passat engine mashed..

[5lab]

hi there

my boss's girlfriend has a 99 passat (think its a petrol, but not sure) and the hg has gone - according to the garage there is 'gunk' all over the engine, clogging it all up. i'd have thought that if you drained the oil, filled the whole thing up with degreaser (or similar), left it for a day or 2 then drained it again, then all of the greasy sludge would go.. am i right?

also what could make an oil cooler 'go'? are they normally just radiators?

[Konan555]

I was expecting to see a cambelt snap problem in here (mention of VW)

If you're gonna flush an engine, be prepared for it not to be so oil tight when it's refilled. When an engine gets old it's often the gunk that's holding the oil in.