Hey there guys and girls. I replaced a lower intercooler hose on my VRs today as there was a bit of a boost leak. Noticed when it was off though that the inside was covered in a light misting of oil. Took the top hose off as well and it was the same, as was the inside of the anti shudder valve. No puddles of oil lying in the bottom of the i/c.

The car is standard with 30k miles and burns no visible oil out of the exhaust and ive only had to top the oil up once in 5k miles of driving.

Just wondering if this is normal as this is my first TDi!

Thanks for any responses

normal and nothing to worry about,

if there was loads of oil in there that flooded onto the floor when the hose was removed , then you can start worrying

Diesel is an oily fuel and that is why the exhaust emits more smoke than petrol driven motors. Diesel lubricates some fuel system parts, they depend on some oil.

Some unburnt fuel will circulate through the exhaust system and intercooler, hence an oily sheen in the pipes and inercooler core.

much of the oil is also from the breather on the rocker cover

there is a tech guide on here on how to stop the oil getting in the system

More importantly, the crankcase breather is connected to the air inlet pipe before the turbo, so it actually sucks oil vapour constantly (hence the 'catch-can mod').

Edit - dammit, sniped by Ric

Oil in the intercooler is to do with the crankcase vent into the turbo intake pipe.

See technical guides; Elephant hose CCV mod.

x3 lol

Thanks guys!

As I said before this is my first experience with TDi so im learning gradually lol!!

how much was the pipe as my clip is wearing