2000 Volkswagen Beetle

CACTUSGAL

MEMBER
2000 VOLKSWAGEN BEETLE
4 CYL
FWD
MANUAL
10,200 MILES

The coolant system reservoir had gotten oil in it & the engine was overheating. We were told that the head gasket needed to be replaced. This was done & 2 weeks later the same problem was occuring. We took it back & they again replaced the head gasket, this time not charging us for it. 2 weeks later the car is overheating again, this time they said it was only the cap to the reservoir & it was replaced. 2 weeks later again the car is overheating, this time we were told that it was the condenser fan & this was replaced. 2 weeks later the car is overheating again & oil is in the reservoir. We took the car to another shop & they replaced the oil cooler. Since then we have not had any more problems. Since oil was in the reservoir from the beginning, is it possible that it was the oil cooler from the beginning & all the other repairs were not needed.

1 Reply

MHPAUTOS

MECHANIC
31,938 POSTS

HI there,

This is a possibility, but oil in the cooling system is normally a sign of a head problem, these questions are very hard to answer as if the problem was diagnosed as a head issue in the first instance, this may very well have been the actual cause, the only thing that is odd is that the original repairer has done so much work and what he has done can cause the issues you had, under normal conditions, a faulty oil cooler would bot normally cause this over heating, it could if considerable quantities of oil was in the cooling system nd causing a radiator blockage, but the oil would look like a coffee thick shake, the oil & water would emulsify and cause sever overheating problems.

Mark (mhpautos)