

Accessory Belt Tensioner:
https://bit.ly/mk75-belt-tensioner

Accessory Belt:
https://bit.ly/mk75-accessory-belt

Steel Oil Pan Kit:
https://bit.ly/mk75-oil-pan-kit

Oil Filter Housing Bracket Gasket:
https://bit.ly/mk75-oil-filter-housin...

Oil Cooler Gasket:
https://bit.ly/mk75-oil-cooler-gasket

Intake Manifold Gasket:
https://bit.ly/mk75-intake-manifold-g...

Oil Service Kit:
https://bit.ly/mk75-oil-service-kit

Coolant (Zerex HT-12 Pink):
https://bit.ly/mk75-coolant

Brake Cleaner:
https://amzn.to/4uldK9z

🧰 TOOLS

Torx & E-Torx Kit (must-have):
https://amzn.to/4fmpbdw

Pick Tool Set:
https://amzn.to/43kxuPM

Air Blow Gun:
https://amzn.to/4dUPO6M

QUINN Digital Torque Wrench:
https://bit.ly/mk75-torque-wrench

⚠️ CATCH IT EARLY
If your oil looks milky or your coolant tank keeps dropping, don't ignore it. Pop the hood every few fill-ups and look at your coolant tank. Same color, not milky. That one habit saved this motor.

#GTI #MK7 #EA888 #VW #Audi #DIY #gunkpartner

Cerakote Car Wash Soap: https://amzn.to/4v4wc7k
Cerakote Pro Ceramic Coating: https://amzn.to/4un2uKR
Cerakote Tire Coat: https://amzn.to/4wLaMxI

Using these links is the best way to support what we do here. I dedicate my life to making these videos. Your support helps me support my family and the small team behind this channel. We love what we do and we couldn't do it without you watching. Thank you.

🔗 Amazon Links
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Chapters:

Advertise on the channel, email me: cameronalford@carmaspeed.com

20 Comments

@lekso02 4 months ago

After getting myself a GTI, watching these vids makes me feel completely safe to work on it myself.. Thank you for making these, love it!

@KA843 4 months ago (edited)

For anyone looking to do the steel oil pan, the FEL-PRO Oil Pan Gasket (pn: OS30821) also works if you don't feel like messing with RTV. Another good video Cam!

@klokworkllc 4 months ago (edited)

Former vw audi tech. Referring to you asking how to stay organized? When I was new and had to do large jobs, I would literally lay the parts I took off in a line as they came off, then I would go back together going back down the line.
But, eventually you just remember and doesn't matter.
Also, be careful what kind of lubricant you use on o rings or hoses. Some greases will actually deteriorate them. To be safe, you can use whatever liquid they're supposed to seal as the lubricant. So coolant on a coolant o ring, oil on a oil o ring etc. Another tip is to just use a parts cleaner, spray the o ring and quickly seat it in place then the cleaner will evaporate off.
Love these videos, keep it going!

@jackman2494 3 weeks ago

I’m glad we all use the adjustable wrench on the oil filter housing 😂

@Winnona360 2 months ago

Bro, you have been outputting so much Mk. 7.5 GTi content and it's been really helpful! I was aiming to replace my water pump when I came across this video and saw how you replaced the oil cooler and oil filter housing gasket. Nobody else on YT has a video showing the process, but after watching you, I went ahead and ordered the parts to do it myself too. It was a lot of work pulling the alt and ac comp out, then the oil filter housing bracket, but I was able to do it all! Next is carbon cleaning as I start to reassemble everything!

@RollModelsAuto 4 months ago (edited)

Next step while you're in there is to replace your coolant reservoir / bottle with a newer version without the "MIT SILIKAT" square identifier on the top half. That indicates a silica bead packet inside of the bottle, which is prone to coming apart, which sends tons of small little silica beads throughout the cooling system that can lead to other problems. Newer versions of the bottle eliminated that, so I would get it out of your car ASAP. It's a ticking time bomb. I'm personally seen it fail on 2 different cars causing a clog in the cooling system leading to thousands in repairs.

@_Wheysted_ 4 months ago

A good indicator too is if you see a thin line of oil at the top of your reservoir tank, that's how I caught mine

@Namastéak 4 months ago

Damn.. at this point, just pull the whole engine out 😂

@Omega_Sline 1 month ago

Thanks David for showing all this steps, Great Job mate!

@MichaelBalicki 3 months ago

Just had to do this job on my mk7 R. I really lucked out because there was no coolant in the oil…just oil in my coolant

@andrewramos2746 3 months ago

that "waterpump crossover" piece is also called the "union" in case people need it

@RandyLe4zero8 4 months ago

Thats a lot of work bro

@konacyclist 4 months ago

I thoroughly enjoyed this video. I learned a lot about my VW and was super impressed with Dave's skill and attention to detail. Very informative content!

@stuuuuch09 4 months ago

i had this failure but all my oil went to the coolant system instead of the other way around

@metasploited5790 4 months ago

Cool to see you cover this. My mk7 was my first euro car and it came with an oil cooler leak that had my coolant looking a tad milky. i had never worked on the GTI before and man was that quite the first experience tearing that front end down to get to the leaky boi. wish this video was a round some years back!

@_mokoa 4 months ago

Alternate title should be How to Properly Disassemble a GTI Engine Bay haha some great tips and tricks in this video. Great explanations as you guys go

@sovoitechlanes3398 4 months ago

seeing this three days after i started. I had an oil cooler bolt strip (used mk6 torque spec) and also was sold a broken pressure tester that made me hunt for non-existant leaks. But she's finally done today lol. 170k miles and this is the first water pump change, even kept the stock belt because it looked fine.

@Random-fs8tc 4 months ago

Just started the video, but EPIC video, amazing response to the comments on the last video.

@christianalvarez1282 3 months ago

I always say a job will take me about 3 hours, but ends up taking 2 days because I thoroughly clean every area that I remove parts from since I'm already in there lol

@JJT_eft 4 months ago

Had my waterpump fail on my mk7 a year ago and i had to take it a shop, but if it ever happened again i was thinking to tackle it so im glad i got you around Cam