Oil Leak - What is the verdict?

It appears to be leaking above the pan and running down the engine. Probably the crankshaft seal. Based on a gas engine, it's not too tough of a job ... remove the belts, the pulleys, the timing belt, the crank "pulley flange", and the seal carrier. Replace the seal and reassemble making sure the crank, cam, and intermediate pulleys (gas engine) are correctly aligned when installing the timing belt. But the diesel may require special tools to lock everything in place before disassembly due to the injection pump timing and the fact that it's an interference engine. Being a diesel I'd let someone with the correct tools and experience do it - I replaced my gas engine timing belt 5 times ... but wouldn't attempt to do a diesel myself. The new diesels (TDI) run about $700.00 for a timing belt replacement ... which is similar to the procedure above.

Of course the first thing I would check is to see how high up on the engine the leak is occurring ... it could be something as simple as a leaking valve cover gasket. Get some engine degreaser, clean the engine, and then you'll be able to see exactly where the leak is the next time you run it.

the crankshaft seal. Based on a gas engine, it's not

crank "pulley flange", and the seal carrier. Replace the

engine) are correctly aligned when installing the

place before disassembly due to the injection pump

someone with the correct tools and experience do it - I

diesel myself. The new diesels (TDI) run about $700.00

the leak is occurring ... it could be something as

engine, and then you'll be able to see exactly where

Hi Erik, Thanks for the reply. A follow-up questions for you and others. I acquired the car 5 days ago and have driven it about 400 miles so far. After checking the oil this morning, the level seemed OK. The level was about half-way between the "add" and the "full" lines on the dipstick. If I continue to check the oil level regularly and find that it isn't getting low, what are the dangers of holding off on getting this fixed?

Staining your and your friend's driveways would be one.

As long as you watch the engine and coolant temperatures and oil pressure and make sure they are all within safe limits (not overheating and pressure not too low) - and make sure your oil quantity is normal - your engine should be OK for a while. But don't plan on any long trips.

There's probably no danger at all, provided you keep a close eye on the oil levels. Keep a quart or two in the car for topping it off. You should keep the level at the top of the cross-hatched area on the dipstick, not the middle.

Since the leak appears to orginate above the oil pan, there are three possibilities: a cheap and easy one, and two hard and expensive ones.

It could just be a leaking valve cover gasket. You can tell if this is the case because after leaking a certain amount, it stops. Basically it only leaks while the engine is running and for a little while after the engine is shut off. Your picture #1 makes it look like perhaps this is the case, since you are getting drips across the whole width of the engine. It's an easy do-it-yourself fix, and a new gasket is probably around $10.

It could be, as has been mentioned, a leaking crankshaft seal. It could also be the intermediate drive shaft, though the procedure for repairing either is the same. In fact if I read the book right, the part is the same too. Which is leaking should be obvious once you remove the timing belt cover. The Bentley says you do not need to remove the engine from the car for this job, which is nice. Simply remove the timing belt and the sprocket, then pry the old seal out with a screwdriver and use "special tool 3083" to install the new seal. The Haynes agrees that you can leave the engine in, but says "special tool

Finally, it could be the head gasket. If neither your valve cover nor crank nor intermediate seals are leaking, elimination leaves the head gasket. I've done head gaskets on diesel Rabbits a couple times now and it's not too bad, just make sure you have the correct triple-square (12-point) tool to remove and install the head bolts. Torx will NOT cut it! (Gotta use new head bolts too on reassembly, they're "stretch" bolts.) You also have the choice of getting a special tool to get the exhaust spring clamps on and off, or leaving the exhaust manifold in the car and just unbolting the manifold from the cylinder head. I've done it both ways and prefer to detach the manifold from the head, but I do have long and skinny arms to reach back there with. ;) Also, the special tools for locking the cam and injection pump in place are nice but not strictly necessary. There are marks you can line up to make sure the timing is correct, it's just more hassle without the locking tools. A third hand helps too.

But, as long as you are topping off the oil and the oil is not getting on the timing belt, you can drive it like this for as long as you want. If it's fouling the timing belt, I would fix it ASAP and replace the oily belt while I was at it.

"Bryan K. Walton" wrote

That is a nasty leak. That ain't no drip. The important thing is to find out the *highest* position of the leak. You can't do this now because oil has blown all over. I would go buy some Castrol Superclean OR some discount houses have a generic version. Clean the whole area by spraying the Superclean (that dissolves oil) and rinsing with water. Clean the side of the engine IF you are SUPERcareful you can spray the Superclean on and if you have a pressure washer rinse being careful not to put pressure on the seal end. You do not have to clean around the seal just under it because you can identify a run from the seal area downward when everything else is clean.

When it is clean DO NOT run the car down the road with wind pressure under the car. Run the car at a standstill under a leak appears and NOW with the clean engine you should see a nice clean oil identification run. It could come from various places including running down the side of the engine from (what other people siad) and the oil pressure gauge.

It is possible that through wind pressure oil splashed up into the seal area. It could be as simple as putting a new pan gasket (very easy to do and I did one on an 83 Rabbit that had a similiar leak) - drove me nuts because it looked like it was coming from everywhere because wind pressure sprayed it back up.

You need to clean the engine and start over to identify where it is coming. Castrol Superclean or equivalent will do this perfectly.

THOUGH, this very well could be a seal. You can't tell with all that oil soilage.

Sometimes a leak has a higher path you can't see becuase if flows downward in a thin or very thin line.

Harry

I wrote

I should point out if you do this if by chance if you clean it and have a pressure washer: turn the pressure down on the washer for just a rigorous spray and never apple direct water pressure to any mating, gasketed, area or you will get water in the engine.

Using Superclean or equivalent you will have to apply a few to several applications. I use a Windex spray bottle when I buy a gallon. (This stuff is great I use it all over the house to clean anything, you name it, but you have to test any painted surfaces as it can take the paint off on certain things)

It is amazing how this cleans up an engine. I don't like to leave it on aluminum for long.

Also great if you have concrete oil spills, Apply the Super clean (or generic equivalent - one store has something call "Purple" something) on concrete oil stains and at full power blast the stain after it sits for a while

Buy a gallon of it, You will find yourselve buying it again when you run out. Great cleaner.

Harry

There are a whole bunch of great ideas on this thread. There are some VERY good ideas for cleaning the XS oil/stuff off the block.

Here is an additional suggestion for identifying the source of the leak.

Clean the entire block off with degreasers/pressure washers. Then add some UV dye to the oil and run the engine for the time indicated on the UV dye "leak identifier" kit.

The UV light source will show with "glowing brilliance" exactly where the leak is coming from.

The UV dye kit and UV lamp will cost a bit of cash - unless you know of a mechanic with such a UV lamp. However, once you pin-point the source of the leak, the correction is simply "mechanical".

Please let this news group know what you do to solve this leak problem.

Ken Canada

I thank everybody who answerwed my questions about the oil leak in my '84 Rabbit. I try to do as much of the work as I can on my cars, but I was worried this leak was a little bit beyond my skill levels. Yesterday I dropped the car off at the garage. They are closed until Tuesday, the 2nd. I'll hopefully know more sometime on Tuesday and will tell everybody what they do to fix it.

Thanks! Bryan Walton

OK, all is fixed now. Fixing oil leaks is a little above my ability, or at least above my comfort level. So, I took the rabbit to my VW mechanic. He found two leaks. It is fixed now. Turned out to be an intermediate shaft seal and a rear head gasket. Thanks for everybody's input.

-Bryan