Since i got the Fabia, my driveway is slowly getting messed up with what looks oil.

The car isn't using any at all, i've done 1.5k since i got it, and the levels haven't budged which is a good sign.

Only other difference is that the undertray isn't on the car.

But whilst cleaning the engine bay lastnight, i noticed this

Is it anything to worry about ?

And any pointers on the mess my driveway is getting into ? I just cant think where it's coming from.

That's oil carry over in the intake system.

A common place to see it is under the car sort of behind the offside front fog light.

Those connectors aren't very good and it may be worth changing the seal on it as well as removing the lower connection that I mention above just to make sure the intercooler isn't holding a lot of oil.

Thanks Stu.

Here's the bottom of that pipe (just, bad picture)

Yes so you can see to the left of it the oil coming from it

Where's your undertray??

In the garage !

When i got the car off Colin, it was in the boot (only had the car a month).

So not fitted it yet, saying that, i dont know if it was off for a reason, not really looked at it yet as it's in a big bag.

So what would cause oil to get into that pipe ?

Will new seals solve it ?

Well after looking at things closer.

The drips are coming from the passenger side, so that rules out any oil coming from that pipe.

It's fairly wet under that side of the car, anything over there that could be leaking ?

Aircon parts, gearbox.

Unless I've got my bearings all wrong, the oil only seems to be coming out from either side of the intercooler. It's a fairly clean line between oily and not-oily, which suggests the oil's coming from inside not out. I don't think there's anything else behind that side of the front bumper that's got oil in; the air con compressor's a bit further inboard. Other than massively over-zealous oiling of a panel filter, the only reason I can think of is blown turbo bearings... :(

The intercooler is in the RH front corner, isn't it?

The intercooler is in the RH front corner, isn't it?

Only in the medical sense. If you're stood in front of the car, it's on the left.

RH, aka "driver's" side. Johnny explicitily says that the drips are coming from the passenger side.

RH, aka "driver's" side. Johnny explicitily says that the drips are coming from the passenger side.

Yep, so he does. 'Box is the most likely culprit, then; bottom of sump looks clean. Would think it would be fairly easy to spot anything with the undertray off. Unless it isn't actually oil, because the washer bottle's over on that side?

Thanks guys.

It's definately oil, going by the deposits left on the driveway.

SWMBO has the car today, so i cant get under to take a pic or look at that side to see more closely where it's coming from, but i'll try as soon as i can.

So at the moment, it's looking more gearbox ?

Gearbox, air con if applicable, or a funny flow pattern that leads to it coming out the engine and getting over there before it drips. This is one case where there's really no substitute for seeing the car.

The oil leaking from the intercooler is usually oil thats been forced through the engine breather on the rocker cover and into the turbo intake pipe hence into the turbo then along into the intercooler. It just so happens that the joint between the boost pipes and intercooler is the lowest part of the system and hence gets a build up of oil.

It wont leak when the engine is running as the seals are under pressure but when the engine is not running the seals and joints relax and leave a gap for the oily residue to leak out of.

If the gearbox and sump are clean then my money is on the boost pipes leaking oil

Id have a day of stripping off the whole intake system cleaning all the pipes and then rebuilding it with new seals and new clips.

This not only keeps the whole system clean and free running but also prevents the risk of future "boost pipe pop offs"

Hope this helps

John

Thanks John.

I'll take a few pics tomorrow and post them and see what we can see.

The sump is bone dry.

Still havn't got round to taking a proper look, but am going to have to get it looked at, as my new driveway is ruined now.

THink i'll just book it in somewhere.

Still havn't got round to taking a proper look, but am going to have to get it looked at, as my new driveway is ruined now.

THink i'll just book it in somewhere.

get some pics, then we can arm you with info for when you go

I'll try with my camera phone later.

Am popping into a mates garage after work so we can put it on the ramps and get a better look at it.

Hoping it's something simple.

If it's a gearbox realated thing, any chance it's serious ? Or could it be a seal or something ?

And if the box has to come out for any reason.....time for a clutch ?

If it's box related, probably a seal.

Clutch is a maybe, depending on how worn it is.

109k, original clutch, remapped, slips in 5th/6th if booted lowish revs.

Have a spare DMF here too.

If the box needs to come out, time for a new clutch then.

Thought as much.

Cheers Ken.

Will let you all know how i get on tonight.

Right, just back from the garage, and it's not oil by the looks of it.

It seems it's diesel, coming from the pump at the right hand side of the engine (as you stand in front and look at it)

It's running down the engine, taking dirt/other oil with it, which is giving me the deposits on the ground.

Now, next question is.. Is this serious ?

At £1.25 a ltr...........