Hamfistham

I was replacing the "simple repair" of the oring and flange leaking coolant at the rear right of the 3.6 VR6, and at 180,000 miles i guess the little "Y" coolant line from the tank to the heater hoses, etc snapped.

I was able to get a "T" at a local autoparts store and make it work with clamps, etc to get home.

Looking for the part online, the "Y" is only sold on hose assembly 955 106 061 00 .

Has anyone gotten the "y" seperate? It seems pretty generic, and i dont need the whole hose assy, and it looks like a serious pain in the butt to change.

mdistel

Take a look at this, try reaching out to FCP Euro and see if you can compare dimensions. Do you have a picture of the broken one?
https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/vw-...olf-1j0121087d

Mark

theprf

I am sure I have seen that elbow as a separate part somewhere, perhaps the Audi TT 3.6 parts catalog.

Porsche957

Mark is right on that part. I had the same problem you did and ended up replacing the entire hose assembly because I did not know any better. Then I realized you can get them from VW dealer, amazon, fcpeuro, etc. for a fraction of the price and much easier to replace. I bought one (genuine vw) from fcpeuro and replaced the one in my audi q7 3.6. Its the same part for cayenne, q7 and touareg.

mdistel

Thanks for confirming, I'll have to replace mine eventually as I suspect just adding a bit of permatex coolant rtv to that leaky gasket will not last forever and the amount of heat in that area doesn't help plastic parts. I should consider replacing all of the coolant plastic but it's a slippery slope that never ends.

Mark

Porsche957

yeah the good news about the v6 models, is there is only like 5 weak points in the cooling system vs many more on the turbos. on the driver side by the alternator and under the fuel rail, there is a plastic pipe that is also prone to cracking. aka thermostat housing pipe. URO makes a aftermarket aluminum one. I just upgraded to that and it works well. Aliexpress has a metal Y piece that you need BUT the quality is not that great, so I just used the genuine VW one from fcpeuro. I figure for that price, I can replace it once every 10 years as preventative maintenance.

mdistel

Is this the aluminum thermostat housing?

https://www.autohausaz.com/pn/154472...RoCpooQAvD_BwE

Porsche957

Yes that is the part. When you get the part, there is a couple spots where the casting has spurs? so I just used a dremel and removed it. Other than that, it fit perfect, O Rings fit perfect, etc. Also, while your doing this job, your oil cooler gaskets you might want to change since its right there. So with my story, one week it got to -10F, that is when I had oil and coolant leaks. When the temperature returned to normal, the leaks went away. I found that the thermostat housing had a crack in the plastic and a failing O Ring, also it is known from VW forums, that the oil cooler seals can fail in extreme cold weather. So I just went in and shotgun a bunch of gaskets while I was working in that area since I plan on keeping the car. I also removed the HPFP and checked the cam and new O Ring. There is a coolant temp sensor O Ring you can replace. Since the repairs, there has not been any leaks so I am happy. I did this to the Audi Q7 3.6 and now have to do the Cayenne as preventative. I would rather do this job in the spring than in -10F weather next year.

mdistel

Thanks for the tips. Are the potentially leaky oil cooler o rings by the oil filter housing? Is it best to change them when doing an oil change or do you not loose much oil?

Mark

Porsche957

Yes I did mine when doing the oil change. The reason I do that is because the oil system is opened up and just in case any dirt, etc. got in. Also it was time for a oil change anyways. Now the oil filter housing O Ring is different. It looks like a "8". That O Ring looks hard to do, so I skipped it. If anyone has tips or DIY, please send my way. It looks like on our 3.6, the oil filter housing oring is built into the motor mount bracket and getting to those bolts do not look fun. The oil cooler housing looks like a square with fins and its a 36mm if my memory is correct. Now they did redesign the oring so it will look a little different than the one you are removing. The new one has 2 "ears" whereas the old one has like 8. I guess vw saw the complaints and revised it.

Hamfistham

thats the one!

just got it in the mail, fits perfect.

mdistel

Sweet, thanks for confirming as I'm sure this will be a repair many of us will need to tackle.

Mark