Just giving my car a bit of an exam checking pipework connections etc, put my hand down to check the egr end near the airbox, fine but pulled my hand up and there was wet oil there. If you can imagine then it's rear of engine pretty much directly opposite the end of the egr. I've cleaned it up to see what returns, oil level has gone down only a tiny bit (if anything). My local guy is browsing it now and it's under warranty, but anyone got any ideas what's in that area and could be leaking?

I was inspecting as I suspected a very slight boost leak, not sure if it's just me getting used to driving a tdi (it's my first).

I suspected rocker cover gasket, my local guy agreed. Not covered under warranty, although they would have done it as a good will gesture but they're over 4 hours away. Next things next, checked torque on bolts, set wrench to 10nm and low and behold they all required pinching up and where the leak was worse needed half a turn. So fingers xd. What was confusing the issue I think is that sponge surround I still have on mine soaked up what drops came out, never dried and was making it seem worse than it is.

Hopefully some common sense won that one, I've cleaned the area up so time will tell. On idle for ten minutes just now seemed ok.

The gaskets are cheap enough.

But,the cam covers do warp on these,and they are not so cheap at over £100

I had a slight leak while it was under warranty. Skoda claimed it was the "seals for the turbo". If you have a boost issue it could be that.

Normally the oil filler neck rather than the cam cover.

Edited 5 January, 201610 yr by Tech1e

Normally the oil filler neck rather than the cam cover.

There is a wee bit of condensed oil round that but the top of the cover is bone dry. This was definitely on the back right corner near the airbox.

I had a slight leak while it was under warranty. Skoda claimed it was the "seals for the turbo". If you have a boost issue it could be that.

Hope not, turbo and surrounds appeared to be bone dry.

The gaskets are cheap enough.

But,the cam covers do warp on these,and they are not so cheap at over £100

Cheers yes I've found them should I need one, as I torqued the bolts it felt square but I'll consider that.

Hopefully it was just slightly loose bolts and that bloomin sponge storing it all up. Fingers xd, will keep you posted now I've cleaned the area, will leave the sponge off for a while.

Normally the oil filler neck rather than the cam cover.

Filler necks are rarely dry tbh.

But,I helped vrs Joe with his car recently due to a oil leak down the back of engine on the gearbox side,new gasket didn't sort it but a replacement cam cover did.

Filler necks are rarely dry tbh.

But,I helped vrs Joe with his car recently due to a oil leak down the back of engine on the gearbox side,new gasket didn't sort it but a replacement cam cover did.

Cheers for that, I'm pretty sure I can focus on that area, it was just that corner of the sponge surround that was oily, my local guy said it does look as though a very slight leak may be coming from there. Will keep fingers xd.

Here's a question, if the gasket is not covered on the warranty, surely a warped cam cover would be?

Also, are ASZ and BLT cam cover gaskets and cam covers the same? GSF gasket states both engine codes?

Can you get some pictures of where the oil is?

Just to throw something else out for consideration, if your intake manifold has ever been off and the bolts not tightened correctly, gasket not replaced or damaged, or any of the threads stripped in the head, oil vapour will find its way out and give the impression of an oil leak (which I guess it is to a certain extent).

Only reason I thought I'd suggest it is I experienced a similar scenario when I stripped one of the threads in my cylinder head recently, which secures the inlet manifold to the head.

Where the manifold wasn't nipped up, oil vapour was escaping and making the area damp/wet with oil around it. Looked more of an issue than it was really.

It will always be inevitable there will be oil vapour lurking in your boost circuit, especially if you have the OEM ccv in place.

I'll see if I can get a picture to help.

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Cheers. If it occurs again I will get a photo. I did find those cam cover bolts that needed torquing up, must be the prime suspect surely?

I've only had the car couple of weeks so not sure on the history of this area of it. It has fsh and some receipts but can't see any relating to any work being done round there.

Just been getting my work stuff ready for tomorrow and took some quick pics of some parts I have in the garage (cam/rocker cover and gasket) might help give you a feel for what your looking at if you've never had the cover off before

Underside of cam cover with the rubber gasket/seal

Bit of a close up of the rubber gasket

Bit of a poor picture of the gasket in place in the cover

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^^Thanks for that. Would you be looking to sell the cover should I need one by any chance?

I take it that requires a very thin bead of sealant, gaskets edges are pretty narrow?

Cheers. If it occurs again I will get a photo. I did find those cam cover bolts that needed torquing up, must be the prime suspect surely?

I've only had the car couple of weeks so not sure on the history of this area of it. It has fsh and some receipts but can't see any relating to any work being done round there.

Aren't they 7Nm or something in that region? So literally nipped up. I personally think you can sometimes do more harm than good trying to torque bolts of that size (I.e unintentionally over tightening them).

If the cover has been off at some point and the bolts haven't been done up in the recommended sequence, the gasket may not be sealing fully which could also be a problem.

Haynes manual gives a diagram with the sequence in if I recall correctly.

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^^Thanks for that. Would you be looking to sell the cover should I need one by any chance?

I take it that requires a very thin bead of sealant, gaskets edges are pretty narrow?

It's off a passat mate so unfortunately won't fit our pd engines on the fabia as the ccv comes out at the wrong angle. I've just been experimenting spray painting it.

The gasket is a thick rubber seal which sits in a channel in the cam cover and then has like a slightly corrugated surface which seals against the top of the head. No sealant required at all on it. It's quite a robust set up to be fair.

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Edited 5 January, 201610 yr by AshVrs

I read 10nm on a vw forum somewhere so went with that. Don't think the loose ones were even near 7 though to be honest. They seemed to all be on the back edge and loose by a similar amount, front ones clicked at pretty much 10nm straight away.

Think I may have to for a gasket at least for peace of mind if nothing else. Got a few trips to do before I get round to it so will keep an eye on it.

It's off a passat mate so unfortunately won't fit our pd engines on the fabia as the ccv comes out at the wrong angle. I've just been experimenting spray painting it.

The gasket is a thick rubber seal which sits in a channel in the cam cover and then has like a slightly corrugated surface which seals against the top of the head. No sealant required at all on it. It's quite a robust set up to be fair.

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So it could just need lifting and re-seating? Suppose it would be wise to have a replacement gasket ready just in case.

It should be incredibly obvious if it isn't seated properly, you'd have a bit of the seal bulging in under the cover or out of it and I think there would be a fair amount of oily mess!

If you had the gasket/seal in your hand you'd see what I mean. It's either seated where it needs to be or it isn't.

For me uniform pressure on that seal is the main thing, a starting point might just be to slacken the bolts off and then nip them up in the recommended sequence.

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If your going to undo all the bolts you might aswell put a new gasket on imo,as you will have done half the work required undoing the bolts!

It's like all rubber seals/gaskets on engines,they go hard through heat and age.

i had this only way was new cover.

off german ebay brand new in box £65 quid 

It would appear that following torquing the bolts the area seems as dry as I left it after cleaning up yesterday, certainly is no worse. So either it's much better or it cam from somewhere else! Gasket doesn't appear to be bulging out and I've not lost a drop of oil on the dipstick level, still bang on maximum. I'll keep a good eye on it for now, cheers for the input guys.

The gasket leaked on mine, replaced it and it leaked even more!

TPS then wanted £154 for a new Rocker cover. Luckily a friend had a scrap engine so we put that rocker cover on and it seems to have done the trick!

The gasket leaked on mine, replaced it and it leaked even more!

TPS then wanted £154 for a new Rocker cover. Luckily a friend had a scrap engine so we put that rocker cover on and it seems to have done the trick!

I do have a used cover lined up that looks good should I need it, 154 certainly sounds steep to say the least.

Normally the oil filler neck rather than the cam cover.

Whats the fix for this? Mine seems to have this issue, i've tried taking the filler extension off, but dont think it has made a difference.

 

Could this cause a decent amount of leakage also? (had the bottom of the engine steamed when it had suspension done, and since then there is a hot oil smell in the car when I stop in traffic, I believe its hitting the exhaust thus the stink).

 

Cheers