# oil leak visible on front bottom of engine



## bkpassat (Jun 18, 2012)

Hi folks,

2.0 BPY on 2008 Passat Tip. Just did an oil change today at 109k miles and spotted an oil leak that wasn't there 5k ago. oil visible on front of oil pan, but clearly coming from higher up on the engine. with all the plumbing on the engine, it is hard to pinpoint the leak without starting to tear things apart, so I'm hoping for some advice. looking in from the front, there doesn't seem to be any leakage from the top of the engine. Best guess on general area is on the front of the block, at or above the oil separator/oil filter housing. Any suggestions? Could this be due to overpressure from pcv failure? If pcv, replace valve and, or, rear hose?

Thanks.


----------



## eXcelon53 (Jan 7, 2009)

bkpassat said:


> Hi folks,
> 
> 2.0 BPY on 2008 Passat Tip. Just did an oil change today at 109k miles and spotted an oil leak that wasn't there 5k ago. oil visible on front of oil pan, but clearly coming from higher up on the engine. with all the plumbing on the engine, it is hard to pinpoint the leak without starting to tear things apart, so I'm hoping for some advice. looking in from the front, there doesn't seem to be any leakage from the top of the engine. Best guess on general area is on the front of the block, at or above the oil separator/oil filter housing. Any suggestions? Could this be due to overpressure from pcv failure? If pcv, replace valve and, or, rear hose?
> 
> Thanks.



Could be PCV, but most likely faulty cam seal. Which side of the motor? If it's passenger side, I'd say definitely cam seal. Have you had anything serviced recently?


----------



## Elwood (Aug 10, 2001)

I would suspect the filter. Maybe not this time, but previously, there was a problem with that big rubber seal on the canister. The air blowing in from the front is going to spray it all over. Clean it and watch it.


----------



## bkpassat (Jun 18, 2012)

eXcelon53 said:


> Could be PCV, but most likely faulty cam seal. Which side of the motor? If it's passenger side, I'd say definitely cam seal. Have you had anything serviced recently?


Thanks for your suggestion. both ends of the motor are clean. the leak seems to be coming from above the oil filter housing at the side of the block. there was no sign of any oil on the filter housing itself the leak was visible on the front of the pan facing the front of the car, but was clearly coming down from a location above the oil pan gasket. I'm thinking that the leak was from where the housing bolts to the block. the oil filter housing gasket is part 06F 115 441. I'm just wondering if the leak might be caused by overpressure from a faulty pcv rather than a fault in the gasket. The pcv looks a lot easier to change then the oil filter housing gasket. Thanks for your help.


----------



## bkpassat (Jun 18, 2012)

Elwood said:


> I would suspect the filter. Maybe not this time, but previously, there was a problem with that big rubber seal on the canister. The air blowing in from the front is going to spray it all over. Clean it and watch it.


Thanks, I'm definitely keeping an eye on what is going on. I didn't find any oil leak on the actual removable cylindrical filter holder itself. it was completely dry on the outside. I would think that if the problem was with the o ring, or not properly torquing the filter holder, the oil would have leaked down the side of the filter holder. the leak seemed to be coming from the junction where the whole filter housing/oil cooler assembly is bolted to the block - but it is hard to tell exactly because that area is really inaccessible until you unbolt the whole thing, and then you might as well just replace the gasket anyway. I'm just concerned that the whole problem might just be overpressure from the pcv, rather than an actual fault with the filter housing to block gasket. I think I'm probably going to end up ordering the gasket and the pcv, and try the pcv first and see if that eliminates the leak.

Thanks again.


----------



## bkpassat (Jun 18, 2012)

*illustration added*

here is an illustration of the area of the engine I've been referring to. Thanks,


----------



## greenlawnracing (Sep 6, 2013)

I'm dealing with the exact same thing on an 08 Wolfsburg, although mine appears to have more oil on the filter housing than the block.

what did you end up finding out?


----------



## randujar (Dec 1, 2014)

*Here is your problem and fix*

The oil base gasket is damaged 
http://www.ecstuning.com/ES281144/


----------



## greenlawnracing (Sep 6, 2013)

randujar said:


> The oil base gasket is damaged
> http://www.ecstuning.com/ES281144/


Thanks - can you point me towards a write up on replacement?

Am I safe to assume this is the same as replacing the oil cooler gasket, just using the proper name?


----------



## randujar (Dec 1, 2014)

There is the other gasket, is good that you replace both gasket 
To avoid future oil leak. 


http://www.ecstuning.com/ES280420/


----------



## ECS Tuning (Oct 2, 2006)

randujar said:


> There is the other gasket, is good that you replace both gasket
> To avoid future oil leak.
> 
> 
> http://www.ecstuning.com/ES280420/


Thanks for sharing our links! :thumbup::thumbup:


Andy


----------



## greenlawnracing (Sep 6, 2013)

I'm ready to tackle this project, but could probably use a nice write up to follow - any good ones out there?

Did a search and found several threads, but nothing detailed with pictures for mortals such as myself.


----------



## golf3nhl (Oct 17, 2004)

best and really only way to tackle this is pull the intake off and move the coolant pipes away from the oil filter flange. youll want a new intake manifold gasket and you may as well check for carbon build up.

check the write ups for diy intake manifold removal. 

youll have to remove the cooler off the flange.

the rest should be pretty straight forward as its just a few bolts that hold the oil filter flange to the block.

http://smg.photobucket.com/user/audimod/media/bpy4.jpg.html


----------



## Athfar (May 10, 2006)

golf3nhl said:


> best and really only way to tackle this is pull the intake off and move the coolant pipes away from the oil filter flange. youll want a new intake manifold gasket and you may as well check for carbon build up.
> 
> check the write ups for diy intake manifold removal.
> 
> ...


Is it impossible to get this off without taking the intake manifold off? Looking at photos on pelican (search for mkv oil cooler replacent) unless you are removing the throttle body it seems like the best access to all of this stuff is from underneath.


----------



## antigravity5 (Jan 6, 2020)

*AUDI Q5 TFSI 2.0T engine Upper timing cover oil leak*

A good write up about replacing the Timing Cover gaskets:


https://forums.vwvortex.com/showthr...e-engine&p=114007265&viewfull=1#post114007265


----------



## JohnK333 (Aug 15, 2007)

I have a similar engine oil leak as you describe on my 2006 Audi A3 with BPY engine (oil all over the oil filter housing assembly, cast aluminum engine oil pan, tranny pan, skip plate, etc.). I suspect the engine oil leak is from the oil filter housing assembly.

The engine oil filter assembly is a plastic structural assembly. It doesn’t take rocket science to determine the reliability plastic structural parts mounted to an engine block. I saw a number of posts concerning changing the o-ring seals/gaskets. The rubber o-rings/seals/gaskets will not seal too well if the plastic structure of the filter housing assembly is failing/cracking/wearing/whatever. Recommend just changing the entire oil filter housing assembly; the assembly comes with all the rubber seals (or o-rings or gaskets). You can do all the effort to change the seals and the plastic housing assembly will still leak because the plastic itself is worn out (or cracked).

Also, after bad experiences with my aftermarket plastic parts for my 1995 Passat with VR6, I ‘reco to avoid aftermarket plastic structural parts, such as the oil filter housing. The aftermarket plastic parts would fail quickly; the factory plastic parts are already cheap designs to begin with designed to survive the warranty period and not much longer.

The OEM/factory oil filter assembly is available for just a tad over $230 bucks and includes all the seals (the individual seal prices quoted above add up to $80 already).

https://www.ecstuning.com/b-genuine-volkswagen-audi-parts/oil-filter-housing-assembly/06f115397j/


----------

