Hi.

I have a leak of diesel or oil from my Octavia 1.6 diesel engine and I am taking it to get steam cleaned etc today before driving down to a garage for them to check the leak .

Is it ok for me to continue to drive my car around ? I have been for quite a while with this burning smell, the garage has said it should be fine but I just wanted some other advice. No warning lights come on and the car runs ok .

Thank you.

You have a diesel or oil leak and a burning smell and the garage says it should be ok to drive?????

Doesn't sound like good advice to me.

Anything obvious like an oil patch on the floor or areas under the bonnet that are wet?

@NICK87 Even if you are safe what about other road users, like cyclists or bikers if you lose lots of oil while driving or even worse diesel? How much oil or diesel are you seeing?

Hi , There is no pooling or puddles of anything on the floor .

There is spray across the engine and pipes by the top of the cover and adjacent to the brake fluid reservoir and coolant expansion tank .

I have been drinking it for a while with a smell I thought was maybe the clutch plate ! But it is this leak .

Driving not drinking !!

More info for you all .

I had an oil change done a few weeks back and they said you have a leak but we can’t tell where from so you need a steam clean .Unfortunately, nobody in my area does it so I found someone near my work , which is a 45-60 minute drive away from home .

I got that done , finally got my car looked at again only to be told that it needs another steam clean !

Going round in circles . So , I had to drive it to work last night for my shift , staying over , I’m now waiting to take it to the same cleaner as before , then a slow journey back home to drop off outside the garage again !

12 hours ago, NICK87 said:

only to be told that it needs another steam clean !

Why? Can they not use degreaser and a hose?

Id do the same if I were you. Just wash engine bay with spray degreaser and water at car wash close to garage.

No need for steam clean

Edited Friday at 22:475 days by BlueWagon

I definitely would not recommend you drive the vehicle while fuel was being sprayed around in engine bay. Diesel has a pretty low flashpoint (52-55deg.C) - and a lower autoignition point than petrol!

Edited Saturday at 08:054 days by Warrior193
added information

As for steam cleaning engine bays. That can end up with horrible alloy, and rusty steel. Always recoat / grease or oil or use rust inhibitor after a steam clean. IMO.