Yesterday I spent the day in the shop correcting some lingering issues (some that I have dragged on since the PPI) to get the car ready for the upcoming season.
Issues addressed:
- Upper radiator hose (was very swollen / starting to leak)
- Leaking DCT Pan - This was sweating / leaking since the PPI
- Mickey Mouse Flange - Preventative Maintenance
- Leaking Oil Cooler Line - Slowly sweating since PPI
- Oil Change
- Coolant Flush (forced by other changes)
- Oil Pressure Switch - Leaking into the harness (noticed it yesterday)
- Engine shampoo - Needed after leaking some coolant / oil onto accessory belt while performing the above.
I had known for a while that my upper rad hose was quite swollen, however, I hadn't noticed that it was already leaking! The leak is shown by the white dots all over the hose / surrounding areas as some coolant would have been squirting out at high speeds.... I was also low on coolant so I guess I caught this right on time! Went with a Vaico unit as it's made in Turkey (same country as OEM per FCP Euro so hopefully the same factory!) and it fit perfectly. I also installed the mickey mouse flange from Rein while I was at it. I had to use slip-joint pliers to crush the old flange; pretty scary how easily it crumbled into pieces under some force.... this thing was ready to let go. If you've been procrastinating your MM flange, just go and do it now. It's quick and easy to do.
DCT pan / filters I was nervous about changing but it ended up being an extremely simple job. The fluid that was in my transmission came out looking new and everything under the pan was very clean so I feel good about DCT condition. I used the Rein kit from Rockauto and it was absolutely perfect. I loved that the filters were both marked GETRAG so they are OEM for the transmission. The shop I use had a new autologic computer with the oil banacing program so that was easy enough to do. The car only took about 6 liters of fluid though (I was expecting 7-8) so I may run the program again and try to fill some more next time I'm under the car.
The oil cooler return line had signs of sweating / leaking so I ordered a new one (OEM) to replace it. While taking it out I discovered that the return line had 2 O-Rings installed on the thermostat side! I'm telling myself that was not the cause of the leak though so I feel less bad about spending nearly $300 CAD on a new hose. Used 4x new O-rings and made sure there weren't any more old ones in there!
Anyway - that's most of my recent maintenance. Nearly $1000CAD (and luckily no labour) in parts just to get the thing feeling reliable. This will not be a cheap project!
P.s. Reading this back it seems boring as heck - Props to all those with build threads that are fun to read! Hopefully I can get some more interesting content this year! At the very least this will serve as a good reminder of what I've done / where I came from!