Hi everyone,

I own 2016 Skoda Superb 1.6 TDI - car has approximately 46k miles on the clock. Recently my car mechanic (independent) had been changing oil (I do it every 10k miles) and discovered, what it seems to be - an oil leak which seems to come from some seals in the driveshaft.

Pictures that I have taken after my car mechanic had changed the oil in the car:

 

As vehicle is still under the manufacturer's warranty - I went to the local Skoda's dealership for the inspection. I was told that everything's fine and they have not found anything that would concern them and that there is definitely no oil leak (I was told it was completely dry underneath the car - which is not what I have seen there).

 

And the story goes on. After approximately two weeks - I had to change the brake pads, so went again to my car mechanic. This is what we found after removing the driver's side wheel:

 

I went back to the dealer to tell them that there definitely seems to be some leak - you can guess what the response was - no oil leak whatsoever. I was informed that this is a moisture (interestingly enough - an oily moisture :)?), as driveshaft - quote: "breaths" and according to the dealer - all of those cars have these. Service manager said that Skoda's car mechanic had shown him another car that very same day with lower miles and the same symptoms occurring and according to Skoda - this is perfectly normal.

 

My dad has some Skodas in the company that he works for in Poland and went to dealership, where he talked to service manager who said that if the car was diagnosed by them - it would not leave the service until fixed as according to guy in Poland - it does definitely qualify for repair. It seems different dealerships have completely different standards (I live in Northern Ireland, UK), although representing the same car maker?

 

I would appreciate feedback and advice what I can do in this situation. What would be the best way to get this fixed and how do I go about making a complaint about it?

 

Thank you very much guys.

38 minutes ago, b8r4k777 said:

Hi everyone,

I own 2016 Skoda Superb 1.6 TDI - car has approximately 46k miles on the clock. Recently my car mechanic (independent) had been changing oil (I do it every 10k miles) and discovered, what it seems to be - an oil leak which seems to come from some seals in the driveshaft.

Pictures that I have taken after my car mechanic had changed the oil in the car:

 

As vehicle is still under the manufacturer's warranty - I went to the local Skoda's dealership for the inspection. I was told that everything's fine and they have not found anything that would concern them and that there is definitely no oil leak (I was told it was completely dry underneath the car - which is not what I have seen there).

 

And the story goes on. After approximately two weeks - I had to change the brake pads, so went again to my car mechanic. This is what we found after removing the driver's side wheel:

 

I went back to the dealer to tell them that there definitely seems to be some leak - you can guess what the response was - no oil leak whatsoever. I was informed that this is a moisture (interestingly enough - an oily moisture :)?), as driveshaft - quote: "breaths" and according to the dealer - all of those cars have these. Service manager said that Skoda's car mechanic had shown him another car that very same day with lower miles and the same symptoms occurring and according to Skoda - this is perfectly normal.

 

My dad has some Skodas in the company that he works for in Poland and went to dealership, where he talked to service manager who said that if the car was diagnosed by them - it would not leave the service until fixed as according to guy in Poland - it does definitely qualify for repair. It seems different dealerships have completely different standards (I live in Northern Ireland, UK), although representing the same car maker?

 

I would appreciate feedback and advice what I can do in this situation. What would be the best way to get this fixed and how do I go about making a complaint about it?

 

Thank you very much guys.

 

Maybe a call to Skoda Customer Services and an offer to share these photographs if required!

48 minutes ago, b8r4k777 said:

Recently my car mechanic (independent) had been changing oil (I do it every 10k miles) and discovered, what it seems to be - an oil leak which seems to come from some seals in the driveshaft.

 

Unless the car has been maintained 100% in accordance with Skodas requirements (and you will need to prove it with VAT receipts for both parts and labour) you will have no warranty.

 

You will have saved a few pounds and potentially cost yourself much more.

No drive shaft seals implicated in those pictures. Those pictures are not very helpful at all. The first ones appear to show a small amount of oil on the sump to crankcase joint, which could have be from spillage when filling or servicing / oil filter change, or some other item higher up.

 

The later ones its very difficult to say, but it looks like the shock absorber is covered in oil and that might be the source of oil mist sprayed on the arb drop link / drive shaft.

 

Pictures taken further away to show more would help.

 

To some extent small oil leaks are inevitable on most engines. Provided they remain very small, its often not worth attempting to fix them.

 

I agree with the above, one looks like the sump seal weeping a bit which isn't really an issue.

 

The oil in the wheel well has to be the shock absorber as its the only thing there that has oil in it.

 

 

4 hours ago, skidpan said:

 

Unless the car has been maintained 100% in accordance with Skodas requirements (and you will need to prove it with VAT receipts for both parts and labour) you will have no warranty.

 

You will have saved a few pounds and potentially cost yourself much more.

Car has been maintained even more often than Skoda requires (oil has been changed every 10k miles rather than 18k miles as Skoda requires) - I have been only using genuine Skoda parts (purchased directly from the parts department at the dealership) - so this should not be an issue.

 

Quote

Pictures taken further away to show more would help.

Thank you for the responses so far - I will try to take some pictures later on next week whenever I have a time to visit my car mechanic. I have actually not thought about shock absorber potentially being a cause of it.

 

Quote

I agree with the above, one looks like the sump seal weeping a bit which isn't really an issue.

 

The oil in the wheel well has to be the shock absorber as its the only thing there that has oil in it.

Let's assume it is a shock absorber - why would Skoda technician not mention it and claim it is not oily (where it clearly is) and state it is a moisture which in his opinion is absolutely normal?

 

Does it look the same in your cars?

 

Once again - thank you very much for your help so far, I appreciate your thoughts.

Edited 24 March, 20188 yr by b8r4k777
added quotes

1 hour ago, b8r4k777 said:

Car has been maintained even more often than Skoda requires (oil has been changed every 10k miles rather than 18k miles as Skoda requires)

 

The oil change interval depends on the service regime the car is set on. Fixed servicing its about 9500 miles or 1 year max. Variable its about 18000 or 2 years max. So if for example you changed the oil every 10000 miles but there was a gap of over 2 years between changes you have not met Skodas requirements. Looking at the miles your car has done I doubt this is the case.

4 hours ago, b8r4k777 said:

 

Let's assume it is a shock absorber - why would Skoda technician not mention it and claim it is not oily (where it clearly is) and state it is a moisture which in his opinion is absolutely normal?

 

Does it look the same in your cars?

 

Once again - thank you very much for your help so far, I appreciate your thoughts.

 

Until I run my finger over it I cannot judge if it is oil or moisture, certainly not from photos as they can look the same.

 

Water plus dirt can look the same as oil plus dirt in the wheel arches.

How did this turn out in the end? Was it a leak and, if so, where?

I just posted similar pics and concerns about my 2017 2.0 TDI. In my case it's definitely oil and it does not seem to come from spillover when servicing. There's a lot of it on opposite side of the engine (where the belts run), so could be a seal there? I'm taking this to the dealer. It will be another wonderful waste of time, but hey... If the car didn't have the plastic undertray I would see oil on the ground, so definitely not normal. I have a 21 yo car that never leaves a single drop of oil on the ground, even when parked for weeks.

The really true and reliable indicator of oil leaks is how much topping up does it need between changes....no topping up? no oil is leaking, the liquid seen in the pics are from something else.