Title says it all.........

Replacing the oil cooler seals with the engine out of the car. Normally a 1-2 hour job has turned into 1-2 DAYS. I'm getting damn frustrated. To add to it all, when I got in there and replaced the seals, the old seals were practically brand new and pliable with no visible leakage. .


Anyways, I'm having a hell of a time simply getting the oil cooler retaining nuts back on. I got the two on the actual oil cooler itself threaded and snugged, but the third one more towards the engine case (and hiding behind the cooler) is a BITCH to get to . Now I dropped the nut and it's hiding somewhere in the little cranny behind the cooler.

Keep in mind I did this without removing the cooling fan housing....

Is there ANY way at all to move the fan housing itself a few inches forward (away from the cyl. heads) so I can get room in there to screw the nut back on properly? Will I have to remove the fan? I don't want to deal with that, since it's foreign territory for me.



Please Help!!

Yes.. remove the fan and then remove the 4 shroud to case nuts and slide the shroud a tad forward. You will also have to remove the front engine tin that seals against the shroud, else it'll hit the engine bay, keeping the shroud from moving.

Its always much easier to just pull the engine- trying to make things easier ALWAYS complicates them and most of the time makes other issues occur.

You'd probably be driving the car now if you would have pulled the whole thing :-)

Engine is out - good.
Fan removal is not bad at all! 3 bolts, mine were 6pt special tool just like the CV bolts - don't f-em up using the wrong tool. Once fan is loose, pull it off with belt, loosen housing, slide it out. It'll slide 2 inches or so then drops off of long studs. Then it is a bitch to line up and re-install. The fan can only be re-installed one way, I my belt did just fine once squeezed back on.
Go for it!
Click to view attachment

Thanks guys.... Doesn't sound so bad now

Jake - Engine is actually already out. I'm just cleaning things up and freshening up seals before I install it.


When removing the fan and fan housing - upon reinstall is there any way I could fuch up the crank balance or whatever? Such as when removing the flywheel, there are the endplay shims back there that need to be reinstalled.... Anything like that up front? Or just bolt 'er back on?

No worrys about end play or shims on the front. Pull the fan shroud off as an assembly along with the alternator. Re-intallation is a snap...

The fan is bolted to the hub, which is wedge-fit to the crankshaft. There's a washer behind the fan that MUST be there, and a pin on the hub that fits a 4th hole on the back of the fan. Piece 'o cake. While we're on the subject of leaks, you might as well replace the oil pressure switch while you have it this far apart. Use ONLY an OE style switch! Never use a FLAPS one-size-fits-all part. The threads are tapered (if they're not, you have the wrong part), and will tighten down just fine, sealing the threads on their own. As for R&Ring the shroud, you'll have to remove the thermostat wire (if it's even there) and some of the shroud screws near the fan housing, as they keep the top tin tight against the housing. Go for it! The Cap'n

Thanks.... I'll get on it tomorrow morning, hopefully get this part done. At least this will give me the chance to clean some more oil grime off the engine...

I'm a little confused as to exactly WHERE the fan housing (both halves) bolts to the case. Then again I haven't really looked at it too hard.

It doesn't appear that my oil pressure switch is leaking. Is that reason enough to not replace it? If so, can I pick one up at a local VW shop? I plan on getting everything back on the engine soon and don't want to have to wait for the switch to show up....

The two halves of the housing are bolted together... The entire unit is held on by 4 13mm nuts that can be found behind the cooling fan.

You REALLY need my video- I make all this so easy!

Thanks Jake, that's where I thought it was.
I'm planning on getting your video soon.....