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THIS DISCUSSION / SOURCE-DERIVED OVERVIEW
Discussion summary
YOUR RESEARCHShould I preventively replace the oil cooler and air-oil-separator?
Leading reported evidence
Replace imsb and i was told by the mechanic
Performed · outcome unconfirmed
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1
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Performed · outcome unconfirmed · Original poster
Hi guys, I've just replaced the IMSB and I was told by the mechanic that it's a very good idea to replace the oil cooler preventively as well.
Should I preventively replace the oil cooler and air-oil-separator?
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Leading evidence: 'Replace imsb and i was told by the mechanic' (no explicit attributable resolution; this is a reported action or suggestion). Across 1 matching discussions, The most frequently discussed action is 'Replace air oil separator' (1 discussions). For that action, 0 discussions report a resolution and 0 report an unsuccessful attempt. No action has an explicit, attributable resolution report under the current rules. These are forum reports and suggestions, not a confirmed diagnosis.
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Suggestion
If out, replace the AOS and replace the O-rings under the oil cooler.
Should I preventively replace the oil cooler and air-oil-separator?
Replace o-rings
Suggestion or failed attempt
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Suggestion
If out, replace the AOS and replace the O-rings under the oil cooler.
Should I preventively replace the oil cooler and air-oil-separator?
Replace oil cooler preventively as well
Suggestion or failed attempt
No successful repair reported for this finding.
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Suggestion · Original poster
Hi guys, I've just replaced the IMSB and I was told by the mechanic that it's a very good idea to replace the oil cooler preventively as well.
Should I preventively replace the oil cooler and air-oil-separator?
Replace orings if it is accessible
Suggestion or failed attempt
No successful repair reported for this finding.
0
Reported fixes
0
Unsuccessful attempts
1
Discussions
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Explicit resolution reports before identified causes, performed actions and suggestions. Within each level, matching component labels precede direct query mentions and inherited thread context; successful versus unsuccessful discussion counts, owner confirmations and independent discussion support determine order. This is not a probability of success.
Discussions that contain suggestions
1
0 original-poster resolution reports. Counts can overlap; they are not unique people or a success rate.
0 discussions have direct query context; 0 report a fix in that context. Other evidence may inherit the discussion’s subject.
Suggestion
I would change the orings if it is accessible, but not go look for trouble.
Should I preventively replace the oil cooler and air-oil-separator?
Coverage and how to read this overview
Counts describe captured discussions, not unique people or a diagnosis. Author identities are not reliably stored. Exact duplicate evidence is counted once across matching discussions; one discussion counts at most once per action/state. Multiple repairs reported together remain a combination. Suggestions and failed attempts do not establish a fix. Matches cover whole discussions and can include related faults, model variants and incomplete threads.
9 eligible posts · 0 unverified posts · 1 discussions match the subject in their title or opening post.
Rennlist: 1 discussions
0 evidence records excluded for query context · 0 excluded by outcome qualification · 0 adjusted by outcome qualification.
0 acknowledgements have no verified action link; they do not establish a repair result.
Generation: 20261027T044418Z · outcome-qualification-6. Deterministic extraction; no AI model inference. How we use sources
Hi guys, I've just replaced the IMSB and I was told by the mechanic that it's a very good idea to replace the oil cooler preventively as well. I've tried to search the forum and could not find that this is a common issue. I believe that if it fails there are 3 scenarios:
1. Oil will appear in the coolant - this can be detected by simple visual coolant inspection
2. Coolant can appear in oil (and that's not good but not dramatically bad for the engine) - this can be detected by white exhaust smoke
3. Oil/coolant may leak - obviously some oil drops will be detected on the ground
So should I really replace it? It's still original 2002. The car has 42k miles on the clock.
Same question about AOS. Should I really be worried and replace it preventively or I can just check if the engine runs well without
oil filler cap and regularly check if there's a blue smoke?
Is the engine in the car or out? If out, replace the AOS and replace the O-rings under the oil cooler. It is a PITA to do these while the engine is in the car.
The AOS is a well known failure point and I change it as a preventive maintenance item. That is just me. Every 60K miles, it gets changed. As for the cooler, that is not so easy. I would change the orings if it is accessible, but not go look for trouble.
I just did the heat exhanger - its painful but doable. I think the AOS is harder than the heat exchanger because of its location. Take off both plenums and you have access to it.
From my internet trolling the more common failure involving the cooler is the O-rings failing and leaking oil/coolant on the ground.. YMMV
This was pretty common with the old VW coolers back in teh day as well, age and vibration take thier toll and the o-rings get hard with age and crack.. And our cars are now the age when I used to see the bugs start leaking there. <shrug>
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