[VeryAfraid]

Can a vrsf intercooler, vrsf charge pipe, and cts turbo intake cause the engine block to crack? CarMax was supposed to buy the car back from me as I barely had it, they have now had it sent to bmw for further diagnosis to see if those parts are the cause.


Prior to having the parts installed there was lots of oil leaking in coolant. I had called CarMax and scheduled an appt. They tried to make me wait 2 weeks. And said the car would be okay to drive. That same day I had just went ahead and had the oil changed and a complete coolant flush and the problem went away for few weeks. Canceled the appointment. Eventually got the charge pipe, intake and intercooler installed then the problem came back and had the car towed to Carmax. Fast forward 2 months they say they fixed the oil filter housing leak, and oil cooler leak. And say they discovered a crack in the block after further tests. Can’t source a new engine, getting ready to buy the car back , and now they’ve sent it to bmw to get diagnosed.

[Kernel Kurtz]

None of those things should cause any issues on their own. The question people will have is if you used an aftermarket tune (since most people install those sorts of things specifically for that purpose). Are you running the factory downpipe?

Oil cooler could be the cause of the oil/coolant contamination. So could a cracked block. If the contamination was happening before you installed the aftermarket parts you should be OK, but my opinion does not count for much. I'd make sure to have your documentation for both on hand though.

[VeryAfraid]

Originally Posted by Kernel Kurtz

None of those things should cause any issues on their own. The question people will have is if you used an aftermarket tune (since most people install those sorts of things specifically for that purpose). Are you running the factory downpipe?

Oil cooler could be the cause of the oil/coolant contamination. So could a cracked block. If the contamination was happening before you installed the aftermarket parts you should be OK, but my opinion does not count for much. I'd make sure to have your documentation for both on hand though.

Had not installed the tune or aftermarket down pipe yet. Going through the invoices the intake is the only thing I had on prior to noticing the oil in coolant the first time And the second time was the same day I was getting the intercooler and chargepipe installed. Previous owner had an Evolution Racewerks charge pipe on it so, it might’ve been tuned before.

[Kernel Kurtz]

Charge pipes are a known weak spot on these cars so that it has been replaced is not surprising and should not matter. I'd not think any evidence of a tune by the previous owner (like logs) would remain if it had been tuned and then returned to stock and resold, but again I am not an expert.

If you contacted them about the fluid contamination before you installed anything else then that is clearly not on you, and what a previous owner may have done should be on the people who sold it to you but I have no idea what your actual contact says.

If you bought it in good faith and it has issues, that should be straightforward. Different dealers and manufacturers will have varying tolerance for how many things you can change from stock that they will still support (and this is just as true for a brand new warrantied car as one sold many years later). TBH doing mods before the car was even deemed reliable was not a good plan. Hope things work out though and let us know.

[mecheng77]

Was the coolant weak and it froze?