Upgrade Charge Air Cooler from Crafter 04L145749L -> 04L145749H

[deny_mx]

Good day,
I have been having issues with my T6 150hp loosing coolant, looks like charge air cooler is leaking, when I removed one of the black big air pipes in the bottom it was wet. My guess it is coolant and not oil, but hard to tell.


I could not find any reasonable price for the T6 charge air cooler (04L145749L) but found similar one for the crafter (04L145749H), they look identical on the photo, where is the catch, and price is good, brand new around £180, anybody had experience fitting one. ?
also looking into the parts diagram at ilcats looks like they are somehow compatible?
PS: looks like I have older model of cooler(04L145749F), but it was discontinued and need to install newer 04L145749L

 

[Blind_Spark]

I'm in a similar boat myself, 150 DSG loosing coolant, and intake has signs of coolant.
I have the 04L145749L fitted, I have just purchased a 04L145749M (the later revised part) from ebay form a 2020 T6 with only 5k on for £90

It hasn't arrived yet but apparently I'll need a few bits to make the later one fit.

 

[DXX]

My guess it is coolant and not oil, but hard to tell.

Will find even the smallest trace of water, worth keeping in stock.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Water-Finding-Detects-harmful-Heating/dp/B00NU6C036/ref=asc_df_B00NU6C036/?tag=googshopuk-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=309859607452&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=6601786546487007652&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9045329&hvtargid=pla-553546391919&psc=1

 

[deny_mx]

I'm in a similar boat myself, 150 DSG loosing coolant, and intake has signs of coolant.
I have the 04L145749L fitted, I have just purchased a 04L145749M (the later revised part) from ebay form a 2020 T6 with only 5k on for £90

It hasn't arrived yet but apparently I'll need a few bits to make the later one fit.

How did it go? Did you managed to get it out? I have pulled mine and pressure tested and it look ok. I am puzzled now. Perhaps it only leaks when hot. I have plugged pipework and also plugged both ends of air duck with rubber gloves. I recon if it leaks they would inflate. Left it overnight.

 

[mmi]

How about EGR cooler? It also would bring coolant into intake manifold. Have you checked inside of the EGR pipe in front of the engine (yellow arrow in the picture)

 

[deny_mx]

How about EGR cooler? It also would bring coolant into intake manifold. Have you checked inside of the EGR pipe in front of the engine (yellow arrow in the picture)
View attachment 200771

It is bone dry, saying that. If it has slow.leak then it can dry out due to the temperatures.

 

[deny_mx]

further more research:
04L145749F cooler Dropped on 01/09/2018 in favour of 04L145749L
04L145749L Dropped on 01/09/2019 in favour of 04L145749M
Looks like 04L145749M is latest revision
source IFI :: Free services

 

[Blind_Spark]

How did it go? Did you managed to get it out? I have pulled mine and pressure tested and it look ok. I am puzzled now. Perhaps it only leaks when hot. I have plugged pipework and also plugged both ends of air duck with rubber gloves. I recon if it leaks they would inflate. Left it overnight.
View attachment 200703

Not well, I fitted the Later M Part, Everything seamed ok, Took it for good drive 40 min drive, got to my destination and coolant light came on... Argggh, topped up headed home, developed a misfire at 2k revs. Dropped it off to indie tech in Milton Keynes today for them to diagnose the issue.

I'll Keep you posted!

 

[deny_mx]

Will find even the smallest trace of water, worth keeping in stock.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Water-Finding-Detects-harmful-Heating/dp/B00NU6C036/ref=asc_df_B00NU6C036/?tag=googshopuk-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=309859607452&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=6601786546487007652&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9045329&hvtargid=pla-553546391919&psc=1

Good point, and what I have found, air charge cooler has a lot of condensation and it can be false positive,
The best way to test is to follow VW procedure as per service workshop manual:

Using cooling system tester - V.A.G 1274 B- , generate a pressure of 2.5 bar. • The pressure must be maintained for over 10 minutes. • The pressure must not drop by more than 0.2 bar within 10 mi‐ nutes. No pressure drop: charge air cooler is leak-tight

 

[DXX]

Good point, and what I have found, air charge cooler has a lot of condensation and it can be false positive,
The best way to test is to follow VW procedure as per service workshop manual:

Hydrostatic pressure drop test, IMO I think the VW limit of 0.2B in 10 minutes is very slack. Once stabilised with a constant temperature you should not detect any drop at all. Avoid using rubber hoses as these will expand / contract making a leak hard to detect, keep all connections to the item to be tested as short as possible.

 

[Jonwm]

Morning all. Sorry for thread revival but a bit confused with the charge cooler numbers.

I have the corrugated looking one fitted from 2016 with one of the water pipes at the back.

It seems it's been replaced with
04L145749M which has both pipes at the front and is smooth.

Mine currently sits on a plate that goes on the main structure.

It would seem the pipe going round the back could fit the front if you don't connect it to the extension pipe. (Pictured on the OP)

Does anyone know if the structure it sits on needs changing too as the original has the plate in between?

Appreciate thoughts if anyone has changed one, it's the last thing to change to try and remove the buzzing. Mine is very loose as mentioned in my other post could be the root cause.

 

[phantom-uk]

Morning all. Sorry for thread revival but a bit confused with the charge cooler numbers.

I have the corrugated looking one fitted from 2016 with one of the water pipes at the back.

It seems it's been replaced with
04L145749M which has both pipes at the front and is smooth.

Mine currently sits on a plate that goes on the main structure.

It would seem the pipe going round the back could fit the front if you don't connect it to the extension pipe. (Pictured on the OP)

Does anyone know if the structure it sits on needs changing too as the original has the plate in between?

Appreciate thoughts if anyone has changed one, it's the last thing to change to try and remove the buzzing. Mine is very loose as mentioned in my other post could be the root cause.

View attachment 246321

Just replaced the head gasket on mine after tolerating slight coolant losses for nearly two years ¯\_(ツ)_/¯, that is up until I found coolant in cylinder three. Causes of which may have been, head gasket blown, crack in cylinder head (or block in extreme cases), egr cooler leak, charge air cooler leak.
Decided to go all out for the head gasket and got the chance to change a lot of seals, bolts etc whilst removing and replacing parts on way to the head gasket.
When I removed my charge air cooler (F revision on my 2016) I noted that the rivets pressed into the bottom were worn away/some missing and the rubber bushings that locate the rivets in the intermediate plate were worn/mis-shaped.
This version F charge air cooler is not actually bolted to anything, rather it’s five protruding rivets underneath it sit within the rubber bushings in the intermediate plate and also the various rubber air and coolant hoses help to keep it there. Therefore it does actually move a little if you press against it. (Version L and M have modifications to them that allow them to be bolted down instead)
My version F charge air cooler, egr cooler and egr pipes, inlet manifold etc were all de-carbonised whilst off the van.
Charge air cooler is going back on this week but the rivets are pressed into the charge air cooler at the factory so are not a spare part, so I’m going to make them myself from solid aluminium rivets (10 for £3 on eBay), then press them in myself. The rubber bushings are available as a spare part at £5+ each from VW main dealer.
Photos of charge air cooler broken rivets and bushings attached:
Happy to give any help if needed.

 

[Jonwm]

Thanks for the pics, not sure what revision mine is as the label is worn, this is really helpful, my plan was to buy a used same shape cooler and see if the cooler is the problem, my noise only start once the water is being pumped round the system as the temp rises, I'm putting a few eggs in the basket of it being the charge cooler but to try some of these bushes for £25 might at least stop the noise! Is it tricky to get off or just a case of blocking the water pipes and taking the airpipes and sensors out?

 

[phantom-uk]

Morning all. Sorry for thread revival but a bit confused with the charge cooler numbers.

I have the corrugated looking one fitted from 2016 with one of the water pipes at the back.

It seems it's been replaced with
04L145749M which has both pipes at the front and is smooth.

Mine currently sits on a plate that goes on the main structure.

It would seem the pipe going round the back could fit the front if you don't connect it to the extension pipe. (Pictured on the OP)

Does anyone know if the structure it sits on needs changing too as the original has the plate in between?

Appreciate thoughts if anyone has changed one, it's the last thing to change to try and remove the buzzing. Mine is very loose as mentioned in my other post could be the root cause.

View attachment 246321

 

[phantom-uk]

Thanks for the pics, not sure what revision mine is as the label is worn, this is really helpful, my plan was to buy a used same shape cooler and see if the cooler is the problem, my noise only start once the water is being pumped round the system as the temp rises, I'm putting a few eggs in the basket of it being the charge cooler but to try some of these bushes for £25 might at least stop the noise! Is it tricky to get off or just a case of blocking the water pipes and taking the airpipes and sensors out?

Deutscheparts have the oem part listed as a “Decoupling Element” 04L145633. and are priced at £2.08 if you purchase five, like I have done today.
If you wanted to replace just the five “decoupling elements”, you may be able to keep everything attached and uniformly lift the cooler off the intermediate plate carefully and with some packaging/wedges to keep it aloft slightly, the rivets might me disengaged enough to swap the decoupling elements, using a pick tool to drag them out. I haven’t tried this myself as mine had to be completely removed anyway.
Other than that, yes clamp off the three coolant hoses, carefully detach the air hoses from the cooler only (I say carefully as it recommends replacing them if removed), then slowly lift it straight upwards and off.
As far as which version of cooler you have, it looks like an “F” version to me, they used them up until late 2018, when they changed the look of them (all coolant pipes at the top front of the cooler) and the fixing of them.
I’m assuming the dial indicators molded into mine, show it’s a 2016 model, which would be the “F” version.

Good luck and let us know how it looks under there.

 

[Jonwm]

I'll have a look, appreciate the detail, I already had those 2 pipes changed last time the cooler was off (18 months ago for glow plug change), seeing how much VW try and take advantage I'm surprised they didn't try and get my cooler changed at the time.

 

[phantom-uk]

I'll have a look, appreciate the detail, I already had those 2 pipes changed last time the cooler was off (18 months ago for glow plug change), seeing how much VW try and take advantage I'm surprised they didn't try and get my cooler changed at the time.

How’d you get on Jonwm?
Here is my F version charge air cooler with new homemade rivets pressed and epoxied into bottom of the charge air cooler.
Five new oem decoupling elements (rubber bushings) fitted, ready to engage into the intermediate plate.
I reassembled everything over a week ago now with no further loss of coolant and the OBD showed normal compression and no fault codes thrown up, so happy at the moment.

 

[Jonwm]

I've not done anything yet, I put 2 door wedges under it and it made no difference to the buzzing noise :-( so I'm not convinced its the issue at all.

I'm feeling a bit lost with the van now, the noise just grates on me, I've been to 3 garages now and not 1 can say what it could be! I can see myself heading down the dealers but not sure they will know what it is.

 

[LizH1985]

Sorry for jumping onto this thread. I’ve had the same issue as phantom-uk where the rivets under the charge cooler have corroded and it’s rattling. It popped the hose off and triggered the eml/limp mode. Reattached hose and fixed down the charge cooler as well as we can. How hard is it to replace the old F cooler with the new M or L with both pipes at the front? Garage has quoted me £1500 for the parts, new hoses, sensors etc to fit around the new cooler. Other than this, I’m stuck trying to source a F model cooler with the rivets on the bottom still in tact.

 

[Jonwm]

Sorry for jumping onto this thread. I’ve had the same issue as phantom-uk where the rivets under the charge cooler have corroded and it’s rattling. It popped the hose off and triggered the eml/limp mode. Reattached hose and fixed down the charge cooler as well as we can. How hard is it to replace the old F cooler with the new M or L with both pipes at the front? Garage has quoted me £1500 for the parts, new hoses, sensors etc to fit around the new cooler. Other than this, I’m stuck trying to source a F model cooler with the rivets on the bottom still in tact.

When I was looking at it I found a few F coolers for circa £100, the new M&L were about the same and some came with the sensors, they are the same, its just the pipe goes on the front so can use the existing one just take off the metal extension.