Hi all posting this on here as many of you have lived and sweated the Passat TDi !

At present over the last week have noticed a fair amount of oil where ever I park the car driveway, shops etc then oil light came on so checked and hardly any oil at all showing on dip stick, took almost 2 litres of oil to top up ! A few weeks ago levels where fine.

The drip is coming from the rear of the engine i.e. behind the front wheels, have taken plastic cover off and its dry on top half so its dripping from below thinking sump gasket ? and other than that I’m at a loss ! what else is down below in the depths of the engine at the rear ?!?!?

Will take it to my mechanic but want to ask the hive first as always good to go with knowledge.

Many thanks in advance

Stopped off at mechanic on way home he had a quick look and said rocker cover gasket -said I should do it myself !

I’m still not sure why oil drips out when its stationary or is it also coming out when driving and getting burnt off, that would explain funny smell, to me looks like gasket on turbo or egr valve.

He said try that first so I will -easy job (looks it !)

Rocker cover gasket should be a doddle on an older engine. Nothing much in the way to stop it coming off.
Biggest job will probably be cleaning it up ready for a new gasket.

Don’t drop anything into the rocker housing.

I did one on an ancient rover diesel (L-Series?) for my father. Biggest job was taking the rocker cover off again to find the missing bolt.

Might not be a gasket, could just be a bead of sealant; likewise the sump. A lot are these days.

My Galaxy has the 1.9 TDi unit. Had an oil leak from th oil cooler gasket. Quite common apparently. It’s down in front of the engine, but as it drips it gets atomised by the airflow making a right mess. Not a big job according to the garage who did it for free when I had it serviced.

Got the 2003 tdi and rocker cover gasket has gone twice. Really common apparently. Easy job. Tried bodging with done sealant and didn’t hold for very long.

“what else is down below in the depths of the engine at the rear ?!?!?”

Main crankshaft seal.

Any signs of oil dripping from the block/bellhousing joint?