Coolant Leak From Failed Adapter (06k 121 143)

[git443]

Mine happened at 60,000KM, so low kilometers for a 2015. I think it might be time dependent. The plastic gets brittle over time.

 

[DamianCC]

Just wanted to share that I too had this problem. 25k miles. When you get the part from the dealer, it comes with a new o-ring.

 

[AceHammer]

Yea thin plastic and an o ring mounted in the cylinder head, which gets extremely hot. Surprised we don't see more failures from this. If you ever have to remove it for any reason just get a new one. Really wish someone made an all-metal version, doesn't seem too hard to make

 

[Klrider44]

Yea thin plastic and an o ring mounted in the cylinder head, which gets extremely hot. Surprised we don't see more failures from this. If you ever have to remove it for any reason just get a new one. Really wish someone made an all-metal version, doesn't seem too hard to make

Someone made a billet piece, I think I may have seen it on Facebook but there someone making them.

 

[git443]

When I replaced mine when it broke and went to the dealer, the parts guy had them in stock. He said they keep it in stock because they change it every time it's removed from a customer car when they work in that area and have to pull the coolant line. When I showed him my broken one, he said he's never seen it fail before.

 

[Blueballs]

I’ve had coolant leaking from this part as well. But my reason is more uncommon than I would assume most.

I blew my IS20 turbo in July of 2018. I took my car to a VW shop to have a new IS38 installed. Picked it up. Drove it home. After about a month, I got the same coolant smell and smoke, so I opened up the hood to find this piece leaking. But not just from the adapter. It was also leaking from the hose. So I took it apart to inspect it to come to find out the adapter had been siliconed. It looked like it was broken and siliconed together for a “quick fix”. I then inspected the hose, and the hose was not OEM. It was some shimmy hose that was also starting to kink because it was not bent from the factory, and was being forced to bend so that it could be used. I then also noticed that the clamps were cheap and not OEM.

Now, my car has never seen a shop before this shop. Ever. I knew at this moment that when this shop installed my IS38 turbo, they broke this coolant adapter, and also most likely the hose too, and instead of telling me, the customer, what they’ve done, and replacing these parts that would’ve cost them maybe $15, and taken them 30 minutes to install it, they decided to use silicone to piece together the broken OEM adapter, and a hose and clamps most likely just laying around in their shop, to piece it back together, just to get me on the road and on my way, sight unseen. My turbo blew near Reno, NV, and I live in SLC, UT, so I had to have this shop in Reno work on my car, and then when it was ready for pickup, I had to take the Amtrak train down to Reno from SLC to pick it up, so the shop knew that I wouldn’t be back to have them fix this issue once I found it out, and they knew I wouldn’t find it out until I got home, so they went the cheap route, and gave the car back to me without letting me know.

I don’t know about you, but that’s hella shady! To not even entertain the idea of replacing $15 worth of parts, THAT THEY BROKE, tells me that they do not appreciate and/or respect their customers business. I spent good money for them to replace my turbo and clean out my entire exhaust and intercooler from debris that might be in there, to come back with hidden parts that they broke but never told me, all in the name of saving $15 and a half hour of labor. Pretty ridiculous!

Well, long story short, the IS38 turbo they installed literally blew 2 days after I got it home, on my very first pull to 6500rpm’s. Now, I’m not sure why the new IS38 blew. It most likely was because of prior residue left in the system from my IS20 blowing, and not from an improper install, but the shop also did hand me my GTI back with a rough idle that they couldn’t figure out. Instead of trying to figure it out, they blamed it on my new IS38 tune. I later found out from my own digging around as to why I’m having their “weird rough idle” that it was coming from a massive carbon buildup in my intake valves, and tons of oil inside my IM and throttle body.

This incident just goes to show me that shops do not care about their customers. They care about your money. They could’ve fixed the coolant adapter, hose, and clamps, by buying OEM replacement parts, and also could have never given me the car back until the car was working flawlessly (I assume that a shop would know a rough idle could possibly mean CARBON BUILDUP in the valves on a turbo car especially with a turbo that just blew or oil got inside the IM and/or throttle body!!)(but nooooo....too much thinking and/or work...)

So my adapter was leaking due to a shops negligence. Im just glad it’s an easy fix, and the parts are cheap enough to buy a couple just to have spares just in case.

BTW the shops name is German Wagen Werks.

Sorry for the long unnecessary post. When I was young, and I got in trouble, my punishment was writing pages. I had to explain why I acted the way I did, what I could do better next time, and what my punishment for my next offense should be. Let’s just say, one incident, I got up to 25 pages, and I got really really good at writing papers

 

[kdog349]

How on earth did you remove this part? I tried taking the top hose clamp off but I couldn't get the hose off of the metal tube. I don't see how you can get to the torx mount bolt (for plastic fitting) without removing the tube. Am I missing something? Please help

 

[git443]

How on earth did you remove this part? I tried taking the top hose clamp off but I couldn't get the hose off of the metal tube. I don't see how you can get to the torx mount bolt (for plastic fitting) without removing the tube. Am I missing something? Please help

If you remove the top clamp, you should be able to pull the hose down and off the metal pipe. If the hose is too stiff or brittle then just cut it off and replace it too. Once the hose is out of the way you should have clear access to the bolt.

 

[kdog349]

If you remove the top clamp, you should be able to pull the hose down and off the metal pipe. If the hose is too stiff or brittle then just cut it off and replace it too. Once the hose is out of the way you should have clear access to the bolt.

OK thx, I'll try cutting the hose. It did not want to come off of the pipe

 

[Blueballs]

How on earth did you remove this part? I tried taking the top hose clamp off but I couldn't get the hose off of the metal tube. I don't see how you can get to the torx mount bolt (for plastic fitting) without removing the tube. Am I missing something? Please help

I always remove the top clamp, take the hose off the top part of the hard coolant line, and then leave the bottom clamp on while I unscrew the bottom torx screw. Then I use the hose to pull it out. It’s snug, so it will take some force.
As far as the top clamp is concerned, you can either get to the clamp from behind by putting your hand by the downpipe, and go that route, or go straight in with a hose clamp tool.

 

[Clem604]

Really wish someone made an all-metal version, doesn't seem too hard to make

And now they have:

https://www.ecstuning.com/b-emmanue...t-adapter-for-mqb-20t-e8883/emd-bil-adapter~/

I might just get one when they come in stock just to have some peace of mind.

 

[SoupNazi]

Created an account just to thanks to all here that highlighted this issue. Was driving my 2016 Golf R this week when the red coolant level light came on. My car has less than 50k miles and has had all service done by VW, so imagine my surprise when a coolant cloud started billowing out from my hood. The leak was not small though I initially had a hard time locating it until I read the posts here that helped me identify the busted adapter. My local VW dealer didn't have the part in stock, but luckily the Audi dealership did. That hose is definitely a bit stubborn to pry off, but just keep at it and eventually it comes loose. I'll probably order another one of these adapters because I have zero faith this plastic piece is going to last any longer than the last one did. Again, much thanks to those that shared their experience - saved me some cash!

 

[Diggs24]

No coolant for you!

 

[AceHammer]

Just ordered the metal version even though I swapped my plastic one about 15k ago. My past mods have pretty much just been replacing plastic parts with metal on this car lol

 

[gixxerfool]

There was a member on the vortex making these. I put my name on the list to get one and he never made any updates. I just messaged him again to see if he is going to do them still.