Hi All.

I moved house a few weeks ago, from a house with a level driveway to one that is quite sloped. Due to the battery failing, the car had been parked facing down the slope for a few weeks and not used. When my wife took the car to work this morning I noticed some oil on the driveway. It's never leaked before. Looking in the engine bay it appears to be coming from the back, left side of the engine, dripping down onto the under tray and then onto the drive. Before moving house it had never leaked oil, however, I still don't think it should be doing so when parked on a slope.

 

Any ideas?

 

Many Thanks... 

Its probably not the slope that's causing it to leak, its either leaked for a while and its the slope that's causing it to run off the undertray, or its just started leaking and your blaming it on the slope.

 

unless this slope is really really extreme, either way, it shouldn't leak?

 

You need to find out where its leaking from and then fix it. are you able to lift up the car, remove the undertray and have a better look. Maybe remove the engine covers and look from the top?

 

 

Edited 21 April, 20206 yr by SuperbTWM

Thanks for the quick response. I tend to agree that the slope has just given the oil somewhere to run off to. The slope isn't extreme. The top of the engine looks clean.

 

Unfortunately our garage is absolutely full of rubbish, so I've got no way of getting the car level and lifting it up. There's a local garage about a mile away which seems to be well regarded. They are still working, so they have agreed to look at it. The local Skoda dealers aren't working at all.

 

The slightly annoying thing about this, is for the past 2 years I've noticed the oil consumption increase. I find I'm putting in a litre every 9/10 months, doing around 10,000 miles/year. I've mentioned it to the Skoda dealer on several occasions and been told it's nothing to worry about as "these engines do use oil".  I have no issue with that, but the fact the level of consumption increased was a concern. I asked them to take a look when I had the timing chain, tensioner, etc preventatively changed, but they didn't report any issues.

So maybe I will now find out what the issue is...

These engines are famous for the oil consumption issue aren't they or was that the previous generation? A litre every 9/10 months is by no means horrendous though, its when you are doing that every month I would be more worried.

 

I'm sure the garage will find the leak, probably just the valve cover maybe or one of the turbo connections. It is possible that it could be one of the seals on the engine casing if Skoda have been in there to do the timing chain.

The Skoda dealer did explain that these engines do use oil, and they also felt 1 litre every 9/10 was good to compared to some they see.

 

Thanks for the info on the possible issues... just so I'm prepared... is any of the above work you mentioned likely to land me a big bill?

I agree that the leak is likely pre-existing, and that the slope has simply allowed the oil that would otherwise have collected on the undertray to escape.

 

Any decent mechanic can pinpoint the source of an oil leak in minutes, so diagnosis should be free or at least minimal pricewise.

 

It's difficult to guess the fault, but the the oil consumption issues on the 1.8 TSI and 2.0 TSI are from it being burnt by the engine and not leaking.

 

1 litre in the best part of 10,000 miles isn't overly concerning, just watch it like a hawk. You need to be checking the level every few weeks...