Hi folks,

I'm new here, thanks for having me. I've owned a 2014 Octavia Tdi vRS estate since 2018. It's just tipped over 100000 miles, of which I've done about half. I realised this week that it has a leak of either oil or diesel under the bonnet. I noticed a fine spray of fresh black fluid on the engine bay just behind what I think are the fuel injectors (at the rear of the bay, just right of centre). I may be wrong about what I'm looking at as I have never taken interest in the engine details before. I also realised that the foam on the bonnet underside was contaminated - if wiped with a paper towel it comes off black. And, looking with a torch, there is some black residue lower down, presumably from the same leak site but I can't be sure.

I have never noticed any leakage beneath the car on the road/driveway. It has always used a little oil (I top it up about twice a year) but I haven't noticed any recent change in the rate it uses it, or a very obvious change in performance (at Easter we took it to France and didn't notice anything untoward).

I've booked in for a local engine specialist to investigate but I've never used them before,  so I was hoping someone on here might have information that could help me be more confident in what they might tell me and that they don't mislead me. Common faults and potential fixes, any easy ways to check a diagnosis, etc. 

Many thanks!

I've attached a photo of the area where it seems to have sprayed/splattered a bit in case that helps anyone identify the likely cause?

Thanks!

Below your hand is the pcv pipe. It vents oil and air from the crank case. Hard to tell from your photo but maybe looks like it has been disconnected? That would lead to oil vapour in that area

Thanks - I will have a closer look after work. Do you know if there is a diagram or photo available anywhere that would show where it should connect?

That’s it there

Many thanks for the pic. That pipe seems to be connected properly in place.